Ownership Verified: My 1989 Mercedes 300 SEL

Jupix

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
1,579
Location
Finland
2013 has been a year of change. I got my Bachelor's degree and was fortunate enough to find employment even before I was out of school.

Unfortunately the office is 7km away from my home and this is right through the city center, with many traffic lights and dual lane avenues. Doing this commute there and back every day in the 560 SEC just doesn't make sense. For 8am, having just got out of bed, and 16pm, after a hard day at work, it's too loud, too low, too uncomfortable and too powerful (I'm in constant fear of being ticketed after a brisk acceleration). Also I have fallen in love with it too much to ask it to ferry me around short distances at least twice a day.

So long story short I needed a commuter box, in a nutshell, something more boring. Something with 4 doors, smaller engine, quieter, normal suspension and ride height, fewer systems to go wrong, etc.

In 2012 I got the vision of having a V126 for getting around in addition to the C126 for sunday drives. It would have to be the latest and greatest six-cylinder for the fuel economy and simplicity, and the langversion because if I'm getting a sedan, it's going to be a sedan all the way. :p

Making this vision happen turned out to be more involved than you might think. It appears 300 SEL models are extremely few and far between in this country. Despite it being the quintessential Finnish-spec limousine (large body and small engine with few amenities), there aren't many around, and I guess there never were. Most examples I could find were rotted, neglected cars. Some were promising but had deal-breaker niggles (retrofitted power windows, lots of bodywork done, suspiciously bad photographs, and so on).

I even exhausted the bush radio of the Finnish M-B club. Apparently no one even knows anyone has a car like this, let alone owns one and is willing to sell.

After all that, about 2 weeks ago I finally stumbled on one. I didn't have to think twice. It had been on nettiauto.com for a couple days. It had a couple of rubbish photos that showed the car from the rear, a pretty high price tag, and a mention that haggling would be futile. So the advert had few views. But I knew I had to go look at it from the short description: ex-corporate limousine, 2 owners, professionally maintained, rust-free.

I also recognized the license plate. Turns out I'd seen the car live in our club event in 2012. It had rolled into the parking lot and I'd thought "that's a nice condition 2nd generation sedan, appears to have far less than 200k on it". Turned out it had 370k on it and I was amazed. It was one of the very cars that started my sedan fever. I called up the club and learned the ex-district chief of our club's Kymi district had chauffered the car for the Enso pulp & paper corporation from 1989 up until the mid-90s until his retirement. After that, the car was mothballed in corporate storage for 15 years and only taken out for special occasions. Each year it would be serviced and MOT'd. From the current, sitting Kymi district chief we heard a story from the old chauffer: the 300 SEL was never stored before receiving a careful hand wash...

In 2011, after 22 years of corporate ownership the car was sold to a club member, also from Kymi. He owned a fleet of Mercedes and other cars, and only drove a couple hundred km's in summers 2011, 2012 and 2013. In the end he was tiring of his large fleet and during a moment of desperation posted the car on nettiauto.com. Thus I became aware of it. Me and the local club district chief -buddy of mine went to look at and test drive it.

It was an uneventful test drive; everything just worked and there were few surprises. I got to view the car from underneath and there were no surprises there either. I knew very quickly that if there ever was a car to buy, this was it. The only surprise that day was the personality of the seller which truly belonged to days gone by... he told me he would only take cash (far more than you could ever withdraw with plastic) and doing the paperwork with him was a total pain. Well, skipping that long story, we eventually got the deal over with and at a late hour on the 25th of July I had my shiny but definitely not new 300 SEL dream car.

I wanted to hold off making a thread until I had some lasting photos. Today I was able to shoot some pics so here, enjoy.


