W126: Car Collection Day

In view of no road tax purchased, and also lotsa uncertainties on the ca condition, i rang up the tow car service company yesterday to acquire for their assistance to get the W126 back from Melaka to Kuala Lumpur. First time jumped into the tow truck. It was a good experience to see & feel how the tow truck operator drove their truck. Sticked to most left lane most of the time, occasionally on the middle lane. We departed at about 0930, and touched the destination at at 1145. Check out the photos after the jump!

Picture 1: This was the tow truck that i engaged with

their service to pickup my W126 back from Melaka

Picture 2: Captured the departure time

Picture 3: Tow truck ready to let the W126 roll onto the tray.

Picture 4: Captured the time to pickup the W126.

According to the used car seller, the previous owner

has never driven this car out from Melaka

Picture 5: Oh boy, we were about to go!

Picture 6: Finally, the W126 arrived Kuala Lumpur.

Tentatively will park in my office garage for a day

and to send to CHOP SHOP to dismantle the engine

& gearbox on tomorrow.

W126: What Do You Think?

Took almost one and a half hours to reach Air Keroh exit to the Melaka Town. The W126 car was kept in the used car dealer warehouse in view of closing for CNY festive season. It was specially arranged to send to used car center for viewing and test drive.

My first impression on this car was the paint work looked absolutely dull. According to the used car dealer, they do not intend to restore the car prior selling, but to sell the car as it is. If the sale of this W126 is secured, i will need the heart of the car, i.e: ENGINE perhaps the gearbox too! Hence, the body chassis is not important to me anymore.Oh yeah, this W126 is equipped with manual transmission gearbox.

Got the key from used car dealer, fired it up... VROOM... the engine started up with solid rev'ing sound without any wobbling. However, Some engine oil leaking marks saw underneath. Checked the engine oil dip, oil level was within the maximum level. Brake fluid level was at the maximum level too. Checked out the exhaust tip, spotted the condensation water spilled out a bit... (guess that's fine when engine is still cold). Tested the brake system, kinda spongy feel, you won't know the brake is working or not unless you take the car out for a spin. Guess it is ready to test drive the car for further inspection.

Air cond (A/C) system was not working, spotted that the A/C compressor was malfunctioned. Power windows are not working except for driver's window. It was discovered that the car has got difficulty to move from idle. The front brake was jammed. Having said that, I was asked to step further on the acceleration pedal to force the car move...and the brake jammed issue will dissapear after a while. OMG...

However, the brake problem came back as soon as i stepped on the brake pedal. Decided to stop the test drive immediately rather than putting myself into risk. They promised to get it fix prior delivering the car.

Apart from that, i noticed that some white fumes generated from the back of the car! It means the engine is required some attentions on it, either the engine has got too much of carbon stored in the engine due to the car has not been used for long time OR water coolant leak. I was told that the car seldom use, and had never been drove out from Melaka state.

As soon as i got back to the used car center, the JPJ registration card was examined in details such as single Chinese owner, original plate number was NH3333 (wow.. what a nice plate number huh), engine number, and the VIN number. Checked on the service history records. Car was sent for servicing regularly; air cond serviced 3 times so far; and of course the genuine mileage was captured in the car service history. Negotiated the price for the car. Price was reduced to RM7,200 initially. Further negotiated the price in view of the heavy repairs needed. Finally, i was offered at RM5,000 with the condition that the brake problem must be resolved prior delivering the car. I decided to take up the car! :P

Check out the pictures of the car after the jump...

W126: Lemon or Goodies?

Today is the seventh day of the Chinese New Year (CNY). Chinese believes that it is the birthday of all. "生日快乐"! Most of the companies are still closing for CNY celebration, and very unlikely to receive new orders from local or oversea customer(s).

Hence, i decided to google for W126 engine via Internet. Guess what i found? I found a complete W126 car for RM7,800! This is no joke, a single preowned car is asking for such amount under negotiable condition. I decided to contact the seller without hesitation to ask for the car condition, history, and location. Guess what? I planned to drive down to Melaka to check out the car on tomorrow. Lets hope this car is a goodies but not a lemon. *keeping my fingers cross*

Stay tuned for more update.

Happy Chinese New Year & Happy Valentine's Day!

To all the Chinese readers, wishing you a very Happy Chinese New Year (CNY)! For others who do not celebrate CNY, i wish you a very happy Valentine's Day!

W111: OMG...What An Expensive Lesson!

Received phone call from the workshop. The workshop owner has decided to close down the business in view of the poor business partner (Uncle Robert) not performing his job. Having said that, this uncle Robert often delay the job, and step out for drinking session during working hours.

The workshop owner (not to disclose her name) refunded RM1,000 since the body work did not complete. I felt completely angry with these people who have not been doing their job professionally, especially this uncle Robert who commited to complete the welding job within 2 months (due on February 02, 2010) but failed to do his job!

I can't stand this uncle Robert anymore, when i first saw him today. He asked me for additional money in advanced for celebrating Chinese New Year. WTF... How could he do this especially when he has not started the welding job at all and got paid RM2,000? I don't see the welding gas tank, and the metal sheet in the workshop at all! I feel like... to punch this uncle Robert for cheating me again & again with lame excuses! Here is the uncle Robert's photo. For those who wish to send your car for bodywork, please stay away from this guy. He is indeed a real Bast**d who know to enjoy his drinking session but not doing his work seriously.

Finally, i decided to take back my car after Chinese New Year, and ask for full refund from him. He told me to come back after 2 months. !$#%^%$#@&*;...

Meanwhile, i will try to look for other workshop to continue the bodywork. Learned from this expensive lesson!

W111: German vs Japanese Engine?

Lotsa my friends told me to go for modern engine so that i don't have to worry about spare parts or car breakdown problems. Of course, easy maintenance is to take into consideration. However, it will be meaningless if i have decided to put in non-original engine into my W111, unless my objective is to have the classic look but equipped with big wheels like those American MUSCLE machines.

So, Japanese engine is out from my wish list. Having said that, it is impossible to obtain M127 engine in Klang Valley as i have visited most of the halfcut shops in which most of the halfcut were Mercedes modern cars such as W211, W210, W203, W202, W126, & W124. Even the halfcut shops from rural states such as Kelantan, Terengganu and Perlis also don't carry M127 engine anymore.

In view of the unavailability of M127 engine, i decided to look for M110 engine in particularly from W126, as it has the similar engine design, i.e: inline 6. Based on my finding, most of the W126's engines can be found from halfcut shops are 3.0L, & 3.8L. These engines are priced at around RM3,800 to RM5,000 subject to condition. I would rather not to get any of these as the road tax will cost me a BOOM annually. Apart from that, these engines don't come with wiring and other supporting parts. I will need the halfcut complete engine at least to complete the engine tranplant process.

Stay tune for more update.