[///RMan]

Like most threads I've penned down, this one too is probably going to be too long and with too many photos. That kind of gets boring, or so I've been told.

I try to be as detailed because these threads then become a one-stop repository for the topic.

This particular thread is special, to me at least -

It is about a brand that has fascinated me since I can remember.
It is about the childhood car-bug manifesting into reality.
It is about a very Starry dream coming true.

A not so short prelude to the actual story...

The vintage and classic car bug caught onto me sometime in 2012, when I chanced upon the Classic Drive thread here on TeamBHP. Since then have been attending the Sunday morning drives to ogle at some of the stunning automotive examples that turn up consistently all year long.

Being around these yesteryear beauties, talking to their owners and learning about their upkeep, maintenance, the costs involved, the do's and don'ts as well as the who's and how's et al was very 'enlightening'.
Just like that, the seed of owning a classic car was sown.

Sometime in late 2015,with a (very) limited budget, began the search for a vintage/classic car. Thanks to my already low budget, the number of bona-fide classics were automatically restricted. The only cars coming my way, in the price range I was looking at, were Morris Minors, Austins, Baby Hindustans, Fiats 1100s, Ambassadors and the likes.
Needless to mention that all these cars needed different levels of TLC, which was alright since I wanted to do up the car and preferred that over getting a ready car.

The aforementioned cars are great in their own right, no disrespect to them. However, my personal reasons why they did not make the cut were -

* They lacked creature comforts of any kind.
* The Austin's and Morris' were too cramped for someone with my height and heft.
* After experiencing some of these first hand, it became amply clear that I would not have the patience to take them on a highway run, neither were they meant for daily use. That was the single biggest reason for giving these cars a miss, since I intended to use the car as much and as regularly as possible.

Ergo, we were back to where we started.

The segment of young classics, popularly known as Youngtimers these days, seemed the next best bet. These Youngtimers were somewhat forgotten these past few years, but are now getting back into the limelight, with some absolutely mind-blowing restorations coming to the fore. With car events specially being curated for them, meant that it was only going to be onwards and upwards for these cars.

In comparision to the classics I mentioned earlier, these cars were definitely better equipped to be used regularly, since they were basically mass produced cars from roughly 2.5-3 decades ago and thus relatively modern. While being modern, most of them are fairly mechanical and do not have the electronic sensor based wizardry.
This meant any workshop with an understanding of mechanical workings would be able to work on them without much fuss. Keeping all these points in mind, the focus now turned towards these cars and I actively started looking around for a Youngtimer.

Before getting into what cars I considered and why I did not end up getting them, I shall quickly note down what were the rough pre-requisites I was looking for in any car -

* Drivability - Fairly easy to use in the city, even on a daily basis, should the need arise. And a good, if not a great highway cruiser.
* Uniqueness - Since I do not see myself buying another one of its kind in the foreseeable future, I wanted to have something unique. Be it the body-style, or the engine.
* Affordability - On the maintenance front, something that won't break the bank every time it visits the workshop.
* Registration - After calculating the taxes and transfer costs on non-MH registered cars, it was a no-brainer that the car had to be registered in MH only.
* Fuel - Petrol ONLY. Diesel cars from that era are robust, but the petrol's were just sublime.

As the search ensued, a whole lot of cars came my way. Have penned down some which had been seriously considered as well as the reasons why I let the car go/the deal did not work out.

i) BMW E21 316 Coupe - The E21 ticked all the above factors and how! But the asking price was nearly double my budget, with little or no room for negotiation. Add to it a lot of body work was required. The car had a lot of rust and the added cost of body-work meant the car was a complete NO-NO. Was really bummed to let go of this one.

ii) BMW E36 318i Cabriolet - Another BMW that came my way, this one was not MH registered and the quote from the RTO agent for taxes and transfer was enough to scare me away.

iii) Mercedes-Benz W123 230 - A LHD + Manual + Carb + Petrol combo, was a pretty nice combo this. Add to it, that the interiors were near pristine AND GREEN! This car was possibly the closest I got to closing in on a deal. But the fact that the car had not budged from its parking slot for close to a decade, and basically needed a scary amount of body-work. Got cold feet at the last moment and let this one pass.

