OWNER JC220

[TerryA]

My GF stated yesterday "You have a problem with Mercedes" to which I replied, "No I dont, if anything I like them too much!"

This occured when I informed her that another Benz is going to soon be making it's way to my house via land & water

I will give more info on it when it is safely loaded and on it's way here. Dont want to jinx myself so to speak.

This is a beast of a benz. A teaser is it has 24 brake pistons, 24 spark plugs and over 800nm

I will be first to guess. Sounds S65ish to me!!

Anxious in America

lol

 

[JC220]

I will be first to guess. Sounds S65ish to me!!

Anxious in America

lol

Close! I wish it was a S65 but I may as well say it is a S600 Bi Turbo V12! It has the m275 engine which was also fitted in the Maybach models

The Mercedes-Benz M275 (and similar M285) engine is a twin-turbocharged and intercooled, all-aluminum, 60° V12 automobile piston engine family used in the 2000s to the 2010s. It is loosely based on the M137 naturally aspirated V12 sold between 1998 and 2002, and retains its SOHC, 3 valves per cylinder, twin-spark ignition layout, but differs with the addition of structural reinforcements to the engine block for improved rigidity which in turn yields greater reliability. Bore and stroke is 82 mm × 87 mm (3.23 in × 3.43 in) giving a displacement of 5,513 cc (5.5 L). Power output is 380 kW (517 PS; 510 hp) at 5000 rpm with 830 N⋅m (612 lb⋅ft) of torque at 1800–3500 rpm.

Full pics and introduction will come next week

It was the next model to choose My S classes were bought in the following order:

1. S280 low miler
2. S320 LPG converted
3. S430 W220 LWB
4. S500 C140 Coupe
5. S600 V12 Bi-Turbo

 

[JC220]

There is a short interlude at the moment as I clean and organise my main double garage. Its shelves and floor had became disorganised chaos and I really had to take into it! Getting all cleaned and sorted now each evening.

I want a nice clean organised area to start reassembling the m119 engine. The cylinder heads are back from the machine shop so photos of all of that will follow in a couple of weeks when it is ready to go back together. I will document the process in photos!

My S600 Bi Turbo is due to be loaded on the transporter tonight and should be here Saturday

 

[JC220]

The transporter let me down and the S600 won’t get here for a number of days yet Unfortunate timing since I am headed abroad for a few nights when the car is now due to arrive. I’ll have a friend go collect it on his lorry and bring to my house so I can see it as soon as I get home.

I have to say, I haven’t had as much hassle buying a car... ever. The seller in England really made things awkward and wouldn’t even speak to me on the phone once he had my money, very strange guy. I am convinced he wanted me to fail collecting it and he would have kept some or all of my money. I had a good few sleepless nights over the whole deal if I'm honest which wasn’t helped by the transporter also being 3 days late to uplift the car. So I was VERY relieved when the S600 was loaded and at least heading west to me – I no longer have to deal with the PO.

It will get the full JC220 treatment when it gets here! It was enthusiast owned and lots of posts about in on forums up to October 2018 when the current guy had bought it. I did my homework and found the details of the PO. I messaged him and he provided alot of great information on the car and the work he had done to it. It should be a well sorted car. There is some arch rust but these all have that and I will get that addressed and take it for paint at a local shop soon.

It has a misfire – which I will diagnose and repair. The V12 m275 coil packs are a single large unit per bank – and this is an extremely common issue so it doesn’t bother me, I will get it whatever is needed and make it run 100% in the coming weeks. The previous enthusiast owner had also done the 24 spark plugs and replaced one coil pack within the last 5k miles or so. So I am expecting to have to repair one coil pack.

 

[JC220]

Some pics the seller had, not great but hey lets call these "before" shots

 

[JC220]

I am just back from holiday and finally got to see my "New" S600

It's a great car! Very pleased with it. It has had alot of past maintenance done to it that makes me think it wont need much work at all. A nice original car too. I'll get decent pics soon.

