Today I bought a 1989 560 SEL.

[neilrr]

Always liked the look of them & fancy having the effortless whooomp of the monster 300 bhp V8 under my right foot. As big as a house & fast with it!

171,000, same owner last 15 years, 6 months MOT, all advisories fixed at the last one including four new Michelins, a couple of discs & the pads.

This thing is loaded & cost nearly £70,000 in March '89.


VIN WDB1260392Axxxxx
Model 560 SEL
Chassis 1260392Axxxxxx
Engine 117968 22 061136
Transmission 722350 03 172558
Order 0 8 537 4xxxx
Approx. year 1988
Lights BOSCH
Cab 00404
Dealer Great Britain (537)
Interior leather blue (262)
Paint 355 diamond blue metallic (1984-1990, с 1994)

Options
215 hydropneumatic suspension with automatic level lowering device and controlled damping (с 01.01.1986 по 30.11.1991)
226 footrests in the rear (с 01.01.1980)
238 city drive light for Great Britain (с 01.06.1986 по 31.10.1989)
251 Becker Radio Mexico cassette, full stereo, electronic (с 01.04.1980 по 30.11.1990)
341 additional lamp (с 01.09.1982)
362
406 single seat with orthopaedic front seat backrest, left and right (с 01.07.1970)

442 airbag in steering wheel (с 01.02.1980 по 31.10.1993)
461 Unknown code
471 acceleration skid control (ASR) (с 01.07.1984)
481 undershields (с 01.10.1962)
524 paintcoat preservation (с 01.01.1964)
540 roller blind, electric, for rear window (с 01.05.1985)
551 anti-theft warning system (с 01.11.1978 по 31.03.1998)
601 oil for rear axle with limited-slip differential, in canisters and containers (с 01.01.1964 по 31.01.1990)
613 lamp unit, asymmetrical, l.h. traffic (с 01.02.1963)
682 fire extinguisher (с 01.04.1970)
872 electric seat heater for rear seat bench, left and right (с 01.10.1972)
873 seat heater for left and right front seats (с 01.02.1984)

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Niiiice!!

How about a few photos??!!

 

[television]

As bobby, how nice and some pictures please

 

[neilrr]

I'm not picking it up until after Easter.

 

[gaz_l]

Excellent, good luck with it! And, as previously said, we need pics!

I wouldn't swap for your fuel bills though . You're a brave man buying one of them at £5 a gallon..

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[Flash]

Stunning car!

I used to have a immaculate W126 and loved it to bits and when I sold it the car had done under 25K miles as it spent most of its life garaged and used to belong to my father who bought it brand new.

 

[Flash]

If planning on any mods then I would defnitely change the front indicator lenses and side repetaers to clear ones and the rear lenses to half clear/red.

3 piece AMG alloy wheels would look great if you have the budget!

 

[C240Sport97]

those are real cool cars with presence and grace, and aging very well.

excellent stuff

 

[Carrotchomper]

How about a diesel conversion perhaps?

 

[IanA2]

Was that the old schoolhouse car..?

 

[grober]

the long and short of it?

Congrats on your purchase, but will it fit in the garage? Pic "borrowed" from this rather useful site. http://home.concepts.nl/~vlimmere/index2.HTM

 

[ant500sl]

Excellent choice!

A word of advice regarding the hydropneumatic suspension, the seals have a tendency to dry out and leak all over the place.

The good news is that the best way to avoid this is to drive the car regularly! A weekly run is good but a monthly run should be fine, don't let it stand for more than a couple of months over winter otherwise you will find your car 6 inches lower than when you parked it! The fact that the car has done a good average mileage should mean you won't have many of the problems associated with these cars as they get older and fall into the hands of less than enthusiastic owners.

Have all the fluids changed regularly and enjoy for the next 20 years!

 

[jaymanek]

Well done... welcome to the world of the M117... you wont look back!!

 

[Benzowner]

Congrats on you purchase, the W126 in my opinion was the best shape Mercedes made.

 

[jaymanek]

Congrats on you purchase, the W126 in my opinion was the best shape Mercedes made.

So true... apart from maybe some of the earlier SL's..

 

[IanA2]

So true... apart from maybe some of the earlier SL's..

or the later ones......

 

[Dinnie]

If planning on any mods then I would defnitely change the front indicator lenses and side repetaers to clear ones and the rear lenses to half clear/red.

3 piece AMG alloy wheels would look great if you have the budget!

No!! Please keep it original
Lovely car, most of us wouldn't have the guts to go for a 5.6 V8, so well done

 

[Neil Crook]

I bought a 1988 500SEL two year ago, 350,000km for a grand. Changed some front suspension bushes and the main valve for the climate control. Just done 3,500km in a week to Italy and back delivered 11.8lt/100km (23.5mpg) Kids happy as larry in the back watching the DVD's. Only problem was with gearbox on way back. It appears that it hasn't been serviced for 10 years. Might get away with a few filter changes otherwise it's a new box for want on 70quide oil and filter change. All my auto's are in for service next month.

 

[neilrr]

I picked the car up this afty. Off to bed now so I've just copied & pasted an email I sent to a friend who asked about it. Excuse the language - it was a casual email!

On the 560 - One of the idiot lights for the suspension height or stiffness (?) adjustment came on, at least I think that's what it's for - this thing has so many options & lights. I'll check the fluid tomorrow.

Haven't got a clue on the fuel economy. The fuel light was on, I put £20 in & drove it 70 miles & the fuel light came on.

The body is scruffy around the arches (the usual chrome arches trying to hide it), the lacquer is bad on the boot & the rear bumper is scuffed & has lost some of it's paint but who cares! It goes like 10 mutha****ers! Where my 190E 2.6 is starting to run out of breath this thing is just getting into it's stride. You're cruising along at a steady & easy 90, put your foot down & your doing 120 JUST LIKE THAT! It accelerates hard at 90.

Some young ****head was tailgating me in a BMW 120d at about 70 on the motorway & I was accelerating just enough to tow him along, then I nailed it & the guy was gone in about 30 seconds - so far behind I couldn't make out what kind of car it was.

I love big powerful cars like this. The effortless, mile gobbling FAST cruisers where you can cover 100 miles in 60 minutes with no sweat. When you have to slow down until the fast lane clears you can get it back up to speed really quickly & continue to make great progress. Absolutely brilliant.

It's actually too easy to drive this thing at going-to-prison speeds. 120 is just so effortless & easy, so within it's abilities, that I'm going to get in serious trouble if I don't cool it or sell it or part it out. I've noticed people move over pretty quickly too, must surprise them when they see something that ****ing big closing that fast!

The bloke gave me a sheaf of history (as well as the stamped book) about 100+ pages thick, 5 keys & all the manuals. He & his wife are the second owners having bought it in '93 after the first owner put 75,000 on it in 3½ years.

It's actually got options I didn't know it had - maybe they weren't options. The front seats, as well as both being electric, memory & heated are orthopaedic, it has 2 horn settings, town & country, the rear passengers have controls to raise & lower the sun blind on the back window, as well as back seats having heat & electric controls. Probably has more I haven't discovered yet. I've not been in the back seat yet but I reckon you could sleep in there reasonably well.

 

[jaymanek]

well done mate!

sounds a lovely car that needs only a little tlc...

if you need any parts im breaking a 500 sec and a 300se..