I bought my wife a '93 190E last year with 56,000 miles on it (the car, not the wife). She fell in love with the car, although it really is a tank and vastly over engineered. I drive a Porsche.
I have to admit, I have completely fallen for the 129 series. My question to you, as I search for one, is; What makes one year better than another? I am willing to spend about $18,000 (about what I will get for my Porsche) and will of course go for the lowest mileage. I have a great indie mechanic.
What should my baseline year be? Obviously, the newer the car, the better the goodies. What should I look out for? Is a 500 or 600 a serious issue due to the cylinders, or does the car drop to 6-8 cylinders on the highway?
This will be a daily driver like my Porsche, I currently only put about 75 miles a month on my Porsche--I live on a very small island, and work from home.
I FULLY agree with TT, 18K should be enough to get a decent 99-00 with 40-55k miles. Depending on your location, you may do a little better!!!! Good Luck in your search.
Try to get a low mileage 99-02 with the AMG Sport look and see if you can find one with factory Xenon headlights.
That way you will also get heated seats and a CD player.
Always have it checked out by a trusted MB Independent.
Make sure to raise and lower the soft top several times for functionality
There's pluses to the '96-'98 just like there is to the '99-02.
Also some of the early ones '90,'91 are found desireable as they have the most horsepower.
Unless you're looking for a '02 silver arrow, I think the best bang for the buck is a '98 with sports package. It has a better VROOM sound than the 113 motors, and will have the cosmetic enhancements like sports package, zenons, heated seats.
Also IMO the perforated leather seats are more durable and breathe better (not sticky) like the nappa seats in '99 -'02
Vehicle: 2000 Obsidian Black Metallic Mercedes SL 320 V6
Location: Northern Italy near Milan
Posts: 1,985
Hi Bill Anton and welcome aboard.
I agree with all the advises given you but I have to add to stay away from cars from 1993 to 1995 because they are known to have wiring harness problems due to the fact that Mercedes-Benz had the "bright" idea to use biodegradable cables that sooner or later need to be replaced due to the fact that they will fail.
Happy hunting.
Cheers.
__________________
I drive like I stole . . . YOURS
I just bought a 99 with 80k, its paint is close to perfect and the interior is like new, there is some wear on the driver side bolster but it is not that noticeable. The motor runs better than my s500 all the punch with a lot less weight. top works great so far.15x up and down and the hardtop is perfect. I wanted a car with less miles, but I drive a lot, with not many miles so I compromised. I paid $13200 and had to fly from phl to Rode island. $200 in airfare and 300 miles home. It was awesome the seller included a tank of gas and it got me home. I have a small ac issue but it is September in Philly. By the way this was a Fla car that found its way to RI and a Fla car was what I started out looking for. It is brilliant silver with a black top and a gray interior.
Agreed - cable in Hong Kong is HK$10,000 (US$1,300). Will no doubt be much cheaper in the States but might still set one back US$1k with installation.
Go for the SL500. SL320 and 300SL-24 are OK, but you don't get the punch in the back when acclerating and apaprently the SL320 doesn't save much gas compared with the SL500.
Xenons, pano roof, perforted leather: definetly try to get - well worth the hunt.
Good luck
Alan
__________________
1997 Benz SL500
2000 Benz CLK230 Cab
HONG KONG
I just bought a 99 with 80k, its paint is close to perfect and the interior is like new, there is some wear on the driver side bolster but it is not that noticeable. The motor runs better than my s500 all the punch with a lot less weight. top works great so far.15x up and down and the hardtop is perfect. I wanted a car with less miles, but I drive a lot, with not many miles so I compromised. I paid $13200 and had to fly from phl to Rode island. $200 in airfare and 300 miles home. It was awesome the seller included a tank of gas and it got me home. I have a small ac issue but it is September in Philly. By the way this was a Fla car that found its way to RI and a Fla car was what I started out looking for. It is brilliant silver with a black top and a gray interior.
Good luck.
Congrats on a VERY smart purchase!
Post some pics when you can. So you only raised and lowered the soft top 15X's? Smart man.
Now if you told me it had a black interior I would say for you to get out some black paste shoe wax and rub it into the leather bolster several times like a spit shine and brush it to get the residual off. It works.
I'm one of those guys that have suggested many times over for those of you who have FF Mileage to take a weekend trip and buy your next car and drive it home.
Linear Mode
