OWNER LWB250 (E420)

[LWB250]

Just bought a 1995 E420 from a forum member. 113k, silver, very nice. So nice I have a minimal amount of stuff to do on it, which is really unusual, or so it seems.

It left Columbus, OH on Friday night and arrived here in Tampa Monday morning about 9:30 am. Got it home and did the following:

Washed
Ran an SDS scan and cleared codes.
Needs air cleaner tubes, brake booster, idle speed switch (ASR), possible backup light switch, blower motor regulator, nearly all items identified by the seller, so no surprises.
Did some test spots on the roof where the paint has checked. Not sure how I'll deal with this just yet. I'm going to spend some time tomorrow trying a few different approaches. I have nothing to lose since the finish is pretty much toast.

A big "hat's off" to David, the seller. This has got to be one of the first Mercedes I've ever bought that didn't have the A pillar drains full of leaves and other cruft. They looked like they were new. Super clean car, clearly well cared for. It runs amazingly well, I'm really looking forward to getting it sorted and spending some time behind the wheel.

Thanks, David!

 

[Gatorblue92]

That’s a very good looking car and some pretty fast shipping getting it down to you. I’m guessing the auto transport industry is really hurting now and had the capacity?

Looks like the clear coat on the roof is cooked?

 

[LWB250]

The car is super solid, more so than any W124 I've previously owned. Sadly, the clear coat on the roof is, in fact, cooked. I'm spending the day today determining how I'm going to deal with it. I figure nothing I do can hurt it...

One thing that has occurred to me is to consider going to one of the "wrap" guys and seeing if they can match the color. The worst of the clear coat failure is on the roof between the trim strips, so it would be a no-brainer to put some vinyl wrap on it to cover the failed clear coat. I can't imagine it would be expensive, and it would make the car look a lot nicer. And it's reversible so when the time would come to paint it the stuff could be easily removed. Hmm.

Picked up Friday evening, at my doorstep Monday morning, Columbus, OH to Tampa, FL. Not bad. My transport guy says the business isn't bad right now. He said that a lot of the individual shipping has gone away as people aren't moving, but that dealers are still actively moving cars around so that part of the business is still active. The company that brought my car down had a full double carrier, my car was 7 out of 8 they hauled on that load. They must have done a split somewhere along the line, as the last mile was on a four car trailer pulled by a pickup truck. It was full, too.

Thanks!

Dan

 

[sheward]

A W210 I have has hail damage on the roof. I'm going to perform the corrections and my local paint shop is going to spray it for $150. I was going to have a wrap applied until I learned they would spray it so cheaply.

drew

 

[LWB250]

A W210 I have has hail damage on the roof. I'm going to perform the corrections and my local paint shop is going to spray it for $150. I was going to have a wrap applied until I learned they would spray it so cheaply.

drew

Good to know. I might look into that.

The damage on the car's finish is limited to the roof and areas above the doors. Essentially, the complete roof both inside and outside the trim strips. There's some cracking and crazing on the C pillars, too, so it would probably make sense to just have the whole roof and pillars painted. If that was done the exterior would be pretty much perfect.

Thanks!

Dan

 

[sheward]

Ahh, the areas outside the drip moldings make for a different repair, but still affordable.

drew

 

[LWB250]

Here's some garage porn - Xentry/SDS on steroids! Finally found the VGA cable I needed to connect my 60" TV in the garage to my STAR laptop. Now I just need to get my mini-split installed so it's comfortable in there year 'round.

Dan

 

[a777fan]

Dan! Nice twinsie find. As always, I am jealous of the bun warmers.

My 744 is also afflicted with the dreaded 'checking' of the clear coat over many of its surfaces. It lead most of its life in the sunny central California. I'll be curious to hear more about what solution you end up pursuing here.

 

[sheward]

I like the custom tool box!

drew

 

[LWB250]

Dan! Nice twinsie find. As always, I am jealous of the bun warmers.