The car however ended up being picked by a friend, and shall be restored in due course. Might even do a thread on it

After inspecting the W123, I figured that it was THE car that I wanted. They had the classic MB look, build quality that would put a tank to shame, chrome bits and bobs harking back to the bigger Mercedes cars from the time, it was almost perfect. However, the lack of half decent petrol W123s around, meant that the next best option was the W124.

iv) Mercedes-Benz W124 E220 - The Telco E220s came my way by the dozen, I somehow was not sold onto them. In all honesty, the fact that they are far too many around, kind of kept me from closing on a deal. However, the E220 was the one car that seemed like the best bang for buck and I kept an eye out for a good specimen, should nothing else materialize.

In all fairness to the car, having now used a friends E220 Automatic for a while, the car has made me eat my words and how. In hindsight, should have picked one up but thankfully there was something nicer that was in store.

A manual Toyota Celica, an E36 Coupe, a pristine W123 300D, a ₹70k W124 E250D and an E36 316i sedan, with a mouth watering sub-15000 odometer reading were some other interesting prospects. But somehow, something kept the deals from going through.

Now,we plunge into the actual potboiler...

Fast-forward to June of 2019,the search for a car had come to almost a standstill.

A friend who I met and interacted with on All Stars, a group of MB owners and enthusiasts, lets call him Mr.D,messaged that he had purchased a new car for himself.
Later that day, Mr. D sent me these pictures of the said acquisition - a 1990 W124 260E.







For starters, I had to Google what a 260E was.

After devouring a few Google pages, I came to understand that this was the entry level 6-cylinder variant of the W124.

Sharing the same engine as the famed 300E, albeit making a little less power, the 260E seemed like a very interesting package.
But the fact that Mr. D had just purchased it and had been sharing all plans for its restoration, meant that even if I liked the car, it would just be plain rude to ask if it was for sale.

Not the one to let go of an opportunity, when on a call with him, I nonchalantly asked to give me first right of refusal over this car, if and when he planned on selling it. He laughed it off, and that was that.

The Mercedes-Benz Classic Car Rally 2019

Every October, the number of classic Mercedes-Benz's on Mumbai streets goes up exponentially, as the owners prep their cars for the annual Starry carnival.
On a call with Mr. D to discuss the work his other car needed before it participated in the event, he asks me if I wanted to pull out his 260E and prep it for the rally, and partake in the event - all by myself.
Having not missed a single edition of the event as a visitor, it was a no-brainer to take up on this offer.

Called up my go-to man for all car related problems - Loyal, from Loycarz and briefed him about the car. The following weekend a friend Karan, Loyal & I headed to the parking lot where the car was stored since being purchased. We were out in full 'josh' that night, and had made it a mission to drive it back to Loycarz that night.

Loyal's trusty Figo was our rescue vehicle for the day.





That is how 11 year old rubber looks like! Two of the tyres would lose air regularly...



... but these portable tyre inflators are such a boon!





Plonked in a service battery....



.... and she fired right up, in typical Mercedes fashion!



The glorious (and dirty) inline-6 motor purred to life!



Loyal grinning ear to ear with the first classic/youngtimer Mercedes he was going to work on, having only worked with modern and regular cars before.



First fuel up. And on its way to the workshop!



Just as we hit the road after fueling up, a procession passing by started bursting crackers. Almost as if celebrating the car hitting the streets! Felt surreal.



Had to pick someone from the airport, and hence I let Loyal drive the car to his workshop. On successfully making the trip, he shared this picture from the destination.



All opened up and getting ready for the event.






My experience of getting the car prepped and participating in my first ever car rally, has been penned down here and you can read about it here (The Mercedes-Benz Classic Car Rally, 2019)

Photographed exiting the event venue.



