feedback on 123 ignitions

[Jimbo1907]

I have a few cars for which 123 makes ignition systems- 280SL, DS Citroen, E-type. I don't know anyone personally who has installed a 123 ignition system on their car, and if anyone here would like to provide feedback on installing one and how they feel about its performance, I'd be grateful to hear it. I should mention that the engines in the above cars are healthy and this may be a case of not fixing something that isn't broken. Mostly I would like to know if there are noticeable performance improvements with the 123 ignition in 113 cars. Thank you, in advance.

[roymil]

The 123 system has worked great for my 280sl.   Before the 123 I was constantly fiddling with gap and dwell and the points would get pitted and degraded after not many miles.  To be fair I probably was driving too much coil voltage with too little ballast, but with the 123 you never need to mess with it again.  It just works.  No real maintenance other than the usual swap of the distributor cap/rotor  periodically.    It is pretty expensive, especially with bluetooth, so if you don't drive the car that much and are setup such that the points are working long enough without adjustments or replacement then its fair to ask if it is worth the investment.    I do like the ability to lockout the ignition via iphone app as a bit of extra security.   my 2 cents.

[clunker]

I second what Mark said, and I thought one of best value upgrades overall. The Bluetooth also allows you to monitor advance and vacuum in real time as well as adjust advance / retard (though process bit awkward) in real time. Simple robust and clean looking install. I think it been well received by pagoda owners.

[Cees Klumper]

I suggest you review previous discussions here on this topic, I think you wil find almost entirely positive feedback on the 123s.
I've installed one on 3 different classic cars: my Pagoda, maybe 15 years ago and still going strong, my '72 Lancia and my son's '73 240Z, all good results.

[yves]

I am going to order a 123 distributor and wonder if the blue tooth is really an improvment and if a neophyte like me is able to notice much differences with the different curve of advance?

[Pawel66]

With bluetooth you can play with parameters in real time and check various curves. With bluetooth you also have immobilizer, which may be quite important.

[Bshaunessy]

JIMBO1997
  I have installed the 123 electronic distributor, ( no blue tooth) on my 1957 190 SL (3 yrs ago) and my 1970 280 SL (4 yrs ago): both very simple to install and both flawless…haven’t touched them since install.
 Since you are in USA, would suggest you buy direct from 123 USA. https://123ignitionusa.com…..good product support.  Also buy the recommended coil from them.  Search this forum..you need to bypass the ignition resistor.