Can you get an SL for £4k and not regret it ?

[dinoy]

there u good deal from club member not all are lemons bargains are their

 

[keysl]

if u r looking cheap get w129 300 sl 1990 1991 u get some good ones for that sort of money, neg hard, the 24v have suspect wire looms and gearboxes avoid. similarly w107 can be got at similar money.

these car need maintenance find the best mechnically and respary things like that is not a big problem for the future

but streach a little more and get minter u will not regret it, unless u r handy mechanically and bodwork or know good reasonable people to do the work

From reading various sources I was led to believe that the 300 24valve engines had no wiring issues at all plus a bulletproof gearbox??

 

[dinoy]

From reading various sources I was led to believe that the 300 24valve engines had no wiring issues at all plus a bulletproof gearbox??

this problem have happened to many i know on both w124 and w129 as they share same mechanics and in germany they are snapping any stuff with 24v being broken in the UK.

 

[d w124]

this problem have happened to many i know on both w124 and w129 as they share same mechanics and in germany they are snapping any stuff with 24v being broken in the UK.

He`s talking about the 30024sl with the early m104 engine,so the answer to him is that yes you`re correct.No loom to worry about on those engines

 

[jonnyboy]

He`s talking about the 30024sl with the early m104 engine,so the answer to him is that yes you`re correct.No loom to worry about on those engines

+2

on R 129's.

I know this 100%, I own one. Earlier cars are not particularly known for weak-gearbox problems either as they are the 4 speed. Except of course for mileage related normal wear on an earlier car which is likely to have covered more miles.

To get back to the OP's question - it's a world of pain unless you can become the owner after the one who spends all the hard cash doing the car up. I paid (at the time) what I thought was about £250 too much for mine because it had good potential. The market 2-3 years ago for good recommisssioned cars was around £7k therefore I could have spent significantly and come out around level when it was time to sell. Now there are loads of cars £3500-5000 which has completely shot the market for really good ones so i am in a negative situation now. 2nd hand spares are a lot rarer than a 124 or 126 which pushes the price right up. If I had bought a 12 valve or a v8 it would have been back on the road a long time ago, but I have struggled to find a good reasonably priced 24v engine (3litre) that would drop straight in. So much so that i now have Star with WIS and will use it to guide me through doing the head gasket/head etc instead, which I had been continually putting off.
They are great cars but as has been said before, the parts are boxed and priced like those for a £60-100k car would.
My advice would be budget £6500-7000 in total, search long and hard between £3500-5000 for the cared for example, and keep a couple of grand back for improvements.