After 4-1/2 years of enjoyment , I have decided it is time to move on from W126 ownership .
This is a 1986 500SEL on a 'D' registration . The car is in DB 199 Blue/Black with Mushroom leather interior ; it has two electric front seats and the electric reclining rear seat . The old R12 air con no longer works and would need converted to the new R134a gas . Cruise control works peerfectly , the car also has illuminated visors , electric rear blind and reading lights in the rear .
The seats are a set of facelift style mushroom leather ones which replaced the old worn pre facelift mushroom seats which were in the car when I bought it - the car had left the factory with velour but this had been changed sometime in the past . All seats are currently in good condition save for some slight wear to the driver's bolster ; I have a new matching Mushroom leather cover for the driver's seat in the attic which will come with the car .
I will need to check the mileages when I get home as I changed the speedo about a year after I got the car , due to an intermittent problem with the cruise control ( which now works reliably and perfectly ) , but I think the car will have covered somewhere north of 200,000 .
I ran the car continuously for four years with minimal problems , other than routine servicing it has required a couple of ball joints , rear springs and one front spring . Servicing has been carried out regularly by myself during my ownership and the engine runs faultlessly .
When the MOT expired at the end of last year , I took the car off the road , intending to look at suspension bushes , brakes etc since a few clonks and knocks were beginning to become apparent .
I have a full set of ATE discs and pads , as well as new backplates for the front brakes , which will be included along with a host of other parts for the car .
I had also collected all the components necessary to retrofit self levelling rear suspension since , while the car sits nice and level when unladen , these cars do tend to sit down at the back with a fully laden boot and passengers in the back seats . Besides SLS , I also bought an LPG system from a club member who had it in his 420SEL - this will also come with the car .
The car has a full stainless steel exhaust system ( including quad downpipes in stainless ) supplied and fitted by PD Gough Ltd , as featured in my thread 'An Exhausting Day' . The system cost circa £700 about three years ago , but I understand that the current price for this system is now around £1100 .
The car has MB 15 hole alloy wheels with Pirelli P6000 tyres , all in good condition with plenty of tread ; the spare is a matching alloy with a P600 which looks never to have been used . I also have another two matching wheels , although the tyres on those are no good .
The sunroof stopped working last year due to the known fault of the inner cable coming out of the slotted outer guide below the sliding panel ; I have obtained a new inner and outer cable to fix this and these will come with the car .
The rear bumper has good chrome , but the chrome on the front bumper is starting to rust through ; however I obtained a pair of spare bumpers with good chrome and these will be included with the car .
The nearside front wing is starting to rust at the front corner just below the headlamp . I have two new front wings ( one genuine Mercedes , the other pattern ) however both are for the same side and I can't remember which .
The most serious thing wrong with the car is that the well known fault of the rear windscreen leaking and rotting out the parcel shelf below has set in - water is now leaking into the boot and the area under the shelf is very flaky - I have a repair section cut from a rust free donor car which will be included , or you can buy a new repair section from Mercedes for circa £100 . I also have two full sets of clean and dry carpets and trim for the boot which will be included .
As well as the above corrosion , there is rust around both rear wheelarches and , unfortunately the laquer is lifting off the rear half of the roof in places as well as off the bonnet in places ( I suspect due to substandard paintowrk in the past ) although this has not gone through to rust .
Besides all that I have mentioned above there are many , many more spare parts which will be included - front and rear lights , window regulators , a complete windscreen wiper assembly , radiator , new distributor cap and rotor arm , spare a/c compressor , lots and lots of small parts that I can barely remember never mind list .
Oh and I have the official factory workshop manuals for the W126 - three good telephone directory sized printed manuals - one covering the M117 V8 engines and the other two for the rest of the car .
The car starts and drives , although the starter motor has recently begun acting up as it is no longer in regular use , sometimes failing to engage properly , so it is easy to move around even if not road legal just now . Subject to legalities , I have no doubt that , if you had suitable insurance + an MOT appointment at the other end , trade plates or whatever needed that it would drive reliably to anywhere in the UK .
I suspect it would need the cause of the suspension knocks addressed to get through an MOT , but it is otherwise quite sound .
In summary , this is a complete , running car complete with lots of valuable parts which could either be a very worthwhile project for someone wanting to restore it , or a huge source of valuable parts for someone who already has one or more W126's .
The new M-B front wing must now be at least a couple of hundred to buy , the brake discs will be about the same , and the workshop manuals would change hands for upwards of £100 if I were to eBay them .
I would like to sell everything complete for £1000 , which is less than the current cost of the stainless exhaust system alone , and ( I think ) fair considering all that is included with it . I am really not keen to start selling off individual bits & pieces and would prefer someone to come along and take the whole lot away .
I will try to take some photographs at the weekend to show the current condition of the car and what is included with it .
