#1990300te

In order to paint the roof of my 1990 300TE, the sunroof panel needed to be removed.  However, on removal of the sunroof panel, the lifting arms disintegrated.  This is a common problem on the W124 and second generation W126 cars.  The lifting arms are the mechanism that is used to enable the tilt function on the sunroof. While the tilt function is nice, the plastic parts in the mechanism are a real weak spot.

Given the earlier roofs are far more reliable, I'm not sure the tilting feature is really worth the effort.   The broken arms got all jammed up in the mechanism, and since the roof lining was already out for the roof racks, it was easier to drop the whole sunroof cassette.

Unlike on the W126, the genuine lifting arms were still available for the W124.  However, to get both sides would cost over USD$600, before GST and delivery.  While I prefer to use genuine parts where I can, I couldn't justify it.  There are quite a few aftermarket options, of varying quality.  The ones from China were much cheaper, but I've not heard good things about them.  In the end I went with an AIN kit, that looks like it came from Turkey.  It cost about USD$200 including delivery and GST. When it arrived it looked quite good quality and was made from metal.  Comparing it against the old one it seemed to fit quite well.   This didn't solve the complete problem.  Even with the new lifting arms, the sunroof was still binding. In the end, the issue turned out to be a broken rivet in the rails.  This was causing one of the rails to sit a few mm higher than it should.  Its probably why the original lifting arms broke.

The final part was the bracket that holds the sunroof cable to the sunroof had broken.  This is part 126 782 01 40 and is still available new.  It was USD$16 before shipping and GST.   I was also missing a rubber insert for the bumper on the left side - part number 124 885 05 23 which was also $16.  I was lucky to be missing that side, as the right hand side seems to be NLA, although aftermarket parts seem to be available, but more expensive. Those were the last parts required and from there it was re-assembly.  The repairer made sure to use lots of sealant for the rear windows so water couldn't get in under the new seals. I've now collected the car and it looks great, better than ever.

Before my 300TE could be repainted, the rust uncovered in the rear window apertures had to be repaired.  The rust was cut out and the area welded - we didn't use any specific repair panels in my case.

Once all the rust was repaired, the next step was obviously paint. Since the whole car was not being resprayed, just the rear quarters and roof the colour had to be blended in. The goal wasn't to get my car perfect, but to fix any rust and get it looking really good without the expense of a full respray. While most of the work is in the preparation, it's when the colour goes on that the car is really transformed. Seeing how much better it was looking when I visited made a big difference.

The car looks really sleek without the roof racks and rubbing strips on the roof.  However, I do plan to put it back to the stock look.

With all the parts procured, my 300TE went into the body shop.    The repair started out as routine, removal of the old bumper and disassembly.   However, things quickly went sideways with the removal of the rear windows.

While I was aware of the rust traps in the S124 rear window design, I wasn't prepared for how bad the rust would be would be without any real external evidence.  I'm really glad I did this repair now, as while it was bad, it was still very much repairable.

Both sides were pretty bad with one slightly worse.   The challenge is that if any water gets under the seal, there is nowhere for it to go.   It sits and rusts away the metal under the seal.  The low point seems to be at the front of the aperture, although there was some rusting at the rear.

Fixing the rust was going to be more effort than I had planned, but at l was getting it repaired all at once.  It would have been quite a shame to fix one side only. Preparing the roof for paint was more effort than I had hoped.  The strips on the roof are just attached with adhesive.  But the actual roof racks require the headlining to come down.  Seeing the strips off the roof showed how badly the paint had faded from original, the main reason why I was having the roof repainted.

Last week I was driving my 300TE in the wet.   I was stationary at the lights, when I felt something hit the car.   A Honda SUV had crashed into the drivers rear corner.  As I was stationary at the lights, I had not been looking out the rear. Consequently, I didn't see the actual impact.   But when I got out of the car to exchange details, it became clear what had happened.

The road I was sitting on had three lanes.  Two through lanes, and a right hand turning lane.  I was stationary in the middle lane, which was the right most of the two through lanes.   The Honda SUV (driven by a P-plater) had attempted to change lanes into the turning lane and been cleaned up by an Audi SUV.  The impact of the two SUVs had taken most of the impact of the accident, but the Honda had pushed into my rear bumper.

The drivers of the Honda and Audi could not agree whos' fault it was.  I didn't really care as it clearly wasn't mine.  I just exchanged details with both drivers and let them continue their argument.   Both the Audi and the Honda were in a bad way.  It would not surprise me if both cars were written off.  It doesn't take much these days.

My 300TE is insured with Shannons.  Since being integrated more into the Suncorp parent company, I've heard mixed reviews on claiming with them.  Having talked about this with a friend who owns a panel shop which does insurance work, his comment was:  "They are all pretty terrible these days, but they are probably still the best to deal with".   Having said that, my experience was very good and I was able to put my claim in quickly, and choose my repairer. I took the car to be assessed recently.  The bumper bar took most of the impact, and we've found a good second hand bumper cover in Melbourne, minus the impact strip.   There is a small amount of damage to the paint underneath the tail light, so the rear quarter will need to be painted.   The tail light also has a crack.   Still, this should easily be doable in the insured value of the car.