I was itching to get it on Star and see how bad the missfire was. It is very soft and not noticable at all really only that I knew it was coming with this fault. Sure enough in Star one cylinder is showing misfire events. This is a good thing VS say one full bank logging misfire events. I know the Igniton transformer is likely to be AOK now. First mission is to fit new spark plugs and insulators to cylinder 9 just incase then if that fails - order the individual coil repair kit from V12icpack, Mercedes S600 ignition coil pack repair, ECU, misfires V12 engines - Home

This is the live data I recorded. If you listen carefully you can hear the turbos blow off the boost even at the 3k rpm limiter in park.

I cant wait to get this resolved and feel this car accelerate under full power

 

[JC220]

My S600 had some work done by me this week for MOT inspection and tonight it passed with zero advisories etc. Clean bill of health. I drove it too for the first time and the power and Torque is incredible. Insanely powerful car just couldn’t get close to having grip on cold roads tonight so left well enough alone.

The misfire is “only” occurring at full load on cylinder 9 after a few seconds of neck snapping acceleration. So I am content now to proceed with the 1x coil pack repair and my S600 will be A1. It is a tuned car as discussed on other threads - 578hp and 910nm. So far the car seems happy to me but I have obtained a copy of the original ECU flash should I want to revert to stock. So all good – the S600 is now a second (11th) car and ill drive it at weekends

 

[Jlaa]

I have to say, I haven’t had as much hassle buying a car... ever. The seller in England really made things awkward and wouldn’t even speak to me on the phone once he had my money, very strange guy...

C'mon, what did you expect. You bought the car from an Englishman.



Just kidding!!! Full disclosure - I used to work in an environment with a fair number of opinionated Scotsmen and Irishmen .... but no Englishmen.

 

[JC220]

C'mon, what did you expect. You bought the car from an Englishman.



Just kidding!!! Full disclosure - I used to work in an environment with a fair number of opinionated Scotsmen and Irishmen .... but no Englishmen.

I guess I should have been more diplomatic how I worded that! I am not at all suggesting it was anything to do with where he lived.

But rather that buying any car essentially from another country is difficult at the best of times without a seller deciding, for no good reason to not speak on the phone.

But the deal is done and ultimately I am very pleased with the car and it was described accurately. Indeed in many respects if he had of presented the car fully and accurately he could have got ALOT more £ for it.

 

[TerryA]

Joe Congrats!!

On adding the “BEAST” to your collection. I think it looks great except that some dumbass at the factory installed the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car

Now, Go out there and get that FIRST TICKET!!!

lol

 

[JC220]

Joe Congrats!!

On adding the “BEAST” to your collection. I think it looks great except that some dumbass at the factory installed the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car

Now, Go out there and get that FIRST TICKET!!!

lol

Thanks Terry!

Officer: "Is there a reason you were speeding today?"

Me: "Peer pressure made me do it!"

I had said I never got a speeding ticket before. This is not to say I havent sped before just that I havent been caught

 

[JC220]

My owners thread has been quiet of late but that doesn't mean I havent been busy

I'll post the short version for the moment- the S600 had some niggles so I got to work and carried out the following:

Replaced both cam cover gaskets. (Old ones were leaking and hard as plastic)
Replaced both engine mounts with Lemforder german made with MB star ground off This cured a persistent vibration / shaking especially when cold any wonder why-



This is a very difficult job on the V12 Twin Turbos. Imagine eating an apple through a letterbox difficult x10

Replaced 3 idler pulleys that were making a racket with INA OE parts



The water cooled 180amp alternator had a charging issue. So I pulled it and sure enough my rebuilder found a melted rectifer bridge and bad voltage regulator. So I had it fully rebuilt and put it back in.

Plus lots of other whilst in there jobs.

All back together and running tonight. Amazing car to drive - the power is brutal and unrelenting. This one might be named Goliath

Glad the S600 is back in service again so now I need to get that m119 back together for the S500. As soon as it is running I need to finish the E220 Coupe welding so my 500E can get its garage space back for winter.

 

[JC220]

Got started on putting the S500 Coupe's replacement 5L m119 back together today. New timing chain & guides installed and the timing cover put back on. This week should see this motor substantially back together I'll take pictures as I go

New O rings on the timing cover- (rtv to glue them in position) and new oil pump chain tensioner.



Engine block cleaned and ready-



All front replated bolts in and torqued to 21nm



I am using a hoist to lift the motor up to eye level which helped when installing the oil pump and faffing with its drive chain when putting the timing cover back on.

