Or take it to a shop that does interior restoration, seat rebuilding and reappolstering.
I don't know about the 450SL, but our 380SL has the manual seat adjust (forward-backwards) on an incredibly tight spring. One end on the seat bottom. One end secured to the floorboards. Disconnecting it wasn't too bad, but it takes a lot of muscle, experience, or proper tools, or some combination of the 3 to resecure the spring if you have disconnected it to remove the seat. I've taken seat out from several makes of cars, including two other MBs, with manual and electric mechanisms, to be able to remove the carpet for replacement or deep cleaning while detailing the car......the SL seat was the only one I ran into problems with. I ended up having the spring reinstalled by a shop.... how embarrassing.
Got my wife's 380SL ready for the winter rainy season here. Shampooed the canvas and stowed it. Bolted on the hard-top. Gave it a good cleaning and waxing top to bottom.
With 5,000 miles on those new Dunlop Sport 8000s I can say that overall they are pretty nice handling tires and seem very grippy, but the deep vertical grooves makes them a little twitchy with any imperfections in the road surface.
Other than that, the car is running great with 106K miles on it.
I have an `89 560 SL with ~130,000 miles on it. I've been to all the dealers in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica area, and find the service to be atrocious and ridiculously expensive. For a 17 year old car, my SL is in pretty good shape, but I need a major service (brakes, front tie rods/bushing, engine compression check, etc.)and I'm looking for a mechanic I can establish a relationship with in the Hollywood/Silverlake area of L.A. who works on classic Mercedes'. Any suggestions?
You should be able to find a place...from my experience, every decent metro area has some good independent MB shops, and I would expect many in LA. I wouldn't take my car to the dealer unless it is under warranty...the labor here (Seattle) is $125/hr and I am sure it is more there. My independent charges barely more than half that, and his shop is spotless, and he has a large clientele.
I brought my 1980 SL to a shop for heater repair. I have airconditioning but no heating. According to mechanic I have to replace a climate control module that controls the temp by way of the wheel knob setting on the dashboard panel. He said it will cost a thousand $ and of course, I almost dropped to the floor. Can you tell me if this is true or something may have gone wrong in the system? Thanks for your anticipated advice and time.
It's a typical SL problem, so it could very well be true. A lot of the $$$ is labor. I think you can find rebuilt modules on the Internet at a reasonable cost but somebody still has to dig the old one out of there. If you own a V8 SL, you're going to have to stand for these $1,000 hits every now and then. It's not a cheap car to own when it breaks.
But shop around and ask around. If you are in a large metro area, maybe even a Mercedes wrecker will install a used part for you for a lot less $$$.
From what I know, which isn't perfect as I haven't had an HVAC failure in any of my cars...a grand doesn't seem out of line, esp if it is a decent shop. A fully rebuilt module should be at least a few hundred, and there's lots of labor involved. That's part of the joy of an old MB.
Those climate control setups had to be one of the weirdest of all time. My W126 had something similar, but it always worked - cold air and heat. However, now and then it would also put out heat when I had the heat turned off, or it would put out cold air when I had it on economy. I just ignored it.
The servo valve is very expensive if that's the problem. The dealer price is high, but if you DIY you can get one for about $650 if I remember right. As far as replacing it the complexity depends on the model. The old sedans and coupes that had it on the firewall weren't to hard, an electrical connector, a vacuum connector, and a couple of hoses. There were aftermarket ones available that had an aluminum billet housing, but I don't any experience with those myself. I wouldn't bother with any used ones, they usually aren't worth the money.
Thanks for the advice. Yes, I have a V8SL and I don't think I want to spend that much for the heater repair. I'll just leave it as is and drive it on a sunny weather.
I bet a creative mechanic could by pass the whole silly thing and give you a simple manual shutoff valve that you can turn on and off as you please from under the hood.
MG did this for years. It looks very much like a garden hose spigot!
I am currently looking at buying a 1975 450 SL with 58k miles on it. The body seems pretty solid excepet around the right front rocker panel. How hard and how expensive is the repair of the rockers
Hard to say without looking at it. You can cut out the rocker and weld in a new one but one has to be sure that the area to which you attach the rocker isn't rusted as well (you can't weld rust). I'd certainly have the car lifted first to closely examine where the rust is and how far it has eaten into structural parts of the car, if any.
It's certainly more than a one day job if you include painting. I hope you're getting this car pretty cheap enough to justify the expense.
If you're lucky, maybe you can just grind out the one area of rust and not have to replace the whole rocker.
