My 1989 Mercedes 560 SEC
- Thread starter Jupix
- Start date
So after much deliberation I decided to go with the original color (orange) indicators after all. Reason being, while the front looked awesome the rear lights looked tacky, very boyracerish IMO.
Received the new taillamps today.
I got them from a guy with four W126s, which leaves him with an ample supply of spares. :lol: I also got the orthopaedic seat adjusters from him.
Tomorrow I'll pay a visit to our local version of Halfords to get some new front indicators on the cheap. Sure they'll be replicas, but the quality was actually not bad when I bought one for the C124.
I received wing indicators in the same package with the taillamps but it remains to be seen whether they fit ok, since the sedan and coupe indicators differ slightly.
Received the new taillamps today.
I got them from a guy with four W126s, which leaves him with an ample supply of spares. :lol: I also got the orthopaedic seat adjusters from him.
Tomorrow I'll pay a visit to our local version of Halfords to get some new front indicators on the cheap. Sure they'll be replicas, but the quality was actually not bad when I bought one for the C124.
I received wing indicators in the same package with the taillamps but it remains to be seen whether they fit ok, since the sedan and coupe indicators differ slightly.
Lastsoul
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- Finland
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- MX5, 406 Coup?, 106 Rallye, Porsche 924, X300 Six
I'm sure the orange indicators will improve the cars already massive awesome-factor nicely. I totally agree about the boyracerisness of the clear indicators. So when the lights are swapped, pics please! 
Bubs360
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- Feb 11, 2007
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- New Hampshire
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- '91 Sentra SE-R, 2003 Triumph Speed Triple 955i
Now that is a lovely car. W126s are awesome, I had a 420SEL myself. Although I guess you don't like them, I think those AMG wheels set it off nicely.
Plus, it's in a lot better shape than this one that I found for sale.
Plus, it's in a lot better shape than this one that I found for sale.
Time for a status update.
The car has undergone most of the "small" jobs that were left and is close enough to completion for me to be driving it.
The rest of the metal surfaces under the plastic paneling were cleaned and protected with some antirust stuff, and the paneling was reattached with the correct fasteners. The panels are now much firmer - unlike before they don't feel loose to the touch.
The idle air control valve assembly was taken apart, cleaned and lubricated. However, the mechanic reported it had worked ok before the lubrication so the high idle issue is likely not caused by the IAC valve being stuck/too stiff.
Block heater was installed and works ok.
We messed with the fuel mixture but so far the result has been pretty much a shot in the dark. Since I drove the car away from the shop yesterday the idle was somewhat where it was supposed to be, however the idle was very rough and I thought it might be best to tune it a bit more. So we messed with it again and now the idle is slightly higher but still pretty choppy. Also, the engine doesn't pull smoothly which is most likely caused by a misfiring cylinder #5 becoming more of an issue with the messed-with fuel mixture.
The misfire is not caused by bad spark which means the plug and wiring is ok. And coil is probably ok too. Currently the diagnosis is that the cylinder is not getting enough fuel. Need to diagnose this further. Well, at least I've got "enough" cylinders left over to get me to and from the shop.
Anyway, found out that the passenger side orthopaedic seat controller is also faulty, so need to source one of those.
The rear lights and wing indicators I sourced from a donor S-Class were a perfect fit. The latter were even identical which I wasn't expecting, I'm thinking the "tuning" indicators on this car were originally meant for a sedan and not a coupe. Unfortunately the front indicators I bought from the wannabe-Halfords were for a sedan and I can now confirm they won't fit on a coupe at all. So now I'm waiting for another parts shop to ship replicas which should be specifically for the coupe. They should arrive Friday.
So currently I'm running mixed indicators which don't look as catastrophic as I was thinking but still are worth the money to straighten out.
Pics:
Excuse the brown ass, it's been running a bit rich.
The interior switches & lights project is still in the planning stages and should commence in week 2 or 3 of January...
The car has undergone most of the "small" jobs that were left and is close enough to completion for me to be driving it.
The rest of the metal surfaces under the plastic paneling were cleaned and protected with some antirust stuff, and the paneling was reattached with the correct fasteners. The panels are now much firmer - unlike before they don't feel loose to the touch.
The idle air control valve assembly was taken apart, cleaned and lubricated. However, the mechanic reported it had worked ok before the lubrication so the high idle issue is likely not caused by the IAC valve being stuck/too stiff.
