Mercedes Benz W124 1990 restoration project is back to life

[z_khan]

i would like to share my w124 1990 Mercedes Benz restoration project.
Mercedes Benz w124 was my dream car since childhood and i consider myself among those lucky people who actually gets their dream car . i wasn't able to find any 500e or e500 AMG in Pakistan . so i decided to get e230 and transform it to e500.
i started planning the project in 2013 .i bought this w124 in really bad condition, complete car was a total junk except the engine and frame of the car. good thing was car wasn't involved in any major accident so frame was perfect and rust free.

Mechanical condition
before purchasing this car ,previous owner recently swapped the engine with lexus is200,s 1g-fe engine, mounted to w124,s 4 speed manual transmission so it was in perfect condition. front and rear shock absorbers were damaged and leaked. all bushings were damaged. front and rear suspension, axles , drive shaft, wheel discs ,brakes , differential were not in proper working condition. worst part was the complete wiring . when i popped the hood it felt engine is covered in thick spider,s web that was the wiring. if i turned on the headlights, indicators wold turn on, front parking lights with reverse gear, AC with hazard switch and it goes on....
..shortly everything need changed.

exterior condition
as mentioned above the car wasn't involved in any major accident. so frame and chassis were in perfect condition .car was very roughly painted, bumpers, grille,side mirrors , side panels and kits , head lights and tail lights ,emblem and badges , chrome linings were broken and need changed.

Interior condition
many parts were missing in interior and damaged .all seats were custom made.every single thing need replaced. and there was kind a weird smell inside the car. so i was definitely going to throw out that interior .






to be continued in replies...........

[z_khan]

preparations before beginning of the project
i was in England before starting the project which was major advantage to grab parts from Europe .so did market survey in Pakistan to find out of market parts. i bought as many parts i could from online stores such as ebay and amazon etc from different locations such as Germany, Italy, England Thailand,Japan, and China, also grabbed some parts from scrap yards. and managed to get the remaining parts in Pakistan from imported halfcut of w124 from England in immaculate condition ,that half cut was like winning a jackpot .

list of some items i bought were :
all emblems and badges,
amg logos,
custom made amg speedo cluster,
interior switches and buttons,
crystal led tail lights,
USA style parking lights and indicators,
parking sensors
rear view mirror with built in lcd screen and rear view camera,
amg chrome panel set for interior,
new zebrano wood panels,
mercedes tyre valve caps and wheel centr caps,
cree bulbs,
mae crown jewel 18" wheels,
sony xpload sound system with hands free phone option,

complete interior including carpet,
euro headlights,
front and rear bumpers ,
complete four doors with power windows and central locking system,
complete car wiring , computers and fuse boxes etc,
climate control system,
facelifted trunk and hood,
and all mechanical parts such as complete front and rear suspension , axle assemblies ,braking system,feul supply system, exhaust system,steering system,differential, drive shaft, bearings , hoses and other miscellaneous parts.mostly were new. there were many many more items which i could not remember them all....

[z_khan]

Project begins
before taking it to garage i decided to give it a thorough wash , which helped the mechanics finding faulty parts and replacing them.it actually looked much better than how it was after a wash .

so first new bumpers were installed.

in photo below as you can see the new doors were installed , i could have used the old ones but they were not powered, and removing all power windows and locks from old ones to these new ones would be very time consuming and it wont be as perfect and functional.

next step was stripping the interior .

they removed everything from interior .this was the best moment , i finally got rid of that mysterious weird smell

then they started installing all new wiring same as oem fitment


here comes the new shiny dash and cluster installed

then the leather seats were installed , the car really started that factory smell of a new car . unfortunately we had to remove them all again for paint job.

all engine wiring and interior /exterior wiring completed

these previous steps took only a week, things were going very smoothly but i wasn't aware of the actual time consuming period of project is going to begin now. the body shop guys started their job to remove all layers paint and remove dents if found. to make the surface of car smooth for paint job. this process took more than 3 weeks .because of their busy garage it was hard for them to work on projected car and avoid their daily customers visting for small jobs.