My 744 is also afflicted with the dreaded 'checking' of the clear coat over many of its surfaces. It lead most of its life in the sunny central California. I'll be curious to hear more about what solution you end up pursuing here.

When and if I decide to do something about it I'll most likely have from the roof to the base of the pillars painted, unless a full repaint would be incrementally more. Understand that if I had a repaint done I would strip all of the trim and body cladding off the car before it went to the paint shop.

This is a decision that is probably several months out, of not more. I need to get the brake booster replaced so I can just drive the thing to begin with...

Dan

 

[LWB250]

I like the custom tool box!

drew

Thanks!

I made that roll around box many years ago when I had a woodworking shop and built hardwood furniture. Don't have to worry about it rusting...

Dan

 

[744Brillantsilber]

Beautiful! The silver with grey leather looks awesome!
And that Xentry, oh boy

 

[LWB250]

Got my first pile of dealer parts Thursday. A nice little cache of stuff. First to be addressed, right front sway bar bracket as the old one was broken:



That was easy. Next, air inlet tubes:


Interesting use for a Solo cup I've never seen before.

This is a big one for every Mercedes I own. Get rid of that @%^# oil filler cap that requires 100 foot pounds of force to unscrew and replace it with the later version that has a much larger handle:



Nice. No more swearing and use of Channelocks to remove the oil filler cap.

Quick and easy, the headlight assembly upper mounts, often damaged or broken off. I was missing one and the other was damaged. Press in and turn:



Next, air cleaner seal. These things are always fossilized, sometimes so badly they shatter when you remove them. This one wasn't, but it had definitely lost all of it's elasticity:



One of my personal favorites and a must-do for any old Mercedes new to me. A new key and ignition cylinder. I bested my install time on this one to slightly less than two minutes. Note that I have a black mark on the tool to show when the tool is inserted far enough to engage the release on the cylinder:



A couple more things that were more in-depth that I'll document either here or in a DIY thread - trunk lid bumper stops and power steering fluid and filter replacement.

More fun today with the remaining parts I got. Stay tuned!

Dan

 

[nocfn]

Very good. The pics are small and cannot seem to enlarge them for some reason. What is the PN for the airbox seal? It is a good order add on for future.

 

[gerryvz]

@LWB250 -- would it be possible for you to send one of those headlight brackets to the seller of the recently ended BaT 500E, which was missing one of them? It seems his "well touted" car was missing some really basic parts, evidence of sloppy care and preparation, and this part was one of them.

It was detailed in the "punch list" here.

 

[LWB250]

Very good. The pics are small and cannot seem to enlarge them for some reason. What is the PN for the airbox seal? It is a good order add on for future.

Sorry about that. I had to tweak my picture exports so they would be larger. You can click on them and get full size images now.

000 094 17 60 is the airbox seal part number.

The airbox seal is a big one. I've had them be so hard they either shatter into pieces when you try to remove them or, in a worst case scenario, they actually fuse to the ridge they mount on and break it off when you remove them. That is not good. This one was hard, but not shatter hard, thank goodness.

Dan

Gasket, Air Filter, VLRUB 000-094-17-60 | MB OEM Parts

000-094-17-60 - Gasket, Air Filter, VLRUB

www.mboemparts.com

 

[LWB250]

@LWB250 -- would it be possible for you to send one of those headlight brackets to the seller of the recently ended BaT 500E, which was missing one of them? It seems his "well touted" car was missing some really basic parts, evidence of sloppy care and preparation, and this part was one of them.

It was detailed in the "punch list" here.

Yikes! My first parts order out the door was around $400 on this car, and none of it, except the front sway bar mount, was mission critical stuff. It was little detail stuff that I expect to replace to make the car nice and complete. Well, about $85 of that $400 was a spare voltage regulator for the shelf, so it wasn't totally stuff that was needed...

That list is the start to the $10k of deferred maintenance, right?

