The $400 400E

[gsxr]

Fastener is A0019885881.

 

[Beater400E]

I fully agree with your analysis. The thing that isn't making sense to me it that it won't slide back far enough to install a nut. In the picture above, you can see where it ends up. Totally possible that I've just done something wrong and that it should slide back far enough. Just making sure that's the case, and that it's not supposed to use some oddball recessed nut or something.

 

[Beater400E]

Fastener is A0019885881.

View attachment 174661

View attachment 174660

Ah ha! It is some oddball fastener!

 

[Beater400E]

Ok, long shot. Any chance anyone knows if that part is used anywhere on the w140? I have one sitting here ready to donate parts.

 

[Beater400E]

I'd like to formally place a curse on that engineer's children, and their children's children for the next 3 days. That was ridiculous. I'd rather do motor mounts than that. It's in, although I'm still missing that silly recessed nut thing. I'll track one down eventually.

 

[Beater400E]

Driver's side console carpet. I wonder what might be smeared all over that...

 

[gsxr]

Ok, long shot. Any chance anyone knows if that part is used anywhere on the w140? I have one sitting here ready to donate parts.

EPC says none on the 140 chassis, but there are other donors. Same location in all 124, but it's somewhere in the trunk floor on the W211. Won't find many 129's at the Jungle.

 

[Beater400E]

EPC says none on the 140 chassis, but there are other donors. Same location in all 124, but it's somewhere in the trunk floor on the W211. Won't find many 129's at the Jungle.

Thanks Dave. I'll add it to my list of stuff to be on the lookout for. For now I may just 3d print something.

 

[Beater400E]

Bam. Fits perfectly.

 

[Beater400E]

Well, 3 steps forward, two steps back. I'm finished with the interior for now. Got the car up on the lift and started working on the exhaust.

One of the exhaust flange bolts snapped on the passenger side. I have the whole exhaust system out, but I'm not having much luck getting this broken bolt out. I've welded a nut to the bolt stump 3 times. The first two broke off. The third ended up rounding off, and now the nut on the manifold is no longer captive in the manifold flange, meaning I'm fighting a rounded off bolt and an inaccessible nut.

At this point I'm considering pulling the manifold to deal with this on the bench, but I'm not sure how doable that is with the engine in the car.

Any suggestions?

 

[Beater400E]

Ok, I got lucky. I managed to sneak a 3 inch cutoff wheel on a right angle die grinder in and slice the welded nut in half, and then get and air hammer in and punch the whole thing out. Crisis averted.

 

[gsxr]

Glad you got it out! The nut on the manifold is replaceable... it presses into a hole in the manifold. Coat those bolts with anti-seize when installing.

 

[Beater400E]

I'm seeing part number 0009902552 for the flange nuts, which are square like the originals. Any reason I shouldn't run those?

 

[gsxr]

I'm seeing part number 0009902552 for the flange nuts, which are square like the originals. Any reason I shouldn't run those?

000-990-25-52 are correct for the exhaust manifold - and are not shown in the photo above. You may want to replace some of the other bolts on the exhaust system, if original, they are often in pretty bad shape. The square manifold nuts very rarely need replacement, which is why they weren't in the picture.

 

[Beater400E]

000-990-25-52 are correct for the exhaust manifold - and are not shown in the photo above. You may want to replace some of the other bolts on the exhaust system, if original, they are often in pretty bad shape. The square manifold nuts very rarely need replacement, which is why they weren't in the picture.

That makes sense. In my case, I'm replacing everything with new custom stainless components. I'll be using v bands in a few places to make the system removable, so I won't need to worry about OE hardware aside from thr manifolds.

 

[Alphasud40]

A word about stainless exhaust hardware. For any stainless on stainless fastening anti-seize is a must if you expect to take it back off. Even then it’s a crapshoot. Stainless and copper coated is a better way to go.

 

[Beater400E]

A word about stainless exhaust hardware. For any stainless on stainless fastening anti-seize is a must if you expect to take it back off. Even then it’s a crapshoot. Stainless and copper coated is a better way to go.

