I'm losing the battle to resist temptation

[BTB 500]

Very interested in these tread.....but have a SL question.....can you fit children in the back, or do you need to cut their legs off (it looks rather tight) ?

In short, yes. Our 6 & 8 year olds love it:

(Note, there's also a Border Collie in the front ).

But not all R129s have rear seats - they were an option on some models.

Both front seats need to be moved forwards a bit, not a problem on the passenger side but a tall driver may be a bit cramped. I'm 6' 1" and normally have the driver's seat as far back as it will go, but being an auto it's not that big a deal having to drive with it further forward on an occasional basis.

They are specifically designated as 'child seats' but do not meet the latest EU standard so technically you should use booster seats (which would actually be daft). The roll bar is meant to be raised (switch on the dash) when the rear seats are occupied.

My mum has also been in the back!

 

[BTB 500]

That's a good buy for someone there.

A lot of car for the money

I agree, but ...

Both front wings have been painted in the past (rust is a common fault on these)

No it's not, rust is very rare on R129s.

hard top which has just a couple of minor pin bubbles on the very edges (fairly normal).

No it's not, the hard top is aluminium.

 

[Will]

Yep - it's not going to be a perfect example for that kind of cash, but I guess at less than £5k for a mid-facelift SL500 you can't be too picky.

Only problem is nowadays, who's going to bother looking after one thoroughly - if this one has it's faults, what will these £5k R129s be like in a few years time?

Will

 

[BTB 500]

Yep - it's not going to be a perfect example for that kind of cash, but I guess at less than £5k for a mid-facelift SL500 you can't be too picky.

Agreed. As you say, it's unusual in that it appears to have some of the '96 facelift but not all of it. Could be genuine, could be someone has changed the easy bits to make it look like a facelift car.

 

[Doodle]

Only problem is nowadays, who's going to bother looking after one thoroughly - if this one has it's faults, what will these £5k R129s be like in a few years time?

A good question. Mine has sentimental attachment (inherited from my mother) so over £1k of servicing and replacement parts last year didn't even make me blink - neither will the respray work and new steering box I'm looking at this year. Cost (within reason) doesn't even enter the equation.

If it's "just a car", I cannot see the money being spent to keep them up to standard...they're well engineered but not maintenance-free. Very soon I can see them being worth far far more in parts than as a complete car.

Agreed. As you say, it's unusual in that it appears to have some of the '96 facelift but not all of it. Could be genuine, could be someone has changed the easy bits to make it look like a facelift car.

The gearbox should be a big giveaway - prefacelift would have had a 4sp hydraulic (like mine). According to Olly, it should be possible to change to the later electronic box, but it's quite a job.

 

[Will]

Does look like it has the 5-speed box, plus the other obvious bits - later type steering wheel, door cards, lights etc.

It looks like a tidy car - and as long as it runs/drives well, hood works etc most people will be happy with that for £4901 I guess

Realistically, you'd drive that until a large repair was on the horizon, then sell it and get most of your money back. No point spending too much on it when it's not even worth £5k.

I should think even as a non-runner, or say with accident damage or a broken gearbox etc it'd still make £3k+.

Will

 

[BTB 500]

Does look like it has the 5-speed box, plus the other obvious bits - later type steering wheel, door cards, lights etc.

Yup, but it has the old style (pre-facelift) aircon unit. It was possibly built during the changeover period.

 

[BTB 500]

The gearbox should be a big giveaway - prefacelift would have had a 4sp hydraulic (like mine).

No the 5-speed was available on later pre-facelift cars, as an option.

 

[BTB 500]

Facelift interior (mine) showing the aircon unit

eBay one

Edit: PS wonder what that left most switch is on the eBay one?

 

[Doodle]

No the 5-speed was available on later pre-facelift cars, as an option.

Lol, wish whoever ordered ours had gone for it then! Hydraulic box can be a bit dozy at times. If the current issues require a rebuild/refurb I might ask Olly to drop a 5sp one in.

Edit: PS wonder what that left most switch is on the eBay one?

Below the hifi? That's the heated rear screen switch.

 

[imadoofus]

Facelift interior (mine) showing the aircon unit

So there were two facelifts then? Yours has the older style steering wheel

 

[Big_Jon]

Mine was on a J-Plate.

Was in sky-blue, cream leather, had a hardtop also but that got stolen.

The best thing was the huge lorinser rims and lorinser back-box.

I gave it to a kosovan valeting place in chatham that I had used a lot without problem one friday evening for them to do on saturday. I was stood outside the white lion pub, heard a V8 roar and the sound of tyre smoke and bugger me if it wasnt my SL being tortured to death by 2 koso's and a couple of chav girls they had picked up.

Safe to say I dealt with the problem in an appropriate manner.

 

[Sp!ke]

I gave it to a kosovan valeting place in chatham that I had used a lot without problem one friday evening for them to do on saturday.

Duh!

In retrospect, do you now at least acknowledge that this was a pretty dumb thing to do?

 

[BTB 500]

Below the hifi? That's the heated rear screen switch.

Ah - thanks. That's on the aircon unit, post-facelift.

 

[BTB 500]

So there were two facelifts then?

Yes, the other one was 1999. That's when the door mirrors went rounded, and the engine went from 4 valves per cyl. to 3.

 

[Sp!ke]

I have just come back from a test driver in what was supposedly a 1998 320 but it was a V6 and had rounded mirrors and the later steering wheel with leather and wood and the chrome star and it had xenon headlights (seems like an early car for xenons), but they were genuire Bosch headlamps.

So there does seem to be some discrepancy regarding dates and updates.

It was a beautiful unmarked car, fully loaded with a complete history etc etc but I am reserving judgement as tomorrow I am going to try the 5.0L version.

I suspect that the extra power of the V8 will put me off the 320's but the problem is that there are far fewer 5.0L cars for sale so finding the right one may take me an age.

(I guess it'll give me time to save up.

 

[C240Sport97]

so finding the right one may take me an age.

that makes the process that much more enjoyable, does it not?

 

[Sp!ke]

Nope, not at all.

I work 60+ hour weeks and have a young family so have little time for car shopping.

 

[Deleted member 11979]

The pin spots on the hard top aren't unheard of, it's something to do with the aluminium reacting, my Range Rover which has ally panels suffers in the same way, and I have seen a couple with rusty front wings.

 

[jaymanek]

There is less difference between 320 and 500 when you look at the V6 instead of the old straight six... but enough that you will want the 500 IMO.