It is holed right next to what I am assuming to be the jack post. both rockers have been coated in a black rubber type coating (like the sound deadener used underneath),leading to questions about the integrity of the entire piece. He is asking $7,000 or offer. I haven't had a chance to drive it or hear it run yet so there may be more repairs too. This is my first time looking at this type of car and have no idea as to what are trouble spots or costs.
For that money I would really be leery. If you really want a 107, look for the best you can afford... I suspect California is loaded to the roof with nice rust-free examples, so spending a few hundred bucks on transport might be worth it.
With every old MB I have seen, a little rust always leads to more (like with any 30 year old car I guess). I see rust, and I lose interest.
Forget it---you can buy those cars clean and running well for $8,500--$10,000. They are very plentiful and a buyer's market, as they are not in high demand. Shop around and you'll be rewarded for your patience.
Others here have posted good advice for you I think. Buy the best AND the newest year 450SL you can afford. 75-77 isn't a good time for these cars either. You want like an '80--'81 or whenever the last years were.
When you find one you like, be SURE to play with every switch, knob and accessory to make sure it all works. You don't want to have to be repairing the heat/AC units on these cars, or other electrical items. These are are great cruisers but not very good sports cars, so I assume you want luxurious straight line performance or for toodling around town. Also gas consumption is quite high in case you were wondering--highway miles aren't too bad, maybe up to 15-16 mpg, but city driving will be down to 10-12 mpg.
thanks for all the advice. The wife likes these cars and is looking to replace her 1973 Olds Delta convert. that is too big and worrisome (always worring that it will get hit or rack too many miles on it ) to drive constantly. We'll keep looking.
I read in an earlier posting that there is an internet site for wood trim. I have a 84 380sl and the trim around the shift could stand to be repaired or placed.
I think the dealer could even provide that part. Mercedes is great about parts for older cars. That way you'd be sure to get an exact match on the veneer. I think it's only $40-50 bucks for that little patch of wood
Oh well those are large finished pieces of actual wood, curved, etc. with veneer laid over them. I think the console "wood" on the SL isn't anything like that. It's not burl and doesn't have any complex shape to it.
This was for replacement wood for the dash/console area where the rocker switches are. I think it was a couple hundred bucks anyway. The old SLs used zebrano, right? I think that might be cheaper.
My 380 SL has a problem with the windshield wipers. When I turn it on, it sweeps to the right and then returns only half way, stopping in the vertical position. Any suggestions?
This applies to BMWs but I think the principles are quite the same. The problem which you may have to describe to someone, is that your wipers aren't "parking".
"Front Wiper Failure to Park. The wiper motor gets power from two sources. One is from the switch on the stalk. The other is from the battery via the ignition switch, but in series with this path is a switch internal to the wiper mechanism which opens up once per cycle. If the second circuit is functioning, when you release the stalk switch, the second circuit still carries current to the wiper motor until it reaches the wiper position where the internal switch opens. At this point, if the stalk switch is disengaged, the wipers park. If the second circuit isn't working, either because of a faulty wiper park switch (inside the wiper mechanism) or because the external wiring isn't delivering current to this switch, then the wipers park immediately when you shut off the stalk switch, as you describe. First thing I'd check is the wiring."
I agree with your description in general. However, I didn't turn off the stalk switch. The wipers just stopped midway on their return to the starting position.
Well you might explore www.mercedesshop.com and see if they can offer any ideas. It might be one of those common problems that someone would know about. Sounds like the current is being shut off prematurely, as if it "thinks" you've shut the stalk switch off.
An ugly thought but I think you may be right. I took the car out for about 20 minutes yesterday and started smelling smoke. When I lifted the hood I could see a small smoke trail rising from the wiper drive motor connector (I unplugged immediately but it might have been too late). This indicates to me the motor was stalled and overheated trying to park the wipers.
Sometimes a grommet falls out or loosens in the wiper arm linkages and jams them up. If the gears were broken I don't think the arms would move at all.
This sounds like a real possibility. I assume I gain access through the top after removal of the large cover at the top of the fire-wall (facing up with several screws around the parimeter).
I am a school teacher going through mid-life crisis... I am currently looking at 87 MB 560 SL with 192,000 mile. the car has been parked inside and maintained at local import car specialist, with complete maintenance records available. The upper engine rebuilt and new leather seats and convertable top replaced 2 yeras ago. Chrome 107 wheels including spare. Car comes with Hard top with storage rack and cover and Black Tonneau cover. the asking price is $10,000. any advise will be greatly appreciated. ps: excellent forum.
Gee that's a lot of miles. My only concern is that this car, being complex, has many systems in it that are not related to the engine or the upholstery.
