W124 Blower motor replacement – part 1

I’ve known that the blower motor needed replacement on my 300TE since purchase. It didn’t like to work on low settings and would make pretty bad squeaking noises. The second to last owner had even planned on replacing it, but ran out of time before he sold the car. I had it on my list to do and ideally planned to do it before the trip to Tasmania in December/January.

I looked into this and found an excellent video from ‘MMWA’ on youtube on how to replace the W124 blower motor. If you own a W124 and you don’t subscribe […]

Preparing my 300TE for a family road trip

In January, I’m taking my family to Tasmania on holiday. Instead of renting a car down there, I’m driving down and taking the Spirit of Tasmania. I’ll collect my family from Launceston Airport as they will fly down. Due to the cost of the Spirit of Tasmania, its actually cheaper to do it this way. It works out well, as they are not interested in the long drive down.

I’m taking my 1990 Mercedes 300TE on this drive. Now I could have taken my wife’s modern car – a Mercedes E350 Wagon. However, I far prefer driving the 300TE. The […]

Refurbishing a W124 instrument cluster – Part 4: Installation and testing

Last night I finished the installation of the refurbished W124 instrument cluster. I’m really happy with it, and its really lifted the car.

I ended up installing it as part of my failed attempt to change the centre vent. Even after changing the bulb, the vent illumination was not working. I realized that it must require the instrument cluster to be plugged in. This proved to be the case, and also fixed the illumination for the outside temperature gauge.

Before I re-installed the cluster, I added more ATF to the speedometer cable. This is an attempt to lubricate it and […]

Failing at changing the W124 centre vent

One of the items on my todo list for the 300TE was to replace the W124 centre vent. A couple of the slats were broken, so I could not direct the air, and the open/close control was not working either. The open/close control is especially important in winter, as heat doesn’t come out of the centre.

I was told that the RHD part is different to the LHD part, so when I saw a reasonable deal on the RHD part, I purchased it. The part number (at least for my car) for the W124 centre vent is A124 830 08 […]

300TE speaker upgrade – Part 2 – fronts

In a previous article I had been undertaking a 300TE speaker upgrade. I started with the rears which were very simple. Next was the fronts. As I outlined in the first part, the W124 uses an odd size and mounting system for the front speakers. They are 12cm and use these clips on the side rather than the normal mounting ears. I guess this system was used in a few European cars of the era, as there are still a couple of manufacturers who offer speakers like these.

I went with the Crunch DSX120, in a kit for the […]

300TE speaker upgrade – Part 1 – rears

I wasn’t very happy with the sound from my 300TE. The front passengers speaker rattled badly and the sound wasn’t the best. As I’m taking the car on a road trip in January, I wanted better sound. I’ve already put the Becker 1402 back in, so all I needed was some decent speakers.

In researching what was possible, options were not extensive for the S124. The front speakers are both an unusual size (12cm) and an unusual mounting system. The rears are are a more common 10cm size, but mounted in the door handles. I personally don’t think much of […]

Refurbishing a W124 instrument cluster – Part 3: Changing the housing

In this series I am refurbishing my W124 instrument cluster. In the first part, I removed the cluster and lubricated the speedo cable. For the second part, I repaired the W124 outside temperature display. Now I am focused on my instrument cluster which is afflicted with the dreaded white spot disease.

While I was in the UK for work in January, I purchased a good used W124 instrument cluster housing. My plan was to transfer my instruments and electronics to that new housing. The actual gauge faces were in good condition. It’s been on my to do list ever since […]

Refurbishing a W124 instrument cluster – Part 2: W124 outside temperature display

In this series I am refurbishing my W124 instrument cluster. In the last part, I removed the cluster and lubricated the speedo cable. For this part, I am repairing the W124 outside temperature display.

The main problem with these displays is that when exposed to too much hot sun, the LCD panel ‘bleeds’. Over time, this makes it increasingly illegible, not to be mention ugly. I previously fixed the displays in both my old 300SE and the 560SEC. The W124 outside temperature display is basically the same as the unit found in the W126 and W124. They are just in […]

Refurbishing a W124 instrument cluster – Part 1: Lubricating the speedo cable

Ever since I bought my W124, there have been a couple of things about my instrument cluster I was not very happy with.

It had the dreaded ‘white spot’ disease. Not just on the instrument cluster surround, but the inside of the glass too. The outside temperature LCD was all cloudy and difficult to read. The speedometer needle jumped around at low speed.

I assume the white spot is some kind of mould. it seems to affect cars that have spent time in the tropics or humid environments the most – e.g. Hong Kong, Singapore, Queensland etc. My car spent […]

W124 Ignition tumbler

When I purchased my 300TE, I noticed two things that slightly concerned me. The first was that I only had one key for the car. The second was that the ignition barrel was slightly sticky. There are key blanks available for Mercedes of this era at locksmiths, but the only key I had for the car was a copy. I didn’t feel like a copy of a copy was all that great an idea, so I contacted the classic centre to see if new ignition tumblers were still available.

Turns out, for this era of W124, with the transmission interlock, […]