 

[JC220]

I have the correct head gaskets on order from my MB dealer and they should be here within 4 – 5 days. (Germany)

I am thinking about how to install the heads – with or without camshafts? I do not want to dismantle the camshaft advance adjusters. Timing chain is new IWIS one-piece type.

My thoughts are that for ready access to all head bolts including the ones at the front in the timing cover, I will install the heads with no camshafts and the crankshaft locked at 45btdc.

Then once all head bolts are torqued down, install the camshafts one by one starting closest timing chain from crank ensuring they are in the correct position timing wise and slowly tighten the bolts down evenly. This will include meshing the timing chain onto the gears during installation of the cams and using a wrench to hold the camshaft from inadvertently spinning when tightening.

I have photos of the camshafts locked with the timing pins before removal so I know how they should be orientated to avoid potential mistakes.

If anyone thinks this is a bad idea and I should install the heads with some – or all camshafts pre-installed please do kindly advise now!

 

[JC220]

I have since got both sump pans thoroughly cleaned inside and out and re-fitted back to the engine. The Oil sender was fitted with 2x new O ring seals and also given a little smear of sealant too just in case. The pickup screen and tube were of course renewed at the same time.



This was the motor that the PO had dropped a washer into the cylinder and had the lower sump pan loose. So I took no chances and verified that every internal crankcase bolt was torqued and not disturbed. They were all good thankfully.

I do regret not having the upper sump pan vapour blasted but I guess at the end of the day it isn't even visible when the car is all back together.

The thing about having the bolts all zinc plated is that you completely loose track of where they came from. So alot of time is being spent measuring and laying out bolt types to ensure they are going back in the correct spots all the while hoping I dont discover that they lost any on me. But so far so good.

I did take about 100 photos as the old engine came out that is essential!! I can now refit all little brackets and things following those. My head gaskets were delayed from Germany so it will be next week until they get here and the heads go back on.

A few more final parts need to go for vapour blasting and I hope they do it within a week or so and not delay for weeks like the last time.

In the meantime my ultrasonic cleaners are both working overtime to OCD clean all internal bolts and hardware in preparation for the heads. All laying out all orher engine parts in groups to see what else needs requires replacing or restoration work.

Lots of parts like the pulleys to get sprayed this weekend so more photos coming soon!

 

[JC220]

Recap, Before:



Here are my m119 cylinder heads back as they came back from the machine shop. They did the following work: (in no particular order)

• Exhaust valves and seats were all lightly pitted. These were re-cut.
• All valves were cleaned and walnut blasted to remove stubborn carbon.
• All valves were lapped and tested to ensure they were now sealing 100% with a vacuum tester and dye.
• All valve guides were checked for wear and were good.
• All valve springs were load tested and all valve stem oil seals are new.
• Ultrasonic bath for the heads.
• Heads were checked for flatness and were perfect. They did not require skimming and the machine shop advised against taking material off when it wasn't necessary.
• Re-assembly as seen below is how I got them back.

In the photo below you can see a green dye around the valve seat. This is on every valve and seat. The machine shop must have used this to verify the valve sealing also.



They are one of the best around and have done work for me for years. So this came in at £180 which I was very pleased with.

 

[JC220]

Then the bagged and tagged head hardware has been in my parts washer first then ultrasonic cleaners:



Each head bolt was measured and are actually all showing still as new spec at 160mm. Great condition and can be re-used. These items were re-bagged and labelled again and the bare steel bolts sprayed with a a light oil to prevent surface rust.

The final batch of parts were sent for vapour blasting and more will go for zinc plating next week.

Heads to go back on the motor this week and last orders put in for both final engine sundries and gearbox seals whilst it's out.

Feeling like it should be running within 3 - 4 weeks

 

[JC220]

I order to get the S500 running and drive it under my carport I am going to just cut the melted cats off. This will mean it will have only the downtubes with O2 sensor and no exhaust or cats after that. Besides V8 thunder there shouldnt really be a problem with that?

Of course it wont be driven in that condition and only to move into my carport to get it out of the rain.

