Mercedes SEL/SEC 500 and SEC560

[Oli]

Hi Oli,

I share your thinking and recently bought myself a 300SE for only £1300 as a car for general use as it was feeling criminal using the M5 for short commutes and to pick up shopping.

Whilst my 300 is clearly not the monster V8 you're looking for, I was happy to buy any W126 providing it met my cost and condition criteria, namely the bodywork had to be sound (free from rust in the usual places) and there had to evidence that no mechanical woes were imminent. I was lucky enough to find this at a TVR/Noble dealership 6 miles from where I live so that was a real bonus.

Due to the high numbers of these cars being scrapped there are heaps of second hand parts flying around. Type W126 into an eBay search and you'll see all manner of replacement parts available, from interior bits to indicator lamps to fuel pumps, you name it. If you're mechanically minded and have the facilities I've heard they are quite straightforward to work on as well.

Despite my W126 being far from mint, everything important still works. The heated electic seats work, the sunroof retracts, the aerial slides up and down, the steering column slides back and forth on its electric motor and even the (I'm guessing) R12 air conditioning still blows cold. These cars are built well.

I'm running mine as essentially a runabout (no doubt to the annoyance of some) and have no plans to restore it a factory fresh state, though I am doing small cheap repairs where I can. My leather repair kit for the hole in the driver's seat bolster arrived yesterday so I'll tackle that this weekend, and I'm scanning the classifieds for a replacement steering wheel.

A full on restoration including respray and replacement of dodgy parts (my driver's door has rust on it) might cost a few £K, but considering the car's innate prestige could arguably be worth it, though you'd probably be unlikely to see that value back come resale - it would just be for your benefit.

In short, due to the ease of doing things and the cheap prices of parts, I don't see why running a W126 long term should cost any more than your CLK, especially since functional W126s have pretty much finished depreciating.

The member here IanAlexander2 may still have a 420SE for sale, and his is in very good condition.

A few pictures of my badboy.

With regard to the bits you mentioned, I've seen air conditioning specialists quote figures of around £150 for changing from R12 to R134a. This seems pretty cheap so is something I may do if the car is running well.

Economy is clearly not great. I'm seeing around late teens MPG, and I'd expect a 500/560 to be in the early to mid teens. Still, if you're used to a Range Rover you'll find this good. Oh, and the fuel tank is massive, from empty mine swallowed £80 worth of V Power, more than my BMW!

Good luck with your decision.

By the way MPG, your 500SE looks fantastic.

To tell the truth I would get a 300 if a good one came up but like a great deal of people I do love a V8!!, yours looks in really good condition from the pics you've taken and although not perfect I've seen far far worse just from looking on E bay, I had an early current shape Range Rover and no it wasn't great on fuel, was a lovely car though, although I find myself starting to really like the Classic version of them now too!!.
I can see why you bought your W126, I've had the pleasure of having a drive in M5 and their an awesome piece of kit, definatly not a shopping car.

 

[219]

When I bought mine last year , I had been quite happy with my 190E 2.6 as a 'daily driver' - up to the point that our new son arrived , at which point we soon found the 190 was just not big enough to cope with all the baby stuff ! I had previously had two W124 estates in succession and a W123 estate prior to that , and while I knew that another estate would have met my needs , I just wanted something different . I was also mindful of the fact that the high fuel prices of last summer would have hit the values of some of the larger engined cars and made them even more affordable than normal , but had considered there has been a pattern of high fuel prices in summer , always dropping back in autumn to discourage people from using their cars for 'pleasure trips' over the past few years - this proved to be the case at least once again . I also knew that a W126 was even bigger , more solid and safer than even a W124 : this was an important consideration with the new baby on the scene .

