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Well I was just wondering if it would be worth cleaning and doing a few fixes then selling it for 3 times what I paid. I know the SL's are really the only "collectable" Mercedes that hold their value well.
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Dec 11, 2013 18:44
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Seat Safety Switch posted:Do a detail and flip it for more than you paid, then upgrade into a nicer W110. Is there really a shortage of Fintails? Only time will tell if I will sell it off for another one.
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Dec 12, 2013 06:59
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My 560SL is not a big fan of cold weather. When it's cold it takes a bit to get it started--it will fire up and run for a second then sputter and die. If I give it throttle it will immediately die. It does this about 6 times until it's started to warm a bit and settles into a good idle. It will sometimes idle roughly for a brief time until it warms up more. Once it warms up for a couple minutes it drives great. Any thoughts on what might be causing it to act up?
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Dec 12, 2013 21:34
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mod sassinator posted:My 560SL is not a big fan of cold weather. When it's cold it takes a bit to get it started--it will fire up and run for a second then sputter and die. If I give it throttle it will immediately die. It does this about 6 times until it's started to warm a bit and settles into a good idle. It will sometimes idle roughly for a brief time until it warms up more. Once it warms up for a couple minutes it drives great. Any thoughts on what might be causing it to act up? Sounds like the cold start injector is not working. Happened to my parent's 280SE.
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Dec 12, 2013 23:55
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You Am I posted:Sounds like the cold start injector is not working. Happened to my parent's 280SE. Probably. Pray it isnt the diaphragm in the fuel distributor acting up.
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Dec 13, 2013 20:16
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Tai-Pan posted:Probably. Pray it isnt the diaphragm in the fuel distributor acting up. I think it would be running like a bucket of poo poo all the time, especially under acceleration if it was the fuel distributor unlike here where it seems like a cold start issue
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Dec 14, 2013 04:28
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My grandfather is trying to reduce the number of project cars in his backyard, and offered me a 1986 300SDL for free - it has somewhere around 140K miles on it. Will it just end up being a money pit for me?
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Dec 15, 2013 23:34
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Ulysses S. Grant posted:My grandfather is trying to reduce the number of project cars in his backyard, and offered me a 1986 300SDL for free - it has somewhere around 140K miles on it. Will it just end up being a money pit for me? As opposed to what? A car that makes you money? They are reliable cars, but well running cars don't end up in peoples backyard. A running example is worth between $2000-$5000 depending on condition and mileage.
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Dec 16, 2013 07:51
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Does anybody have any first-hand experience with 2008+ C63 AMGs in terms of how wallet-drainingly-unreliable they may or may not be?
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Dec 19, 2013 03:49
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Looks like we're having a new baby this summer. I've gotta get my wife a new car with A/C so she doesn't sweat herself to death while she's in chubby mode. I've been eyeballing a '95 e320 wagon here locally. It's pretty immaculate. Are these cars a pretty well regarded member of the mercedes family? How do they stack up to a bmw 325it or a volvo 745/945 in terms of being easy to work on, reliable, and having available parts?
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Dec 20, 2013 19:00
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It's a W124 car, so it's solid. I have an 89 version of the same car (slightly different motor). Easy enough to work on. How many miles/what price/can you post the listing? There are a few things to be cautious about. I'd say it's much more reliable than the BMW, though (and much more spacious), and about on par with the 745 though more likely to have been treated nicely during it's life.
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Dec 20, 2013 19:43
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200k, If it's as nice as it looks and it's still around after xmas I'm planning on offering somewhere around 3k. I can't imagine anyone is beating their door down trying to buy a 200k mi car for 4k. http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/cto/4233314084.html
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Dec 20, 2013 21:49
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Leroy Diplowski posted:Looks like we're having a new baby this summer. I've gotta get my wife a new car with A/C so she doesn't sweat herself to death while she's in chubby mode. I've been eyeballing a '95 e320 wagon here locally. It's pretty immaculate. Are these cars a pretty well regarded member of the mercedes family? How do they stack up to a bmw 325it or a volvo 745/945 in terms of being easy to work on, reliable, and having available parts? Well, that falls into the wiring harness era issues. If the harness has been replaced, they are great cars. If not, I would stay away. In terms of reliability and ease of maintenance, nothing is going to touch the 745. However, you will be hard pressed to find one with a flawless interior. The cars were abused (by the little kids in the back) and things like headliners and door handles were never all that well made to begin with. Personally, I would go with volvo, if you have time to wait for a good one.
