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Comments
The 380SL from 1981--1985
The 560SL from 1986--1989
450SL 380SL 560SL
160HP 155HP 227HP
3-spd auto 4 spd auto 4 spd auto
0-60 in 11.5 0-60 in 11.5 0-60 in 7.5 sec
top speed 112 110 mph 130 mph
14" tires 14" 15"
Bosch D injection K-jetronic KE-Jetronic
No ABS no ABS/air bags ABS/Air bags std.
no limited slip no limited slip limited slip std.
camshaft wear timing chain wear no known defects
As you can see, the 560SL is an improvement in just about every category. About the only complaint I can offer for the 560SL is the ugly bumpers and the fact that it's pretty heavy
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A USED ONE:
450SL --camshaft wear. You MUST have the valve covers pulled and look for pitting on the camshaft lobes. Also check for cracks in lower rear control arm mountings of the front suspension. This doesn't apply to 380 or 560. 450SLs are also prone to vapor lock and overheating, especially mid 70s models. Avoid them. Best year? Maybe 1979 before the 1980 power drop.
380SL--check the cam chain. If it is a single row chain it MUST be converted to double-row. 1984 and later 380SLs have this already. So best buy is 1984 or 1985 380SL.
560SL -- again, the best of the SLs. Of course, check all service records and avoid cars that were abused, salvaged, or high mileage.
So, in summary:
1979 450SL
1984-85 380SL
Any 560SL
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/car/304404046.html
Here's the K troubleshooting tips:
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w116-s-se-sel-sd-class/1223523-bosch-d-jetronic-- k-jetronic-troubleshooting.html
You should put the catalytics further down stream, using an aftermarket set up. Without cats, which is of course illegal, you'll have a very noisy car as well as a polluter. You'll never pass smog tests without them.
I have been heavily searching for a couple months to find a 1979 450sl in good shape. This week I test drove a model that I had never heard of and can't find any information on. It has the euro headlights and the badge on the back says 480SL. I'm assuming this is a Euro model, but does anyone know anything about this car?
Thanks!
Euro lights are an easy add-on, it's the bumpers that make the difference. Grey market/Euro cars almost never received NA-spec bumpers.
And speaking of late 450SLs, Here's one for sale locally
I have no connection to the car, I just noticed the ad. Other than the period-incorrect 15" wheels, it appears quite decent.
The worst ones are 1975-6 right?
I guess my main "gripe" about the 450SL line in general is that it looks like a sports car but is really a "boulevardier" type of car. Driving it like a sports car is like dancing with a graceful hippo...it'll do it but it won't be pretty. And the gas mileage can hurt if you use the car a lot. Putting in $70 bucks worth of premium to go 250 miles might get old. But 20 miles a day, once a week, wouldn't be bad at all.
They are very sturdy cars, not very fast, but very comfy. If you had those gas pellets where you just add water to the gas tank, these cars can be very nice long distance, weekend cars.
For the price, they're hard to beat really, in spite of their shortcomings. I mean, compared to an $8,000 MGB, it's a joke how lame the British car really is in comparison to build quality.
You just have to remember to buy the very best one you can afford from the get-go. Never, EVER buy a fixer-upper needing serious amounts of work, no matter how tempting, no matter how cheap. It will eat you alive.
The missing could be due to tune up, but here again it could be something worse.
You can get a dash cap or a new dash, you can get new seat upholstery from various aftermarket suppliers, and of course you can keep getting the A/C fixed forever (it will likely need constant repair).
Basically this all adds up to $$$$.
If I was attached to the car and the body and paint was in exceptional condition, I would consider keeping it for pleasure use only, but not as a daily driver.
The AC is a perennial problem and in a sense not worth fixing anymore---even when they were brand new, these systems did not work very well.
I think as long as you can limit yourself to $1000 a year, you might as well drive it occasionally and enjoy those warm summer days and nights....but correcting all the problems doesn't sound like a good idea, nor does restoration.
