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More and more parts for Mercedes modern classics are NLA

Mercedes-Benz have justifiably maintained an excellent reputation for making parts available for their older vehicles. They still do a great job for their ‘halo’ classics like the 300SL gullwing or Pagoda SL. At the same time, I have noticed a big increase in the number of parts No Longer Available (NLA) for the modern classics. I define the modern classics as those made from the early 70s to the early 90s. This includes cars such as the R/C107, W114/115, W116, W123, W124, W126. There are probably others.

I’m really not sure how that extends to the late 60s models such […]

March 5th, 2020 | Tags: , , , | Category: Articles, Mercedes | 3 comments

USA Junkyard Visits

I am currently in the USA and had a few hours to spare in Cincinnati Ohio before I headed out to the airport. When I lived in the USA, I used to go to the self service junkyards to grab bits and pieces. These junkyards are larger in the USA and they have standard price lists for parts, no matter what car you remove it from. Most of the cars I own are too old to turn up in self service junkyards, but the two W126’s just fall into the range where they sometimes come up.

I ended up going […]

March 18th, 2019 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: Mercedes | One comment

W126 Differential Ratios

The W126 range was in production from 1979-1991.  I’ve never seen a comprehensive table of W126 differential ratios, so I have attempted to create my own.   Not only did they vary between models and years, but in some cases countries too.

It is possible I have missed a few more country specific ratios.   Please indicate in the comments below if I have.  The data comes from the official technical data books.

If this table is being referred to for swaps, the first and second generations diffs are not interchangeable.   Neither is an ASR diff.   LSD was standard on 560s but […]

November 24th, 2018 | Tags: , | Category: Articles, Mercedes | 3 comments

300SE Odometer Repair Update

Back in early 2017 I fixed my broken odometer. The 300SE odometer repair was successful, but there were two things I needed to follow up on.

The odometer was reading 10% low. I could hear the gears, especially in cold weather.

In addition, some time after I repaired the odometer, one of the bulbs that illuminates the instrument cluster at night failed. The fix for all these things required the removal of the instrument cluster. The procedure to remove the cluster and the speedometer is covered in my previous article.

The low reading was attributed to having the wrong gear. […]

September 30th, 2018 | Tags: , , , | Category: Mercedes | 7 comments

Troubleshooting W126 Climate Control

When I purchased my 300SE, the A/C worked well. I assume the overall Climate Control system did too. I never did test anything more than max A/C as the weather was very hot. Everything seemed fine, except for the little aspirator fan which was noisy. Unfortunately 3 weeks after purchase, the A/C stopped working. I was sitting at red traffic lights and adjusted the settings and it went warm. This indicated that it was probably not a leak in the system somewhere. Just to be sure, I had the system checked and it was not low on refrigerant.

The first […]

March 11th, 2017 | Tags: , , , | Category: Mercedes | One comment

The Mercedes W126 in Australia

Despite the newest examples being almost 30 years old, the Mercedes W126 is still a fairly common sight in Australia. Wheels Magazine awarded it the car of the year in 1981, a controversial choice for such an expensive car. They were popular both with private buyers, and the limo trade who racked up big mileages. 30 years later, good examples still change hands for reasonable money. The W126 still make a great daily-driver – comfortable, safe and reliable.

The W126 (along with the R107) was also one of the most commonly private imported models with the shortsighted decision by […]

February 1st, 2017 | Tags: , , | Category: Articles, Mercedes | 5 comments

W126 Odometer Repair

My ‘new’ 300SE suffered from a common problem with Mercedes of that era, a non functional odometer. The mechanical odometer is driven by a small electric motor instead of a traditional speedometer cable and associated gears. This is because the speedometer is electric yet the odometer is mechanical. This combination was common in the late 80s and early 90s before cars moved to fully electric speedometers and odometers. The Series II W126 uses a VDO odometer unit shared with many Mercedes and BMW models of the era. There are a number of articles on the internet that already cover W126 […]

January 29th, 2017 | Tags: , , , | Category: Mercedes | 11 comments

Mercedes-Benz Classic Coupes

It is hard to find somebody who prefers four door cars on aesthetic grounds. Sure, four door cars may be more practical, often cheaper to insure and easier to live with, but when buying a classic car, those considerations are not nearly as important.

Mercedes Benz have always provided a range of handsome coupes in their range, which are still even years later a practical classic car, and can easily be used a daily drivers.

This article is going to focus on the Mercedes-Benz classic coupes from the 60s, 70s and 80s, which are the most available for the collector […]

February 5th, 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Category: Articles, Mercedes, Reviews | 2 comments
 
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