For sure. I've been down that road before. The only hardware there will be in this exhaust system are the manifold flange bolts, and the V band clamps. That's it. The V band clamps are stainless, and there's definitely a risk there, but I'll anti-seize them and if there's ever an issue they can easily be cut and replaced with new.

 

[Beater400E]

A competent welder I am not. But progress is being made.

 

[Beater400E]

With the car up on the lift I am again reminded that the forward subframe bushings are pretty crusty.

I've read all kinds of info on which replacement bushings to get, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what to actually order since most discussions either talk about NLA parts, or generic "tall tab" mounts. Genuine MB Sportline would be great, but are NLA. What is the best available option today, and does anyone have a part number and source?

From what I can tell, the two main options are Lemfoerder, or Meyle HD 1243500341. Same part number. Just different brands. The Meyle HD is about half the cost of the Lemfoerder. I know Meyle is one of those "avoid like the plague" brands, but Meyle HD is supposedly better.

So do I order the Lemfoerder for $63, the Meyle for $37, or something else?

 

[gsxr]

The smaller/forward bushings are only available in "short tab" as OE/Genuine. There are no Sportline bushings for these. The 'tall tab' is preferred, IMO, for a higher-power application (i.e., V8). The Febi kits had contained NOS/old-stock Boge tall-tab bushings with cheap hardware, but I don't know what you'd receive if you order Febi today. Might be worth a try?

1243500341 Lemforder is a short-tab kit that may or may not be OEM bushings: in the past these were OEM Boge Germany, today, I dunno. The Meyle HD may be cromulent, but photos online make them appear to be short-tab replicas, so I'd stick with OE/OEM if possible since the Meyle don't appear to offer any benefit.

Poking around Google, it appears the Febi kit for 1243500341 124-350-04-41 (tall-tab kit) is NLA from almost all vendors. (!!) This means there's faint hope the Febi kits are all old stock and might still contain the Boge tall-tab bushings (with cheap hardware). Unfortunately this will be a gamble, and I could only find a couple Febi kits for sale anywhere, and they were expensive.

If you don't roll the Febi dice, I'd go with either OE/Genuine ($83 @ Napsterville) or Lemforder ($43 @ RME). Oddly, you can buy the OE/Genuine kit components separately for less (~$45 instead of $83):

124-351-19-42 = bushing, short-tab, qty = 2, $11.12/ea
171-352-00-46 = stop plate, qty = 2, $6.29/ea
914125-012238 = bolt, qty = 2, $4.63/ea

Lots of photos / part numbers at this link.

 

[Beater400E]

The Meyle HD may be cromulent

One of my favortite words. Nobody ever gets that joke.

So this Febi kit may or may not contain the Boge tall tab bushings?:

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-febi-parts/axle-beam-mounting-kit/1243500341~feb/

If it does not, would they be quality short tab bushings? It would suck if the bushings I received were not only short tab, but were also poor quality. When we say the hardware is cheap, are we talking just the bolts, or also the stop plates? I'm ok with ordering hardware separately if it means getting better quality bushings.

 

[Beater400E]

Oof. That ECS listing shows an estimated ship date 3 months out. I'm going to guess it's not available. Dave, where did you find the Febi kit available today?

 

[gsxr]

One of my favorite words. Nobody ever gets that joke.

So this Febi kit may or may not contain the Boge tall tab bushings?:

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-febi-parts/axle-beam-mounting-kit/1243500341~feb/

Correct. The Febi kit 124-350-04-41 SHOULD have the Boge tall-tabbies, but around the time the Febi kits were disappearing, some vendors were showing new photos that had different-colored bolts (silver, instead of gold/yellow plated). This made me wonder if the kit contents changed. However, nobody has reported (yet) buying a Febi kit with anything other than Boge tall-tab inside. Note the ECS listing says estimated ship date of late December, which means they have none in stock... and you may never get them.

If it does not, would they be quality short tab bushings? It would suck if the bushings I received were not only short tab, but were also poor quality. When we say the hardware is cheap, are we talking just the bolts, or also the stop plates? I'm ok with ordering hardware separately if it means getting better quality bushings.

