1982 Merc 380SL

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by speeder

Someone has quite a collection there.

That is a small portion, at that location, he has many more there, and a few more locations with even more.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Racerbvd

That is a small portion, at that location, he has many more there, and a few more locations with even more.

Shame they look dirty and neglected.

This thread seems like a safe place to post that I’ve ALWAYS wanted an R129 SL.

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Shame they look dirty and neglected.

This thread seems like a safe place to post that I’ve ALWAYS wanted an R129 SL.

I love mine, but as a mechanic that I fired because he wouldn't assist me with mine said "they don't age well". Mine has needed an ADS delete (harness bad, and after repair it overpressurized and blew out a shock, and I was simply done). Top works, but cyl's are weeping, and while the parts aren't terrible (800/exchange) its 2-3 full days of tedious work, and you might damage the microswitches and spend another day troubleshooting. Battery dead? Don't jump the car without pulling fuses for the top controller, or it'll fry (common, guess how I found out).
My car came from LA with only 75k a few years back. The issue with cars from a sunny place is that all the plastic bits in the interior (ie the reviewmount etc) are made from non uv resistant plastic. Yes, they're reproduced now 3d but $$. Seats, unique two tone perf leather on the 600 are cracking. And the tonneau? Yes, its leather. Now 28 year old leather in the sun. Again, available but...
The basic mechanics are good, but a valve cover gasket on a 600 is 10 hrs labor-pull intake, break brittle vaccum hoses etc. The trans is a Chrysler unit so reasonably robust if you change fluid regularly (Benz shipped them "sealed and lifetime" but they're not).
The driving experience is very nice, refined gt. And they're cheap, there's that.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Yeah I’ve read all the horror stories. In my opinion they are an all time beautiful design and are destined to be classics. But it’s a 30 year old Mercedes, and a very complex one at that.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by greglepore

I love mine, but as a mechanic that I fired because he wouldn't assist me with mine said "they don't age well". Mine has needed an ADS delete (harness bad, and after repair it overpressurized and blew out a shock, and I was simply done). Top works, but cyl's are weeping, and while the parts aren't terrible (800/exchange) its 2-3 full days of tedious work, and you might damage the microswitches and spend another day troubleshooting. Battery dead? Don't jump the car without pulling fuses for the top controller, or it'll fry (common, guess how I found out).
My car came from LA with only 75k a few years back. The issue with cars from a sunny place is that all the plastic bits in the interior (ie the reviewmount etc) are made from non uv resistant plastic. Yes, they're reproduced now 3d but $$. Seats, unique two tone perf leather on the 600 are cracking. And the tonneau? Yes, its leather. Now 28 year old leather in the sun. Again, available but...
The basic mechanics are good, but a valve cover gasket on a 600 is 10 hrs labor-pull intake, break brittle vaccum hoses etc. The trans is a Chrysler unit so reasonably robust if you change fluid regularly (Benz shipped them "sealed and lifetime" but they're not).
The driving experience is very nice, refined gt. And they're cheap, there's that.

until you factor either paying someone to fix all of the crap or figure your own time is money. Then they sound like they are aspiring to be boats...

I assume the only thing to do would be to make sure that if you have one, it's an old one, so it's simpler and already a classic that's worth keeping up.

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by masraum

until you factor either paying someone to fix all of the crap or figure your own time is money. Then they sound like they are aspiring to be boats...

I assume the only thing to do would be to make sure that if you have one, it's an old one, so it's simpler and already a classic that's worth keeping up.

The prior generation cars are simpler-manual top, minimal electronics. R129 are first gen canbus etc. But yeah, you need to be able to diy. Thing is, you can buy one for under 10k (even pretty nice ones) and have a car that was a legit 100k gt in its day-just keep in mind that it'll require feeding like a 100k car. They're not Miata's maintenance wise.
The big issue for all of these 90's cars is that parts availability is becoming sketch from the OEM's. For some stuff-ie hydraulic pumps-there are robust rebuilders. For other stuff-rubber and plastic parts-you're either dealing with obscure eastern europe guys with good parts or crapshoot from Asia. This is the same whether you're a shop or a diy hack like me.
And I agree with OWP, the one thing about these cars that has aged incredibly well is the Bruno Sacco design...RIP Bruno.

[Yorkie]

Until recently I had a ‘72 350SL - forerunner of the 450. I found it be a simple and reliable car. Manual top was super easy to put up or take down. It’s guzzled fuel but was so smooth on the freeway at speed. It was also very much a home on the coast roads of Southern California. I foolishly sold it when I moved to France so I’ve had a friend ship me over a ‘79. They are very cheap in California compared to Europe.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I have a handful of “I told you so” cars with my wife. When I say stuff like “$50k is dirt cheap for a Testarossa, I should buy one” and she just rolls her eyes. The R129 is on that list for me.

[speeder]

R129 cars are definitely handsome rides and have some great w140-era engineering and safety in them but they are too heavy and not sporty enough for me. Same goes for the R107s, with much older technology, of course.

Everything that Greg says is legitimate and the only thing I can add is to buy a late in the run V-8 car only with low mileage and in the best condition humanly possible. Only garaged cars from gentle climates that haven’t suffered UV damage, etc.

That way, you won’t be upside down the first month you own it with deferred maintenance. This is NOT a car to buy simply because it was cheap. It will empty your bank account quicker than a good identity thief.

[Steve Carlton]

[greglepore]

Yeah, they’re not sporty. Best description I ve read is that its a car a German tycoon would use to go see his mistress.
One issue is the LONG brake pedal. 140s too. It means you can stop super smooth but its not confident. There are plenty of brakes (mine was upgraded with post 2000 Brembos and bigger rotors) but you wouldn’t know it.
But with a 911 or other sharp knife in the garage to scratch that itch, its an awesome touring car to take to dinner with your love.


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