Block heater was installed and works ok.
We messed with the fuel mixture but so far the result has been pretty much a shot in the dark. Since I drove the car away from the shop yesterday the idle was somewhat where it was supposed to be, however the idle was very rough and I thought it might be best to tune it a bit more. So we messed with it again and now the idle is slightly higher but still pretty choppy. Also, the engine doesn't pull smoothly which is most likely caused by a misfiring cylinder #5 becoming more of an issue with the messed-with fuel mixture.
The misfire is not caused by bad spark which means the plug and wiring is ok. And coil is probably ok too. Currently the diagnosis is that the cylinder is not getting enough fuel. Need to diagnose this further. Well, at least I've got "enough" cylinders left over to get me to and from the shop.
Anyway, found out that the passenger side orthopaedic seat controller is also faulty, so need to source one of those.
The rear lights and wing indicators I sourced from a donor S-Class were a perfect fit. The latter were even identical which I wasn't expecting, I'm thinking the "tuning" indicators on this car were originally meant for a sedan and not a coupe. Unfortunately the front indicators I bought from the wannabe-Halfords were for a sedan and I can now confirm they won't fit on a coupe at all. So now I'm waiting for another parts shop to ship replicas which should be specifically for the coupe. They should arrive Friday.
So currently I'm running mixed indicators which don't look as catastrophic as I was thinking but still are worth the money to straighten out.
Pics:
Excuse the brown ass, it's been running a bit rich.
The interior switches & lights project is still in the planning stages and should commence in week 2 or 3 of January...
Last edited:
Just buy one then!
They're not unobtainable, actually they can be almost cheap, but the less you pay, the more you have to be absolutely certain of what exactly it is you're buying. A EUR 4000,- or so C126 might be an interesting project, particularly if it has one of the less sought after engines.
One thing that's absolutely hilarious about driving one in the winter is that just today I turned a busful of heads merely pulling up for a little shopping. :lol:
Last edited:
mitchell.scott
Well-Known Member
It's funny. I hate big cars, but I'd kill to have a 560 SEC like this.
Thanks for the compliment
Orange front indicators are now installed and functioning. Interestingly, clear and orange indicators from TYC, while being pretty much identical otherwise, have different kind of base for the bulb so had to buy new ones, but of course being just bulbs they're dirt cheap so no problem there.
Just a quick shot from the garage as it's already dark outside so didn't go out for a better photo.
Orange front indicators are now installed and functioning. Interestingly, clear and orange indicators from TYC, while being pretty much identical otherwise, have different kind of base for the bulb so had to buy new ones, but of course being just bulbs they're dirt cheap so no problem there.
Just a quick shot from the garage as it's already dark outside so didn't go out for a better photo.
Lastsoul
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2005
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- MX5, 406 Coup?, 106 Rallye, Porsche 924, X300 Six
You might find intresting an article on newest Evo (number 153, probably not yet in Finnish magazine stands). It's about Nigel Mansel's old 560SEC and some talk about the general awesomness of the SEC. It's short enough to read in a shop.
Scotty88
New Member
Love the work that you'r putting into it, great car!
- Joined
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Those orange indicators look so much nicer than the white ones. Awesome car.
Well, time to update this thread a little.
I guess the first thing to happen since the last update was this.
That's oil.
Fortunately, it turned out only the seal around the oil change screw was busted. No biggie but damn it was worrying to drive a car that leaks oil like that. Having to check it every time you go to start it... "There's plenty in there, though..."
All the while, the car was making some worrying groaning noises particularly when it was cold. That turned out to be the belt that drives the alternator, which was overtensioned. A quick fix again.
The next issue was with the BBSes. Once when I was getting the car to the shop, a tire was pretty low on pressure. Filled it up there, drove the car home, and had a weekend home. Was going to drive to uni on Monday and the tire was flat again. Two others were also starting to look pretty low. Off to the tire shop to learn how to diagnose stuff like this and how to use soap water. Turned out air was gushing out from between the rim / lip / center, and also from underneath the bolts that hold the rim together. No choice but to take the tires off the rims again and inspect.
Long story short and after some studying how BBS 3parters actually work, turned out the German restorers who worked on the rims had done a rubbish job of sealing the parts.