If the Febi kit has anything else, my guess is they might be aftermarket bushings. I really have no idea though. Worst case you could return them to the vendor if they aren't good enough to

NOTE: The tall-tab kit is 124-350-04-41, not -03-41! I will update the previous post. If you try the Febi, make sure it's the #04 kit. The last ones I purchased were in summer 2021.

 

[gsxr]

Random Google finds below that claims to have the Febi #04 kit - no affiliation, never purchased from any of these vendors:

FEBI BILSTEIN 124 350 04 41 / 1243500441 | German Auto Supply

FEBI BILSTEIN Subframe Mount Kit 124 350 04 41 / 1243500441

www.germanautosupply.com

Febi 124 350 04 41/1243500441 Subframe Mount Kit | CarPartsDiscount.com

Order new Febi 124 350 04 41 Subframe Mount Kit online at up to 75% off list price! Fast shipping, A+ rating from BBB, USA customer support.

www.carpartsdiscount.com

Febi 124-350-04-41 Subframe Mount Kit | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Febi 124-350-04-41 Subframe Mount Kit at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[Beater400E]

Thanks for the help Dave. I ordered the Febi 124-350-04-41 kit from Autoplicity.com for $81. We'll see what shows up. I'll be sure to post the details here when I get it.

 

[Beater400E]

Well, my eBay 124-323-56-85 sway bar bushings from Latvia never arrived. The seller had claimed they had shipped without a tracking number and that if they didn't arrive by October 4th to request a refund.

Pretty obvious that they never had them since they instructed me immediately after ordering how I could request a refund when they are not received.

The seller is "OE245" for any who care. Maybe avoid them. There are several negative feedback posts from people who experienced the same thing in the past.

 

[Beater400E]

Oh, and to call back to my complaints about FCP Euro from a few months ago, I finally had a normal experience with them. I ordered a few parts from them on Sunday with free shipping, and got notified early this morning that they had shipped. I guess my prior issues all stemmed from the fact that I had ordered parts that were not in stock.

 

[gsxr]

For the sway bar bushings, I found there is another part number that is 0.5mm smaller diameter (26.0 instead of 26.5). These should work fine on the 400E stock front sway bar, $6.66/ea at Napsterville:

124-323-55-85

It appears these are impending NLA, I don't know how many are left, but Rev Parts hasn't yet changed status to "Discontinued".

Thanks for the tip on oe245... I purchased one item from them in 2021 and although it was slow shipping, the item did eventually arrive ~6 weeks later. No tracking = highly sus.

 

[Beater400E]

I just received my subframe bushings. Looks like a tall tab design, but there is no manufacturer mark anywhere on the bushings. I'm assuming these are not Boge.

 

[Jlaa]

I just received my subframe bushings. Looks like a tall tab design, but there is no manufacturer mark anywhere on the bushings. I'm assuming these are not Boge.

View attachment 175083

View attachment 175084

View attachment 175085

View attachment 175086
View attachment 175087

Bummer. Boge Tall Tabs in Feb boxes look like this, and note the Febi box does not have the additional sticker that states "assembled in Germany from components in Turkey"....

 

[Beater400E]

I had swapped to the 294x25 brakes a few days ago, and now I'm having a problem. I have the car up on the lift working on the exhaust system, and I notice that the left from caliper is leaking brake fluid. It looks like it's leaking from one of the large hex socket bolts that bolts the two halves of the caliper together. Like, fluid is squeezing out from between the casting and the bolt head. These calipers came from RockAuto, and I'm sure I can have them warranty it, but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything. Anyone have any experience with these calipers? Anything I should be checking first, or is it just junk?

 

[gsxr]

Whoa! That's a first. Sounds like one of the O-rings between the caliper halves isn't sealing... either not seated properly, or the wrong size O-ring installed? Not much you can do other than take it apart yourself for inspection (would be interesting exercise before returning), or just exchange.

What brand was this, btw? Cardone, Centric, NuGeon, etc?

 

[Beater400E]

Whoa! That's a first. Sounds like one of the O-rings between the caliper halves isn't sealing... either not seated properly, or the wrong size O-ring installed? Not much you can do other than take it apart yourself for inspection (would be interesting exercise before returning), or just exchange.

What brand was this, btw? Cardone, Centric, NuGeon, etc?

These are Centric calipers.