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Dec 20, 2013 21:51
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Looking over that ad, I wouldn't actually be worried about the wiring harness - that issue effected the W210s of that model year. What I WOULD watch for is if the head gasket has been replaced, and if so how long ago. Also, check the transmission fluid to make sure it's clean and topped up, and look for seepage around the pan. Shifting into and out of reverse just fine is something that even ones on their way out will do - it's shifting smoothly on the highway that you want (the 3-2 kickdown will be harsh no matter what so don't worry about that). For all that, though, I would offer no more than 3000 on the car.
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Dec 20, 2013 22:18
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VERTiG0 posted:Does anybody have any first-hand experience with 2008+ C63 AMGs in terms of how wallet-drainingly-unreliable they may or may not be? Other than the high cost of parts I've never heard of them being particularly unreliable. For reference, OEM front brake rotors are $1000 a piece. Other than that I think its pretty conservative compared to some of the other MBs where you have to worry about air suspension and other poo poo breaking. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...ag=toadswebs-20
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Dec 21, 2013 16:00
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VERTiG0 posted:Does anybody have any first-hand experience with 2008+ C63 AMGs in terms of how wallet-drainingly-unreliable they may or may not be? I just picked up a 2012 C63, so let me help you out my research. The biggest thing is that all MY 2008-2010 C63 AMG came from the factory with weak headbolts that have been known to fail and that is a $5K repair out of warranty. I would either consider this when looking or look for a later 2011 or even 2012+ which have newer style headbolts. Personally I really preferred the 2012+ as they have an updated interior, much improved transmission (the MCT), colored dash computer, etc. Other than being a gas guzzler reliability really does not seem to be bad at all. Most cars don't have the optional LSD so you'll be going through rear tires as well. Cyrezar posted:Other than the high cost of parts I've never heard of them being particularly unreliable. For reference, OEM front brake rotors are $1000 a piece. Not necessarily true. The rotors you linked are for a car with the P30 package (I believe a 08-10 option) which came with two piece rotors. For cars without the P30 package (80%+ of C63s) will use the one piece rotor part 000-421-20-12-07, which is like $175.
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Dec 22, 2013 17:26
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Anyone have any experience with the conductor plate speed sensor failure on the 7g transmission in a 2005 slk350? It will stick in and require the car to be restarted in order to shift through the gears again. From my research replacing the conductor plate should be under 1500 but an Indy shop quoted 2700. I'm not sure if I should cut my losses at this point, I recently replaced the fuel pump a few months back.
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Dec 25, 2013 20:13
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Anyone with a 2003-2006 E55 ever do the valve cover gaskets? Looking at the DIY threads on MBWORLD it looks like a pretty straightforward job. Should have done them when I did the spark plugs 6 months ago, I'm approaching 70,000 miles now and they are due. Indy shop quoted me about $450 or so for the job including cleaning of the PCV valve. Normally I'd just pay it and be done with it but I just spent $2500 on brakes and tires and might need to spend some more on the suspension here shortly. On a related note, if I end up doing work to the Airmatic do y'all think I should just keep the air suspension and use Arnott parts or convert to a traditional suspension/coilovers? In the almost year and a half I've had the car I've only spent about $150 on maintenance until this week but since I'm off work I wanted to catch up on things as much as possible. I'm thinking about just having them do the valve cover gaskets, transmission flush and filter and maybe the motor/trans mounts.
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Dec 30, 2013 00:06
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Anyone have experience with R107s and can fill me in on cost of ownership?
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Jan 16, 2014 01:15
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blk posted:Anyone have experience with R107s and can fill me in on cost of ownership? I bought an '86 560SL over the summer and have been enjoying it. It's not something I would ever consider as a daily driver though as it has a fair amount of gremlins (likely because my fuel injectors need to be replaced). Great car for summer cruising though! I would look for one with as complete and good a maintenance history as you can find.
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Jan 16, 2014 03:50
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So what happens when I put 87 in my 2001 E320 that says "premium only" on the gas cap?
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Jan 17, 2014 01:17
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This poster loves police brutality, but only when its against minorities!
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Lower power and lower gas mileagd
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Jan 17, 2014 03:00
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Maybe some pinging, detonation.
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Jan 17, 2014 03:57
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I always keep a bottle of octane boost in the back for just such a situation.
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Jan 17, 2014 04:30
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Octane booster only raises octane by around 0.2 of a point. It's just snake oil. Cheaper to get the real thing.
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Jan 17, 2014 05:39
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Depends on the brand you get, I suppose. Either way, it's for when the real thing isn't available or you already dicked up and put in regular.
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Jan 17, 2014 05:50
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D C posted:Maybe some pinging, detonation. That's... comforting. It sounds like I'd end up refilling the tank more often with 87/lower mileage anyway.
