21st Nov 2010, 11:42
Is your car still on the road?
Curious to know, what's your service interval like and have you had to overhaul the timing chain guides? A lot of forums say it needs to be done at 100k miles on W126 V8 engines, because they can snap. You managed 200k+ miles without this happening!!
11th Feb 2011, 10:47
Yes! The car is still on the road (albeit in winter storage right now). The service intervals are a little more often than recommended; I change the oil and filter every 4K km, and so far, it's been running smoothly. The timing guides were done once at about 100K, so it's probably due for that service once again. I only drive it <10K a year, and I bank on being on the side of the road with a failure of some sort at least once a year. So far, it's always been the electronics that have given up (fuel pump relay, ignition coil).
9th Nov 2011, 15:38
Another year of driving done! About 12K km this year (now 213K miles), and aside from a few oil changes and a flat tire, only the Ignition Control Module went out, leaving me on the side of the road. Beyond that, the power antenna and the power adjustments for the passenger seat both gave up the ghost.
Otherwise, still a real pleasure to drive, with the smooth ride, silent V8, decent handling, terrific seats, and safe construction.
In the spring, the car will get a tune up, and will have some of the electrical components repaired.
After having driven many, many vehicles this year, it's really apparent that the Mercedes W126 was engineered with no expense spared!
11th Aug 2012, 06:18
Well done. My W123 soldiers on in a similar fashion. I'm keen on a W126 SEC though. I agree that frequent oil (and filter) changes are the basis for long engine life Mercedes Benz vehicles.
3rd Feb 2014, 23:46
So, another year come and gone. I drove the Mercedes through the Winter. It survived. That V8 is bulletproof.
This year, the car got new valve cover gaskets, another ignition control module, a tune-up, battery, thermostat, fuel pump relay, heater mono valve, and some serious time at very high speeds.
Nothing is built like a W126. Nothing.
Looking forward to another year of driving :)
23rd Nov 2009, 17:32
Yet another year done; I've put the car in storage again for the winter. Aside from a leaking transmission pan (easy fix, which still needs to be done), the car ran flawlessly once again. Now at 201,000 miles (321,000 km). Still not consuming any oil, and the all the electrics are still working. The starter solenoid is getting more and more worn, and will eventually need replacing. Although the Benz did leave me on the side of the road once this year (ignition coil failure), the car still runs beautifully. It's a terrific summer car; looking forward to driving it again next year!