Farewell 300SE

Today I sold my 1986 300SE W126. It was the right decision to sell, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to miss the car. It wasn’t the nicest 300SE in the country, but in some ways it was like a favorite pair of shoes, comfortable and familiar. I originally bought the car as a daily, and I was on full registration for the first four years I owned it. My requirement was a car that could fit three child seats across the back, and I would have rather walked than have an SUV. I was actually looking for a […]

For Sale: 1986 300SE W126

For Sale: Australian delivered W126 300SE in striking signal red and cream MB-Tex interior. Both interior and exterior in nice shape. Car was repainted by the previous owner. I’ve owned the car six years and it was my daily driver until the covid lockdowns. Since then I have a different job and I’m not driving it as much as I used to – time to find a new owner for it that enjoyed it as much as I have. Now on non-transferrable club rego. AC is nice and cold.

Over the six years and 16,000km I’ve owned it, I’ve […]

Bleeding W126 brakes with a Motive Power Bleeder

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. The traditional two person method of pumping the pedal; various one man systems such as vacuum pumps or valves. So far I had found the vacuum pump system the best. However I had ruined two vacuum pumps […]

W126 brake hose replacement

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 may not have anything to do with the hoses, but they are a good place to start. Brake fluid really should be changed ever two years. Most people don’t do it that frequently, but regular changes […]

300SE fuel pump replacement

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, I figured I should change it ASAP. In my view, it makes little sense to change out the pump and not do the filter at the same time. I changed the filter when I did the […]

W126 Self-leveling suspension adjustment

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 the control rod that links the height corrector to the sway bar impacts the ride height. However, the manual is quite clear that this adjustment is not there to compensate for the standard ride height (without […]

W126 front window regulator

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 quality than a Meyle unit.

Due to the lost parcel, I had been driving around with the door card removed for weeks. I was rather pleased to see the box arrive yesterday. The new regulator looked identical […]

W126 Outside temperature LCD screen repair

For the first time since I have owned the car, my 300SE has a working outside temperature display. Not only is it a useful feature of the car, but these small fixes can make the difference between the car seeming nice or a bit of a jalopy.

The W126 Outside temperature LCD repair is really easy. It should be on the radar of any W126 (or W124) owner who has a failing outside temperature display. It only took 30 minutes and is very easy. Even better, the LCD illumination works when the headlights are on, when I thought it was […]

Bad W126 window regulator

Another long standing to-do list item on my 300SE was the passengers side window. Over time, the window would slip down so there was half a centimeter gap at the top. It would also make a clunking sound at the top of the window travel.

I had purchased a good used W126 window regulator a couple of years back. Yesterday I decided to try and fit the regulator. To get to the W126 window regulator, the door card must be removed. To do so, there a few screws holding it in place. Two holding the little chrome embellisher near the […]

300SE cowl drains

Last year, while I was fitting the monovalve elimination kit to my 560SEC, I cleaned the drains under the cowl covers. I also fitted a new upper seal and new shaft seals for the windscreen wipers. The condition of those seals was even worse on the 300SE, so today I finally got around to doing the same job on that car.

I was especially keen to do this on my 300SE as water would get into the passengers foot well in the rain. This would only happen when the car was parked nose up on an incline. My theory was […]