Hello from the U.S.

[Smalley]

Hey, I'm new here.

I disovered this forum from a link on another forum, and wanted to say you have quite a nice forum here.

Here is a pic of my car:

 

[Smalley]

Here is a pic of my new leather / wood steering wheel:

 

[Smalley]

Here is a pic of the SLK-style chrome shift surround and S600 wood / leather shift knob:

 

[Mikesmerc]

Welcome.
Nice car, like the grille. Non standard I presume.
Any one know if these are available in UK?

Rgards
Mike

 

[Smalley]

The grill is called an S600 style or Avantgarde-style grill.

I think they update the look of all W124's. It looks much like those on W210's, and is a much cleaner design than the grey-ish colored "egg-crate" grill that 124's come with.

I ordered mine online from a website in Germany. There are two websites that I know of. They are both ethical companies, and I know of many people here in the U.S. that have purchased from both companies:

www.matrixcar.de
www.eris-car.de

There is a company in the U.K. that sells these grills. I can't find the link on my laptop here at work, but I found their webiste on a Google search, and e-mailed them to see if they could sell one to me and ship it to California. They replied that they would do it for me, but their prices were much higher than the two websites above.

 

[Mikesmerc]

Thanks for that, will look in to it.

Regards
Mike

 

[Wafter]

Beautiful car Smalley
Is that a 'cup holder' to the left of the steering wheel? I ain't got one! And what is the 'wheel' switch to the left of the off-side electric window switch? I ain't got one of those either!
Enjoy
Alan

 

[Mikesmerc]

Haven't one either but looks like a speaker fade (front-rear) wheel.
Regards
Mike

 

[Smalley]

Beautiful car Smalley
Is that a 'cup holder' to the left of the steering wheel? I ain't got one! And what is the 'wheel' switch to the left of the off-side electric window switch? I ain't got one of those either!
Enjoy
Alan

The cup holder is an aftermarket unit that I found at www.griotsgarage.com

The internal cupholder is the same one that is used in R129's, and it is made in Germany. This company sells the cupholder in a black plastic case so that it can be mounted on your door.

It comes with four screws and fastens easily to the door panel, and is very stable.

I'm attaching another pic with the cupholder in the closed position.

The "wheel dial" is the fader for the audio system. All Mercedes sold in the U.S. come with this option.

I have installed a Nakamichi head unit that is different from the radio you see in my pic above, and have bypassed the fader, using the one that comes with the radio.

 

[brasil]

Hey, I'm new here.

I disovered this forum from a link on another forum, and wanted to say you have quite a nice forum here.

Here is a pic of my car:

nice car mate.i live in scotland and my car is the same colour-only it is a
300e.what polish do you use?

happy motoring.

brasil

 

[brasil]

Hey, I'm new here.

I disovered this forum from a link on another forum, and wanted to say you have quite a nice forum here.

Here is a pic of my car:

nice car mate.i live in scotland and my car is the same colour-only it is a
300e.what polish do you use?

happy motoring.

brasil

 

[Smalley]

nice car mate.i live in scotland and my car is the same colour-only it is a
300e.what polish do you use?

happy motoring.

brasil

Thanks. I use the Meguiar's line of products. For polish, I use Meguiar's #7 Show Car Glaze. For a wax / sealant, I used Meguiar's Gold Class Wax, but am now using Meguiar's NXT. NXT is a new product they have just released, and is a synthetically engineered polymer, which is much more long-lasting than a carnuba product.

To be honest, my car was badged in the U.S. as a 300E. I have "re-engineered" the badge as an E320.

Why? It's a long story:

Mercedes was inconsistent with their badging of W124's in the U.S.

W124's with the 3.0 liter M103 engine were always badged as "300E".

W124's with the 2.6 liter M103 engine were either badged as "300E 2.6" or "260E"

W124's with the 2.8 liter M104 engine were badged as "300E 2.8".

Following the same pattern, my car should've been badged as either a 320E, like in Europe and Asia, or 300E 3.2 (following the U.S. pattern), or as an E320 (like 1994-1995 models).

Inexplicably, even with the 3.2 liter M104 engine, the marketing geniuses kept the badging as 300E.

In 1994, Mercedes went to a "letter first" badging system, and my car was badged as an "E320".

Thus, feeling my car got "cheated" , I took matters into my own hands and changed the badge to "E320".

By the way, Meguiar's products should be readily available in the U.K.

They have a website:

www.meguiars.com

 

[mike65]

I just browsed that matrixcar site. Ouch, the prices! 450 for a steering wheel? I'll pass.

Mike.

 

[Smalley]

I just browsed that matrixcar site. Ouch, the prices! 450 for a steering wheel? I'll pass.

Mike.

Yeah, I know 450 is not cheap, but the dealer sells these same wheels for about $1,200!

There are U.S. based websites selling these same wheels for anywhere from $600 - $850, so 450 is the deal of the century.

 

[Mikesmerc]

Hello again
I was looking at the sites you mentioned re the grille and am a bit confused with Matrix options, did you replace the whole grille (No 12486ex4)or was it just the louvred slats.(No 12486ex2).
Regards
Mike

 

[Smalley]

Hello again
I was looking at the sites you mentioned re the grille and am a bit confused with Matrix options, did you replace the whole grille (No 12486ex4)or was it just the louvred slats.(No 12486ex2).
Regards
Mike

I bought 12486ex2. It is just the grill insert.

It is the same grill insert as 12486ex4, which includes the chrome surround.

The grill insert in 12486ex2 is the same, although it looks different in the pic.

I'd e-mail them and see what they say. They answer e-mails in very good english, FWIW.

 

[Mikesmerc]

Thanks Smalley. Definately going to buy myself one of those.
Regards
Mike