Today I'm thinking about tackling the blower motor regulator. It would be nice to have some airflow out of the ACC besides the "low" setting that it's stuck on.

Dan

 

[gerryvz]

I'm getting ready to publish the parts list for my E500 Top-End Refresh on that thread, as soon as the final parts order comes in. $400 is just one of four major parts orders I've made. Then there was the $379 Don Roden bill, and several smaller orders.

Yep, the $5/10K GVZ Rule certainly holds true, particularly when you factor in $100-120 an hour for your labor.

 

[Jlaa]

This is a big one for every Mercedes I own. Get rid of that @%^# oil filler cap that requires 100 foot pounds of force to unscrew and replace it with the later version that has a much larger handle:

View attachment 102384View attachment 102385View attachment 102386

Agreed! I hate that oil cap. I should change mine. A 000 010 13 85 correct?

Today I'm thinking about tackling the blower motor regulator. It would be nice to have some airflow out of the ACC besides the "low" setting that it's stuck on.

Do it! Don't break the white plastic fork clips. Also please report back if you still have all of the flower bolts.

 

[LWB250]

Agreed! I hate that oil cap. I should change mine. A 000 010 13 85 correct?

Do it! Don't break the white plastic fork clips.

Yes, that's the number. I usually keep one on the shelf - I got caught this time. They're SO much easier to use. I wonder what to do with all the old ones, I hate to throw them away.

White plastic fork clips? I've read through the DIY on this and done it several times on an R129, which is very similar. What/where are the white plastic fork clips?

Thanks!

Dan

 

[Jlaa]

Yes, that's the number. I usually keep one on the shelf - I got caught this time. They're SO much easier to use. I wonder what to do with all the old ones, I hate to throw them away.

White plastic fork clips? I've read through the DIY on this and done it several times on an R129, which is very similar. What/where are the white plastic fork clips?

Thanks!

Dan

Maybe the r129 uses these clips? OWNER - jlaa | Owners and Their Cars I don't have an r129 so I don't know. Does the r129 use the flower bolts? If your E420 still has them then score!

 

[LWB250]

Maybe the r129 uses these clips? OWNER - jlaa | Owners and Their Cars I don't have an r129 so I don't know. Does the r129 use the flower bolts? If your E420 still has them then score!

No flower bolts on the R129 that I know of, nor these clips, but then again they could have been missing, too. I'll look.

Dan

 

[nocfn]

Thanks for the PN Dan.

 

[gerryvz]

Did someone say flower bolts? I've two of them if anyone needs some.

 

[LWB250]

Thanks for the PN Dan.

You're most welcome!

Dan

 

[LWB250]

3/4 of the way through the blower regulator replacement. Definitely more involved than the R129 although there are similarities.

Is Bosch the OE regulator? I ask because mine was a Bosch part.

I took a very different tack than most. Here's the deal:

I bought one of the Chinese/Taiwanese/import regulators. Before everyone starts to nail me up over this, read the whole post. I've successfully used these in the R129 and a couple other cars without fail for almost six years in Florida. Understand that short of being in the Middle East or Equatorial Africa, there's probably no worse environment for air conditioning duty cycles. That is, probably 90% of the time the car is running, AC is likely on. The wife, primary driver of the R129, is NOT happy unless there is a "portal to the Arctic" in the center of the dash, to give you an idea of what her system gets put through. There's a trick to using these successfully, I believe.

CPU grease.

Yes, the really good stuff like Arctic Silver, with metal infused into the grease.



I remove the imported regulator from the heat sink and clean it. What I almost always have found is that they use lousy cheap white silicone grease, and don't do a good job of spreading it around. For example:



In fairness, I had already cleaned off the heat sink of the regulator, but if you look closely at the heat sink it came off of you can see the inconsistent spreading of the grease.

I have no idea what sort of gyrations are required to remove the OE heat sink but after about five minutes of trying, I tossed in the towel and just removed the old regulator from the heat sink and left it in place. I greased up the new regulator carefully, using a toothpick to spread the grease as evenly and consistently as possible over the whole heat sink of the regulator.