DSC_0126 by jkohvak, on Flickr


DSC_0128 by jkohvak, on Flickr


DSC_0127 by jkohvak, on Flickr


DSC_0120 by jkohvak, on Flickr


DSC_0124 by jkohvak, on Flickr


DSC_0132 by jkohvak, on Flickr


DSC_0137 by jkohvak, on Flickr


DSC_0136 by jkohvak, on Flickr


DSC_0135 by jkohvak, on Flickr


DSC_0130 by jkohvak, on Flickr


DSC_0140 by jkohvak, on Flickr


DSC_0141 by jkohvak, on Flickr


DSC_0142 by jkohvak, on Flickr


As you can see from the service leaflet the history of this car is particularly interesting to me. Not only was it owned by a pulp & paper corporation for 22 years but for a large portion of that time it was stationed in Imatra, right near where I live now. It has service stamps from the 90s, stamped by the very M-B dealership that I have been buying my M-B parts from for years now. So in a way, the car has come full circle.


Vehicle data:

Manufacturer: MERCEDES-BENZ
Model: 4D SEDAN 300 SEL AUTOMATIC-126524319
Engine displacement: 2960 cm3
MY: 1989


Paint: 441 - Impala Metallic
Interior: 073A - Cloth, Brazil Brown

Options:
211 AUTOMATIC LIMITED SLIP DIFFERENTIAL (ASD)
260 ELIMINATION OF MODEL DESIGNATION ON REAR LID
341 ADDITIONAL LAMP [center brake light]
420 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, FLOOR SHIFT [4-speed]
440 TEMPOMAT (CRUISE CONTROL)
485 SELF-LEVELLING SUSPENSIONS WITH HARDER SPRING SUSPENSION
592 GREEN HEAT-INSULATING GLASS ALL ROUND, HEATED REAR WINDOW, LAMINATED SAFETY GLASS - TINTED STRIP
606 HEADLAMP WIPER UNIT, OIL FOR REAR AXLE WITH LIMITED-SLIP DIFFERENTIAL IN CANISTERS AND CONTAINERS AND MOUNTING FOR CUSTOMS LICENSE PLATE
630 E.C.E. WARNING TRIANGLE
673 HIGH-CAPACITY BATTERY
873 SEAT HEATER FOR LEFT AND RIGHT FRONT SEATS
877 READING LAMP IN THE REAR


Note that it has ASD, which is the automatic LSD that I had in the red car previously. Also it has load-sensitive ride height control in the rear which is an interesting option and definitely useful. But the most useful of them all is the cruise control.

The condition is A- outside and A- inside. The rear center bumper chrome is bubbling and the left bottom corner of the rear window frame is bubbling also. Those are the only rust spots on the body. Otherwise the paint is in very nice condition, as is the chrome. The anonized metal trim is slightly faded and the hood appears to be repainted. There are a few rock chips. Inside, the cloth interior is basically flawless, as is the wood. In the center console there was a mobile phone stand which I removed immediately, this left the screw holes in the side of the console. There was a period temperature gauge between the top row switches, which was double-side-taped on. The tape residue lifted off very nicely with veggie oil and there is now only a very slight circular sun fade difference.

In the pictures you see there I have already switched in orange corners and wing blinkers. For some reason this car too had clear corners. No W126 ever left the factory with those, and these ones were aftermarket brand too, obviously. I was able to source flawless but very slightly faded Bosch corners for 10 EUR + postage. The wing blinkers are brand new TYC but fit pretty nicely. Cost about 7 EUR each at a local parts store.

Also there was a Pioneer christmas tree radio which I immediately swapped with the Becker Mexico Diversity I had bought for the 560 SEC.

The engine is the most tired part of the car. I have a jiggly idle but still do idle on all cylinders this time around... It could be a bad distributor cap and/or rotor, spark plugs or wires, EHA (electro-hydraulic fuel delivery actuator), OVP (overvoltage protect relay) or numerous other common faults, but I'll have to check it out systematically. I also have clacking that comes and goes during the first 5km of a cold start and then goes away completely after the engine is toasty, which I'm attributing to too thick oil.

Transmission is extremely smooth and logical. It tends to stick to gears a little too long so I'll have to adjust the Bowden cable on this car too. The differential is tight and silent. The exhaust is great condition Ebersp?cher OEM, totally silent. The steering has much less play than the SEC. There are no clunks from the suspension. In hard turns I have squeeks from the lower ball joints which is a typical fault that has to be addressed. Lemf?rder (OEM) lower ball joints are $20 each from Autohaus AZ.

