Well-kept examples and ageing restorations, including a rare 1978 saloon with its original round headlights for £6995. Beware of cars with a taxi firm listed on the logbook, as they will have led a hard life. £2000-£4499: Solid, usable four-door and estate models with long MOTs and rust-free underbellies. £1000-£1999: Neglected saloons that need some welding and an engine overhaul at the very least, making restoration not a cost-effective prospect.
MERCEDES W123 PARTS MANUAL
A 1982 facelift brought various upgrades including power steering as standard, improved rear leg room, a driver’s airbag and an optional five-speed manual gearbox. Later models are, predictably, the ones to seek out.
Saloons usually had springs in the rear, but a dragging tail is a sign that SLS was specified. This requires specialist knowledge and parts fabricated. ■ Suspension: Estate cars have hydraulic self-levelling suspension (SLS) as standard, most of which will want an overhaul by now. Check for overly jerky changes and clunky shifts, which a vacuum control valve adjustment will usually rectify.
■ Gearbox: As durable as the engines but still require servicing and maintenance. Fabric upholstery is tough to restore, and the velour interiors are all but extinct now. ■ Interior: Not much trim is available now, but optional textured vinyl (MB Tex) is the toughest stuff around so should not suffer wear badly. Look for repairs to the wheel arches, door bottoms, battery tray and sunroof, and make sure the original rubberised chassis coating isn’t hiding anything serious. ■ Body: Rust is common on early cars because of quality steel shortages in the 1970s. Odometer is a known weak spot, so check that the seats and pedals are as worn as the mileage suggests. ■ Electrics: Check for vacuum leaks in the central locking system, which also locks the front seats in place. Look out for signs of timing chain failure. ■ Engine: Fuel injection cars can do massive mileages if they’re correctly serviced, but the extensive Bosch system rather inhibits engine access. The top-rung 280E’s straight-six petrol was said to be capable of pushing the W123 to 124mph, but beware earlier carburetted versions, which are thirstier than those equipped with the Bosch fuel injection system. The marketplace is mostly populated by 230E models, which, as the designation suggests, pack a 2.3-litre four-cylinder petrol motor with a healthy 134bhp, but there are plenty of less potent 200 examples still up for grabs. The handsome estate version – badged T for ‘tourismus und transport’ – is the most unattainable variant, prices now edging past what you might pay for a clean two-door ‘pillarless’ CE coupé, but the saloon is just about still within the realm of the casual enthusiast.
The car commanded a heavy premium over its rivals – a starting price of £8000 in 1979 translates to £41,000 today – but a large portion were run on a tight budget, and the results are plain to see today: available models range from basket-case barn finds (steer well clear) to concours cars that have been restored at great expense to their owners. Many are recorded as having covered upwards of 500,000 miles without much more than regular services, although the doorless 1983 230E that took James May across Botswana in a 2007 episode of Top Gear is probably a better known testament to the car’s durability.
MERCEDES W123 PARTS DRIVERS
0 kommentar(er)