Using the original hardware, I installed the new regulator and tightened it down until I saw a consistent bead of grease squeezing out. This tells me I've gotten contact across the whole of the device. With the cover still off and everything connected, I ran the ACC to check blower speeds. All is well and as expected.



And then I start reassembly. Before doing so, I cleaned and lubricated the fan motor and bushings. Definitely spins much better than it did. It appears to be the original motor and fan.



I stopped here so I could wash off and detail all of the remaining cowl drain pieces before reassembly. They're drying off while I write this up and catch some dinner. After dinner I'll finish reassembling everything and be done for the day, now with AC that BLOWS!

Dan

 

[gsxr]

Looks good, Dan. So the Chinese regulator is screwed to the heat sink? What brand / part number did you buy?

The KAE regulator of the matching/original part number can't be easily removed from the heat sink; so that's a no-go.

Oh, and yes, Bosch (France) is OE.

 

[LWB250]

Looks good, Dan. So the Chinese regulator is screwed to the heat sink? What brand / part number did you buy?

The KAE regulator of the matching/original part number can't be easily removed from the heat sink; so that's a no-go.

Oh, and yes, Bosch (France) is OE.

Amazon.com: Bapmic 1248212151 A/C Fan Heater Blower Motor Resistor Regulator for Mercedes W124 E300 E320 E420 E500: Automotive

Yes, the Chinese regulator is screwed to it's heat sink with socket head cap screws. The device was ever so slightly "higher" as in it sat farther up on the heat OE sink than the OE part did by maybe a few thousandths of an inch, enough to create some interference with the bracket but not enough to warrant having to modify it. I loosened the heat sink mounting screws, mounted the device, then tightened the heat sink mounting screws up and all appears to be well. Worse case it would have been fairly simple to enlarge the mounting holes just a little and it wouldn't have been an issue at all.

I'm willing to be a guinea pig on this. Since the car isn't a daily driver and now that I've done the job it will go quicker should there be a next time. Hopefully not.

Dan

 

[gsxr]

Hard to argue with $30 for cold AC!

Do you have a DC clamp ammeter? If so, can you measure current draw (at the strip fuse) on high speed fan?

 

[LWB250]

I'll check the current draw tomorrow, Dave.

You may now all have a collective chuckle at my expense...

I got the cowl all put back together. Jump in the car, turn on the key, check the fan and it's working through all of it's paces. Try the wiper to make sure it's working properly and clearing everything as I lubed it while I had it off the car.

No wiper.

I forgot to plug the wiper motor back in...

So yes, I had to disassemble everything and get the wiper assembly out so I could plug it back in. Rest assured I tried it once I got it bolted back up.

Oy.

So a 1-2 hour job got another 30 minutes added on. On the flip side, I'm getting more adept at R&R'ing the cowl and wiper motor.

Good night.

Dan

 

[gerryvz]

I’m sure @The Emperor will force-choke Or lightning you for using Chinese parts. He does that kind of stuff.

 

[LWB250]

I’m sure @The Emperor will force-choke Or lightning you for using Chinese parts. He does that kind of stuff.

I am prepared to accept my abuse.



Dan

 

[LWB250]

Did someone say flower bolts? I've two of them if anyone needs some.

How much?

I discovered that my "flower bolts" have been replaced respectively with 1, a large Philips head screw, and 2, a plastic push-in rivet.

Clearly not the OE fasteners intended for such a location.

PM me on those flower bolts, Gerry. If they're not silly in price I'll probably take a set.

Dan

 

[gsxr]

1 large Philips head screw, and 1 plastic push-in rivet may be correct/original on facelift cars.

The screw is definitely OE. I can't recall about the rivet (vs flower bolt).

 

[LWB250]

1 large Philips head screw, and 1 plastic push-in rivet may be correct/original on facelift cars.

