What is it?
It's a 1994 Mercedes, E280 automatic, W124 - otherwise known as the last proper Merc! It's in Smoke Silver (really beige) over Musselgrau - I'd say it's a terrific colour combination but that's only because my 190E is in exactly the same... It's for sale on behalf of the owner - conversation was basically "I'm going to work abroad, you like old cars, will you sell it for me?" - I will give as much detail as possible, anything I don't know, I will find out. It was also seen at the Gathering last year, with my 190, on the Grim Up North Stand!
Mileage?
It's done 191k or thereabouts - I'm using it occasionally to waft about in.
MoT and Maintenance?
MoT has just been done, runs out 24/09/2018 - needed two tyres and a track rod end to pass. (It actually got four new tyres, but that's by the by)
It's got a wodge of paperwork, including a full service book - I hesitate to call it full service history but it's certainly had plenty done.
Last oil & filter service was by me in May this year at 186k.
It had a coolant leak fixed by fitting a new radiator last year, and also has receipts for repairs to the fusebox, to fix an intermittent non-start issue.
What condition is it in?
Overall very clean, only one dent - however all four wings are showing signs of the dreaded rust. At this stage I'd imagine most can be saved by a competent bodyshop without replacing panels - photos of the edges are below.
There's also some lacquer peel around the aerial (which also has a split base), a couple of small cracks to the bumper, and some slight bubbling around a couple of edges - for example around the NSR light, and along the chrome boot handle. The leading edge of the bonnet has some small stone chips. Also the fuel flap is missing a small bung so doesn't sit quite flush.
I don't want it to sound terrible, I'd rather be as honest as possible - but at the end of the day, it's a 23 year old car with 191k on the clock, it ain't going to be perfect! With a good clean up, it still looks very well indeed.
What about the wheels?
All four were refurbed last year - however, one has started to bubble through again, only very minor, but noticeable. The centre caps are in terrible condition - however the sale includes a set of brand spanking new ones, for the new owner to fit if they do decide to redo the wheels. There are no kerbing marks, and as said, all are shod with new Hankook tyres.
...and the interior?
For an old, high mileage car, it's in good order - the centre console has very light scratching and the drivers seat has some signs of wear but is still intact - a very comfy armchair...! There is also a small burn hole to one rear seat, barely noticeable as it's the black cloth interior. It certainly doesn't appear to have done nearly 200k miles when you're sitting in it!
In addition, there are genuine deep pile (oooooh!) MB overmats, and then a set of rubber over-overmats, if you will.
I need some banging choons to go with the Racing Gold exterior - what's fitted?
There is a frankly awful looking Alpine stereo fitted, but it sounds OK, has Aux in and Bluetooth capabilities... and as befits a Mercedes of this era, is currently set to Radio 4. Archerstastic!
Any other bad points?
The rear wing aerial is a little temperamental - sometimes it will sit with the final portion sticking out, sometimes it folds away correctly. Probably a job for someone with better fine motor skills than I...
Anything else?
It has a set of fully legal, reflective, postcode'd, pressed plates fitted. Bonus retro points there.
Can we see it?
Photos will be added as soon as I manage to get them from phone to PC...
And to see it in person?
Please PM me if you're interested - if you have any questions, queries or idle musings about the car, post away and I'll answer them in topic for the benefit of the group.
About these photos...
Luckily I'm better with a socket set than a computer, but here goes... below are a few, including the worst of the arches and the lacquer peel, the full album is available here - www.flickr.com/photos/144915889@N03/albums/72157661211647528
IMG_20171005_171848226 by Pe Te, on Flickr
IMG_20171005_171908376 by Pe Te, on Flickr
IMG_20171005_171758466_HDR by Pe Te, on Flickr
IMG_20171005_172357439 by Pe Te, on Flickr (the worst of the arches)
IMG_20171005_172317178 by Pe Te, on Flickr
IMG_20171005_172724687 by Pe Te, on Flickr
It's a 1994 Mercedes, E280 automatic, W124 - otherwise known as the last proper Merc! It's in Smoke Silver (really beige) over Musselgrau - I'd say it's a terrific colour combination but that's only because my 190E is in exactly the same... It's for sale on behalf of the owner - conversation was basically "I'm going to work abroad, you like old cars, will you sell it for me?" - I will give as much detail as possible, anything I don't know, I will find out. It was also seen at the Gathering last year, with my 190, on the Grim Up North Stand!
