Mercedes-Benz Forum banner

New to MB's, so pardon my ignorance but...

2K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  Slatewear 
#1 ·
I bought my 1978 280sl euro in July. Great car. 126,000 miles. Drives like a dream. I've been used to driving my mid 60's muscle cars. This car is pure touring pleasure. Of course my friends snicker that it's a 6cyl. They think I should've gone with a 450sl. So I'd like to bother you guys with a couple of questions, please:
I've been told the six has twenty more horses than the eight. 185hp vs. 165hp. Is that true?

Also, mine is a manual. More unique?

Do most of these cars have back seats? Mine does. Not that anybody can use it, but I've also been told back seats were optional.

This car was very original. plug wires, dist. cap, hoses, and belts all original. I found a decent mechanic and have extremely happy with the car. It actually can be very sporty and fun to drive.
 
#2 ·
You have a very reliable and desirable SL. The 4 speed makes it more so. The 380s had more horsepower taken away with each year of service so your sl would have more "thump" than say a 380 of the same year. I would have purchased a similar 280 if I hadn't found the 1984 500 that I bought. I still like the 280.
Mike
 
#3 ·
Mike,

Thanks for your reply. There's not too much traffic on this board. Too bad. I've read a few posts about fixing broken odometers, and I think I can handle the job during the winter months. It seems to be pretty straight forward. However, I couldn't find any info on disassembly of the dash. Do you have any info on removing the dash cluster and the odometer?

Thanks again for your kind remarks.

Brian
 
#4 ·
When your friends snicker, mention that the 280 is a dual-overhead cam hemi with factory headers, and is the same basic engine design as was used by Mercedes in its European race cars during the 60s and 70s. But most of all, mention that the design goal for this engine was to provide the driver with a high performance engine that delivered exceptional gas mileage.

In Europe, any engine larger than 2.8 displacement requires a yearly steep gas guzzler tax be paid by the owner. Mercedes designed the 110 engine to meet that requirement, and the engine delivers a fantastic amount of horsepower for its small displacement. The 280SL is meant for the gas-tax and gas-consumption concious set, mostly business types who wanted a luxury car that wouldn't eat your lunch given Europe's sky high gas prices, and still maintain the ability to cruise at 100 mph on the Autobahn and hit 125 when necessary, something they will do with ease. I run mine at 70 to 90 on the freeways, and I still get about 22 mpg with my 4 spd automatic. If I drive it easy, say keep it around 60 and keep my foot out of it, I get close to 26. The 110 is also an engine that is legendary for its reliability. This is the third 280 series Mercedes I've owned, two sedans and now this SL, and I've driven them all over 250,000 miles and expect to that much out of this one too.

The 5 speed manual is the most sought after. I'm too old to drive stick, so I intentionally went looking for the 4 speed auto. I have grown to love the damn thing. If you shift it to "S" the transmission takes on a totally different character, like you would get if you put a shift kit in a US tranny. I surprise a lot of amauteur road racers with it.

I believe the 4 speed you have is very expensive to fix, so I would go easy on it if I were you. The main thing you have to be careful of is the cooling system. the hemi-head, if you overheat the engine, will warp and the engine will be useles, even if you overheat it only for a few minutes. Replace and check hoses preventively.
 
#7 ·
Brian, I removed the instrument cluster to access my odometer on my 380 SE but the SL may require more work. I think the steering wheel will have to be removed on the SL. Other than that, you just pull the cluster out with 2 tools that you can actually make out of clothes hangers. I have seen them advertised for 20 or so dollars on websites but really, home made works just as well. In some cases you can push the cluster from behind and force it out. It isn't in there very tight. Do a search here or go to MercedesShop.com and do the search. Pretty straight forward.
Mike [:)]
 
#9 ·
"If I drive it easy, say keep it around 60 and keep my foot out of it, I get close to 26."

Is your 110 engine Euro-spec with the 185 HP? If so lucky you! I have a couple of the paultry US-spec 110 engines with 142HP 280CE's, and don't get anywhere close to 22 miles per gallon, or the same acceleration as the Euro-spec.

Do the Euro-spec engines get better fuel efficiency? I drove a Euro-spec 110 engine (in a 280ce) this weekend, and I want one - attached to a coupe, (preferably a SLC).
 
#11 ·
architect2 - 11/15/2004 3:02 PM

"If I drive it easy, say keep it around 60 and keep my foot out of it, I get close to 26."

Is your 110 engine Euro-spec with the 185 HP? If so lucky you! I have a couple of the paultry US-spec 110 engines with 142HP 280CE's, and don't get anywhere close to 22 miles per gallon, or the same acceleration as the Euro-spec.

Do the Euro-spec engines get better fuel efficiency? I drove a Euro-spec 110 engine (in a 280ce) this weekend, and I want one - attached to a coupe, (preferably a SLC).

Well, weight is going to be a factor, so an SL should get a couple of mpg more just for that, but I believe a lot of those sedans came with a 3 spd tranny. I believe the 4 spd auto is responsible for my good mileage. I owned a 280E and it did not get anywhere near the mileage my SL does. Also, on the Euro cars, it depended a lot on what state the car was originally registered in - mine was imported into AZ, a state lax on DOT and pollution requirements, so mine kept the lighter bumpers and only had to add a cat convertor. One imported into CA isn't going to be as lucky.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cosmo2015
#12 ·
FWIW, my 280sl was imported to Illinois. But let's face, who buys these cars for their gas mileage? This IS a heavy car after all.

BTW, while we're on the subject of original import state, how can you track down the original owner of your car?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top