W116.org

Hi Guys,

This last Friday I had to hand in the Hilux for a service at Mom's hometown (260km away) on the North Coast - as I had to use her Silver/Beige '91 300EA for a day's work. With a 100kgs of Solubor in the boot I was flying back upto the Berg where I live. While cruising at 140 and marveling at its good roadholding I glanced at the rearview mirror and got the fright of my life. All I could see was blue smoke coming from behind the car and it was so dense that I couldn't see any traffic behind. Oil pressure and temp was fine so I shifted to Neutral and pulled of the highway. I got out and noticed that the smoke was actually coming from underneath the car - I checked under and saw a stream of oil spewing from the gearbox onto the exhaust - it was clear I wasn't going anywhere!
...long story short... organised a tow truck and arranged a lift to collect the 350 from home where it has been resting for a good 5mnths - during which time it has done less than 400kms. I checked all the vitals and headed South from home to the North Coast which is a descent of @1800m.
And MAN I havn't had so much fun in ages! It performed faultlessly, getting better as I approached the coast. The road going down through the Natal Midlands is very entertaining and I was flying down those long winding descents at between 140 and 160km/h - it was fun having more modern cars move out the way so I could zoom past. I guess that aggresive front end styling still has wat it takes to intimidate anyone looking in their rearview mirror. Fantastic.
Anyways, before I get carried away - Mom will be using the 350 for a few days untill the 300 is fixed...
I don't doubt her diving skills even though she has a much heavier foot than me and is much more impatient on the road than me - I worry about other fools driving into her in city traffic, as here in SA we have a lot of unlicensed baboons on the road. I guess anything can be fixed.
At least I know she's safe in a tank such as that.
I've realised that taking the old benz out once in a while, and burning the snot out of her, is as good for the car as it is for the soul.

Cheers

Sorry buggers - this should have been posted in Test Drive

Go Pompy!  Sounds like an adventurous (and perhaps a tad tiring?) day!

But please: what is a "300EA"?  The "A" leaves me confused.   

Hi Ozbenzhead!

Here in the Southern tip of darkest Africa, when advertising or writing about these cars,  it is generally acceptable to add an A at the end which denotes Auto Tranny. As S-Class mentioned before this has been general practice since the 60's/70's untill today, ie 200A, 200EA all the way upto 500SEA, 560SELA or even S600A.

Cheers

Thanks, Pompy!   

I like to learn something new every day, no matter how insignificant; that way I feel the day wasn't entirely wasted.   

Cool beans! BTW, it was a tiring day - but having a legit excuse to drive the Benz so far was a reward in itself!

Using that reasoning, it would be safe to assume then that you also have 200M's, 200EM's, 350SEM's, S600M's etc. True/untrue ?

Certainly sounds like a adventurous time

You never know, your mum might fall in love with your 350...

There's just something about being behind the wheel of a W116, I never get tired of it, if I take either my 350 or the 280 out somewhere it's always a very enjoyable time for me

CraigS - untrue - the M is not used as when there is no A in 200, 200E it is generally accepted as a manual.

actually
in the 70's when autos where few and far between some cars had an automatic sign on the back.
why , to show off, let the other drivers know its pull off is slow,you have a car with an impediment,why i dont know.
then some cars had an M on the back
like the M5, M3 but not on the mercs,
and i think the practise of mercs having the EA on the back has gone out the window now.