SL R129

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Hosh85

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Joined
May 2, 2017
Messages
47
Car
Mercedes Benz E240 W211
Evening gents

Hope all are well.

I'm mid way on sprucing up the E240 taxi and happened across the aforementioned merc while refurbishing the wheels locally. This was an older one, think it was an N reg in red so not the spec I'd go for, but nonetheless it has got me thinking. With my ridiculous need to fettle with these things I may be in the market for one soon enough, possibly end to beginning of next year. Ideally I'd like to go for one of the later face-lifts the T-W regs and most likely the 280 or 320, don't think I've guts enough for the 500 lol.

Could someone tell me what I should look out, any specific advice when purchasing bar the usual?

Many adverts keep on stating 'appreciating classic and good investment' etc, I can sort of see that or is that all malarkey?! They are a beautiful thing!

Many thanks

Hosh
 
Buy on condition, history, price. A car that needs work can quickly cost a lot.
Prices have been creeping up over the past few years. But some sellers are in the clouds with their values, these cars never shift. V8's command a premium over a IL6, but I feel the 320 is enough for me.
Ive recently bought a SL320 and so far so good, but she's 20 years old and I can see a few little jobs that need doing.
Im told lots of 6 cylinder cars will either have head gasket leaks at rear of block, or will start to leak at some point. They all do unless this job has been done. Mine seems to have a oil weep from front timing chain cover, so a cheaper fix for now.
Pano roof is nice, but not a deal breaker. They cost a little more.
Get a good one, and its probably one of the safer places to park your money.
 
Mechanical/bodywork fettling is OK but buying a car that has any issues with the electrics/hood/rollbar/etc. is a big gamble as these systems are complex and can potentially be time-consuming and expensive to fix.
 
Engines are stout. For the inline 6, the 722.5 which is a 4 speed with an overdrive has been known for weaknesses. Once you move to the V engined cars, you'll get the 722.6 which is very good.

The big thing on these cars is the top hydraulics which can be very expensive if not functioning correctly. Plastic bits can break, but those are visible.
 
As already mentioned, Condition and History is EVERYTHING!

Buy the best you can afford...........a good older car may be better buy than a later model with poor history.

I spent many months looking at cars that were described as 'excellent', but turned out to be pretty 'average'.

Ended up biting the bullet and paying top money for a car from the SL Shop...........great car, with great history and a 2 year warranty!
 
Thanks for this guys, very helpful.. I will refine the search as I go, as mentioned I'm not looking to bite the bullet just yet but want learn all I can and be sure I'm gettin the right car.. There are some cheaper ones floating, around on ebay which look nice on the eye but "looks like somebody has had a go at fitting the soft top" and "part history" are particularly scary lol.
 
Engines are stout. For the inline 6, the 722.5 which is a 4 speed with an overdrive has been known for weaknesses. Once you move to the V engined cars, you'll get the 722.6 which is very good.

The big thing on these cars is the top hydraulics which can be very expensive if not functioning correctly. Plastic bits can break, but those are visible.

Mate this intereting and not heard of this before.. How will I be able to find out which car has what, is it based on it being a 280 or 320 or based on it being a pre or post face-lift? If not either do let me know how to ascertain this.

And just to clarify by top hydraulics you mean for the roof mechanism?Admittedly, may sound dumb as I'm looking for one of these but I'll be using a hard top much more that it being dropped up n down.
 
If you're talking about the transmission, I believe that the 722.5 was only fitted to the straight 6 cars so a quick look under the hood will tell you. If your car had a v6, it would have a 722.6 and if it had a v8, it would either have a 722.3 or 722.6.

Regarding the top hydraulics. Yes I'm talking about the roof mechanism and yes, I rarely take the hard top off, but it's still good to know that you have a functioning system. Even just to know that you're not going to get clobbered when you go to sell it.
 
I'm the opposite with the hardtop ... I haven't used it for probably 5+years. I do like the look of the car with it on though, and it's much nicer to drive than with the hood up (better visibility, quieter, etc.).
 
Even if your not ready to buy, just go out and start looking at local cars for sale. I did this for 6 months before I was ready to buy and by them had seen a few examples and could gauge what a value and condition ratio should be (in my mind anyway). So when I had the cash and looked at my car, which wasnt even the dearest example Id seen, I knew very quickly it was the car for me.
 
Been looking at these myself recently....

Some very good advice on here :)

Apologies to jump on the thread @Hosh85

Is it best to go for the 500 V8? And maybe an AMG version, as the likelihood of it increasing in price over the coming years is more likely?
 
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Engines are stout. For the inline 6, the 722.5 which is a 4 speed with an overdrive has been known for weaknesses. Once you move to the V engined cars, you'll get the 722.6 which is very good.

The big thing on these cars is the top hydraulics which can be very expensive if not functioning correctly. Plastic bits can break, but those are visible.
My 300SL-24 , which is of course the M104 straight six , has a 5 speed box .
 