Mileage?
It's done 191k or thereabouts - I'm using it occasionally to waft about in.
MoT and Maintenance?
MoT has just been done, runs out 24/09/2018 - needed two tyres and a track rod end to pass. (It actually got four new tyres, but that's by the by)
It's got a wodge of paperwork, including a full service book - I hesitate to call it full service history but it's certainly had plenty done.
Last oil & filter service was by me in May this year at 186k.
It had a coolant leak fixed by fitting a new radiator last year, and also has receipts for repairs to the fusebox, to fix an intermittent non-start issue.
What condition is it in?
Overall very clean, only one dent - however all four wings are showing signs of the dreaded rust. At this stage I'd imagine most can be saved by a competent bodyshop without replacing panels - photos of the edges are below.
There's also some lacquer peel around the aerial (which also has a split base), a couple of small cracks to the bumper, and some slight bubbling around a couple of edges - for example around the NSR light, and along the chrome boot handle. The leading edge of the bonnet has some small stone chips. Also the fuel flap is missing a small bung so doesn't sit quite flush.
I don't want it to sound terrible, I'd rather be as honest as possible - but at the end of the day, it's a 23 year old car with 191k on the clock, it ain't going to be perfect! With a good clean up, it still looks very well indeed.
What about the wheels?
All four were refurbed last year - however, one has started to bubble through again, only very minor, but noticeable. The centre caps are in terrible condition - however the sale includes a set of brand spanking new ones, for the new owner to fit if they do decide to redo the wheels. There are no kerbing marks, and as said, all are shod with new Hankook tyres.
...and the interior?
For an old, high mileage car, it's in good order - the centre console has very light scratching and the drivers seat has some signs of wear but is still intact - a very comfy armchair...! There is also a small burn hole to one rear seat, barely noticeable as it's the black cloth interior. It certainly doesn't appear to have done nearly 200k miles when you're sitting in it!
In addition, there are genuine deep pile (oooooh!) MB overmats, and then a set of rubber over-overmats, if you will.
I need some banging choons to go with the Racing Gold exterior - what's fitted?
There is a frankly awful looking Alpine stereo fitted, but it sounds OK, has Aux in and Bluetooth capabilities... and as befits a Mercedes of this era, is currently set to Radio 4. Archerstastic!
Any other bad points?
The rear wing aerial is a little temperamental - sometimes it will sit with the final portion sticking out, sometimes it folds away correctly. Probably a job for someone with better fine motor skills than I...
Anything else?
It has a set of fully legal, reflective, postcode'd, pressed plates fitted. Bonus retro points there.
Can we see it?
Photos will be added as soon as I manage to get them from phone to PC...
And to see it in person?
Please PM me if you're interested - if you have any questions, queries or idle musings about the car, post away and I'll answer them in topic for the benefit of the group.
About these photos...
Luckily I'm better with a socket set than a computer, but here goes... below are a few, including the worst of the arches and the lacquer peel, the full album is available here - www.flickr.com/photos/144915889@N03/albums/72157661211647528
IMG_20171005_171848226 by Pe Te, on Flickr
IMG_20171005_171908376 by Pe Te, on Flickr
IMG_20171005_171758466_HDR by Pe Te, on Flickr
IMG_20171005_172357439 by Pe Te, on Flickr (the worst of the arches)
IMG_20171005_172317178 by Pe Te, on Flickr
IMG_20171005_172724687 by Pe Te, on Flickr