 

[Beater400E]

Making it even more exciting is the fact that I've already sent my cores back, and they don't have any more of this caliper in stock. So my only option is to return for a refund and then have nothing as a replacement. Or I get to just deal with it myself.

 

[a777fan]

Dave would be able to give you more specific info, but just in case you decide to go at this yourself some info from when I redid my brakes on the 420, and debated splitting my calipers for further inspection…

The seals between the halves of brake calipers are typically ‘square’ cut seals, not your standard o-rings. I’ve heard these can be quite tricky to find in the correct size. I decided against splitting my calipers, so unfortunately I don’t have more specific info for you on the subject, but something to definitely look into before you dive in

 

[Beater400E]

The infuriating thing is that I had picked up a set of calipers from a junk yard, but noticed the piston dust boots were pretty crusty so I decided to get the reman calipers just to be prudent. Had I not done that, I'd probably have good calipers.

 

[asultan]

Making it even more exciting is the fact that I've already sent my cores back, and they don't have any more of this caliper in stock. So my only option is to return for a refund and then have nothing as a replacement. Or I get to just deal with it myself.

I would try calling them and having them manually check their distributor list, and then also find viton brake fluid approved o rings and maybe reseal if not

 

[Beater400E]

I would try calling them and having them manually check their distributor list, and then also find viton brake fluid approved o rings and maybe reseal if not

I'd love to, but RockAuto does not have customer service over the phone. You have to use their automated self-help website, which gives me no option other than to return for a refund.

 

[asultan]

I'd love to, but RockAuto does not have customer service over the phone. You have to use their automated self-help website, which gives me no option other than to return for a refund.

not sure if this is useful but 1-608-661-1376 is an associated phone number.

EPDM o-rings:

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

 

[gsxr]

There's a slight chance it could be a mis-aligned O-ring. It won't hurt anything to open it up, of course the hassle is finding a way to tightly seal the brake hose fitting while the caliper is off - know of any source for screw-on caps?

If you find a wrong or damaged O-ring, you could scrounge for a donor at the Jungle and just raid the O-rings. I don't think they need to be new, just the correct dimensions, so a caliper from a different year/model might have something suitable. I wonder what brakes are on that S600 at the Boise location (powertrain & modules all gone, most of the rest is still there).

 

[Beater400E]

not sure if this is useful but 1-608-661-1376 is an associated phone number.

That is the corporate office phone number. I called and got a recording saying no customer service is available at this number.

 

[Beater400E]

There's a slight chance it could be a mis-aligned O-ring. It won't hurt anything to open it up, of course the hassle is finding a way to tightly seal the brake hose fitting while the caliper is off - know of any source for screw-on caps?

If you find a wrong or damaged O-ring, you could scrounge for a donor at the Jungle and just raid the O-rings. I don't think they need to be new, just the correct dimensions, so a caliper from a different year/model might have something suitable. I wonder what brakes are on that S600 at the Boise location (powertrain & modules all gone, most of the rest is still there).

I think this is the route I'm going to take. I still have the stock 295x22mm calipers. I think they MIGHT use the same O-ring. Nothing to lose by tearing it apart to check. I'll figure something out to cap the line. Maybe an ear plug.

 

[gsxr]

YES! It is very, very likely the 295x22 use the same size O-ring... those are definitely potential donors. I'm hoping you will open it up and find a clearly visible fault, when compared to the old 295's.

 

[Beater400E]

Hang in there little ear plug.

 

[Beater400E]

This is what I get for painting my calipers. I should have known better.

 

[Beater400E]

For frog snacks. There is no seal. There's some grease, but that's it.

 

[Beater400E]

The 295 calipers DO have the same seals.

 

[Beater400E]

The obvious next question is, do I pull the other caliper off and blow it apart to check and make sure it has the seals in it?

 

[asultan]

Thr obvious next question is, do I pull the other caliper off and blow it apart to check and make sure it has the seals in it?

If they were installed at the same time and the other one doesn’t have the same seepage, i’d call it good likely a manufacturing error

 

[Beater400E]

If they were installed at the same time and the other one doesn’t have the same seepage, i’d call
it good

The lazy man in me likes your optimism.