A black Mercedes 500E brought back to health: failed timing chain guides, rebuilt injectors, cooling and steering work, then charging, climate, and exhaust.
The 500E is the W124 that Mercedes and Porsche built together, with a V8 in a sedan body. This black one first came to me in 2021 for an engine diagnostic, and the cause was the worst kind: the timing chain guides had failed, and pieces of them were in the oil pan.
I replaced every timing chain guide I could reach and the tensioner, retimed the engine, and checked the chain for stretch. The oil pan came off so I could pull the oil pump, inspect it, and clean the broken guide material out of the sump. All eight injectors were swapped for rebuilt units, and it got a water pump, thermostat, crank and cam seals, cam oiler tube O-rings, new vacuum lines, and a reseal of the tandem power steering pump with new hoses.
In 2022 it came back for the smaller things that make an old car feel right. A frayed alternator terminal was arcing and causing the charging and gauge problems. A weak vacuum junction was keeping the center dash vent from working. Then it got a SuperSprint cat-back exhaust, new springs front and rear, distributor caps, rotors, and ignition wires.