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Jan 17, 2014 15:49
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blk posted:Anyone have experience with R107s and can fill me in on cost of ownership? If you are interested in buying a 560sl that has many of the pricey mechanical things taken care of let me know. It isn't cosmetically ideal, but it is going to run another 35K miles before it needs a thing. In general, you are talking about the era of Mercedes where things worked. Forever. The fault points on these cars are well known [fuel distributors, some sensors, etc] and the maintenance is largely DIY or not terribly expensive at your local German workshop. Parts are expensive, but less than you might think for a chassis that is 40 years old.
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Jan 17, 2014 17:15
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Just bought a 2005 E500 with 67,000 miles on it, I was wondering if anyone has experience with these? Any model/engine/year specific problems I should be on the look out for? I'm tempted to buy one of those bumper to bumper extended warranties due to paranoia. Most people I have asked have said the 3rd party warranties are a hideous scam unfortunately. So far I already know one of the wheel bearings needs repair, the SOS switch is lit up for some unknown reason and one of the windshield wiper fluid jets is dribbling on the hood rather than spraying the windshield. Still I'm amazed by the class and power of the car, its a major change for someone who has only driven a well-worn 97 Explorer until last week.
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Feb 11, 2014 06:38
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As far as things to look out for we have seen a lot of air-matic pumps going out lately possibly due to cold where I'm at but still even when it's not below zero they are still a known failure point. The rear suspension bags too are also problematic on those cars. Other then that just normal Merc stuff to keep an eye on like leaky valve covers things like that. As far as aftermarket warranties go I can't speak from a customer point of view. But as a service shop if you can't price match them on what they think oem parts are worth they will ship in lovely Chinese eBay parts instead. Plus for us they are a giant pain to deal with.
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Feb 11, 2014 13:21
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Older Mercedes are awesome until they start with all the weird problems. I own a 2000 E220, and lately it's driving me nuts. Current issue is the alarm that keeps going off for no reason whatsoever and nobody managed to figure out what's wrong with it. (perhaps the fact that my car was a taxi for years and has 670000km on the meter adds to the problem, but hey, it was cheap  )
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Feb 11, 2014 13:51
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adary posted:Older Mercedes are awesome until they start with all the weird problems. I own a 2000 E220, and lately it's driving me nuts. Current issue is the alarm that keeps going off for no reason whatsoever and nobody managed to figure out what's wrong with it. (perhaps the fact that my car was a taxi for years and has 670000km on the meter adds to the problem, but hey, it was cheap Unfortunately your Mercedes was built during their "poo poo Quality" period.
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Feb 11, 2014 22:31
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Cyrezar posted:Anyone with a 2003-2006 E55 ever do the valve cover gaskets? Looking at the DIY threads on MBWORLD it looks like a pretty straightforward job. Should have done them when I did the spark plugs 6 months ago, I'm approaching 70,000 miles now and they are due. Indy shop quoted me about $450 or so for the job including cleaning of the PCV valve. Normally I'd just pay it and be done with it but I just spent $2500 on brakes and tires and might need to spend some more on the suspension here shortly. I fixed a few airmatic issues myself(leaks and the pump), but in the 4 years and 70,000 miles I owned my E55 I was fortunate enough not to have a strut failure. I did replace the motor and trans mounts twice, and rear tires every 10,000 miles or so. My valve covers leaked from the day I got it, but it only used/lost a quart and a half every 10K, so I never touched them. I did research it and it looks really easy, I think there are a couple of good threads on MBWorld from Yacht Master and a couple of other owners. Next time you need brakes I suggest doing them yourself. It is very straightforward, and rotors are from Mercedes are ~$100 apiece, and the Akebono pads(with near 0 dust) aren't too expensive. Just remember to unplug the ESP/ABS so the pistons don't shoot out and maim your hand when some dumbass opens the door. Speaking of plugs, make sure you get the right ones. All of the parts listings I looked at list the wrong plugs, which are about 1/4" too short. I think the correct ones are NGK ILFR6A at $10 or so apiece(times 16) if I remember right.
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Feb 12, 2014 03:57
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Gunbus posted:Other then that just normal Merc stuff to keep an eye on like leaky valve covers things like that. Its funny you should mention this, as this exact problem was spotted by my mechanic before I bought the car and fixed by the dealer before I agreed to take delivery. Luckily mine is a RWD so no 4Matic problems to look forward to.
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Feb 12, 2014 05:10
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adary posted:Older Mercedes are awesome until they start with all the weird problems. ....but hey, it was cheap Its about to get expensive.