The melted cats I might replace with new high flow universal items welded in. Or aftermarket replacement downtubes and cats assembly. (I wont be able to source good used here)

 

[JC220]

Some pictures of happenings tonight

 

[JC220]

Only had a couple of hours available tonight. Enough time to get the timing right

Installed camshafts one by one starting from the left cam and using redline assembly lube to keep things good until it pumps it's own oil eventually.

All worked out perfectly. This is a entire new IWIS timing chain, tensioner and all guides. The timing is spot on after several checks each time all 4x pins slot In perfectly zero stretch now at all.



Over the next few days the powedercoated cam covers and aqua blasted intake manifold etc will go on and it should be a smart looking engine.

I have also been doing work on the car itself. Using the opportunity now to access all areas of the subframe to wire brush with grinder, drills etc and POR 15 any small areas of surface rust in the engine compartment generally. All that is done just needs a final top overcoat of gloss black hammerite now. Not fun working outdoors at the start of winter but the Green Goddess must live again soon!

 

[JC220]

Valve covers on and just sat the intake on to get an idea of how it looks... manifold to be fully installed tomorrow and as many other bits as I can this weekend. More parts need painting etc but it's getting there.



Not perfect given that I didn't want to risk grit in the heads and block by having them vapour blasted too but it's a big improvement over the hulk that came out!



I will for sure one day in the next few years pull the motor in my 500E and give it 100% tear down & treatment. It wouldn't be much harder to create a virtually new looking m119 if everything was restored. But a heated garage is a must at that point to keep them that way.

 

[Duh_Vinci]

You do a beautiful work restoring all the MB parts to OE finishes!!!

 

[JC220]

You do a beautiful work restoring all the MB parts to OE finishes!!!

Thankyou DV! They dont make them like this anymore. In fact they really dont. Many bolts and fasteners on the m119 have been superseded for example, so restoring the original engine bolt set is something very much worth doing. That is why I try to always note what the original details and finishes were and try to keep to that as much as possible where practical

#LongLiveTheM119

 

[JC220]

I got the last C140 parts for the moment back from vapour blasting eventually.



And another batch of parts prepared yesterday and dropped off today for zinc plating. Mostly yellow zinc but some silver too.



I need to sit down when I have a couple of hours available and compile a final list of sundries from my dealer including transmission seals to freshen it whilst out.

After months of cleaning and restoring parts etc it will sure be nice to get the motor back into the green goddess.

 

[TerryA]

Joe,
You may think it doesn’t look perfect but it sure
looks perfect to me. Keep slugging you’l get there.

lol

 

[TerryA]

Joe,

You may think it doesn’t look perfect but it sure
looks perfect to me. Keep slugging you’l get there.

lol

 

[JC220]

Joe,
You may think it doesn’t look perfect but it sure
looks perfect to me. Keep slugging you’l get there.

lol

Thankyou for the comments Terry! Yes I guess the overal effect is pretty good. One day though I will re-create a new old stock M119 motor How cool would that be. My 500E has it's original number matching motor and trans. It would be very worthwhile doing a cosmetic revemp and re-seal on those. But that is a couple of years away if im honest my 500E is already a very clean example and doesnt really "Need" that at all. It's just something for me that would be really cool & rewarding to do and document.

The S500 feels like a huge project but now it is coming together nicely. I will give you guys a first starup video when the time comes - warts and all if needs be. Before I turn the key I will record and see what it does Who knows, it hasnt been on the road since 2009 so the old girl could well have (more) electrical gremlins too but time will tell.

 

[JC220]

Finally got my last zinc plating batch back (not all parts in the photo)



Fingers crossed my last parts order comes from MB before the holidays then this m119 gets the last push to completion

 

[JC220]

After many hours in the garage this weekend the S500 Coupe's Transmission has been re-sealed with all external plate seals etc renewed. I learned the hard way not to follow you tube etc in some areas but got there in the end. The trans is serviced, sealed and ready to fit now.



With only 75k miles the transmission was in great shape inside. Clutch packs were still tight and everything was clean with zero flakes of metal etc. I think this trans will be just fine.

I also received the new ignition leads and last parts for the engine itself so it is now on the final straight of assembly to get this done

 

[gsxr]

You aren't going to media-blast and polish the transmission exterior?

 

[JC220]

You aren't going to media-blast and polish the transmission exterior?