That is their silicone seal. In some ways it's correctly done but with a few buts:
* Really, you're supposed to seal the parts between each other... Not outside the meeting surface like that. Though this method is used a lot because of ease I guess.
* You're in no event supposed to use silicone, it doesn't grip enough.
* The whole process had been botched, the seal was very uneven and flaking off.
When I ripped it off, it provided almost no resistance, it was like peeling a banana. No wonder it held no air.
Also of note is the fact the bolts were part hex and part double hex. Apparently the restoration included changing some of the bolts but not doing all of them while they were at it. :?
No, I didn't think to check this when I received the rims and put rubber on them.
The bolts were really loose, nowhere near the 26Nm of torque which is somewhere in the ballpark of BBS rim bolts.
So, my solution was, in chronological order:
* Take off the silicone seal.
* Remove silicone remnants, oil, etc
* Let dry overnight
* Apply new seal in the same fashion using Sikaflex. It was ugly but I was sure not to leave any gaps where air could escape.
* Let dry overnight
* Loosen and retorque bolts to 26Nm in crisscross pattern
* Let dry for a week
End result:
Did it work?
No.
Tried to put tires on the rims, they were still leaking like crazy. Better than with the silicone but no choice but to admit defeat and either get someone to disassemble the rims and do the seal properly, or if it looks too expensive (like hell I'm paying more than a 100 for it) just sell the rims. Either way I won't be using the BBSes now. Remains to be seen whether they become my summer wheels. I'm now looking for winter rims.
Anyway, after all that, the car had been sitting outside for a couple of weeks. While I was running around hammering my head against the wall with the BBSes, the car had the Aeros on it which of course were summers.
All the while it was snowing like hell and occasionally in the +'s, which made the snow heavy, and I was rarely home to clean the car up, so I was really worried the hood, roof or trunk lid were gonna cave. Luckily they held.
Anyway, a friend was in possession of a set of 16" "Kanaldeckels" with some correct sized friction tires so I was able to lend those to get the SEC into warm storage, and to and from the shop. So off I went to put them on.
Only... One of the Aeros is stuck. More specifically, one of the bolts just went round and round. Oh well, was able to get the car in warm storage on 3 Kanaldeckels and 1 Aero.
My knee-jerk reaction was that the bolt was rounded but that wasn't actually the case... Drove the car to the shop for them to have a go at removing the offending the bolt. It came off real easy with the lug gun. Turned out the bolts for the Aeros were falling apart. The offending one had already lost most of its thread and the remains were in the opposite thread.
Some cold sweat and a thread cleanup tool later we had 4 Kanaldeckels on the car. Time to trash those bolts.
At this point since the car was in the shop for a change, it was time to continue to project for a little bit (on borrowed time):
* Put in the correct air recirculation switch which I was able to source used.
* Diagnosed the one "dark" cylinder. Only this time it was somehow different than the last time. Well, spark was good. Did a compression test. No good compression. AFAIK and according to what the mechanics said it can only be a cracked valve at this point. So the car will be going in for another pretty thorough engine rebuild next Tuesday. :?
Well, while waiting for that, the car has been in the garage for a change. So it's been possible to continue the center console project. I started this soon after the indicator switch.
As you recall the starting point was this.
Tasks there were:
* Remove embarassing AMG sticker installed by a PO
* Replace aircon switch
* Replace air recirculation switch
* Replace bulb in air passenger side heater roller switch
* Replace bulb in air direction switch
* Get rid of crappy JVC head unit and buy something good instead.
* Install a switch for disabling the electric antenna for winter use.
Here's the ash tray and head unit removed.
The radio was a real bitch to remove. Turns out the previous installer had extended the little protruding things in the case and needless to say I didn't have the remove tool for that particular head unit. However, with patience I got the POS off.
There were some wires running behind the radio, to nowhere, which I figure were originally the front speakers (the car is now running Infinitys or something like that, OK sounding) and a phone / hands free system of some sort which has been removed.
The last one to touch the wires was a Swedish shop. The car's a Swedish import.
Anyway, here's a pic with the new switches and bulbs in.
While I had the ashtray out I cleaned and polished it, and changed the bulb in it.
Here's the antenna control switch I soldered together.
