W124 window repair / buying advice

[RGubbioli]

Guys,

I am looking at buying a 1991 300TE. It is silver with black leather interior, has 147k miles and is a 2 owner car. General condition seems ok, no rust and full service history (mixed Merc and specialist). Car also comes with 5 old MOTs.

The owner is asking £1250 as she is taking into account that the driver window does not work and neither does the driver lock. She has replaced the car with a Range Rover and wants to get rid of it.

Questions are:
- sounds like a good buy?
- how much should I budget to get the 2 items fixed?

Thanks in advance,
Riccardo
:?:

 

[Richard Moakes]

Window could be a switch or motor, the motor will cost you about 125 quid.

Not sure what a switch will cost, but plenty of suppliers like Mercman would source one second-hand for a sensible price.

Don't know about the central locking, mine seems to work, so far ;-)

Cheers,

Richard

 

[TonyJones]

On a more general point this is what I gleened from here when looking at a 320TE ..which i subsequently bought.

1) auto box gear change in both settings and pulls well
2) Oil pressure/temps
3) rear suspension levels up ...lard arse sat in boot on start up and rides the bumps well
4) check wiring loom
5) check trans oil, should be reddish...
6) FSH/MOT's stuff
7) try all electric toys. seat/sunroof/window/alarm,boot auto close/lock, rear wiper, cd etc

and last but not least kick tyres so salesman knows i mean business

..and then try and get it as cheap as possible


Yours 300te sounds a good price to a novice like me

tony

 

[marshie001]

sounds a good price to me but as already mentioned, check the oil pressure, rear suspension and gearbox fluid (the redder the better, if its black leave well alone) also check the jacking points for rust,should have little removeable caps covering the holes

 

[Chazchuzzlewitt]

head gasket! check the coolant expansion tank for any oil crud.

 

[RGubbioli]

Thanks for the input guys. Thankfully I've already had a couple of 124 estates (a 200TE bought for my mom & a 230TE stolen) so I know some of the basics. Must admit I have never checked the transmission fluid though, mainly cause that thingy is so hard to open...

Am seeing the car tomorrow, will let you know how it goes. Alas, it doesn't have alloys, so if I do buy it a set of original alloys will be next up.

My other option is a BMW 525 Touring (E34), any opinions on how it compares with the Merc? I've never even been inside that series BM...

Thanks again,
Riccardo