96 W140 S280

[motec6.9]

Ok I went and had a look at the car today. All books are up to date . All doors open and close with central locking. Windows all open and close smoothly sunroof as well. No apparent damage to interior or body work apart from parking scrape lower left corner of front bumper. Air conditioning works very cold recepts for re-gassing 2007. Wires to fuel injectors pliable and not brittle. All instruments working correct both front seats working correctly including electric headrest . Boot handle functions correctly. No oil leaks around head or signs off contamination in coolant or engine oil. Car drives smoothly and tracks strait with no brake shudder. Engine temp was stable front fans function. Paint in above average condition no apparent rust visible on body work looked under covering in boot and under car. 188000Km showing on odometer with current owner owning car since 2007 bought from John Hughs. All in all very impressed with the car

[nathan]

such a wonderful vehicle.  the 140 was the greatest vehicle our family ever had in its possession. dad had a 500 in the same colour.  the nice alloys are on it too, the later ones were not as nice.  i don't think your boot vacuum is working properly, it appears to be up a bit. great sign that the original radio is in it, art least it means no bogan has had their hands on it. enjoy it, such a great value automobile

[robertd]

My last everyday work car was a 1995 green/black S280 I traded it on my current C220 CDI.(to show I was eco friendly)
I still miss the 140 for its space and comfort. Best car I ever owned.
Rob

[motec6.9]

Hi Nathan being S280 it does not have soft close doors or boot they were cost extra options. I had boot open just before and didn't close it properly. Every item works in interior . Will get it checked on hoist next week before picking it up. But deal has been agreed upon. And are selling the Hyundai to my Niece. It is update with 5 speed transmission drives very well stereo works perfectly including cd changer. It has Blue coolant with no sign of contamination in coolant or engine oil with no sign of oil leaks around the cylinder head. Only items to take care of are parking scrape left front bumper on lower side corner. Front ash tray a bit sticky and mirror switch appears to have been pushed at some point in time as it is slightly lower at the rear in console. No wheel marks current owner bought the car in 2007 from John Hughes it now has 188000Km on it. Now planned mods none what so ever it will be my daily drive . I will attend to items requiring attention. Then will see if I can add iPod or Blue tooth to original stereo. 

[motec6.9]

Hi Rob yes it was better than I thought with the little 2.8 litre M104 engine. I didn't seem to struggle at all. And Nathan I have kept all items removed from my 6.9 . Thinking of putting original throttle body back on as current one driving me made trying to get it to work smoothly. 

[nathan]

i didn't know that about the self closing panels, i thought all 140s had them, there you go! the rear courtesy lights, another bit of absolute gold on this car! annoying you couldn't get the throttle body to work. who would have thought that Mercedes Benz engineers would actually come up with the best design for this engine?!

[motec6.9]

May listen to Cam and fit 560 throttle as it worked perfectly on his car and is 6mm larger. It works but wheel spins every time you try to take off.  .Have decided to leave the wheel that's in the car. 

[motec6.9]

Oh it has folding door mirrors they function correctly as well. 

[beagle2022]

I have heard horror stories of Mercs of this vintage having biodegradable wiring looms.  Is that correct??

[motec6.9]

Yes series 1 had them. series 2 update did not. Series 2 also didn't suffer from Evaporator problem and has same climate control panel as W210 which gave less problem. That is why I went looking for Series 2 and S280 a lot of standard fittings were options to keep price down like soft close doors and trunk. 

[motec6.9]

Ok I had Mercedes workshop check out the W140 today. It came back with a very healthy report . All electronics are working correctly. Body is in good condition as well as interior. Wiring loom is fine and under body is in good condition with no leaks present and suspension requiring no work at present. So I will now move towards getting it this weekend .

[Beastie]

It looks great! I'd buy it if it were me. I prefer the simpler base models of the W140 with the six cylinder engines because they're less complex and when things go wrong with them it's not ruinously expensive to fix. But I mean, no W140 can really be called a "base model" because you still get most of the key features, and the comfort and space and luxury of a Mercedes flagship. I looked at a very nice S280 here in Adelaide a few years ago but I just didn't have the nerve to pull the trigger and it got snapped up while I was hemming and hawing about it.

So this is good! If you buy this one I'll be able to live vicariously through you in even more ways now!   

[motec6.9]

I am buying this car deal has been agreed upon. 

[wbrian63]

Congratulations on the acquisition of a nice example of a "simple" W140 car.

I had a '92 300SE that had all the problems of a series 1 car, many of which I had to fix myself.

One thing I noticed in your photos, and this is purely in the way of "by the way" - checking automatic HVAC control performance by setting the temp to "LO" isn't the proper way to know if the system is working correctly. In the design specs of all versions of "auto A/C" that I've come across (foreign and domestic), forcing the temp settings to their lowest position overrides internal and external temp sensors and sets the system into "full cool". Likewise, forcing the temp settings to their highest position sets the system into "full heat." This is by design as you wouldn't want a system that refused to provide heat on a frigid day just because a temp sensor was on the blink.

Those positions will definitely tell you if the system can cool or heat, but it won't tell you a thing about how the system will respond to "normal" settings.

To properly test these systems, you need to have an accurate thermometer with you.

Test defrost mode - the system should duct most if not all airflow to the vents at the windshield and the side windows if there are vents that point that direction. A/C clutch should engage to provide dryer air, even if the control settings are calling for heat.

In most systems, recirculate mode will be called for automatically when the set temp on the control is 10 degrees (F) lower than the internal temp of the car. That's one test. I don't know what the spread is on a system with temp values calibrated in C, but it should be something similar. So - does the system launch into recirculate mode when the set point is placed 10 degrees or more below cabin temp?

Once that test is complete, set the control to about 1 degree less than cabin temp is and wait a bit to see if the fan speed drops off as the set point is reached or approached. Most systems will start reducing fan speed as the set point is neared to prevent overrun. Also, you should notice that some air starts to bleed out of the defroster vents as the set point is reached.

Testing the heat is done in a similar fashion, except there's no automatic recirculate and I don't think you'll have bleed air at the windshield. You should definitely get flow out of the rear vents under the front seats.

Sorry to derail this thread if I've done so. Again - congratulations on your new-to-you vehicle. The sedate performance and refinement of a 6-cylinder W140 will be a stark contrast to the "elegant brutality" of your 6.9.