Good question Dave! As tempting as that was to have this vapour blasted as an assembly is too risky for grit ingress and potential for damage. The fine glass media does get into any seal or seem so for this type of thing it is simply too risky.

The transmission has been steam cleaned and that's all I'll do with it for this car as it's not a concours resto

 

[gsxr]

I was totally joking, Joe! But it would have been awesome if you did polish it to a mirror finish. Next transmission, right!

 

[TerryA]

That’s great Joe!

Good Luck with the final assembly. I hope all goes well for you.

 

[JC220]

Thanks Terry, just off work this minute so the fun begins!

I just love a good puzzle.... an m119 puzzle that is!! Part 402 is the intake manifold going back together

 

[JC220]

Intake on




The ETA was apparently pro rebuilt just before I bought the car so I re-used it in the hope it will be OK. The rubber breather hoses were dated 2015 so they had been replaced previously too.

Ignition system and cable ducts next. (The entire ignition system is new)

 

[JC220]

Happy Christmas to you all! I hope Santa brought plenty of m119 / w124 goodies

 

[JC220]

I received my 500E's Christmas present today



Thanks to @doolar for offering this for sale recently. I will make use of it this summer all being well

 

[doolar]

Thank you @JC220 for a very smooth transaction. Top man!

 

[JC220]

A little further forward

 

[sheward]

I get a good dose of satisfaction just seeing the assembly of all those clean parts. If I were a smoker i'd probably light one up after checking your pictures.

I had to settle for brushing some hi temp black on the exhaust manifolds while the engine was jacked up for new mounts.

drew

 

[gsxr]

Looks amazing, Joe! Random questions:

1) How did you refinish the intake manifold? Media blast? Paint? Both?
2) What paint was used on the exhaust manifolds?
3) If one were to look for local shops that could plate hardware, what would one ask for specifically? All that gold plating really makes it pop.
4) What brand ignition wires did you install?

 

[JC220]

I get a good dose of satisfaction just seeing the assembly of all those clean parts. If I were a smoker i'd probably light one up after checking your pictures.

I had to settle for brushing some hi temp black on the exhaust manifolds while the engine was jacked up for new mounts.

drew

Thankyou Drew - your smoking comment gave me a good chuckle in the garage

Looks amazing, Joe! Random questions:

1) How did you refinish the intake manifold? Media blast? Paint? Both?
2) What paint was used on the exhaust manifolds?
3) If one were to look for local shops that could plate hardware, what would one ask for specifically? All that gold plating really makes it pop.
4) What brand ignition wires did you install?

Hi Dave - thanks for your comments!

I shot blasted the manifolds to remove the old rust. Shot blasting is kinder to the parts VS Sand blasting generally FWIW. In particular if you want to have items re-plated never use sand blasting as it leaves too rough of a surface.

After shot blasting the manifolds were wiped down with brake cleaner and left on top of my house boiler to warm up and dry out.

Then I dunked the spray can in hot water before proceeding to spray. (Helps the paint flow much better In cold weather) It is a Graphite colour VHT paint.



I did consider Ceramic coating but no one offers that service locally in Ireland. And any places in England I did get prices from were looking over £500 excluding shipping so it wasnt worth it for me at this moment and time. E- tech VHT paints are good quality so it should last fairly well I hope.

Note also that m119 manifolds have very thin copper gasket rings between each clamp / "braclet" connector. I opted not to re-use these and instead applied a small bead of high temperature copper exhaust sealant at these locations.

For the plating - it is regular yellow zinc. Note that the items are first zinc plated silver and then an additional step is used whereby the parts are submerged in another chemical which imparts the yellow finish. Depending on how long they leave the parts in, the deeper the yellow /gold appearance. I don't get too hung up on this and simply ask for "Yellow Zinc". If we were really OCD the m119 would have only had a very light whiff of yellow on the zinc plating from the factory but the gold / yellow effect does look good. It also does add an additional layer of protection against the elements.

For the ignition wires I tried a new set from ebay by a company called Intermotor. I was pleased with the quality of leads that arrived especially for the price of £79! It is a full set inc. King leads and both the cables plus connectors appear good quality to me (I have seen alot of ignition cables in my years of tinkering and know a crap set when I see it!) The only complaint I would have about the Intermotor m119 Igntion cables is about half of them were too long! They can be tucked away and I've seen this same issue with other m119 sets but a PITA all the same.