[z_khan]

paint job
finally after 3-4 weeks we had to take the car for paint works.i always planned for black colour. so we had to get the diamond pearl black colour for extra shine.
on first day and paint garage, they washed the car with kind of acid to remove all layers of paint , it came out kind of chrome

thin layers of body filler were used to smothered the outer surface of the car.

here come the base coat of paint.looks good in grey as well

next step changed the car completely , i started loving it. 3 coats of paint and finally clear coat for extra shine.

bumpers, mirrors , side kits, door panels were painted separately and installed afterwards. we had to leave the compound polish and waxing for later on.. because ,we had to take it back to the garage to finish installation of interior, mechanical/engine parts and all mechanical works

[devils_smile]

@lxd

Is this being worked on in Peshawar by any chance? And you are sticking to the toyota engine? Why not find a decent M104?

[z_khan]

after spending a more than two months visiting the workshop daily to supervise and e the project, i almost lost my patience but something kept me going on. finally the interior fitting and mechanical parts installation began.

the euro headlights, parking sensors,rear view mirror , other gadgets and accessories , led tail lights,grille and hood emblem were installed.

finally all parts were installed including wheels.

and in last step we took it back to paint workshop for complete compound polish and waxing. front bumper and fender paint got damaged in installation of parts so had to re spray them. all badges and emblems were installed ,on fenders, trunk engine bay and interior.

[z_khan]

Final detailing
after almost 3 months of hard work, finally the car came to life ,installed the sound system, xenon high intensity discharge low beams and high beams, tinted the windows , floor mats, seat covers , cree and led interior /exterior bulbs and some other accessories.
completely restored and brought it home .it it was the time for complete wash and detailing.
first we cleaned and detailed the interior.

the next day was for engine bay. washed waxed and cleaned.

the best wax i ever used is this one"turtle black box" . its bit time consuming but the results were amazing.in a package it had 3 different products, surface cleaner, wax, and detailer spray.

forgot to mention that i managed to find user manual ,all brochures and pouch use to come with buying new w124.

FINAL RESULTS
hard work pays off..I want expecting this result from the project. allahamulillah project was a success and car felt like brand new .screw to screw was replaced . you can see the results yourself below.

thanks

[z_khan]

my plan was FOR M119 ... haha all the budget was gone...i had to stick to this one for a while ...

[z_khan]

@lxd

Is this being worked on in Peshawar by any chance? And you are sticking to the toyota engine? Why not find a decent M104?

@devils_smile
my plan was for 8 cylinder m119.. but all my budget for project was gone... i had to stick to this engine for a while. and yes it was worked on in peshawar and rawalpindhi..

[Bilalicious]

Wow. Hats off to your patience and commitment mate. Gave it a new life.

[z_khan]

Wow. Hats off to your patience and commitment mate. Gave it a new life.

@Bilalicious
thanks

[devils_smile]

Save up and get the engine the car deserves. There is a 500E at a scrapyard near where I live. I saw it when I went to look for parts for my 201 but was short on time so couldn't have a closer look at it. BTW, get the hood pad. I saw yours is missing. It helps a lot with suppressing heat transfer and sound.

[z_khan]

Save up and get the engine the car deserves. There is a 500E at a scrapyard near where I live. I saw it when I went to look for parts for my 201 but was short on time so couldn't have a closer look at it. BTW, get the hood pad. I saw yours is missing. It helps a lot with suppressing heat transfer and sound.

@devils_smile
where exactly is that 500e.. thanks

[nfsmostwanted]

Beautiful Restoration Brother!

the car speaks for the amount of care and love you put into her

[SPINBACHA]

Dare Allaaha (Zabardast Rora) Nazar Neh Shii.
Maintain your beauty as it is.

[saleem8686]

Waooooo...... Saala ye tou sahab bun gaya.......

[qwertypoiu]

Nice i happen to come across your posts before, nicely done project

Sent from my iPhone using PW Forums

[963]

Nicely done.

[talhabinomar]

Hands off for your project and dedication and attention to the details like logos and stuff. The car was really a disappointing in start, but the your guidance and the talented craftsmanship, it is a wonder again. A true inspiration for the people going for restoration project. Salutes to your passion and patience.

[Banoori555]

Nicely restored , weldone