R129 Differential

Tangis

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Hi.

The other day the differential on the SL started making noise, which can be a big problem since we are planning a 3000 mile trip with it.
The car is a 1990 300SL with ABS and ASD, and it seems to be hard to find a replacement differential, since it HAS to be for a 300 with ABS and ASD. And the ratio seems to be different than any other R129, 3.2 the MB shop said.
Andyone know if this is correct for sure?

Any ideas where I could look? I'm located in Norway, but have no problem shopping from where ever, as long as they will ship it.

Or maybe it could be overhauled?
 

television

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I think that the best thing to do is to get it rebuilt,,though you could check on the 2 129's being broken by Dave booker in the parts section
 

kth286

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Mercedes will probably do a rebuilt one on exchange basis and give you a 2 year guarantee just like on a brand new unit.
 
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Tangis

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I have to stop working so much. I don’t have any time write an update :smile:

The 3000 mile trip went without any problem. They say I probably could go for years without doing anything about it; the whine from the differential was still annoying. The first place I checked was the Mercedes shop.

There is basically one chain of Mercedes shops in Norway, and they are owned by the importer, Bertel O. Steen A/S. And I’m telling you, these guys wouldn’t know good service if it bit them on the leg! I could go on and on about them, but let’s just say that they are so impossible to deal with that I went to a other luxury brand shop and asked them if they could get me a new S-class. They got one from Germany, brand new, and I bought it from them at the same price as at the Mercedes shop. This was not about price, but the principle. All service and repairs are either done in Sweden or Germany; there is no way they are getting any of my money.

A bit of topic there, but they really push my buttons. So just for the heck of it, I called them. They told me that the differential was incredibly difficult to rebuild. They had tried it before, but it was almost impossible, so they have stopped doing it. Now they send all of these to the factory in Germany to have them rebuilt there. They could get one for me, and take my old one in exchange, just like kth286 said. But the price was 4500 pounds (45.000 Norwegian kr)+ labour which easily would add another 8-900 pounds!

I called the shop I use in Sweden, the price there for the same exchange was about 2500 pounds (32.000 Swedish kr), which is better but still pretty bad. However the person at the Swedish shop said that a capable mechanic with the right tools could do this, and they could get me a kit with everything I needed for about 200 pounds.

So, on this previously mentioned trip, I drove by the shop in Sweden and got a kit with several bearings and so on, probably 20 parts total, all original Mercedes parts. Before leaving I talked to another luxury brand shop again, and they said they would rebuild the differential for me, using my parts, for only 200 pounds if I took it out of the car and put it back in myself. So, now that car is downstairs in the garage, and there is no noise in the differential anymore, all for half of just the labour cost the Mercedes shop wanted.
 

brianbrian

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Pleased to hear your happy now, on the rebuild hope they have got it right if not, it will not always show up straight away, as to the whine before, that is the gears not running true because of a bearing or no oil you will probaly be o.k. now.
 

television

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Thanks for the update tangis,, The guys in Sweden are clever and the spare parts shops so much better than what we have
Over there I had no trouble in getting turbos rebuilt and anything else
 

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