The screw is definitely OE. I can't recall about the rivet (vs flower bolt).

Interesting. While the bolt appeared to be the correct size, it looked sort of out of place in that location. Guess I'll need to find a mate - that means a trip to the Ace Hardware and their "Majik drawers"!!

The plastic push in rivet was clearly not correct. What group is this stuff in in the EPC?

Dan

 

[Jlaa]

Interesting. While the bolt appeared to be the correct size, it looked sort of out of place in that location. Guess I'll need to find a mate - that means a trip to the Ace Hardware and their "Majik drawers"!!

The plastic push in rivet was clearly not correct. What group is this stuff in in the EPC?

Dan

This is actually a horrible trick question. If you go to 124.034 / 82 / 090, you cannot always find the fasteners you need. Its the same for the .036 as well. In order to find some of the fasteners, you have to look under the 124.032. This took me a long time of searching to resolve. Even then, it is not clear to me what originally existed for the 124.034 purely by looking at the EPC. However I can say that the .036 definitely used flower bolts (by empirical observation, not by EPC as a definitive source.)

 

[LWB250]

Interesting. Of course, good old German logic plays out here when you realize that this part was considered an electrical "duct" and not part of the firewall or sound attenuation systems.

But since we're playing "Stump the EPC", here's one I haven't been able to locate as well. The pan head self tapping screws that are used to hold the cowl drains along the bottom of the windshield. Someone cut corners on my car and left a number of them out, so I'm short probably four of them. Yes, I realize I could probably find something similar at the Ace with the "Majik drawers" but I would rather use the proper fasteners.

Any chance you can identify those? I couldn't.

Thanks!

Dan

 

[Jlaa]

But since we're playing "Stump the EPC", here's one I haven't been able to locate as well. The pan head self tapping screws that are used to hold the cowl drains along the bottom of the windshield. Someone cut corners on my car and left a number of them out, so I'm short probably four of them. Yes, I realize I could probably find something similar at the Ace with the "Majik drawers" but I would rather use the proper fasteners.

Any chance you can identify those? I couldn't.

Do you mean these? 6 each per car.

 

[LWB250]

Do you mean these? 6 each per car.

View attachment 102451

Yup. I see that same screen but without 29 and 32 in the drawing, Hmm.

Thanks!

Dan

 

[gsxr]

The plastic push in rivet was clearly not correct. What group is this stuff in in the EPC?

However I can say that the .036 definitely used flower bolts (by empirical observation, not by EPC as a definitive source.)

I looked at over a half-dozen different 034's and 036's and found... nothing conclusive. HOWEVER:

It appears most 034's may have one Phillips-head metal screw on the passenger side, and one plastic retainer (either 1pc push-rivet, or flower bolt) on the driver side.

And, three different late 036's had Phillips-head metal screws on *both* sides.

This old thread never confirmed if the Phillips-head metal screw was p/n 007985-008188, and there's no photos on Google either.

Keep in mind that the fasteners used may vary between model years, and/or pre/post facelift, and even between 034 and 036 chassis.

IMO, about the only positive proof would be if an odometer buyer could post photos of these fasteners on no-mile cars, or try to find high res photos of no-mile cars where you can see these items. Either scenario is pretty unlikely.

 

[Jlaa]

Yup. I see that same screen but without 29 and 32 in the drawing, Hmm.

Thanks!

Dan

I know what you mean. If I look up my specific 500E, it does not show those screws either. So weird. I have been to this exact part of the EPC many times before which is how I just happen to vaguely remember this,

 

[LWB250]

I know what you mean. If I look up my specific 500E, it does not show those screws either. So weird. I have been to this exact part of the EPC many times before which is how I just happen to vaguely remember this,

Good to know. Sometimes the EPC makes me crazy. Thank goodness for folks like you, gsxr and my dealer parts guy who seems to know all the dark dusty corners of the EPC...