I suppose if the car passes a RIGOROUS checkover, and I do mean rigorous, you might take a chance---but you have to be prepared to suffer a total loss if something big gives way, like a transmission or the engine. Naturally I'd have the mechanic pull the wheels and check the rotors and calipers (brakes), check the exhaust system for bad mufflers and pipes, check for engine leaks, power steering leaks, transmission leaks, differential leaks. Check for RUST. Check ALL the switches and dials and knob and make sure everything works perfectly. The heating/AC systems on these cars is very expensive to fix.
These are great cars but they are expensive to repair. You should figure, on average, $200 a month to keep one on the road, plus your gas and insurance, etc., of course.
Good luck--and spend the $$$ to have it checked really well before you buy it. Spend a couple hundred if you have to, and save yourself a lot of grief later on.
Also keep in mind that this car will continue to depreciate. It's not going to become a "classic" anytime soon, and will be worth less each year for some time to come.
The asking price is about right for the miles---it's no bargain but it's fairly price more or less.
I am looking at purchasing an older SL for occasional driving. Can someone please point out some of the differences good or bad between the above mentioned series. I am looking to spend between $8-12$K.
I am looking for an older Sl. Which model 380/450/560 would you point me to for reliability and bang for the buck? It would only be a Sunday drive, special occasion sort of vehicle.
Thanks for the fast reply. Any particular year any better than others? trying to keep purchase price between $6-$12K if possible. I have been searching E-bay and there seems to be quite a few for sale. Anything in particular I should be looking for in general as far as repairs/maintenance is concerned?
the 560SL has a larger engine and is refined in every way...MUCH faster than the earlier SLs and has tolerable gas mileage and handling to boot. A totally improved car.
Earlier V8 SLs can be money pits if the miles are high and there has been neglect. Chronic ailments include faulty AC/heat systems, poor gas mileage, and handling like a Buick. Worst years are probably 75-77. And repairs can be pricey if a major component is involved. expensive. You'd be better off spending a little extra $$ and getting a clean low miles 560SL.
I suppose if you found a 450SL that was a)very well cared for by one or two owners, b) cleaner than clean and c) low-priced and d) passed a rigorous inspection---then okay, go for it!
Otherwise, for your needs, the 560SL is your baby I think.
Any particular year better than another for the 560? I'd be willing to go to 15K if it was worthwhile. What year should I be looking for in the 15K range?
I think they are all pretty decent, I am not aware of any major changes throughout that series. Some people will raise prices on 1989 models, as that was the end of production. They were made from 1986-89.
For reference, I looked at a pristine 1988 560SL a couple years ago, 70K miles, diamond blue on grey...quite excellent, and I am a picky person. They wanted around 15K for it.
I am going to have a look at an 88 with 43K miles and he is asking 12,9000 with a rebuilt title. Not sure if I want to be bothered with something that has once been in a wreck, but I'll have a look.
Just having been an interested spectator on SL discussions (my wife having long wanted one), if it's not clean, low miles, and unmolested (unwrecked in this case) Shifty and Fin would say keep looking - good ones are out there, and bad ones will eat your lunch.
You might also check "completed listings" to see what sold, and how the market values the various years and miles. A very rough guide - about $15K at 50k miles, about $10k at 100k miles, but many didn't meet reserve at those prices. That's just what people were willing to bid.
Well you could look at it to familiarize yourself with the model (and see how much better they really are than the earlier SLs) but I would never buy one with a rebuilt title for that price. Half that maybe. A Benz with a salvage title has the kiss of death on it--it has been tremendously devalued.
Thanks for the info. I have dismissed going the rebuilt route. Will just have to keep on searching. I've read that an older Mercedes SL with too low a mileage on it can also be a bad thing Any truth to that?
Comments
I don't know about the 450SL, but our 380SL has the manual seat adjust (forward-backwards) on an incredibly tight spring. One end on the seat bottom. One end secured to the floorboards. Disconnecting it wasn't too bad, but it takes a lot of muscle, experience, or proper tools, or some combination of the 3 to resecure the spring if you have disconnected it to remove the seat. I've taken seat out from several makes of cars, including two other MBs, with manual and electric mechanisms, to be able to remove the carpet for replacement or deep cleaning while detailing the car......the SL seat was the only one I ran into problems with. I ended up having the spring reinstalled by a shop.... how embarrassing.
With 5,000 miles on those new Dunlop Sport 8000s I can say that overall they are pretty nice handling tires and seem very grippy, but the deep vertical grooves makes them a little twitchy with any imperfections in the road surface.