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Feb 12, 2014 22:02
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Tai-Pan posted:Its about to get expensive.  My 2004 E55 threw a brake warning coming back from the mountains 8 days ago. The message was a very terse and Germanic 'SERVICE BRAKE - VISIT WORKSHOP'. As I had just had the brakes done all around, my first suspicion was the creatively named Sensotronic Brake Control or SBC system. SBC is an electro-hydraulic braking system used on E class cars between the 2003 and 2006 model years. I took it into the local dealership immediately as there is a 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty on the SBC pump. They ran a diagnostic ($110, 2 hours) and came back with a list of problems. There was indeed a problem with the SBC system, but as it was the SBC reservoir and not the pump itself it was not covered by the extended warranty. Fair enough. The tech also recommended several other things be done, including front driver's side and passenger's side torque arms, driver's side ball joint, valvecover gaskets, rear main seal, air filters, belts, plugs etc. Some of the issues I knew about, and I had actually already changed the plugs. In any case, I get a quote for about $3,000 for all the work which seemed pretty reasonable especially considering I'd get a new Benz to drive around as a loaner. Talk the guy down to an out the door price of about $2400 and leave the car with them. Next day, the guy calls and says he forgot to include labor in the quote and it would be an extra $3,000. I was pissed. Called and talked to the manager who ended up honoring the original quote. The picture above is what it should have cost. They even changed the batteries in my remotes and fixed some other little poo poo wrong with the car. Overall, I think I got a pretty good deal...just the rear main seal is 7.5 hours of labor @ $130 an hour. Since I just spent $2,700 in December between the brake pads + rotors along with new tires all around, an alignment and new battery the car is basically brand new. The only thing left to fail on the stupid thing would be the Airmatic. This brings total maintenance expense of the car since August of 2012 to $5,864. Finally got the car back this morning. It is good to have it back though, even if the roads are going to be completely hosed due to ice and snow the next few days. It drives like a brand new car and the 2013 C250 loaner car ($43,000 MSRP) doesn't hold a candle to it. I want to go drive it so bad but there's 3 inches of snow and ice on the ground and it's still falling.  Also interesting is the guy who worked on the car came out when I was there to pick it up and dumped a little pile of metal on the desk. Turns out that when I changed the spark plugs last April, the nubs on the old plugs had snapped off in the plug wires. I didn't even notice and it seemed to me like the old wires and the new plugs went together fine. In other words, since last April there has been about 1/4 inch of extra metal between the plugs and wires. He said he had no idea about how this didn't cause a misfire but it has been running perfectly. Good to know I hosed up my first and only spark plug job.
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Feb 12, 2014 23:43
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Cyrezar posted:
I could never stomach that kind of maintenance. In 4 years I have only put $2500 into my 560sl. And that motherfucker is a LOT older than yours. It would have cost you a MIATA to keep that thing on the road.
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Feb 13, 2014 04:25
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Friend of mine just had the SBC go out on him in his E55 too. Not sure what's wrong, but it went into limp mode where the system uses a backup manual brake system. Apparently trying to stop the car is like driving on ice--the brakes barely do anything.
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Feb 13, 2014 05:20
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Kind of glad I traded in my 2005 E55! It was super creaky on the left front strut and had a valve cover oil leak, plus the power trunk and rear sunshade had quit working. It never had TPS sensors and I traded it in with painted bronze 19" S65 reps and plastidipped front grill. I hope the dealer and whoever buys it enjoys the Eurocharged Stage 2, and I forgot I did the washer trick to lower it by a bit. I had an SBC error, but that's just when I didn't click the connector back down enough when I did a brake job.
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Feb 13, 2014 08:17
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mod sassinator posted:Friend of mine just had the SBC go out on him in his E55 too. Not sure what's wrong, but it went into limp mode where the system uses a backup manual brake system. Apparently trying to stop the car is like driving on ice--the brakes barely do anything. The mechanic at the dealership said when the SBC fails you only get about 15% braking power and only to the front wheels. Tai-Pan posted:I could never stomach that kind of maintenance. In 4 years I have only put $2500 into my 560sl. And that motherfucker is a LOT older than yours. It is a lot but considering how low my cost basis still is on the car I'm still at new V6 Mustang levels of expense for a much nicer vehicle. It's also become apparent to me that while the first owner of the car took it to the dealership for every little thing, the PO hadn't done poo poo and catching up the deferred maintenance on a nearly 10 year old $90,000 MSRP vehicle as complicated as this one is inherently expensive. wallaka posted:Kind of glad I traded in my 2005 E55! It was super creaky on the left front strut and had a valve cover oil leak, plus the power trunk and rear sunshade had quit working. It never had TPS sensors and I traded it in with painted bronze 19" S65 reps and plastidipped front grill. I hope the dealer and whoever buys it enjoys the Eurocharged Stage 2, and I forgot I did the washer trick to lower it by a bit. All the little electrical poo poo has mostly fine so far, save for the side mirror adjustments not working sometimes. I honestly don't know what I would replace it with if I sold/traded it....other than with an E63 
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Feb 13, 2014 10:24
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