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Most probably a small rock has lodged itself between the brake pads and the disk. You can check for it after taking the wheel off.

I suspect a broken suspension bush. The grinding sound could be caused when there is metal to metal contact and that would obviously happen if a bush is broken and while braking the wheel moves slightly backward giving way for the lower arm's mounting bracket to touch the metal in the arm. This movement is normal in any suspension while braking but the cushion here is the bush.
A simple test is to attach your wheel spanner to one of the wheel lug nuts and simulate the tightening action using your foot by jerking the wheel spanner downward. If you have excessive movement, you need to look at replacing the bushes.
On a side note: I recommend that you replace the tyres to either 205/55/15 or 195/65/15 not 205/65

I hope that is the case.

Would it explain why the noise comes only when braking hard and not when braking slowly (when there is enough road ahead). And it is not exactly a grinding noise, but kind of humming + slight grinding.

About the tyres, yes, I`m replacing with 195/65.

Have you checked both pads - it sounds like pad wear getting to metal on metal?

Thanks for the replies guys. I took the car to fellow BHPian Tharakan's garage. When I started off, as usual, I kept the windows opened for a minute to let the trapped air go out and I realise there was also a squealing sound. I hadn't heard that before since the car was driven with windows up till now. Anyways, at Tharakan's place, we found that one of the bolts that hold the caliper was missing :Shockked: and the caliper (body?) was tilted a little and was touching the rotor. The rotor wasn't rotating freely when we tried to rotate it by hand after removing the tyres. Luckily, he had a spare bolt of the correct size. The sound is gone now and I can sleep peacefully tonight :).

That was an easy fix! I normally use Loctite on all "critical" nuts and bolts. Its the Blue version that is opened with a spanner when needed (do not use RED). All my brake hardware has this installed, as it eliminates bolts coming loose with rough road and vibrations.

I saw the mechanic applying a red paste on the bolt, so I guess its Loctite.

Hi every W126 owner and lover,

I'm based in Mysore, have recently come into an E250 Diesel (August 1996 model by TELCO, India) and have been hunting high and low for the Owner's Manual, as I would like to have some details on the lubes she uses. I found the engine oil grades, but require information on the grades of transmission oil and rear axle oil.

Going online, I found this information for the German-built W124 (pre-facelift, petrol car)
Transmission oil : Manual 5-speed transmission : Auto trans fluid for manual transmission (Sheet no. 236.2, which gives a list of oils & their makers, only one of which I recognize - Mobil ATF200 - was this in use back in 1996 in India? I ask this because I know that it is not a good idea to mix different grades of transmission oil)
Rear Axle : Hypoid gear oil SAE 90, 85W/90.

Can anyone assist me in this? Can anyone also let me know how to check the transmission and rear differential oils?

I would also like to have a copy of the India-built car's Owner's Manual, even a pdf version would do.

Thanks in advance.

CLYDE

Hello everyone. What are you doing for your beauties with respect to the 15 year old ban, especially Delhi/NCR folks.. Now that most W124s are 20 years or above? Please share or PM me if there are any updates to the same? Scrapping it will inly get you 30-35K? is that the only way left for these beauties?

Hi,

You can use Mercedes Benz Automatic Transmission Fluid for the gearbox, and any SAE90, 85W90 Hypoid Gear Oil for the differential.

I'm not sure how exactly the gear oil is changed, as most mechanics seem to know where it is.

The differential requires a 14 no. Hex key to open. It has a drain plug at the lowest point, so make sure your car is on level ground when it is opened. The filler is at the top and you need to fill the oil till it flows out. If I recall correctly, it takes about 1L.

Thanks a lot, Viraat. I want to get both the oils checked & topped up sometime next week.

Well with a heavy heart I have decided to sell of the parts of my W124 E220 1996. Do PM me if you need parts of this car. I have also posted the same in the classifieds section. The car is in Gurgaon.

Good you have found the problem. Loctite is (nearly always) good.

However, I do hope that the bolts were properly torqued with a torque wrench. That is actually much more important than applying some Loctite.

There are many bolts and nuts that you can just torque up by feel. But especially on items like brakes, suspension and steering components it makes a lot of sense to use a proper torque wrench. That is the only way you really can unsure it’s not overtightened, nor will it come off either.

Jeroen

How rev-friendly are the 250Ds (OM605). I change gears around 1600rpm on level roads. Is it healthy? I like the sound it makes when revved hard.

1600? How much lower can you go? :uncontrol