Dan

 

[LWB250]

I looked at over a half-dozen different 034's and 036's and found... nothing conclusive. HOWEVER:

It appears most 034's may have one Phillips-head metal screw on the passenger side, and one plastic retainer (either 1pc push-rivet, or flower bolt) on the driver side.

And, three different late 036's had Phillips-head metal screws on *both* sides.

This old thread never confirmed if the Phillips-head metal screw was p/n 007985-008188, and there's no photos on Google either.

Keep in mind that the fasteners used may vary between model years, and/or pre/post facelift, and even between 034 and 036 chassis.

IMO, about the only positive proof would be if an odometer buyer could post photos of these fasteners on no-mile cars, or try to find high res photos of no-mile cars where you can see these items. Either scenario is pretty unlikely.

I will say that the firewall or bulkhead has threaded inserts for bolts in both positions, so I don't think I could go wrong with another bolt of the same size. I just figured someone lost the original in the past and improvised with the plastic push rivet.

Hmm.

Dan

 

[gsxr]

I've seen enough of the identical-style plastic push rivets that I'm suspicious they were factory... time saving production item. But only on one side.

Hmm.

 

[northNH]

My ‘94 420 has two (2) correct-appearing Philips screws in the noted threaded positions;
My ‘92 coupe has two (2) flower bolts (which BTW come in at least two (2) different lengths) into similar non-threaded nubs.

Dan, I’ve got all those duct etc. screws, let me know...

 

[gsxr]

Forgot to mention - non-V8 cars may have plastic flower bolts, although facelift may be different...

 

[LWB250]

No work on the car today, getting stuff around the house done, but I did take time to drop the Special Edition wheels with their 10 year old Michelins off at my tire guy's place to have them busted off the wheels in preparation for refinishing. Slipped the guy $40 for his trouble (he has to pay about $4/tire for disposal.)

There's a wheel refinishing guy that's on my way to the office I'll swing by and see in the next week or two so I can get an idea of what it will cost to refinish these. They appear to be in good mechanical shape but there are a couple that have some scratches on them. This is not a near term project as I've got the nearly new snow tires on the 8 hole wheels I'll run out. At least I can get an idea of the cost so I can budget accordingly.

I need to find a good paint shop to look at the roof and pillars, too...

Dan

 

[LWB250]

Got my $72.53 bumper cover from CarParts.com today! Wife freaked out when she saw the box sitting in the entry. I told her it was for a dead body I had to dispose of soon....

Anyway, for facelift 034 owners, there's a pretty decently priced bumper cover out there for you that is made in Taiwan. I figured I would roll the dice and see what this was like, since a large chunk of my right lower bumper cover is... gone. Not there. Missing. So I really have little to lose with this.

My initial impressions are good. It's solidly built, the foam impact strips are there as are the embedded studs and nuts for fastening purposes. Finish is uniform and smooth. I have no way of checking fitment until I replace my existing bumper cover, but it looks right and has all the correct pieces including the tow hook cover and retaining straps.

I've posted some pictures below for your consideration. If you have specific questions or want closer pictures of a particular part or area, let me know. As I decide how I will approach the exterior refurbishment of the car I'll include the new bumper cover in my plans.

Dan

 

[Kyiv]

@LWB250, thanks for providing thorough updates. Interesting and educational read. Don't stop!

=========
Rabbi to Tora, as @gsxr to w124 Britannica, as @Jlaa to EPC

 

[LWB250]

Almost forgot - while I was replacing the blower motor regulator I took the opportunity to remove the cover from the windshield wiper and have a look at how well it was greased:



Yikes! What grease????

So while I had the wiper motor and mechanism out of the car, I chipped the minuscule amount of dried grease that was in the housing out and took the time to grease both the rod, rollers and guides. Put some drops of ATF on the pivot points of the linkage, too. Should be good for many more miles of wiping.

Got some good stuff from the dealer today. It's still in the back of my wagon. I'll get it out tomorrow and show it off.

Dan