W123 Project Car

We recently start a new exciting W123 Project Car; unlike our DIY Project Car 97 Accord the W123 requires a bit more challenging effort. Perhaps there will be small DIY portions on the body should the tools be available or some interior works, but mostly is beyond any DIY scale on our own.

Overall the body seems to be straight with some rusty section along the door sills and so forth at the usual lurking sections but fortunately not on the passenger side under carriage, yet as some experts suggest it appears to be exceptionally “Original” condition. The W123 is remarkably in mint condition with strong evidence of being stored in well kept garage at its early years.

The rear end view with its American styled bumper looks fresh and the 230E motor runs great mated to equally smooth Automatic Transmission, albeit with a slight falling rpm dip at idle but without any erratic gestures. Then there is a strong evidence of worn out drive shaft coupling occurs around 100kmh as well as sagging body height.

Two pairs of brand new Bilstein shocks solve the sagging problem with relatively minimum damage to the wallet at US $200; where as the idle problem is cured by cleaning the throttle and its TPS as well as a new Spark Plug Wire Set and Ignition Distributor Cover, the engine now runs smoothly with strong torque power to mid revs leveling out higher rpm, a typical character for the era, the open loop engine management technology in mid 1980s.

Unlike its Japanese counterparts Mercedes Benz lags behind in the multivalve engine deployment, but owning to its design simplicity such engine generally last longer trouble free. Car manufacturer has also made slight progress in NVH department with the departure from chain driven engine into belt in late 1990s and reverting back to chain again recently.

The W123 today commands high price to even ridiculous level for a pristine condition, well beyond the average value of its successor the W124. Just a little while ago a rare over here two door W123 280CE is offered at US $ 39,000 where as this example costs US $ 4,700!