Slowest W124 Build In The Very Short History of W124 Builds

[FearNLoathing]

My inner arches looked like this last year

Raised the car slightly this year because 17x9 ET1 front is pretty aggressive and had tons of issues to make it work. I think I put 30mm of spacers to front fenders, also cut them slightly inside and did everything. It still rubs and I don't really care anymore. Last year I had massive rubbing to inner fenders when on full lock, this year not that much. I'd advise you to start playing with spring pads, you could go slightly higher, but it'll eliminate a lot of rub.

Jeez. 17x9 is a massive wheel for this car, if I'm right about 190s being just as picky about wheel size. Looks like I need to make a run to Atlanta Luxury Cars and get some pads. At first I took them off and then the wells were basically on the wheels so I threw them back on but I have no idea what size they are. Maybe I can take out the inner fender and try and beat back some of the metal...

[FearNLoathing]

Smaller tyres (195-60-15?) may do the trick as well if all else fails...

This was my parts-coup.
No spring pads. Stock shocks. Stock rear springs with 1,5 coils cut. Fronts were unknown brand 40mm lowering springs half half a coil cut.
Wheel specs were 16x7,5 and tyres were 205-50-16's. So quite a bit smaller than the 195-65-15's. It only rubbed while dring on and of ramps diagonally...


(yes I know it does not look like a wrecker on the pics. That's because it was freshly repainted 2 years before. But wiring was a mess, rear arches rotten, and the front subframe was bent at some stage...)

That's a beautiful CE. Such a shame. Odds of finding a coupe here are pretty damn slim. I've only seen 2 other 124s since I've owned this car. Both 4 doors.

[Jorgen]

Jeez. 17x9 is a massive wheel for this car, if I'm right about 190s being just as picky about wheel size. Looks like I need to make a run to Atlanta Luxury Cars and get some pads. At first I took them off and then the wells were basically on the wheels so I threw them back on but I have no idea what size they are. Maybe I can take out the inner fender and try and beat back some of the metal...

There are dots on the edge of the pads. http://www.w124performance.com/image...ring_pads3.jpg as seen on the left side.

They go 8mm, 13mm, 18mm and 23mm if I remember right so they are great to tweak the ride height on Benzes. Those wells were with 205/40 17x8 ET13 though, but the car was lower. The corner of the fender is about 2-3mm away from the wheel so it rubs on some turns, but it's only the tyre so who cares.

[FearNLoathing]

There are dots on the edge of the pads. http://www.w124performance.com/image...ring_pads3.jpg as seen on the left side.

They go 8mm, 13mm, 18mm and 23mm if I remember right so they are great to tweak the ride height on Benzes. Those wells were with 205/40 17x8 ET13 though, but the car was lower. The corner of the fender is about 2-3mm away from the wheel so it rubs on some turns, but it's only the tyre so who cares.

Thanks for that. Had no idea those dots were there.

[FearNLoathing]

So I got a little bit of an update. A bunch of my stickers came in and the r129 mounts are in. Ranger shocks are on the way, ganna go pick up some spring pads from Atlanta Luxury Motors tomorrow cause I'm too broke to buy front shocks





I imagine I could've just put a washer there it would've been fine but I like the way it looks

Also changed out my spark plugs cause I need to pick up on the tune up a little bit.





They looked kinda rough.

After putting the r129 mounts on the car was higher and the shocks had plenty of travel and that shit rode like butter, but then a couple hours later I guess it settled in??? Now my passenger front sits about 1-2 inches lower than the driver and the fender sits on the wheel at full lock. Damn the sagging w124 springs but I'll get a monster truck spacer to fix that.



Then there was this. I really didn't think it was ganna work but I already went ham on my fenders with an industrial heat gun and a baseball bat so I figured why not? Worked better than I expected. Couldn't fit 1 finger inbetween the tire and the fender on the passenger side, now I can almost fit 3 in there. Recommend this ghetto phonebook method (except I used a small phonebook and a bunch of magazines.

More car parts should be here at the end of the week. Till next time

[storey618]

i use phone books and baseball bats all the time. if you dont do it in a stupid manner and actually take your time it turns out awesome!

[loekaaz]

Wait what? so, you roll the car back and forward then?

[Jorgen]

Wait what? so, you roll the car back and forward then?

You jack up the car, put the phonebook between the tyre and the fender and let the jack loose, there are videos on Youtube. It's a ghetto fix but if done sort of correctly then it works well.
Did you measure the difference between the R129 and W124 strut mount? How much is the mounting difference?

[FearNLoathing]

Wait what? so, you roll the car back and forward then?

Like Jorgen said, it's ghetto, but if there's a will there's a way basically just wedge it in there and the added thickness flexes the fender out. Key is heat, gatta be heated or bad things start happening like paint cracking and etc (a heater with industrial purposes like the one in the pic is easy to heat it up but it'll burn through the paint if you're not careful). Once the car's lowered all the way down just jump on it a few times and you'll see the fender start flexing outwards.

[FearNLoathing]

You jack up the car, put the phonebook between the tyre and the fender and let the jack loose, there are videos on Youtube. It's a ghetto fix but if done sort of correctly then it works well.
Did you measure the difference between the R129 and W124 strut mount? How much is the mounting difference?

I didn't I'd say it's about 1/1.5ish inches higher up but it didn't change the ride height (atleast not a noticeable amount) before height from bottom wheel lip to fender lip was still 20 1/4 inches on the drivers side and 19 3/8 inches on the passenger. The fractions of the inches might've changed cause I didn't right down the measurements before the r129 mounts. It did allow more shock travel though, like I said at first it looked like it raised it and the ride was smooth then it dropped back down and it's back to scrubbing like hell. The outside of my tires are missing chunks widening the fenders out and rolling them helped a little bit but not enough (and my alignment is way off).

[Jorgen]

Add fender spacers, they help as well. I'm running 25-30mm sway bar bushings on both fenders and also the bumper. Just google AMG fender spacer, there are threads around and pictures with results.

[FearNLoathing]

Add fender spacers, they help as well. I'm running 25-30mm sway bar bushings on both fenders and also the bumper. Just google AMG fender spacer, there are threads around and pictures with results.

I am running spacers lol. On the fender and the bumper bracket, used universal polyeutheran bushing. Think I figured out why though. The toe on my drivers wheel is wayyyy off. Points out noticeably which would explain why the fender beats the hell out of it.

[FearNLoathing]

Much needed bulb upgrade. Got some of those $50 Slyviana Xtravision Ultra for $14 on eBay give off a nice white light now. First car out of the 6 I've owned that has decent headlights...

[FearNLoathing]

Wussup, long time no see eh? Been a little busy, tranny went out and got it sent to Mercedes to be rebuilt. Cost me an arm and a leg and my first born child but I got it done. Havent done much work on the car due to spending all my money on the transmission. Fenders still rub like hell, but I make do as its my daily. Got some plans coming soon as I get some bands up, got some pics for the meantime tho.