I had no particular model , spec or colour in mind , even though I had decided to look for a W126 ; I had thought about a W140 but had heard so many horror stories about electrical faults that I was put off going any newer . I did want a LWB model for maximum room in the back for the infant-carrier and this pushed me towards the V8 models ; I also knew there wasn't much difference in fuel economy between the different models in the range so was simply looking for the first sound car of whatever model that presented itself . Not wishing to spend a fortune travelling all over the country looking at cars , I restricted myself to the Central Scotland area and looked at around half a dozen cars advertised on Autotrader , eBay , Motor Market Weekly and local press (so much rubbish out there and so many people who think their average cars are still worth ££££) - eventually I found the one I ended up buying on Car and Classic : the owner turned out to be a fellow MBOC member ( when I found this out , I canvassed another member I knew lived locally to teh seller and when he told me the car was a good 'un I decided to travel the 100+ miles to see it ) . We did a 'tentative' deal over the phone with me agreeing to pay the MOT fee on top of the (very reasonable) asking price - as long as the car passed - and that I would buy the car subject to a satisfactory test drive (I had already been sent a lot of hi-res photos and was happy with the appearance of the car) . When presented for the MOT , it turned out the car needed two pieces of the exhaust system replaced : after a bit of haggling we agreed to split the difference between us with me paying half the cost of the parts on top of the alrady agreed price (still subject to test drive) . When I saw the car it was everything I had hoped and expected it to be and knew this was the right one . Even then , I drove it as was for a couple of months just to be sure of it before starting to expend money and effort on it ; 8 months in I know I have a sound car that I will be happy to keep indefinitely and have started to sort things out .

Like Rose Chap , I don't want to turn it into a 'show car' but just want to maintain it in good useable condition and enjoy it for the foreseeable future .

 

[mercman71]

Got an sec 500 88 model.
She is like the girl next door. Loves to be stared at, expensive to run and maintain, but with some experience, easy to play with underneath.
Every ride to work and back is a pleasure, apart from the ever increasing dickheads allowed to drive nowadays.
Specialist places are the best places to get parts. I can put you onto one in kent. Its like a boneyard of secs. Sad, but a real goldmine. He does repairs and evrything.
If you have £2000 you will be amazed at what you can buy. Will need working on and maintaining regulary. Mine didnt have service history but i knew the guy who sold it tome over a year ago. 34 yrs old and got one advisory last mot. Just doesnt happen on modern stuff.
Believe me, if you get one, you will become addicted.
The coupes are my fav. Sec 500, e220 e320 e230 e280. Remarkably east to work on. Even the 190e which i started out with. Let me dlwn once in 6 years....rotor arm.
Want to know more, my mobile 07800 857228
Martin

 

[W2--]

I know of a fantastic 560 SEC for sale.. up at £3500.. sold last year by Avantgarde for a lot more!

Any pics of that car?

 

[Spin_bowler]

Any pics of that car?

That post's just had it's fourth birthday, I doubt it's still for sale.

 

[alabbasi]

Good to find some fellow W126'ers around that are willing to keep Bruno Scacco's finest on the road! My fuel economy isn't quite as good as Pontoneers with my worst being 16 & my best just shy of 20mpg. Have to say I'm also tempted at the prospect of a 560 SEC to go with the SEL & the XJS, but I've also got a huge itch telling me to buy a Porsche 928. Decisions !

While I remember - I forgot to say that another weakness of the W126 is the chrome - when it starts to bubble it's beyond salvation as it'll have rusted from the underside upwards. Replacements are readily available from all the usual suspects.

W126's seem to be falling out of the sky around here. Up until last week, I had an 88 Euro 560SEC and a 91 US spec 560SEL that I've been keeping on the back burner because it needed an engine. Last Friday, I saw an ad for a cheap 87 560SEC, needing an engine. I called the owner and they said it belonged to a fellow who just moved back to Germany which rung a bell, and that her husband was driving it and ran it low on oil.

It turned out to be my old 560SEC for which I'd spent a pile of money on before selling it so I bought it back for cheap and went looking for an engine.

I found another anthracite 560SEL at the salvage auction with hail damage and picked it up yesterday. It's barely got 3 dings and looks to have a fresh paint job. Only needing a good clean and good used front seats.

I guess that I'll clean it up and sell it, then find one that's been blasted so that fixing it is out of the question.

Funny about the 928's. I also have an 88 S4 needing a torque tube and carriers, and am starting to really want an XJS.

 

[mercman71]

Hey people,
The sec has gone sadly, but to a good home in another part of rural sussex. I have not had a mercedes for over two months now....this is wrong.
So, what didmi see on my way to work for 3 weeks? An f reg 230ce in gold, coupe...obviously.

Left a note on th window.....800 quid shes mine. Like a kid at christmas. Another week to wait.
Aprt from the usual servicing issues, anything to watch for as she has been standing for a good few months....the arches are rotting a bit but wings and things are real cheap. Much more affordable than the sec and just as good looking. Hope to be back in the mercedes world soon....happy christmas to,you all anyway.
That reminds me, anyone who hasnt been to mercedes benz world in weybridge.......go....its a mecca for mercedes fans. Fantastic.