 

[sheward]

I place my rattle cans on top of a space heater (oil filled) before use. The hot water tip is good!

drew

 

[JC220]

I have been working at this engine every day - it's amazing how the hours can rack up on a project like this! Yes I could have swapped the motor in a couple of days if it didnt turn into full resto mode.... each day
unearths more parts, brackets and bolts requiring degreasing, sanding, shot blasting, priming and painting but the end is in sight.

The transmission was mated back up this morning and the rear lower wiring harness etc re-attached to the engine. I then had to take it outside for space and lift it up on my engine crane to enable fitting of the transmission cooler lines, starter motor and all small brackets and plates etc. I was referring back to many photos and putting everything back exactly as it was before. The knock sensors were swapped from the original motor too since the replacement engine came with those wires damaged.

This ended up taking all day by the time I was satisfied all small bits were fitted and was making more repairs as I went. Such as a ham fisted prick mechanic before who had broken a metal bracket off the wiring harness tube rather than undo the bolt. So that needed test fitting and welding to make good followed by repainting it for example.

The good thing is this coupe came with all wiring harnesses recently pro rewired in Poland IIRC and to be fair they appear to have done a very nice job of that and added additional heat insulating sheathing too.

The m119 engine and trans really is a mammoth combo when you see it on a dolly! Very impressive lump compared to say a Ford Pinto it's like a lorry engine Very impressive right up until a wheel blew off my dolly and that too needed welding back on (I have a custom made a dolly for moving large engines and gearboxes. The Ebay 450kg each rated wheels are crap as one of those let go first. All will need uprating)

Only the power steering pump needs to go on the engine and its complete. The lifting chains and engine balancer are set waiting to hoist it into position now.

The S500 coupe first needs pulled back with another car due to its sheer weight and non running state, then this Saturday the huge lump will be dropped in and all connections to be made good for startup in the coming 10 days or so following installation.

The time expended has to be hundreds of hours on this engine so I hope it plays nice when installed. The bottom end I left alone so I hope I dont regret that decision but an m119 with a bad bottom end would be highly unusual.... only one way to find out soon I need to order new cats too but maybe I'll chop the old ones off as a temporary measure to enable starting it up

 

[JC220]

Fork it - I ordered new aftermarket Cats for my S500 Coupe for the least path of resistance for this moment and time.



A lick of VHT paint when they arrive and slap them on with the re-painted good original middle and rear exhaust sections. Eventually I will have a stainless exhaust system made for it at a specialist shop but that is years away. A new 02 sensor is ordered too no sense in swapping over an unknown old unit.

Happy New Year to all of you

2019 was a great year for the motley fleet it grew by 34 cylinders.... but 2020 will see no more buying unless something really special catches my eye like a Cosworth or r129...

2020 is going to be a year whereby I get as many projects wrapped up and on the road as possible!! Seriously its nuts to think of the work I need to do in the fleet.... best not to think about it and get one car at a time knocked out. S500 Coupe needs on the road first, then the 2x w220s need welding and paintwork done before a wedding in the summer then onto the 2no w124 coupes in need of extensive restoration

 

[a777fan]

Joe, been away for awhile here, but glad to see you are still at it. Its nice to know there are other nutters out there. Makes me feel much better about myself and my garage puttering!

Keep it up!

 

[JC220]

Joe, been away for awhile here, but glad to see you are still at it. Its nice to know there are other nutters out there. Makes me feel much better about myself and my garage puttering!

Keep it up!

Thanks trip! I'll keep an eye on your owners thread for the happenings

FWIW you could check back in 5 years and I'll still be here with the amount of projects lined up

 

[JC220]

The Green Goddess has a motor again!!





The engine bay requires more tidying up so far I've only done the subframe and side rails at the motor area. All minor rust scabs will be repaired and restored In the rest of the engine bay and all connections will be made during the next 10 days or so. Then it will be time to see if this car will run and move under it's own power for the first time since 2009

 

[sheward]

Looks primo! Is that car Spruce green?

drew

 

[nocfn]

fellow member in the MB Club here locally has a spruce W140 of the same year.