Tyre Advice Please.

 All g wagen engines prior to the 300td and 350 td were under powered...you should have test drove it on a longer run....however that 300 is quite revvy....but I had a lwb and on a run to wales. Loaded up at 60mph and averaged 24mpg....of the tyres are anytihng bigger than 31" you will start to lose power.. The peak torque on the 300 petrol is in the region of 4500 revs I think...nothing like a diesel...if you've been used to a 4x with a turbo diesel you will certainly notice the difference on hills!  But that 300 is so refined...as a matter of course I would change to auto tanny oil and filter...if you don't it's service history for the autobox 

Ian is right the ge300 is happiest trunddling along at 60 mph on the motorway, it will go faster but its thirst increases out of proportion to the gain.
Enjoy it for what it is; as an engine with super smooth near silent refinement. Step into any taxi engined car and this aspect at least will horrify you. Mine is a swb manual and in mixed motoring I get 19/20mpg, more on a motor way run, I do however carry tyre weld instead of a spare and took off my bull bars as soon as I bought the thing. Carry only what you need to as weight = fuel too.

I've never had a 3.0L Petrol but would expect better speed.  I have the 2.3L Petrol, 4 cylinder and it drives like a (heavy) car.  It used to be happy at 85-90mph on a motorway (about 4.5-5k rpm from memory), but for the past several years the tuning has been out and now its 70mph (just as well).  But you have to let a petrol rev to get the power.   Oh, and mpg was an avg of about 18mpg (more at 60 on a run).

If your car was built before August 1992 it doesn't need a cat. It's useful to delete it in terms of output and economy as its a very convoluted system. Having tried a straight pipe to replace the cat I opted for a silencer instead and a 2nd small silencer between the axle, result is better economy and little noticable extra noise compared to the factory set up

mine is a K plate too but it was built in October 1991, check it out with Milton Keynes, 

 Milton Keynes - is where the MBUK  HQ is.

Personally I would post up your VIN and someone here will be a) faster and b) more likley to know what your after, than the muppets up at MK MBUK HQ :)

Glad your enjoying your G, and with referance to tyres I have cooper LTZ ZEON's very aggressive tread for an all terrain, but strangly more fuel efficent than the Bridgestone Duler's I had before.

Spider1V

Hi Lego,

Just for your information/comparison - I had a 3l petrol LWB for about one year: it could quite easily cruise at 80mph all day long. I also had bigger tyres on it 275/65R16 (taken off of my Landcruiser at the time) and although it wasn't an accelleration bandit, it was OK for a very heavy car. It could easily hold 70 mph up/down hills. MPG would be around 18 even on high speed motorway jaunts. The engine was whisper quiet: you shouldn't really hear it on the motorway (more like a very slight sewing machine noise, but nothing obstrusive). The car did feel slightly underpowered but really wasn't much worse in actual fact than my 4.6l Landcruiser. I wouldn't say it really lacked horsepower, but more torque especially in the lower revs ranges. This was compensated for by the very revvy engine which always sounded great, when I could hear it.

It sounds like you're at the stage of still running it through problems. I had a number of start-up problems too, but once fixed, it was a wonderful car. In fact, if I were ever to get a SWB version, I'd probably buy the 3l petrol again.

Good luck,
Phileas

Hi

Thanks for your chassis number on the PM.

I think you were getting me the chassis number to look at the build date so that you could find out about de cating the car. This should be possible and if you replace the cat section with another silencer you may even be able to make it a little quieter and also check for leaks and blowing, the M102/M103 engines are prone for exhaust manifold gasket issues and went from a composite steel/fibre gasket to a plain steel one from memory to reduced movement and blow by etc.

The chassis number you provided was built by the Graz factory in 1991. It is supplied in one of my favourite colours Malachite Metallic.

As you know it is a SWB (2400MM) 300GE that was supplied direct to the UK. It is fitted with the M103.987 6 cylinder 3ltr engine and W4 A 028 MB 4 speed Auto Transmission. Unfortunately although the build date is on the build data card the ship to dealer date is missing? You obviously know the registration date already. It was not unusual at that time for vehicles to be sat in dealerships for 1-2 years before being sold. I worked in the MB PC network at from 1987- 2002 and actually ran a 1991 J plate 300GE SWB as a company car from 1991-1993. At the time of launch of the 463 models in 1989-1990 there wasn't too much demand, the 460 had never been a big seller over here due to the price and its (even then) basic spec but the launch of the new models with an even higher price did nothing for sales. In an attempt to boost sales MB made it mandatory  for every PC dealer to have a least one G Wagen on their demonstrator plan, hence my company car! and my love of G Wagens! You will find a glut of 1991 registered vehicles that were demos and then over 1992-1993 the sales gradually picked up with good year in 1993. Models changed again in 1994-1995 with the 300GE replaced by the G320 but in LHD only and sales slumped again.