Anyways, to replace the crappy JVC I bought a... JVC. Oh well. In my defense, I looked at the competing Sonys, Pioneers, Kenwoods etc. and they were all rubbish. Ugly and low on features compared to the similarly priced JVC. The only real contender was Alpine which was also pretty low on features, and felt like a really rubbish plastic toy, which is saying a lot when the JVC is already pretty toy-ey.
Anyway, this JVC solved all the problems I had with the previous one:
- No stupid "screensaver" animations
- No stupid animations anywhere else, or at least they're toggleable
- No beep every time you push a button on it
- Has front USB and can interface with my iPhone from there
- Can control the iPhone
- Works instantaneously on shuffle instead of reading a CD for 10 seconds while switching songs
- Can be set to any color, like nearly the Mercedes amber, instead of being "light up my car" white and "rip the hair off your head" red all the time
- Lowest volume setting is actually pretty quiet, unlike before where it was still pretty high
In addition, the new JVC has a multi-row display which can actually display some useful information about the song being played, and for a modern head unit, it's surprisingly understated in design.
Also, it's got a software EQ which is nice.
New head unit installed and center console assembled:
All finished:
You can see the antenna control in the driver's footwell.
I'm probably buying AMG Penta Gen2's to replace the BBSes but we'll see. Not a lot of these going around...
Looking into getting these off ebay.
That is all for now.
I guess the first thing to happen since the last update was this.
That's oil.
Fortunately, it turned out only the seal around the oil change screw was busted. No biggie but damn it was worrying to drive a car that leaks oil like that. Having to check it every time you go to start it... "There's plenty in there, though..."
All the while, the car was making some worrying groaning noises particularly when it was cold. That turned out to be the belt that drives the alternator, which was overtensioned. A quick fix again.
The next issue was with the BBSes. Once when I was getting the car to the shop, a tire was pretty low on pressure. Filled it up there, drove the car home, and had a weekend home. Was going to drive to uni on Monday and the tire was flat again. Two others were also starting to look pretty low. Off to the tire shop to learn how to diagnose stuff like this and how to use soap water. Turned out air was gushing out from between the rim / lip / center, and also from underneath the bolts that hold the rim together. No choice but to take the tires off the rims again and inspect.
Long story short and after some studying how BBS 3parters actually work, turned out the German restorers who worked on the rims had done a rubbish job of sealing the parts.
That is their silicone seal. In some ways it's correctly done but with a few buts:
* Really, you're supposed to seal the parts between each other... Not outside the meeting surface like that. Though this method is used a lot because of ease I guess.
* You're in no event supposed to use silicone, it doesn't grip enough.
* The whole process had been botched, the seal was very uneven and flaking off.
When I ripped it off, it provided almost no resistance, it was like peeling a banana. No wonder it held no air.
Also of note is the fact the bolts were part hex and part double hex. Apparently the restoration included changing some of the bolts but not doing all of them while they were at it. :?
No, I didn't think to check this when I received the rims and put rubber on them.
The bolts were really loose, nowhere near the 26Nm of torque which is somewhere in the ballpark of BBS rim bolts.
So, my solution was, in chronological order:
* Take off the silicone seal.
* Remove silicone remnants, oil, etc
* Let dry overnight
* Apply new seal in the same fashion using Sikaflex. It was ugly but I was sure not to leave any gaps where air could escape.
* Let dry overnight
* Loosen and retorque bolts to 26Nm in crisscross pattern
* Let dry for a week
End result:
Did it work?
No.
Tried to put tires on the rims, they were still leaking like crazy. Better than with the silicone but no choice but to admit defeat and either get someone to disassemble the rims and do the seal properly, or if it looks too expensive (like hell I'm paying more than a 100 for it) just sell the rims. Either way I won't be using the BBSes now. Remains to be seen whether they become my summer wheels. I'm now looking for winter rims.
Anyway, after all that, the car had been sitting outside for a couple of weeks. While I was running around hammering my head against the wall with the BBSes, the car had the Aeros on it which of course were summers.
All the while it was snowing like hell and occasionally in the +'s, which made the snow heavy, and I was rarely home to clean the car up, so I was really worried the hood, roof or trunk lid were gonna cave. Luckily they held.
Anyway, a friend was in possession of a set of 16" "Kanaldeckels" with some correct sized friction tires so I was able to lend those to get the SEC into warm storage, and to and from the shop. So off I went to put them on.
