Beautiful...

[Will]

Sorry - I lied, it was on 93K miles

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/314178.htm

Wonder who bought it in the end?

Will

 

[Roger Jones]

"What sort of real-world figures would one be looking at for these?"

Figures from the MB Technical data passenger cars (October 1993) are (litres per 100km, 4/5-speed transmission):

15/15.3 city
9.4/8.5 90 km/h
10.9/10.0 120km/h

Convert to mpg:
http://www.accommodationz.co.nz/economycalculator.html

One thing I have noted about the R129 is its weight -- 1740kg in this case -- more than some W126s and at least 200kg more than all W124s. Hence, modest performance and higher fuel consumption. An attractive car nevertheless.

 

[vijilants]

Sorry - I lied, it was on 93K miles

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/314178.htm

Wonder who bought it in the end?

Will

Lucky guy... that had climate control aswell.....very nice

 

[Vlad]

I have a 300-24 and I specifically wanted an SL with this engine as they are the most charasmatic of the straight six engines and also the most powerful.....go like stink once you have wound them up past 4000

Also they do not have the wiring harness problems of the later 320 and 280 models.

Re the leather....they take a hammering on the drivers side seat bolster and the seat belt also tends to get twisted and dirty....the design of the seat means its almost impossible to get in and out without rubbing heavily against the bolster. My car only has 67,000 miles and its already holed. Its not too expensive to put right and mine is going in shortly to get repaired.

Mechanically the main thing to look out for on the 300-24 is the head gasket....if they have not been used much as per mine, the head gasket tends to dry out and then starts to leak at the rear offside...you can normally smell it as the odd oil drip drops onto the exhaust manifold. You need to check to see whether there are any receipts for the head gasket having been done as its £650 just to have the gasket done and more if it needs a skim....if this car is still on its original its only a matter of time before it will need doing.

Fuel consumption....not brilliant....if you drive a lot in town it will do @ 19mpg.....25mpg on a run....but hey if its a weekend toy who cares as once you've got it past 4000rpm the howl it makes is fantastic!

 

[Carrotchomper]

Thanks for all the replies.

In fact, I do need a coffee table so perhaps this may kill 2 birds with one stone? I can probably sort out storage of the hard top somewhere, shouldn't be a major issue.

Parking is not an issue either, since I pay a great deal of money for a very secure underground space at home. In fact, this is a central factor behind wanting to get something a bit silly, since it can be safely parked at home! I really, really hated parking anything half decent on the street so the £125 a month is an extravagance I can accept.

From the replies it sounds like £6-7000 is a fairly standard price for these, so I will probably advertise the Honda and then see what comes up. It's in for a service this week anyway.

I'm keen to sell up before the new shape Accord comes along. It would be great if this SL was still available, but we'll see... It just has a lot of good omens like the long ownership of present owner and IAM badge on the front.

And hey, the pose factor for £6995 is awesome. Put a private plate on and it would look a million dollars. From what you've said, it shouldn't necessarily be a money pit either.

 

[Howard]

Sorry - I lied, it was on 93K miles

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/314178.htm

Wonder who bought it in the end?

Will

A chap called Andy from Romford ....

He came over to mine to pick up the stand for the hard top last night ... all the way from Romford .... didn't get here till 9pm

I used to store the hard top for Ben in my garage ....

Andy seems a nice enough chap ...

For £7k , you could get a nice C43

 

[Carrotchomper]

For £7k , you could get a nice C43

Nah, that's a whole new can of worms! Just want something reasonably quick that looks good... I think the extra power would be lost on me, and don't fancy a third mortgage for the fuel!

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

No mention of mileage in the advert?

 

[Roger Jones]

There's a fair range of models listed here as victims of failed wire harnesses:

http://users.adelphia.net/~infoage1/complaints_nhtsa_mercedes_wiring_harness_failures_1992_1995.html

 

[Vlad]

Mainly all M104 engines (280 + 320) and the M119 range of engines (420 and 500) and the odd V12 from that era.

Having been on the receiving end of a disintergrating harness recently on a W124 320E, it can be a butt clenching ride of ever increasing costs.....max cost to replace the ECU, Harness and Coil Packs is @ £2500 and if you happen to own a 500 it could cost @ £3500. Thankfully my costs were kept under control by the fellow members of this forum having second hand parts for sale and by my local Merc Indi who cut out the fried parts of the wiring loom and spliced a new loom into the old one.

