1989 460 300GD wiring, Wiring! WIRING!!
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2026 11:15 am
Howdy.
I'm the other half of the team working on DanT's 1989 460 300GD G wagon. The electrical side of the restoration has fallen to me, including a complete rewire and redesign of the harness.
The re-wire decision was originally 50/50, but when we saw the condition of the harness once we began to begin to cut into it, it made our hair stand on end. It was like the aftermath of a flame-thrower war in a spaghetti factory.
It's taken months just to figure out and draw an accurate diagram of our current harness spec - it bears very little resemblance to the original factory diagram. It is also compromised by previous owner work and attempts at restoration. Then we had to figure out which replacement wiring spec and colour to order - 3 colour auto wires are not readily available - so we get to replace them with insane colour combinations which are lurid but I suppose easy to trace once the new harness is in place (try hot pink and hot orange!). Buying all new good quality wiring get very expensive very quickly.
Redesigning and relocating that fuse box, to safely id and separate each circuit, has been at the heart of it all. Not sure if the original is a masterpiece of efficient German engineering design or a fire waiting to happen. Probably both.
I'm the other half of the team working on DanT's 1989 460 300GD G wagon. The electrical side of the restoration has fallen to me, including a complete rewire and redesign of the harness.
The re-wire decision was originally 50/50, but when we saw the condition of the harness once we began to begin to cut into it, it made our hair stand on end. It was like the aftermath of a flame-thrower war in a spaghetti factory.
It's taken months just to figure out and draw an accurate diagram of our current harness spec - it bears very little resemblance to the original factory diagram. It is also compromised by previous owner work and attempts at restoration. Then we had to figure out which replacement wiring spec and colour to order - 3 colour auto wires are not readily available - so we get to replace them with insane colour combinations which are lurid but I suppose easy to trace once the new harness is in place (try hot pink and hot orange!). Buying all new good quality wiring get very expensive very quickly.
Redesigning and relocating that fuse box, to safely id and separate each circuit, has been at the heart of it all. Not sure if the original is a masterpiece of efficient German engineering design or a fire waiting to happen. Probably both.