Only... One of the Aeros is stuck. More specifically, one of the bolts just went round and round. Oh well, was able to get the car in warm storage on 3 Kanaldeckels and 1 Aero.
My knee-jerk reaction was that the bolt was rounded but that wasn't actually the case... Drove the car to the shop for them to have a go at removing the offending the bolt. It came off real easy with the lug gun. Turned out the bolts for the Aeros were falling apart. The offending one had already lost most of its thread and the remains were in the opposite thread.
Some cold sweat and a thread cleanup tool later we had 4 Kanaldeckels on the car. Time to trash those bolts.
At this point since the car was in the shop for a change, it was time to continue to project for a little bit (on borrowed time):
* Put in the correct air recirculation switch which I was able to source used.
* Diagnosed the one "dark" cylinder. Only this time it was somehow different than the last time. Well, spark was good. Did a compression test. No good compression. AFAIK and according to what the mechanics said it can only be a cracked valve at this point. So the car will be going in for another pretty thorough engine rebuild next Tuesday. :?
Well, while waiting for that, the car has been in the garage for a change. So it's been possible to continue the center console project. I started this soon after the indicator switch.
As you recall the starting point was this.
Tasks there were:
* Remove embarassing AMG sticker installed by a PO
* Replace aircon switch
* Replace air recirculation switch
* Replace bulb in air passenger side heater roller switch
* Replace bulb in air direction switch
* Get rid of crappy JVC head unit and buy something good instead.
* Install a switch for disabling the electric antenna for winter use.
Here's the ash tray and head unit removed.
The radio was a real bitch to remove. Turns out the previous installer had extended the little protruding things in the case and needless to say I didn't have the remove tool for that particular head unit. However, with patience I got the POS off.
There were some wires running behind the radio, to nowhere, which I figure were originally the front speakers (the car is now running Infinitys or something like that, OK sounding) and a phone / hands free system of some sort which has been removed.
The last one to touch the wires was a Swedish shop. The car's a Swedish import.
Anyway, here's a pic with the new switches and bulbs in.
While I had the ashtray out I cleaned and polished it, and changed the bulb in it.
Here's the antenna control switch I soldered together.
Anyways, to replace the crappy JVC I bought a... JVC. Oh well. In my defense, I looked at the competing Sonys, Pioneers, Kenwoods etc. and they were all rubbish. Ugly and low on features compared to the similarly priced JVC. The only real contender was Alpine which was also pretty low on features, and felt like a really rubbish plastic toy, which is saying a lot when the JVC is already pretty toy-ey.
Anyway, this JVC solved all the problems I had with the previous one:
- No stupid "screensaver" animations
- No stupid animations anywhere else, or at least they're toggleable
- No beep every time you push a button on it
- Has front USB and can interface with my iPhone from there
- Can control the iPhone
- Works instantaneously on shuffle instead of reading a CD for 10 seconds while switching songs
- Can be set to any color, like nearly the Mercedes amber, instead of being "light up my car" white and "rip the hair off your head" red all the time
- Lowest volume setting is actually pretty quiet, unlike before where it was still pretty high
In addition, the new JVC has a multi-row display which can actually display some useful information about the song being played, and for a modern head unit, it's surprisingly understated in design.
Also, it's got a software EQ which is nice.
New head unit installed and center console assembled:
All finished:
You can see the antenna control in the driver's footwell.
I'm probably buying AMG Penta Gen2's to replace the BBSes but we'll see. Not a lot of these going around...
Looking into getting these off ebay.
That is all for now.
Last edited:
SchumacherM
Well-Known Member
Sorry for the useless question, but why the antenna switch?
Because needlessly cycling the power antenna when it's freezing outside will slowly kill the motor that operates it.
Needlessly cycling = not using the FM tuner, like listening to mp3s only
Freezing outside = antenna possibly frozen inside the stub, or a film of ice coating the antenna which is not good in a telescope antenna
Basically the same principle why you wouldn't use power windows on old cars when it's -25C outside.
Needlessly cycling = not using the FM tuner, like listening to mp3s only
Freezing outside = antenna possibly frozen inside the stub, or a film of ice coating the antenna which is not good in a telescope antenna
Basically the same principle why you wouldn't use power windows on old cars when it's -25C outside.