Notting Hill Garage Presents
Recently restored 1985 Mercedes 230 TE Estate in Gold
Automatic
Brand new MOT until November 2024
Highly sort after 7 seater with 2 seats in the boot
39 years old - making it an historic car in a year's time making it tax free, MOT free and ULEZ free!
This Mercedes-Benz 230 TE is a brilliant example of a classic estate car lovingly restored to original condition. The provenance for this is provided in a bill of works by ourselves Notting Hill Garage that now forms part of an already very comprehensive and full service history which includes the original service book with every single service stamp up to its current 253000 miles along with all original manuals and a huge stack of invoices that is the thickness of a whole A4 lever arch file.
Works carried out by us include two new front wings, four new wheel arches, new sills and some welding underneath and on the floor to deal with MOT failures. It has also been rust proofed and treated to a respray all around of the boot, bonnet (inside as well as the outside), doors and sills up to the roof. Front bulkhead panel that runs across between the bonnet and windscreen and the spare wheel well have had rust cut out and new metal welded in. The chrome work is in great condition as are the hub caps with one of the hub caps being repainted. It has a had a new exhaust centre pipe fitted, new driver's side rear window regulator and motor fitted , one new nearside front tyre, new battery, new heater blower switch, new windscreen wiper linkages, new nearside passenger door strap, new outer window rubbers, new drivers side front indicator light, new bonnet pull , new electronic central locking system and three cracks to the dash repaired.
The interior is in good condition except for some wear to the driver's seat, small wear to the spare wheel carpet and slight warping to the wood veneer where the heater controls are. Please message for more photos of works carried out.
The Merc 230TE is powered by a 2. 3-litre inline-four with Bosch fuel injection via a smooth four-speed automatic transmission gear box. These cars are famous for hitting half-a-million miles and so this car’s 253, 000 miles is relatively small.
If the W124 saloons and estates were the last Mercedes-Benz cars built to a quality rather than a price, the W123 cars were the last to have been over-engineered to a ridiculous degree. Offered with both petrol and diesel engines, as well as saloon, coupe and estate versions, the W123 was the first estate you could buy direct from the factory; previous versions having all been bespoke conversions carried out by third-party coachbuilders.
The W123 was innovative, too. Anti-lock braking was offered as an option from as early as August 1980 and risk-adverse drivers could order their new Merc with an airbag from 1982. The cars also featured a retractable steering column and servo-assisted disc brakes; the W123 might have been handsome rather than pretty, but it was exactly the sort of faithful, safe and reliable vehicle that well-heeled drivers were confident to put their families in.
Which makes a good one a very shrewd buy now if you’re in the market for a classic daily driver that’ll hold a bucketful of kids too!
Mercedes-Benz used to build what were probably the most exquisitely engineered cars in the world, a claim that’s hard to refute when you see the condition of this 38-year-old W123 230TE estate. Powered by the almost indestructible 2. 3-litre petrol engine, its 109 bhp is transmitted to the rear wheels via a four-speed automatic gearbox; it is simple, Old School engineering, impeccably implemented.
This 230TE (‘T’ for ‘Tourismus und Transport’ and ‘E’ for ‘Einspritzung’ or fuel injection in English) is a lovely old thing and still looks amazing, having shrugged off its 253, 000 miles and 39 years with the sort of nonchalance only German cars can.
After the restoration work the exterior is in excellent condition. The car is mechanically sound and starts up first time, every time on the turn of the ignition key and has that luxury armchair drive feel that old school mercedes have as it pulls away smoothly.
On the inside the extensive wooden trim appears to be in very good condition except for by the heater control where there is slight warping. The dashboard is in good fettle too after the small splits were renovated - it is very common for the dash to have cracked after prolonged exposure in the sunlight. The carpets, headlining and door cards are all taut and clean except for some slight warping of the headlining at the rear of the car. The interior of the boot is clean with the boot floor clean and free of rust. All in all the interior is in very good condition. The car also has a manual factory fitted steel sunroof which opens and closes and seals as it should.
This delightful old Mercedes 230TE would be ideal for anyone who’s looking for a classic, elegant and reliable Mercedes estate to drive in the modern world. It is also a great investment as these classic mercedes are now well sought after and highly valued and are only rising in value. Restored ones such as these are hard to come by.
We are Notting Hill Garage based on the world-famous Portobello Road. We have been renovating this vehicle throughout 2023 and hence can vouch for its performance and reliability. Altogether we have spent approximately £7000 on the renovation works.