I'm probably not the best person to give advice but here's a quick recap of my R129 2000 SL320 ownership, bought July 2016 for £5,500 knowing it needed new windows in the soft top and what appeared to be very, very minor bubbling in the front wheel arches, oh and aftermarket wheels. Other than this it seemed a very straight car, mechanically sound with a full service history and only a discoloured indicator lense as the one point ever noted in the 11 year online MOT history.
Sadly I should have known better, I don't know if you'd call it OCD but once I start something comes over me and if I know the slightest thing needs doing it bugs me until it's done and done properly. So very close to £7000 later I had an urge to go back to a manual transmission car and part exchanged it for an Audi S4 cabriolet, which turned out to be a mistake but that's another story, and I got £5500 for it in part exchange.
So the moral of this story is condition may be everything but don't pay a stupid price for a car, yes my car had covered 117,000 miles but had a full service history and was pretty much 100% when I sold it, but I probably would have lost a lot less just having the windows replaced and the wings rubbed down and blown in. In a few years time prices may sky rocket, Porsche 928's are regularly fetching 5 times more than I sold mine for in 2011, but as said a lot of traders have over priced cars that they've had for an awful long time, some still have vars that were for sale when I bought mine in 2016.
So if and when you buy one, buy carefully, enjoy it and be pleasantly surprised if it goes up in value but don't be disappointed if it doesn't you'll have enjoyed the experience. :)
 
My 300SL-24 , which is of course the M104 straight six , has a 5 speed box .

Yeah I have one of those too, but not many others do.

Porsche 928's are regularly fetching 5 times more than I sold mine for in 2011

I tend to agree with this, you could buy $2000 R107's all day and night a decade ago. Good luck finding one now. On this subject, here's my 98 SL500 with my 88 928S4. The 928S is tucked away in the corner of my shop and has not been driven in more than a year. The SL500 in my mind, is more of a progression from the 928 then it was the R107.


10911227_10155180422345165_1036522601833405173_o.jpg
 
Yeah I have one of those too, but not many others do.



I tend to agree with this, you could buy $2000 R107's all day and night a decade ago. Good luck finding one now. On this subject, here's my 98 SL500 with my 88 928S4. The 928S is tucked away in the corner of my shop and has not been driven in more than a year. The SL500 in my mind, is more of a progression from the 928 then it was the R107.


10911227_10155180422345165_1036522601833405173_o.jpg
I had a 93 GTS manual which was one of only 44 officially imported into the UK, I know of one auto that's had an 89 GT manual box put in it and there are probably others but the VIN will always tell the tale that they started life as an auto. The genuine manual cars are starting to fetch sill money, not sure what 928 prices a re like stateside as they probably sol far more in the US than here but I don't know how many of those were 'stick shift' ?
 
90% were automatics. They are pretty nice cars with autos and many people like them like that. The manuals do command a premium.
 
Holy thread revival! 4 freaking years down the line and I'm still SL-less, I've had a kid in 2019 so that's stopped the purchase of a highly practical 2 door convertible LOL!

Anyway here we are again, been in touch with lovely chap whose looking to sell his 320. It's a 2001 plate, car seems pretty straight MOT history is great and the seller seems super genuine. 109k on the clock. Main issues he has mentioned is that the car has had a respray prior to his ownership that he says is less than perfect and that the central locking is hit and miss.. i seem to see this a lot, common issue? Whats usually the cause ? He's has mentioned a there are a few small areas of rust around the soft top but nothing major, and a few small cracks appearing on the rear soft top platci panel.

Think he may want around the £5.5k, going to go see it this week as its local.

As mentioned prior im happy to sink some time and effort into the car to being it bring to glory, won't be a daily driver so its OK, nice project of sorts.

Any thoughts?
 
Seems like a bargain if all the important bits work. You could run it for a year or so and get that back if so!
Central locking is vacuum driven so probably a leak somewhere. Could be easy, could be a pig. Could be just the lock. See if it works reliably from the passenger side.
Check it has 2 keys - you cant easily get spares, although there are people who can offer a key service but you have to take out the controller to get it programmed.
Common annoying things - vanity mirror covers go brittle and break off. New ones quite rare and expensive but there is a company that advertises 3d printed copies. No idea it they are any good.
Check front suspension struts for corrosion at the top
FInd out if the hydraulic locks have been changed - they can leak and drip fluid onto you
Nearly all internal trim is unavailable new.
Check light switches in the overhead console - they fail. Replaceable if you can get them.
Check heated seats work - drivers side squab wiring breaks and no heated seat under you!
Seat belt cover can fracture, leaving an unsightly gap at the top of the seat. Needs DIY bodgery to fix
Check AC - you can live without it but can be a dash out job to fix.
Heated rear window connector on the hard top will be knackered. HRW is no good anyway!
See if the cats have been changed. They seem to fail. Mine went at about 73k, both sides at about the same time (500)
All these are annoying but don't stop the car moving, and are mostly just due to perishing with age. The cars are generally very reliable and I found mine a very nice place to be!

The respray comment rings alarm bells though. A good chunk of the attraction of these cars (in my view anyway) is the looks, and a dodgy paint job will stick out. The only way is to look at it and make you own mind up.
 
Where are you in the world, you can have a try and a look around mine and have a chat to give you some pointers to look out for. I'm in north manc just off M61 if that helps. Best car in the world to have fun in and a tinker with.
 

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