Few pictures from the Rally.







The entire process of getting the car ready for the event was extremely satisfying, and the whole experience only strengthened my resolute to get a Youngtimer.

[///RMan]

The MBCCR After-Party!

After the event, the 260E came home with me, since it did not make sense to put an up and running car back into hibernation. I would start the car, warming it up every few days and even occasionally would take the car for a spin to stretch its legs (or tyres?)

One fine day, I got a call from Mr. D, who asks me to be on the look-out for a Mercedes' M104 engine, which he needed to plonk into one of his on-going projects. While discussing the same, he suddenly pops up with an offer - find him the M104 and I could buy the 260E off him immediately.

Without wasting any time, got onto searching M104's - calling and messaging all possible sources.

A couple of months passed and with no luck of finding a M104 motor, I kept on prodding Mr. D to sell me the car. Since the car was never intended to be sold, I was rest assured that he would not sell it off to anyone else, lest an offer came his way, especially after knowing of my interest. So while that was not a worry, finding an engine for him was. The car was in my possession all along, and I continued to use and kept it running, hoping that one day it would come home! (while it literally was home)

Out for a late-night spin in Bandra, Karan and I stopped for fuel at the Bandra Linking Road petrol pump. A W212 E-Class drove into the pump, and the owner walked up-to us and said he owns a 260E as well. What were the odds!!



Closer to the end of February, the car had to be moved to Karan's place for parking.....



....and then, lockdown happened!





Karan kept the car running and in ship-shape, using it to go get groceries and all.





On one of the drives, he spotted coolant leaking out of the car. A clear indication of water pump troubles in the future.





The empty roads during the lockdown were a good opportunity to get some clean pictures.





Car being kept nice and clean all the time while at Karan's place.



He even managed to get a covered slot in the building during the monsoons!



This rubber part which holds the exhaust in place gave way, and the exhaust was dangling dangerously low.



Karan managed to find a mechanic between the lockdown and with some great Indian jugaad, got the same part to hold it in place.



Out and about!



Dee_aRe_Cee even 3D printed this custom keychain for the car. Love it!


Once the lockdown eased out a bit, the 260E had on and off visitors, and some lovely ones at that.

C207 E350 ft. W124 260E



BHPian sanojrawap's absolutely MINT E46 325i came visiting the day he took delivery. An absolute showroom example, the number of people that got jealous for not getting this one were pretty darn high.



Loyal too dropped in once in a while and kept checking on the car, seen here is his lovely City VTEC.



Some more inline-6 goodness!





One of my favorite pictures of the entire lot - the Coupe and the Sedan!

[///RMan]

All during the lockdown, the car stayed with me. Occasionally, I would nudge Mr.D to give me the car.
Then, one fine day, I got a call and he said I could have the 260E!
I still had to find the M104 engine for him, but that could happen whenever an engine came my way, and the it was not dependent on the engine being found. The deal was sealed, and a Star was finally "home".

Like every good story though, there was one final twist to the tale

Every time the car was discussed or posted on social media, all my friends would play the FRIENDS Theme song -

"So no one told you life was gonna be this way
Your job's a joke, you're broke
Your love life's DOA
It's like you're always stuck in second gear
When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, Or even your year"

Why you'd ask?

Ever since we pulled out the car, the automatic transmission had only been shifting from first to second, and not beyond that.
From the parking to the workshop, right through the MBCCR rally and back and the occasional driving around, EVERYTHING was between 1st and 2nd gear.
Since I had absolutely no prior experience doing up a classic car, and this was literally the first automatic car our family was going to have, I already was getting the jitters.

I definitely loved this car, but let's be honest - a malfunctioning automatic gearbox on a car older than I am, the situation was alarming enough.
Add to the fact that there are barely any gearbox experts around (and with no interest in being a guinea pig to people who'd want to TRY and repair the transmission), I was left with three choices -

i)To figure out a way/person who would fix the automatic transmission (without spending more than I spent on the car itself)
ii)To plonk in a manual transmission.
iii)To let go of the car completely.

