My new 15″ AMG Penta wheels did not come with tyres. Choosing a set turned out to be a lot more complicated than I thought. The big downside of the 15s over the 16s is the tyre availability. The table below outlines possible sizes I could have considered. They are all compared to the overall circumference of the original wheel/tyre combination. The...
by James Faydherbe De Maudave · Published September 28, 2021 · Last modified September 15, 2024
I purchased my 1989 420SEL about two years ago and have been busy doing a lot of work to the car to bring it up to my standard. My most recent job was to inspect and replace the W126 parking brake shoes. The parking brake was not holding the car, even after I adjusted it. The Mercedes W126 uses a separate set of drum...
When I purchased my 1987 560SEC it came with Simmons B45 Wheels. These are a high quality Australian made three piece wheel. I pretty quickly replaced these for a couple of reasons. The 245 profile tyres rubbed quite badly; There was a terrible wheel wobble; and I didn’t think the suited the car. I sold those wheels and replaced them with the replica 8...
When you own a modern Mercedes-Benz, you seem to be playing constant whack-a-mole with the check engine light. I’ve written before how silly I think the check engine light is, but we’re stuck with it. Personally, I would just drive older cars, but this is not for everyone and my wife has a 2007 E350 Wagon. There were two codes this time. The...
I’ve been on the lookout for a different set of wheels for my 450SLC. It is currently running a set of W126 second generation alloy wheels. I like these wheels, but they are not quite right for the 450SLC. My 560SEL uses these same wheels, but they are in need of refinishing. Instead of having some of my spare W126 wheels refinished, I...
A couple of months ago a friend showed me his BM2 Battery Monitor installed on his 420SEL. It is a bluetooth enabled battery monitor that connects to a phone app. The app lets you monitor the battery in real time, run some tests and download history from the battery monitor device. I already have various battery testers which are useful for standalone battery...
This week I got my 560SEL back from having a front suspension rebuild. This wasn’t something I really wanted to take on myself. My SEL drove well, but there was some looseness in the front end. As I plan on keeping the car long term, it made sense to rebuild the front suspension to restore an as-new ride. The front suspension rebuild included new...
After the impact with a Kangaroo, my 250SE Cabriolet is back on the road and better than ever. While the damage didn’t look that bad at first, the repairs required were extensive. Unlike when you hit another car, A Kangaroo is ‘softer’ damage that isn’t as apparent to the naked eye. It would be the same for hitting a Deer or other medium...
I recently changed the flexible brake hoses in my 1986 300SE. I wasn’t sure how old they were and they are a wear item. The next step was obviously bleeding the brakes. Bleeding W126 brakes is really no different to any other car. I recently purchased a Motive Power Bleeder to make this job easier. I’ve bled brakes many ways over the years. ...
I’ve always been a little surprised that my W111 Cabriolet rear seatbelts were lap only. Mercedes-Benz were such pioneers of safety at the time that it seemed odd that they wouldn’t have fitted lap/sash seatbelts. It hasn’t been a problem for me as I so rarely had passengers in the rear of the car. That has started to change as my kids are getting...
I’ve been meaning to change the brake hoses on the 300SE for a while. I have no history for the car, so I don’t know how old they are. As I also wanted to change the brake fluid, I thought it made sense to do both jobs at the same time. I had noticed a slight pull to one side on hard breaking. It...
When inspecting the SLS in my 300SE, I noticed that the fuel pump was seeping fuel. It wasn’t enough to smell fuel, so I am not sure how long it had been like that. I’ve owned the 300SE for about four and half years and have not done the fuel pump replacement job. As I keep a spare Bosch fuel pump and filter,...
On a recent drive with a few friends I noticed my 560SEC was sitting a bit low at the rear. I had it parked next to a 380SEC, which I am pretty confident is at the correct height, and my car was lower. Based on that, I started reading through the section on W126 self-leveling suspension adjustment to work out why. The length of...
Back a few weeks ago I identified the problems with my power window was the W126 front window regulator. In particular, the passengers side front. The regulator was missing some teeth. I had bought a new one some weeks ago, but the regulator was in the shipment that FedEx lost. I went with a VDO regulator as I expected it to be higher...
The previous owner of my 560SEL had the self-leveling rear suspension removed. He told me that he was having problems with it, and the suspension shop he took that car to (Pedders) advised him to remove it. This was pretty bad advice, but he wasn’t to know that. A 560SEL should have a supple ride, but my car rode like an old pickup...
Today was the June MBCNSW night drive. This month, we had planned to do the route originally planned for March. Back then, Sydney had just experienced the worst storms in 60 years. Our route was not going to be possible after all the storm damage. We also had to postpone our planned route tonight. We were supposed to drive over Berowra ferry, but as...
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