Other than that, the car is running great with 106K miles on it.
But shop around and ask around. If you are in a large metro area, maybe even a Mercedes wrecker will install a used part for you for a lot less $$$.
Those climate control setups had to be one of the weirdest of all time. My W126 had something similar, but it always worked - cold air and heat. However, now and then it would also put out heat when I had the heat turned off, or it would put out cold air when I had it on economy. I just ignored it.
There were aftermarket ones available that had an aluminum billet housing, but I don't any experience with those myself.
I wouldn't bother with any used ones, they usually aren't worth the money.
MG did this for years. It looks very much like a garden hose spigot!
It's certainly more than a one day job if you include painting. I hope you're getting this car pretty cheap enough to justify the expense.
If you're lucky, maybe you can just grind out the one area of rust and not have to replace the whole rocker.
With every old MB I have seen, a little rust always leads to more (like with any 30 year old car I guess). I see rust, and I lose interest.
Others here have posted good advice for you I think. Buy the best AND the newest year 450SL you can afford. 75-77 isn't a good time for these cars either. You want like an '80--'81 or whenever the last years were.
When you find one you like, be SURE to play with every switch, knob and accessory to make sure it all works. You don't want to have to be repairing the heat/AC units on these cars, or other electrical items. These are are great cruisers but not very good sports cars, so I assume you want luxurious straight line performance or for toodling around town. Also gas consumption is quite high in case you were wondering--highway miles aren't too bad, maybe up to 15-16 mpg, but city driving will be down to 10-12 mpg.
Thanks.
Barrym
"Front Wiper Failure to Park. The wiper motor gets power from two sources. One is from the switch on the stalk. The other is from the battery via the ignition switch, but in series with this path is a switch internal to the wiper mechanism which opens up once per cycle. If the second circuit is functioning, when you release the stalk switch, the second circuit still carries current to the wiper motor until it reaches the wiper position where the internal switch opens. At this point, if the stalk switch is disengaged, the wipers park. If the second circuit isn't working, either because of a faulty wiper park switch (inside the wiper mechanism) or because the external wiring isn't delivering current to this switch, then the wipers park immediately when you shut off the stalk switch, as you describe. First thing I'd check is the wiring."
I agree with your description in general. However, I didn't turn off the stalk switch. The wipers just stopped midway on their return to the starting position.
Barry
I have heard in a fintail it is a horrible amount of work to replace this part, I hope it isn't the same for you.
Barrym
Thanks for the input.
Barrym
Help please.
I suppose if the car passes a RIGOROUS checkover, and I do mean rigorous, you might take a chance---but you have to be prepared to suffer a total loss if something big gives way, like a transmission or the engine. Naturally I'd have the mechanic pull the wheels and check the rotors and calipers (brakes), check the exhaust system for bad mufflers and pipes, check for engine leaks, power steering leaks, transmission leaks, differential leaks. Check for RUST. Check ALL the switches and dials and knob and make sure everything works perfectly. The heating/AC systems on these cars is very expensive to fix.
These are great cars but they are expensive to repair. You should figure, on average, $200 a month to keep one on the road, plus your gas and insurance, etc., of course.
Good luck--and spend the $$$ to have it checked really well before you buy it. Spend a couple hundred if you have to, and save yourself a lot of grief later on.
Also keep in mind that this car will continue to depreciate. It's not going to become a "classic" anytime soon, and will be worth less each year for some time to come.
The asking price is about right for the miles---it's no bargain but it's fairly price more or less.
Earlier V8 SLs can be money pits if the miles are high and there has been neglect. Chronic ailments include faulty AC/heat systems, poor gas mileage, and handling like a Buick. Worst years are probably 75-77. And repairs can be pricey if a major component is involved. expensive. You'd be better off spending a little extra $$ and getting a clean low miles 560SL.
I suppose if you found a 450SL that was a)very well cared for by one or two owners, b) cleaner than clean and c) low-priced and d) passed a rigorous inspection---then okay, go for it!
Otherwise, for your needs, the 560SL is your baby I think.
12K might be a little low for a good one, but 15K ish should be workable given enough time.
For reference, I looked at a pristine 1988 560SL a couple years ago, 70K miles, diamond blue on grey...quite excellent, and I am a picky person. They wanted around 15K for it.
Here's what's on Ebay: 560SLs for sale
You might also check "completed listings" to see what sold, and how the market values the various years and miles. A very rough guide - about $15K at 50k miles, about $10k at 100k miles, but many didn't meet reserve at those prices. That's just what people were willing to bid.