Upon voicing my concern about this, Mr.D said I could decide if I wanted to go ahead with the deal after figuring out the transmission issue and finding a solution. Sounds unbelievable, but what a WIN-WIN situation eh?

While I'm not a stickler for originality and all, I'd atleast attempt to fix the tranmission once and then if not, plonk in a manual tranny.
Thus began the search to find the unicorn who would get the transmission to work as it should.

The number of people who have helped and advised for the gearbox is unprecedented. Full respect to all of these people.


Prior to the lockdown, the good guys at Shaman Mercedes asked me to get the car over to their Churchgate workshop. Karan & I drove in the car late at night to the workshop, since less traffic would mean less strain on the already broken transmission. The staff were understanding of this and let us drop the car much after working hours.





The next morning, I was at Shaman again, and the car had already been taken out for a test run. Once back, it was hoisted onto their lift for a check-up, and I took the opportunity to snag some pictures of the underbody.









Stavan Oza and his team of technicians gave a full report, their diagnosis about the transmission and do's and don'ts for the car. The tips and all they shared were useful in the long run when we worked upon the car further. Would have loved to get the car worked up at Shaman but my budget was limited.
Someday in the future maybe!

Apart from the diagnosis at Shaman, Loyal & I were also talking and understanding stuff from people who knew their W124s inside out.
The unanimous reply was to get the valve body inspected first, before getting anything else opened up.


The car parked at another friends place, since it could not go back to Karan's for a bit. Seen here with sanojrawap's GLC.




Another friend, Hemen, asked me to come over to his workshop. He happened to be working on another W124 260E, and said he would check if the valve body was the culprit.

The 260E Twins!







Post his investigation, the analysis was that the valve body was not the trouble-maker.
The gearbox probably needed a rebuild, but I wanted to be a 100% sure of that before opening up the transmission.
The car made its way back to Karan's home once again, and once again, the hunt was on for Bombay's biggest gearbox talent.



It seemed like we had reached a dead-end.

A lot of brain-storming ensued between as to what should be the right way forward.

A while passed, with nothing happening ahead. A divine intervention was needed and that is exactly what happened, Loyal called up saying that he'd found the right person for the job.
He informed that this person had worked with these cars abroad and later on, worked with more complicated engines and gearboxes like Jaguars and BMWs apart from Mercedes cars, after moving back to India.

Without any further delay, we moved the car back to Loyal's workshop.











Meeting a familiar friend which was already getting pampered at Loyal's.



The car getting a check before being pulled in to drop down the transmission.







So, the deal with this specialist was that he would only rebuild the transmission, while the assembly-disassembly would be done by the staff at Loycarz.
That way he would finish his job in the least time possible, keeping my end cost in check.
The parts would mostly be sourced by him, unless anything major was needed, in which case I would need to figure that out and supply that part to him.

And thus, the long-awaited transmission rebuild was to kick-off!

Just around the time we decided on a time to work on the car, the specialist took ill and thus the dates were pushed forward by a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, we decided to tackle other small work needed on the car.

ADI7YAK drove in with his 3 month old 15000km+ driven Kona for one of the Sundays we were at the workshop.



Stopped for charging on our way back - EVs day out at the Ginger Hotel, Andheri.



Even if the car is getting worked on and at the workshop, some traditions have to be followed. Drove 30kms just to garland the car on Dussehra 2020.



Always a good time when cars are being work upon, especially when all of them are your friends cars.

[///RMan]

Mission Transmission!

The all-important and eagerly awaited day was finally here. I was at the workshop before time and all pumped up.

The transmission bell housing had been taken down by Loyal and his team the night prior, so that the transmission guy could start work on it as soon as he got there.

The transmission all opened up...













The gaskets, o-rings, bands and what not that make up this complicated piece of machinery.