Power windows work great in all 4 corners, outside temperature gauge works, cruise works, all gauges work, no warning lights.

So what's in the future?
I will just drive it to work and to the shops, probably in the winter too.

-> oil change and filter soon
-> diagnose the choppy idle
-> do some rust prevention tasks in the door bottoms and inside the rear arches
-> straight up rustproof the rest
-> add block heater and interior heater
-> source a BE753, or BE830, (Mexicos) or BE1319, or BE1320 (Grand Prix') as a final radio installation
-> what to do as regards winter tires... hmm, don't know yet. I'm thinking about getting a second set of OEM 15x7 ET25 kanaldeckels but might also opt for a set of 16x8 R129 kanaldeckels for summer wheels which would leave me with the current set of OEM wheels for winter.

And the SEC? Well it remains a loved "family member" and I will take it for a drive and of course to work/shops/etc too when I feel like it. I already know a place where I can store it for the winter for 20 eurobucks a month. It soon needs a service too but more on that in the proper thread...


Oh and proof pic:

eEmgPyz7_original.jpg
 
Immensely cool and in impeccable nick. Enjoy it!
 
:wub: Hope it looks as good in flesh as it does in the photos. It is flaw-free.
 
Best 2 car garage i've seen in a while.
 
Best 2 car garage i've seen in a while.
Certainly.

I hope the foul mark of Veho has been long since removed from the car, thought I fear it has been tainted forever. Still, cool piece of kit. :thumbup:
 
mmm...mint w126 :D

Beautiful looking car, tell me when you are near Helsinki, I would love to have a look at it one day!
 
So very much approved. Great econobox :lol:
 
That thing is just perfect.
 
Huge thanks for the compliments :cool:


:wub: Hope it looks as good in flesh as it does in the photos. It is flaw-free.

It actually looks very good in the flesh due to the striking absense of dings, swirls in the paint and stuff like that. I think there is only one or two dings in the whole car, they are visible as mirror flaws and invisible otherwise. I don't even remember where they are exactly so yeah, very minor.


Best 2 car garage i've seen in a while.

It's missing a critical function though. One that Mercedes-Benz makes (has made) a perfect solution for. Sadly it will probably be a while before I can afford to maintain an SL too. :lol:


I hope the foul mark of Veho has been long since removed from the car, thought I fear it has been tainted forever.

Not sure what you mean but I can see no evidence of botched work on the car and there is no VEHO sticker anywhere either. :p


Beautiful looking car, tell me when you are near Helsinki, I would love to have a look at it one day!

I think the next Club Conference may take place over there so we may be able to hook up then. :cool: Hopefully you'll be around then and not in Hungary.
 
So yesterday I was able to finally register the car in my name, and the traffic authority guys said it's ok to drive it, so starting today it's actually my DDer.

More old-car-niggles in the SEL:
-> Forgot to mention it has a cranky neutral safety switch so sometimes (about once every tenth start) I have to take it out of park to start it. The neutral safety switch is a common problem and the part is less than $100. It broke on my red car too, at less than 180 000 km.
-> It's supposed to have air conditioning but the seller said the compressor is stuck. So yeah, no way to tell what actually is wrong with it, all I know is: the belt that drives the AC has been removed and I've never really needed AC anyways.
-> I was able to test the rear window heater on Sunday evening since it was foggy, it heated the top half of the window, so better than the SEC but still broken... not a huge deal to me.
-> Driver side seat heater only heats my ass, the backrest stays cold
-> Passenger side latch for the hood is very dry, it tends to not catch unless it's been used recently, it starts working again when WD40 or CRC is applied
-> Passenger side bulb of the gauge cluster is blown
-> Light switch bulb is blown too
-> Air recirculation does not engage in the 0.5 / 4 position of the blower, but engages in the faster modes, including 1 / 4, so again not a huge deal but interesting because it does engage at all speeds in the SEC.

