Baby seats in 1993 300SL 24V ????

[BTB 500]

Not much in it IMHO - down to individual condition & mileage I think.

The R129 got a big facelift in '96 though - bear that in mind if you look at slightly newer cars.

 

[Lloydmic]

Ok TVM

 

[Lloydmic]

I'm going to see this next week. Dyu think that 60k miles for a 93 car is low? Sounds low to me right. These cars are pretty well built arent they?

 

[BTB 500]

R129s are well built. Plenty of SLs are only used as weekend/summer cars, so low mileage isn't unusual. The service history will tell you whether it's been used lightly but regularly, or stood unused in a garage for years! Good luck

 

[Lloydmic]

Tks for your Advice You've been really helpful!

 

[Lloydmic]

BTB500 test drove the car on Saturday. It looks nice. Interior well kept. Was a little slower than I had imagined although have never owned a car that's almost 20 years old and have had 911 cabs which are quite a bit faster...
It's just been serviced. Checked all recent service logs. In last 10 years , it's needed nothing major done at all. Is this normal? I would have expected some major maintenance needed for a car of this age. Certainly would have needed some dough spent on it for a 20 year old porsche!
Only minor things were that the speedo KMH dial was a little jumpy. Is this anything to worry about? Is it easily fixed?
Also underneath the hood the foam that was once there had come off reason given that as it gets sooooo hot in HK it literally melts away. Claimed to have replaced it once but same thing happened? It can get to 40 degrees for many months here with 95% humidity. Interior was a little musky but again reasons above may explain it
All in all bodywork in great shape. Cost around £3700 for a 60k mile 1993. Still pretty good value I reckon. Besides this is gonna be a toy for me to cruise around in and is a second car. Guess I should by myself a trolley to store hard top. It's rarely going to be on as we have great weather most if the year!
From what I've said. Anything you think I should be weary of before I part with my cash next week?

 

[Lloydmic]

One last thing. According to service log. He's done around 1200 miles in last 2 years and around 50k miles in last 9 years.
He is 4th owner so 3 owners had it over first 10 years. This is fairly common though in HK. Those 3 owners only clicked up 10k miles in first 10 years.
Although did you know that in HK it's not illegal to wind back odemeter. Can you believe that? Crazy! An confident that current owner is honest but who knows about previous ones.....

 

[BTB 500]

The R129 is really intended to be more of a tourer than a 'sports car'. At nearly 2 tonnes it goes pretty well with the 5 litre V8 but the 6-cyl engines have to work harder.

As mentioned they are well-made cars - before the accountants took over at M-B! So maintenance only over 10 years is possible, particularly with low mileage.

A hartop trolley is a good investment. You can also get thick padded storage bags, which you can hang on a wall. I use both i.e. my hardtop is in a padded bag on a trolley

Erratic speedo could mean it's been clocked, particularly bearing in mind your later comment. It's not an issue I've heard of on R129s. Like most M-Bs of this era they take the miles pretty well, driver's seat bolster wear would probably the biggest sign of higher than advertised mileage.

 

[Lloydmic]

I bought my R129 and I love it! It's awesome. Excellent condition. White which is the new black!

I have a question. When I want to be in sports mode. Do I push the switch up towards E so that the S is showing or do I pull down from E towards the S so that the s is covered? I imagine the first?

 

[Lloydmic]

Oh yeah. My idiot friend pushed roof open button for a second. I haven't taken hard top off yet. Consequently the roll bar button is now flashing red. What can I do to reset this?
Thanks

 

[BTB 500]

Your gearbox switch is different to mine, which has a rocker with W (winter) and S (standard). Pretty sure you would want S to be showing - this is the default mode. In E (or W) it will usually start off in 2nd gear rather than 1st, so it should be easy to tell the difference.

The roof switch locks/unlocks the hard top. Hopefully it is just (partially) unlocked now, so push the switch the other way. Have you got a handbook?

 

[Lloydmic]

Yup ive got a handbook. Haven't checked for the reason yet. Unlike the snow in UK. It was 21 degs here today so I took the hard top off. Even why I lower the hood the flashing red light on the roll bar button is still occurring. It only stops when I completely raise the roll bar
Anyone got any ideas?also I was thinking of getting a different exhaust to give it some more power. Dyu know of people doing bits and bobs to get more HP?

 

[BTB 500]

You will need to get the fault codes checked. I would raise the roll bar manually before driving the car - the red light is almost certainly telling you it won't deploy automatically in an accident.

It could just be a fault code that can be cleared, alternatively it could be a sensor or something that has failed (which would be a bit coincidental).

Changing the exhaust will make no significant difference to the power (although you can improve the sound). There were twin turbo conversions for that engine, but the parts are hard to find now and expensive when you do e.g.:

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/spotted-ebay/118447-twin-turbo-300-24v-new-kit.html

Plus fitting is a reasonably big job. Financially it would probably make more sense to sell the car and get a 500.

 

[Lloydmic]

500 would be wasted in Hk. 300 in a cruiser. It's great. Living it

 

[BTB 500]

500 would be wasted in Hk. 300 in a cruiser. It's great. Living it

But you said

I was thinking of getting a different exhaust to give it some more power. Dyu know of people doing bits and bobs to get more HP?

 

[Lloydmic]

I want more power but not bothered enough to sell the 300 I just bought and buy a 500. It is what it is I guess

 

[BTB 500]

Yup, I did say that before you bought it

The R129 is really intended to be more of a tourer than a 'sports car'. At nearly 2 tonnes it goes pretty well with the 5 litre V8 but the 6-cyl engines have to work harder.

It probably doesn't help that you also have a 911

 

[Lloydmic]

Sadly not any more. Recently sold it prior to moving to HK
Was lucky enough to have 2 911's over a 5 year period
Awesome cars!

 

[BTB 500]

Well, enjoy the SL. Did you get the roll bar sorted out?

 

[Lloydmic]

Not yet. Dyu reckon that disconnecting battery will fix it?