Age is the main killer now...with the youngest W124 being 12 years old, the wiring harnesses are well past their best due to the wretched insulation they used and if you are buying a 280 or 320 or a 500 (w124 or SL) you really need to get the wiring under the spark plug cover look at....you need to cut away the outer covering that covers the harness to get to the wires underneath. They tend to be at their worst where the harness joins up with the coil packs.

 

[smillion]

Mainly all M104 engines (280 + 320) and the M119 range of engines (420 and 500) and the odd V12 from that era.

Having been on the receiving end of a disintergrating harness recently on a W124 320E, it can be a butt clenching ride of ever increasing costs.....max cost to replace the ECU, Harness and Coil Packs is @ £2500 and if you happen to own a 500 it could cost @ £3500. Thankfully my costs were kept under control by the fellow members of this forum having second hand parts for sale and by my local Merc Indi who cut out the fried parts of the wiring loom and spliced a new loom into the old one.

Age is the main killer now...with the youngest W124 being 12 years old, the wiring harnesses are well past their best due to the wretched insulation they used and if you are buying a 280 or 320 or a 500 (w124 or SL) you really need to get the wiring under the spark plug cover look at....you need to cut away the outer covering that covers the harness to get to the wires underneath. They tend to be at their worst where the harness joins up with the coil packs.
__________________

This is why membership of our forum is invaluable.

Quality

 

[Setanta]

Having had a 300SL without aircon, never again - with the hard top on, there is not much airflow into the cabin so sweltered.

I had one tyrekicker in particular try and argue that the car was clocked because of the side bolster (they all go!) but decided to just refuse to sell to him.

Great cars but test everything!

That Andy chap got a steal with Basmar's car!

 

[Dave Lewis]

Mainly all M104 engines (280 + 320) and the M119 range of engines (420 and 500) and the odd V12 from that era.

Having been on the receiving end of a disintergrating harness recently on a W124 320E, it can be a butt clenching ride of ever increasing costs.....max cost to replace the ECU, Harness and Coil Packs is @ £2500 and if you happen to own a 500 it could cost @ £3500. Thankfully my costs were kept under control by the fellow members of this forum having second hand parts for sale and by my local Merc Indi who cut out the fried parts of the wiring loom and spliced a new loom into the old one.

Age is the main killer now...with the youngest W124 being 12 years old, the wiring harnesses are well past their best due to the wretched insulation they used and if you are buying a 280 or 320 or a 500 (w124 or SL) you really need to get the wiring under the spark plug cover look at....you need to cut away the outer covering that covers the harness to get to the wires underneath. They tend to be at their worst where the harness joins up with the coil packs.

I've just suffered the dreaded harness disintegration on my W124 280, and it was one of the last built (November '95). I personally think it's best to bite the bullet and replace the whole harness (mine was about £660) rather than repair it, since it is the whole thing that can be affected, not just the bit at the hot end by the coils; for instance, mine was showing signs of failure at the water temp sensor on the water pump housing. Once replaced, it should last the life of the car. It's worth noting that many cars have already had this fixed, we need to know the part numbers of the newer modified harness, so potential M104 buyers can tell the difference. Part number should be on a tag at the ECU end of the loom. When I get my car back, I'll have a look. If a potential purchase has the original harness, this should be taken as a bargaining point on price, since this defect will affect all of these engines sooner rather than later.

 

[Vlad]

. Part number should be on a tag at the ECU end of the loom. When I get my car back, I'll have a look. If a potential purchase has the original harness, this should be taken as a bargaining point on price, since this defect will affect all of these engines sooner rather than later.[/QUOTE]

Look forward to you posting the info re the part number.....could well come in very useful

 

[Carrotchomper]

This also looks nice, but the red interior and roof are a bit marmite!!

 

[Ade B]

I sort of like it from the photos, in the flesh might be different.

Looks nice and clean.

Ade

 

[glojo]

This also looks nice, but the red interior and roof are a bit marmite!!

That red interior is the real you and would suit the tempo of the occasion

It doesn't look to bad and the interior might have mellowed with age.
Regards

definitely a nice type of car to own and will get folks gossipping.

regards
John

 

[Carrotchomper]

Absolutely. I would become known as Big Gay Sam, with a big gay Mercedes.

However a Silver Merc would push me up to 16/20 in the "Ideal man" list. My target audience might not be of the female persuasion?

 

[robert.saunders]

Absolutely. I would become known as Big Gay Sam, with a big gay Mercedes.

However a Silver Merc would push me up to 16/20 in the "Ideal man" list. My target audience might not be of the female persuasion?

<nods approvingly>

 

[Vlad]

Good grief...the sort of thing Huggy Bear would have turned up in...if the R129 had been around in the late 70's