My neighbors have a something SL (380 I think) and they let it run out of gas. They refilled it, but then it wouldn't start even though the engine cranked. Is there a simple culprit that could be fixed in 10 minutes, or is it a matter of finding the one wrong thing out of a hundred possibilities?
Don't overdue the starter fluid.
Those things have an electric pump in the tank, right?
Fuel filter is a possibility but in messing with cars for decades I have never seen a completely plugged up fuel filter that wouldn't allow some fuel through to at least start the car. But sure, that's certainly possible...not probable but possible.
Do the newer 500's chill better? We never had a complaint about my wife's 300E's A/C in ten years here.
Is there a better SL option worth my considering?
Bart :shades:
The only "downside" if you will of the 560SL is that it costs more to buy and will continue to depreciate, whereas the older V8 SLs have pretty much fully depreciated and are as cheap as they are going to get (which is pretty cheap).
Will they one day sell for as much as 280SLs and 190SLs? So far, after some 30+ years, they show no sign of doing so. They are so plentiful, and so expensive to make right, that this keeps their price down.
Ironically, it's very strange that one would even suggest that owning a 190SL is somehow a symbol of financial acuity. That's kind of funny. They should have shown her owning a 60s big block convertible muscle car, which in the last two years at least is probably the only type of old car which actually has outperformed the best stocks.
Yeah, the 190SLs had some dreadful Solex carburetors. Most smart people take them off and box 'em up, and use Webers.
190SLs are merely 190 sedans with convertible bodies bolted onto them. So it's grandma's engine in a show girl's dress (substitute appropriate masculine analogy---I'm not going there).
190Sls are charming in a way, and were meant to be the 300SLs little brother or sister or whatever, and priced and con-tented accordingly.
Fact is, in today's fast and loose credit market, just about anybody with a credit card and a job can buy a very fancy car.
The idea that a $30,000 or $40,000 car suggests wealth falls rather flat these days...I'd say to make ME believe that commecial, I'd have to see the waitress in a SL600 or some such...or a new Porsche or something. But even then, I'm thinking "hmmm, so she drew $100K out of her IRA for a new car?"
The commercial just misses the mark for the real car buff...but for folks who think plastic Auburn speedsters and VW powered Bugattis seen in parades are "real" cars, well, then it might work to impress them that a waitress owns a 190SL.
Personally, I think she'd be emptying her tip jar every day into her mechanic's pocket.
LOL --- It's the bumpers that make the car so attractively "retro". Bart
And thanks for the feedback. :shades:
Thanks.
Barry
Thanks
Chassis and body info will be on a small plate on a brace in front of the radiator. Engine number will be on the engine itself. I don't know if the standard VIN format we have today existed in 1979. I think some later Mercedes will have a VIN plate in the drivers door jam (I think) or on the drivers side A-pillar...it was there on my W126 anyway.
"Matching numbers" isn't really important on a Mercedes though, especially on a non-rare model. Nobody has ever wanted to take one of these engines and use it in something else.
About value, condition and maintenance is everything. Colors can also have a slight impact on cars from this period.
As for value, the low mileage has a plus and a minus factor...it should be worth more than normal book value, but you know, probably not that much more. Again, the "low miles" is something someone has to care about. Given that the car is rather commonly available, and was produced basically in only one version, the low mileage doesn't have the same appeal as it might on a Chevelle SS396 L78 for instance.
If the car were absolutely pristine and without fault (basically "like new") I would think $20,000 is really pushing it. If someone offered you $15K, I'd take it. If the tires and soft top are rotten (most likely), deduct accordingly.
Be careful about touting the low miles; unless you can prove it, you are responsible for that being an accurate statement and if the buyer finds out otherwise, you might be in legal jeopardy. You are not allowed to "misrepresent", even unintentionally...you can use words like "a beauty" and "runs great" and get away with it, but mileage is a very specific claim that definitely influences value. So be careful about what you can prove.
But the best of the 107s is easily the 560SL, made up through 1989. Prices are higher, but the car is much better,