The car and all the parts are located at my home in North Ayrshire .
This is a 1986 500SEL on a 'D' registration . The car is in DB 199 Blue/Black with Mushroom leather interior ; it has two electric front seats and the electric reclining rear seat . The old R12 air con no longer works and would need converted to the new R134a gas . Cruise control works peerfectly , the car also has illuminated visors , electric rear blind and reading lights in the rear .
The seats are a set of facelift style mushroom leather ones which replaced the old worn pre facelift mushroom seats which were in the car when I bought it - the car had left the factory with velour but this had been changed sometime in the past . All seats are currently in good condition save for some slight wear to the driver's bolster ; I have a new matching Mushroom leather cover for the driver's seat in the attic which will come with the car .
I will need to check the mileages when I get home as I changed the speedo about a year after I got the car , due to an intermittent problem with the cruise control ( which now works reliably and perfectly ) , but I think the car will have covered somewhere north of 200,000 .
I ran the car continuously for four years with minimal problems , other than routine servicing it has required a couple of ball joints , rear springs and one front spring . Servicing has been carried out regularly by myself during my ownership and the engine runs faultlessly .
When the MOT expired at the end of last year , I took the car off the road , intending to look at suspension bushes , brakes etc since a few clonks and knocks were beginning to become apparent .
I have a full set of ATE discs and pads , as well as new backplates for the front brakes , which will be included along with a host of other parts for the car .
I had also collected all the components necessary to retrofit self levelling rear suspension since , while the car sits nice and level when unladen , these cars do tend to sit down at the back with a fully laden boot and passengers in the back seats . Besides SLS , I also bought an LPG system from a club member who had it in his 420SEL - this will also come with the car .
The car has a full stainless steel exhaust system ( including quad downpipes in stainless ) supplied and fitted by PD Gough Ltd , as featured in my thread 'An Exhausting Day' . The system cost circa £700 about three years ago , but I understand that the current price for this system is now around £1100 .
The car has MB 15 hole alloy wheels with Pirelli P6000 tyres , all in good condition with plenty of tread ; the spare is a matching alloy with a P600 which looks never to have been used . I also have another two matching wheels , although the tyres on those are no good .
The sunroof stopped working last year due to the known fault of the inner cable coming out of the slotted outer guide below the sliding panel ; I have obtained a new inner and outer cable to fix this and these will come with the car .
The rear bumper has good chrome , but the chrome on the front bumper is starting to rust through ; however I obtained a pair of spare bumpers with good chrome and these will be included with the car .
The nearside front wing is starting to rust at the front corner just below the headlamp . I have two new front wings ( one genuine Mercedes , the other pattern ) however both are for the same side and I can't remember which .
The most serious thing wrong with the car is that the well known fault of the rear windscreen leaking and rotting out the parcel shelf below has set in - water is now leaking into the boot and the area under the shelf is very flaky - I have a repair section cut from a rust free donor car which will be included , or you can buy a new repair section from Mercedes for circa £100 . I also have two full sets of clean and dry carpets and trim for the boot which will be included .
As well as the above corrosion , there is rust around both rear wheelarches and , unfortunately the laquer is lifting off the rear half of the roof in places as well as off the bonnet in places ( I suspect due to substandard paintowrk in the past ) although this has not gone through to rust .
Besides all that I have mentioned above there are many , many more spare parts which will be included - front and rear lights , window regulators , a complete windscreen wiper assembly , radiator , new distributor cap and rotor arm , spare a/c compressor , lots and lots of small parts that I can barely remember never mind list .
Oh and I have the official factory workshop manuals for the W126 - three good telephone directory sized printed manuals - one covering the M117 V8 engines and the other two for the rest of the car .
The car starts and drives , although the starter motor has recently begun acting up as it is no longer in regular use , sometimes failing to engage properly , so it is easy to move around even if not road legal just now . Subject to legalities , I have no doubt that , if you had suitable insurance + an MOT appointment at the other end , trade plates or whatever needed that it would drive reliably to anywhere in the UK .
I suspect it would need the cause of the suspension knocks addressed to get through an MOT , but it is otherwise quite sound .
In summary , this is a complete , running car complete with lots of valuable parts which could either be a very worthwhile project for someone wanting to restore it , or a huge source of valuable parts for someone who already has one or more W126's .
The new M-B front wing must now be at least a couple of hundred to buy , the brake discs will be about the same , and the workshop manuals would change hands for upwards of £100 if I were to eBay them .
I would like to sell everything complete for £1000 , which is less than the current cost of the stainless exhaust system alone , and ( I think ) fair considering all that is included with it . I am really not keen to start selling off individual bits & pieces and would prefer someone to come along and take the whole lot away .
I will try to take some photographs at the weekend to show the current condition of the car and what is included with it .
The car and all the parts are located at my home in North Ayrshire .