The main culprit, amongst other minor things, for the gearbox not working properly. The tiny bits and pieces that had broken away from this gear had gotten into the gearbox assembly all the way. Luckily, they had not damaged any major parts.







The valve body got a thorough clean up as well.









The re-assembly starting at this point.













The number of tiny parts in the gearbox assembly are unreal.



When the transmission was opened up, this particular cable, called the transmission kickdown cable was broken as well. While it seems like a small part per se, finding this proved to be a herculean task. Have had to call up friends in at least 8 different countries to look for this, with only one reverting with a positive answer. The price for a brand new one was a staggering ₹19000/- before duties and shipping!

With no option left, I placed an order for the same in Dubai. As luck would have it, someone contacted me in the very next hour of placing an order in Dubai, and informed of an used example available right here in Mumbai, for a fraction of the price. Thankfully so, the vendor in Dubai had not processed the order and my friend was able to cancel it.

This whole drama delayed the transmission by 45 days or so, but was well worth it in the end.





The absolutely destroyed prop-shaft coupling. Was promptly replaced with a brand new one.



All filters in the car were replaced, as was the one meant for the transmission oil.



The car was apparently done and Loyal was taking it out for a trial run. On the way out, disaster struck! Apparently a gasket which was not available while being overhauled had failed and this was the outcome. The entire transmission fluid leaked out, making a massive mess.



Another part that needs replacing in the near future - the fuel pressure regulator.
Random Trivia - apart from the M103 engine, this very very expensive part is shared with the Ferrari Testarossa.



With the transmission out of the way, I was all "pumped" up for the first drive . But the water-pump and the engine-fan viscous coupling failed.
Further delay ensued as the parts were not available out here and had to be imported.

New cars parts are always a happy affair!



New and Old fan body.



The failed and brand new water pumps.

[///RMan]

The Last Lap....for now.

One of the last bits that got replaced on the car was this pulley support attachment.




Before taking the car out for its maiden run, it went through a full wash and interior cleaning process at 3M Goregaon.









With all parts finally installed, tried and tested, the "delivery" day was finally here. We decided to pull out the car out for a drive the following Sunday, with the All-Stars Mercedes' owners drive group. Call it co-incidence or what, the following Sunday happened to be Valentines Day!

Needed no alarms to wake up on the 14th morning, a friend picked me up and we were at the workshop before Loyal even made it.

Loyal giving the car one final wipe himself, before handing it over.



You all saw the the man grinning ear to ear while the car was pulled out from the parking in the first post of this thread. After over a year of sweating it out, while keeping up with my constant bickering, here is Loy posing with his labour of love. Full credit to him for getting the car to where it is.

We all know how important a competent FNG is, and hence this appreciation post.



My ride to the workshop in the morning, the E280 CDI, posing with the 260E.



Behind the wheel, after a REALLLY LONG wait.



Drove right in time to intersect the All Stars drive happening on the Eastern Freeway.
What better way to kick-off this journey, than driving with all these generations of the E-Class.









The Diesel Duo flanking the 260E.



Two 6 potters flanking the 5-pot oil burner.



Class-E parking only!





The following Sunday morning, doing what it does best. Chomping on miles!



Meeting up with a famous E34 525tds en route breakfast.





Some photos outside Hermes, where taking car pics is almost mandatory for us Mumbaikars.







Some photos clicked by Viren Parikh, whose photos I keep posting here on T-BHP.







Home coming!







Like every old car out there, trays underneath the car to collect any oil dripping out




The 260E-pilogue...

At the risk of irking many people, I'd say the W124 isn't really a collectible, YET. There's a decent number of of these around, starting out a fairly affordable price-point right now.

Collectible or not, it is the last of its breed, before the 'electronicization' of cars started. One of the last semi-analog cars to come out of Mercedes-Benz, and possibly the last of the typical over-engineered ones that the German marque is so famous for.
That is what makes it a good entry point for anybody looking to get a feel of using and living with an old car.
Yes, the car has it's flaws, but personally I feel the pros outweigh the cons.