So as you can see your vehicle was built in 1991 and probably sat at either MBUK or a UK dealer for 18 months or so before being registered.

With regards to your ABS issues if you let me have your email address I can send you the pictures from the MB EPC (Electronic Parts Catalogue) to show you the ABS set up with the exciter rings etc. I was just thinking on that a couple of the Scottish dealers are for one, very knowledgeable on the G and two, very helpful and not too expensive. I still work in the MB network albeit the CV side but I have no vested interest in them. If you post a question about good Scottish dealers I am sure FredEcosse or Mountain Goat will reply with some recommendations. I think it is John R Weir from memory but not sure.

What you will find is that you should not get hung up on the hourly rate of the MB dealer versus the private garage. 98% of jobs carried out in the dealer are restricted to a standard "text time" that MB Germany dictates and therefore the job priced is fixed. I.e. A service at a dealer may be restricted to 1.0 hour in time so the job might be 1hr x £80 = £80 whereas a private garage may only charge £40 but may charge 2.5 hours in time, so 2.5hr x £40 = £100 and so on. For repair job like changing an exciter ring the MB garage will have a fixed price whereas the garage will charge time taken and probably not even give you an estimate for the work, while the MB dealer should give you a fixed price up front. In my experience you are better with the dealer for most jobs in general.

Your Wiper Spindles which are probably causing your water ingress are available in a complete unit, part number A461 820 08 41 at £130+vat you also need a fitting kit A000 820 10 40 at £8.25+vat and 2 Caps A000 824 35 72 at £1.20 each +vat and MBUK have stock of all.

Your Power Steering noise could just be down to low oil level which is easily checked at the reservoir by unscrewing the cap and checking that the reservoir is full. What often gets overlooked is the fact that there is a filter in the bottom of the reservoir and while I can’t remember the service intervals it in my experience never gets changed outside the MB network, the part number is A000 466 21 04 and retail at £7.85+vat MBUK again have stock. These systems are quite noisy when on full lock and kicking back against the lock stops anyway but should be silent in normal driving.

Your door lock issue may be something really simple and I am sure Rakesh (Pistonhead) or Fixwin38 will suggest solutions, I think there is a screw that comes loose or a small spring on the lock mechanism or such like but usually something very simple and inexpensive. If it is the door handle itself a simple solution is to swop the handles from side to side as they are not handed I believe.
I am sure the headlight issue will be down to a simple wiring issue with connections or an earth problem rather than the switch which are usually quite reliable.

Somebody else mentioned changing the Auto Box Filter and oil, the oil is pretty standard ATF which any garage could supply, the filter is part number A460 277 01 95 at £30 + vat and I would suggest replacing the sump gasket A126 271 10 80 £12.40 +vat and the sump plug washer number N007603 010112 at £0.72 +vat the plug is part number N000000 000884 at £1.00 +vat if required and again MBUK have stock of all.

As for you rear door dent I can’t help other than to suggest that a local dent repair man will have surprisingly good results for £30 or so. I have been shocked on many occasions by the skill of these guys and what they can actually do with both small and very large dents and providing that the paint is not broken or the dent on a swage line within the panel , you should not be able to tell afterwards.

I will shut up rambling know but I hope that it will have been of some use to you.

But keep your spirits up and stay positive, nothing is impossible and you will be surprised how many jobs are relatively inexpensive and you may soon have an enjoyable G to drive and then you will be hooked like the rest of us.

Thanks
Gav

If you intend deleting the cat you will need a letter from MB confirming the build date to show your MOT tester; I got a fancy letter with an embossed seal imprint for a fee of £25

Start by e-mailing MBUK to confirm what they need from you; from memory its the vin number and a cheque for £25 plus vat but they may want a copy of your V5 too. Once they recieve the stuff from you it's pretty much by return from them.

If you want to phone 1st  ask for the Homologation Dept via the main number 01908 245000