Winter Is Here

Refueling trip to Vyborg, Russia today.

The cold is getting to these old cars - the fuel light on my buddy's W124 malfunctioned and he ran out of fuel 20km before the border.

We went to get emergency fuel with my car and when at the fuel station, I noticed my central locking had failed so it took some doing to get to the trunk.

As you may recall, I've had the central locking problem before, about a year now, except it worked perfectly over the summer. It's always been related to the trunk which is why I thought it had to be a leaky vacuum lead or other mechanical problem with the trunk lock actuator. However, today tipped at it probably being the trunk release button. When it's even slightly frozen it gets stuck somewhere in the "release" end of its movement and starts messing with the central locking - and doesn't release the trunklid.

Well, it did work eventually, so all's good.

Came back home with ~95 litres of fuel at 0.853 eur/litre. On last tank, averaged 14.6 l/100km.

Speaking of the cold, these are from yesterday:

That was only a frozen surface, no snow. We got actual snow today, therefore the first powerslide of winter 2012-2013 happened on 27.10.2012!

Photoshoot in Imatra

Enjoy the pics! Location: Imatra

By the way: I was able to negotiate a car wash deal: unlimited car washes until the end of April for 15 EUR / month! I plan to take the car to brushless washes (with wax) weekly or bi-weekly over the winter, or every time I'm back from driving on salt roads (such as refueling trips).

107-numbered Emblems Are Rubbish

I'm truly disappointed with the production quality of the little emblem I bought in February. It's already shedding paint and it's about 9 months / 8500 km old.

M-B gave me a new one through the two-year OEM Part Warranty. But I can't help but suspect this might happen again.

Getting Ready for Winter

Yesterday, the SEC was at the cleaning shop for a repeat cleaning of the rooflining and center console stain. It was free because I mentioned in passing to the shop's owner that the mentioned places had been left dirty last time the car was there. This time they did a better job, the rooflining is nearly perfect and the stain is better, not gone but much better. While the car was there, I think they also did some extra cleaning inside, so all's good.

I also had the chance to borrow a friend's garage in order to prep the car for the winter season. Starting with the wax, I did the usual: wash, clay, quick wash again, wipe dry, wax.

Applied 2 coats of longlife wax to the hood and side sheetmetal, and 1 coat to other panels. I also waxed the windows, except windshield. This improves the look of the glasswork and should improve visibility in the rain.

Also polished and waxed the front bumper's brightwork, neglected to take a pic.

Also, I got this from ebay. It's the so-called lightning sticker, warning drivers from touching the high-voltage ignition leads. All Mercedes from the period should have one like this. Note, this has a W123 part number. It is no longer available at the dealers, they only sell the "new design" as seen on W124s.

 I spent some time cleaning the engine bay again, had the airbox off and wiped down the valve covers etc. While I had the airbox off I decided to oil the throttle linkage again. I also oiled the hood hinges and door/trunk lock mechanisms.

Car should be ready for the winter season. Doing all this only took me about 12 hours, so not too bad.