The W124 might not just yet make the cut as a legendary car, especially from a brand with a constellation, quite literally. But, it definitely is one of the significant models in the marques history.
In my case, I probably lucked out with a rather unique example, by Indian standards.
I'll just thank my Stars, I guess!

This thread has definitely turned out to be longer than I expected it to be, though probably not as long as the wait to get the car home.
Would be absolutely wrong to end it without thanking a bunch of people, I know you all will read this and you know who are -

-those who I've called for advice before buying the car (multiple times over because I just wanted to be dead sure)
-the ones who pushed me to take the plunge and get the car.
-the ones who threatened to buy the car if I didn't close in on the deal.
-the ones who brain-stormed with me for hours for the gearbox and other mechanicals
-those who pulled in special favors to get some particular work done.
-those who spent hours at the workshop giving me company while the car was being worked on.
-the owner of the car for letting me have the most flexible and effortless purchase experience ever.
-last but not the least, my family for understanding this fanaticism with automobiles(and not declaring me kooky in the head)

Will keep updating this thread as and when any new work is done on the car, hopefully on a regular basis.

Been an absolute blast of an experience this one, and I hope everyone reading can connect via this thread.

Onwards & upwards from here on, looking forward to getting this as close to perfect as soon as possible and racking up the miles while at it!

[GTO]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

Your car is going to the top of our homepage today . Congrats on owning one of the best Mercedes-Benzes of our generation.

[AKSarkar1]

One of the few long posts that I could not stop reading! Literally was glued to my laptop screen for the entirety of it!

It is dedicated people like you who keep the classic (or young?) car scene going in Mumbai. Amazing to see how the Mumbai car scene has evolved over the recent years.

It's an absolute joy to see classic rallies or even classics casually roaming around in SoBo on Sunday mornings. As much as it is a treat to the eye, your post makes the layman (including myself here) understand how much patience such cars might demand from owners occasionally!

Wishing you many miles ahead with this beauty!

[Philomath55]

Congratulations ///RMAN!! The BMW e46 and Mercedes W124 sit at the top in my wishlist of cars!
So happy to see this car being in good hands. This thread has inspired me more to get the W124 soon in the near future, thanks a ton for that!
Once again hearty congratulations and drive safe!
Also love the pictures you post on Team-BHP, what filter do you use?

[cityvic]

Many congratulations on getting StarStruck, Rutwij. Great to see you documenting so well one of your most passionate projects. Looking forward to getting a shotgun ride next time I am in Bombay.

[drift87]

What a great write up, poignant and crisp. You have a great set of friends to have accompanied you in this journey!! Wishing you a fabulous ownership and lot of happy miles!!

[v12]

Congratulations and wish you many many happy miles with the W124 RMan. It really helps to have great friends and contacts when you buy such young classic cars. It makes ownership and upkeep of the car a comparatively easy task.

[toyotaguy18]

My resolve to look for a W124 has gotten stronger after reading your absolutely well-detailed thread! Congrats on the car and wish you many miles with it. I also hope to see it on the roads when Im back to Mumbai!

[karanbir.sandha]

I was in the same boat as you and kind of similar timelines. Looked very hard for a W124 E220 in decent condition. Came so close to buying one from a fellow bhpian, but it wasn't meant to happen.

Had to settle with a W211 E280 CDI and your pictures of the W124 and W211 side by side hit me at a different level .

[RishavRBhardwaj]

Originally Posted by ///RMan

Meeting up with a famous E34 525tds en route breakfast.

Attachment 2154369

What a visually pleasing thread!
Please do share some bits on the asymmetrical Rearview mirrors. Have heard about a lot about this quirk. Does it actually serve the purpose?

[akshay4587]

Congratulations on getting yourself one of the best over engineered cars of all times. I am a W124 E220 owner since 8 years now, I can assure, you, as long as you give it enough love and care, it will get better with age like wine