1972 Mercedes 280SE 4.5 - Sold :/

There's recently been an inquest in Bristol about a fatal crash on the M5 where a transit had a blow out with a tyre that was 20 years old (some of these facts may be a bit wrong, going by memory). The van had passed a MOT just before the crash.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-47387676

OK I was a bit out...

The like is for the fact that you have taken the time to hunt the information out and post it to the thread and not that I like to read of any accident that leads to injury yet alone fatalities - non the less a minority of vehicle owners continue to run their vehicles on dead tyres that the rest of us would not dream of fitting to our motors - Apologies 'ChasR' - back to getting your lovely Merc on the road

Those wheels just do it.

It might be worth checking the seat on the Bundt wheels
a lot of Mercedes use a ball seat on the wheel bolts not
a taper I would hate a wheel to come lose on you
Graeme Johnson

Cheers all!



A good point well made! I did check the seats of the wheels first. Being ATS Bundt wheels, it seems these have taper bolts fitted. Annoyingly, I bought a set of taper seat bolts for the similar reasons you mentioned, until I inspected the wheels further. The seat was confirmed as being a taper by my tyre fitter as well as Midland Wheels in the end .

To my knowledge, I don't think Mercedes made a 15" Mexican Hat. ATS and a couple of other German manufacturers did make them, and apparently, there are Chinese 15" Bundts out there too, but they look different to the German items.



Many thanks! Sometimes, you forget what you have done on the car.

But about the car, it passed! Was I pleased? You bet!

With that, I didn't hesitate with sending away the paperwork to register it!

However, I still have one issue that would rear its head again.

The washer pump. Sure, it was electric and the car passed the MOT with but, it seemed quite temporary, even with the installation of it! It even stopped working. The motor was working but the jets weren't really squirting anything!




But, at the least engine looked a little beasty right? With a parcel arriving, I went to the back of the car, and opened up the boot. Oh, and figured I'd grab a shot :








So, despite the electric option showing promise, I ordered the correct kit. What does a pricey washer pump repair kit look like I hear you ask. No? Alright, well, this is what it looks like:




As said, I did still have alot the bits that I could savage from my setup, including the reservoir, the pickup pipe, the curse word, and the pedal assembly as well. It's just as well as my bill would have been much much higher otherwise:



Ooooh! Shiny! The bellow on mine could have been repaired, but that check valve assembly will not work unless it is intact. It has a combination of a check valve and a ball bearing that acts as a shuttle in the second chamber to pump the system up. But let's spare me boring you folks to death with the archaic operation of the W108 washer pump system. So what better thing was there to do? Assemble it!





Y'no how you see certain peeps advising that you get certain tools? Well, I do! I debated about getting an impact spanner for a while. To me, with their low torque rating they seemed like a waste of money, no matter how much Marty & Moog pimped them on Mighty Car Mods! But some things they stated did make sense! So when this Draper item came up for sale at the right price at the NEC Restoration Show, I had to buy it. At sub £100, I had to question if it was worth it. I'd soon find out just how worth it the wrench was! Even my local garage loves these!

With that in mind, I assembled up the washer system! After tackling a couple of blockages with an airline, the manual pump system works very well! It's also nice to not have a car which is permanently broken in key areas! All I had to do was to take a few shots of the car on the new wheels with the fancy camera! Better shors will arrive, but of course, I am now waiting on a final roadblock; the registration of the car! It's been over a week and the DVLA haven't touched my application. We shall see how that goes













Still, at least it looks alright eh?

Cheers! I was a little anxious as I had been slaving away on this!

As for the time frame to register it, the DVLA says 10 working days.

So, firstly, the car got an MOT! In Late March, I sent off the application to get it registered! After calling them once a week my response was getting nowhere. However, this week, I got a response from a lady who seemed a little more switched on! From previous operatives telling me that the application had not been started, I was greeted with being told that the car was now registered! Result!

However, they wouldn't give me the plate details. Not that it mattered, as they arrived yesterday! Great! I can now drive the car! But I needed some number plates making up. Black and silver items, especially with an import insignia on the back would take time to make up. Thankfully, a friend of mine came to the rescue, with a kit he had. The downside? Well, it's an upside to some on here is all I shall say.











So, the plate up front was a Nigel Farage edition, and the rear was the right shape. For super cheap/free plates, beggars cannot be choosers! And at least I could drive the car about eh?

Even with it doing a guestimated 15MPG it still didn't stop me clocking up 100 miles without thinking about it! Surprising I know! Besides going for a waft around town I ended up taking it to Caffeine & the Machine!



If that wasn't enough, I also did the Butty Run in Long Itchington. It's fair to say the car got a warmer reception than I anticipated!



Is there still a way to go with this car? Yes, but I'll get there slowly but surely! At least a slumbered beast has been awoken again for the first time in a while .

God to hear it all came through what’s it like driving on the road?

Lovely, but have I missed something? What is the connection to Carlisle?

So, it's been a while since I've been on here! But they have been car related! While work has been busy I've also been:

-Trying to sell an old man's Audi A3 PD TDI DSG with limited success ; he bought it as a trial to see what diesel power was like.
-He ended up buying a BMW E61 535d Touring! I turned the car down from a good RR friend of mine, so he's taken it. While he's been away, I've fitted two new tyres to it, and changed the warped discs up front. I'll get the cash back, but it's cheaper than the Merc to drive! It's a lovely thing! I almost wish I told Rich that I'd buy it! But despite its cheapness, it was more than I was willing to spend.
-Acquiring a Mondeo 2.5t! That's in Heathrow at the moment as it's my dad's, but with two cars (M3 and 280SE) that will almost always require something doing to them under me, the Mondeo will make a great daily. Not boring enough to send you to sleep, but just about modern enough to be reliable. The latter was partly another reason I turned down the 535d; E61s aren't exactly known for reliability, as nice as they are!

That isn't to say I've been quiet! That Merc has had a couple of things done to it lately, but all shall be revealed soon!



It's an interesting one! Great overall!

Before another update comes it had a slight wallow on the back, in a very slow manner. It kind of suited the car but I wanted an improvement, mainly for cornering safety. The steering isn't the tightest thing but it feels great! It's not as quick as you'd expect for 211BHP, but then 1600kg with a 3 speed auto and a tallish diff won't make for that! It is swift however and builds up the speed quicker than you think! It's a lovely cruiser! I've ended up driving it around the countryside and through town for the hell of it! The Mondeo and 535d can cruise as well, moreso the 535d, but this 280SE just has a magic about it. More than my W124s did, but they still had a whiff of it .



Indeed! It's a US only model as well is the 4.5. No one else in the world would be daft enough to have a big-block M117 under the bonnet of a 280SE. Oh hang on, what did I just say?





That's done a 'where the gauge is measurement' and not a tank to tank. I will probably do a tank-to-tank with later plans . But, a big-block V8 with a 3 speed auto, in a car weighing 1600kg with the aerodynamics of a brick won't really help its cause, especially on D-Jetronic EFI. IIRC, the XJS with Lucas' licenced 'D-Jetronic' did around 8-12MPG average, even with a manual 'box. It was only the Hotwire/HE cars that got better here .

There's been changes with it as Matt is aware, but I'll come to that later .