So yeah, all in all, pretty typical stuff for any 80s MB. :p Just need to work out the kinks systematically.
 
This car is amazing. Once all the niggles are sorted it would have to be one of the best DDs around, love it.
 
Oh

my


GAWD!


:wub::wub:

It looks utterly fantastic on the inside and out (but especially that interior). Congrats. I think between this and your other car, you may have won Final Gear.
 
It looks utterly fantastic on the inside and out (but especially that interior). Congrats. I think between this and your other car, you may have won Final Gear.

Meh, I think the 60s car guys still have me beat :mrgreen: Thanks everyone yet again.


So today I adjusted the passenger side hoodrest. This apparently fixed the hood not latching shut on the passenger side because after adjusting it worked great.

Yesterday I got the Becker wired to speakers and so the center console is finished until the next head unit. I now have sound in 4 speakers, hurray!

Also, lubed all door hinges and lock mechanisms. And vacuumed all the installation crud out of the car.

And filled up the ZH-M reservoir (rear suspension fluid) with Bilstein ZH-M, 10 euros for 1 litre. The SEL took 7 dl and the SEC took the remaining 3 dl. This left both reservoirs at optimal level.
 
So another really productive day today, I was able to find a fix for both the choppy idle and the lazy gearshift.

The idle problem went away simply by changing the EHA. So yeah, I have a broken EHA for sure. Again there is no leakage but it appears the EHA can really break without visual evidence of that happening. I just bolted on a loaner EHA and started right up to a very smooth idle (compared to how it was previously). So now I have a new EHA on order directly from Bosch in Germany which set me back 275 EUR.

I still had some minor vibrations from the engine on D when stationary, so I decided to look inside the distributor cap in case there was carbon buildup. Here's what greeted me in there...


DSC_0146 by jkohvak, on Flickr

It looked really nasty, there was both a thick layer of oxidation and "icicles" of carbon on the electrical contacts. I filed until I had a bright surface


DSC_0149 by jkohvak, on Flickr

I also filed the contact surface of the rotor


DSC_0148 by jkohvak, on Flickr

Then put it back together and test drove the car, to find a very satisfying result; I now have almost a silky smooth idle. The engine feels great. I think it's as good as an engine with this many km can ever feel. You can hardly feel it running unless you really stop for a while and feel it out.

Getting to the distributor cap is a chore on one of these compared to the M117 engine. The straight six is very long, and the distributor is mounted on the front face of the engine... so you can barely fit your hand between the fan and the distributor cap. Loosen the bolts and the fan can no longer rotate without hitting the dizzy cap. So yeah, getting it out was a challenge. This is not made easier by the third bolt holding the cap on, which is located at 180 degrees, so you have to fit your hand between the fan blades and the dizzy cap, while aiming your hex driver at the bolt which you cannot see while your hand is in there.

But eventually it comes off and can be worked on without removing the fan or the spark plug wires.


In order to change the EHA I took the air filter casing out. Curiously, on a straight six engine, the lid is held on with I think 8 (!) really tight clip-on fasteners and 4 locking nuts. Overkill much? Anyway, after taking the casing out, I could see the Bowden cable which I'd been looking for:


300sel_bowden_cable by jkohvak, on Flickr

It's plastic and lurks just above the intake manifold and behind the airbox, kind of where I'd looked before but not quite. You just turn the plastic tightener with your average wrench and this loosens or tighens the Bowden cable. About 5mm, like you see in the photo is plenty of travel for starters. Of course in the 300 engine it turns out you work the Bowden cable opposite to the M117. So loosen to shift late, tighten to shift early.

Now, after adjusting the Bowden cable, I've got smooth gearchanges, while still torque-accelerating, below 2000 rpm. This fits my driving style perfectly so I'm happy with how the adjustment turned out.


Overall engine bay pic


DSC_0144 by jkohvak, on Flickr

There was a lot of dust under the air filter casing, and the nuts were almost welded on, so I don't think anyone's been in there for years. I pretty happy with having now sweet-talked most of those nuts and bolts, and I'm considering steam-cleaning the engine at some point...
 
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