500E - Anyone near Amersham?

[manalishi]

This one - MERCEDES-BENZ E CLASS 500E LHD PORSCHE BUILT For Sale (1993) on Car And Classic UK - looks reasonable, but is a long trek from here in Suffolk. Anyone here seen it or know of its past? No mileage given.

It's not as showroom-looking as the spendy black/black one at Avantgarde, but that one appears to have been messed with (facelift, d'oh!)

(And a bonus tangent question: did the 500E/E500 ever get delivered with the Getrag manual box?)

 

[d w124]

No mate.They was all auto and i`m nut sure,but i think 4gears only.

 

[mercboiuk]

I looks like one which has spent most of it's life for sale on PistonHeads - I believe it's still for sale on their with this new seller.

Mileage is north of 150k miles, IIRC - I'm not 100%, though.

It does look a great example, and whatever the mileage, it should be worth a look, assuming a Full Service History is present.

Darren

 

[500E]

Nice car - Charles Ironside had it for a while if I wasnt mistaken.

Reasonable price but you have to be careful your not getting a thrashed example.

Check all the service records, check for accident damage and check for rust.

Also, check if the idle is erratic - this is a common problem which can be solved by replacement of the distributor cap and rotor arms.

The suspension is very expensive to change (£300 for a shock?) so check that there is no knocking/funny noises coming from it.

Otherwise - the M119 is a pretty much bulletproof engine capable of some serious mileage if maintained correctly.

This particular example looks like its 100% original (orange indicators/8 Hole alloys) so theres a good chance it's been maintained well.

I'm not so sure its worth £8500 though, possibly £7k or less.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[500E]

On closer inspection seems like its still got the original fire extinguisher and the Becker Mexico stereo.

In addition to the above, check the AC works well (if you use it) and that all the electrics work well (seats, heaters etc).

Apart from that should be a pretty good buy. If I was 21 i'd snap up the black/black one for sale at Avantgarde.

If you need to know anything else regarding 500E's feel free to contact myself (We've had 2 in the family) or Talbir who is well knowledgable on these cars.

Thanks.

 

[manalishi]

Thanks chaps. I'll bet it was a lot more expensive at Ironside?

I'll give the dealer a call and ask the relevant Qs. Quite an unusual car for that dealer, judging by the other cars he's got (much lower in value.) I'd be trading my '93 280E in, so that might tempt him as an easier sell...

 

[Doodle]

Everytime I see a 500E, I get a temptation to put the Civic back to stock and sell up.

One of these days I'll finally crack.

 

[500E]

The 500E is just something special, no matter how old or out of date it seems.

But we all know, its all about the legendary E60AMG!

 

[James Rothwell]

Didn't Brabus or someone similar cram the 7.3 V12 into the a few 124 Wagons at one point?

I'm sure I've seen one before?

 

[Howard]

Not sure Brabus ever did it , but i think Vath did ...

 

[talbir]

All 500e's have a 4 spd auto, 722.370 gearbox.

Renntech did a 6 spd manual (as i am currently having built) and 6.2 litre conversion on a 500E.

Brabus did a V12 6.9 into a 500E as well.

in total agreement with member '500e' advice - also check for rust on front wings, very susceptible and very expensive. Also check for play in rear wheels when pulling away on the road with brisk acceleration...this rear wheel play is caused by worn torque arms, common issue with all that torque (354 lb ft) going through them ! And remember the 500e's have more torque than the 500SLs and S500s which had 332 lb ft of torque.

suspension parts are expensive but note that r129 SL and suspension components are the same with 500E and are usually cheaper.


talbir

 

[bolide]

suspension parts are expensive but note that r129 SL and suspension components are the same with 500E and are usually cheaper.

Do they have different part numbers?

Nick Froome

 

[G55AMG]

I've shown interest in this car, the catch is it appears to be a Japanese import, as it's got the side indicators but was first UK registered in 2002. I guess the KPH speedo would confirm this.

Oh so tempting!!

 

[manalishi]

Interesting - I thought Japanese ones typically had a higher spec (such as climate control instead of normal AC). Didn't know about the side repeaters. I have a Japanese import 190E 2.3-8V that but that has round side repeaters (not the typical rectangular ones I can see here). I think the real tell-tale is Japanese stickers on various panels under the bonnet.

Wonder if being a Japanese import would complicate the chances of getting it on to my classic insurance?

Talbir - thanks for those pointers. Not sure I'd know what a torque arm was unless someone hit me with one. I'll do a search to see if there's something on checking them in the archive here.

Tried to call the dealer last night, but the number in the advert is wrong. Will try the mobile one later.

 

[buccal]

Manalishi you sound like your serious about this one. I know of a similar car which is possibly out of budget but you never know. I was very keen but i couldn't get her indoors to go for lhd. Pm me for details as i posting from my mobile

 

[500E]

Its possibly its a Jap import.

If the vehicle has the MPH speedo then its a UK model. All of those otherwise did not come from the UK.

I'm pretty sure mostly all German 500's did not have the side indicators on the wings.

Try and ask about its past history (where it came from, when did it come over) and also try a VIN number so we can decode it to find all the original options and where it was sold through.

Thanks.

 

[talbir]

Yep all UK models have MPH speedo.

One or two other countries have side repeater fenders - but these are easy to do after the event (like i've done on my Canadian 500e) so no big deal and no guarantee of UK car.

MPH speedo however is not an easy do....the 500E speedo plate is not the same spacing as any other w124, so you'd have to buy a 500e speedo if you wanted an MPH plate...megabucks ! So a better confirmation of it being a UK car.

Of course you only need to plug the VIN into Mb site Russia to confirm.


talbir

 

[G55AMG]

Just spoken with the seller, it came from Germany, so indeed some EU cars had the side repeaters.

Mileage is around 154k, it had a hefty recommissioning bill from SS Motors for near £5k recently so should be not bad one. I'm very tempted, seller is texting me the VIN later tonight so will get the build details then.

 

[Shude]

One or two other countries have side repeater fenders - but these are easy to do after the event (like i've done on my Canadian 500e) so no big deal and no guarantee of UK car.

Also MOT failure after a certain date (some time in the 80s I think).

 

[Roger Jones]

Is the vendor a private trader with no retail premises? I passed through Amersham this morning but saw no sign of him; I would have stopped and reported back had I found him.