Mercedes-Benz Forum banner

future and current buyers BEWARE!!!!

3K views 21 replies 9 participants last post by  Stutz 
#1 ·
seems like every few days there is a potential r129 buyer asking what parts will need to be replaced etc etc

well, if it runs you're good, but the list of parts that goes bad is long, no matter what milage, where stored etc etc

Front suspension was a piece of cake, rear on the other hand....... few shots of old knuckle bushing, keep in mind is a 30,000 mile (2000 sl500) car....pretty much as expected everything was shot to hell, in my case:

Shocks
all bushings
spring pads
ball joints
sway bar bushings

These cars are pretty heavy and they rode so well because everything is isolated with bushings and rubber pieces, and much like my dear ex wife, these do not age well :)

Just in time for halloween, I'm sure I scared few people. :)



if anyones interested
Instagram : roadster129
 

Attachments

See less See more
2
#3 ·
I'm half in on this, buuuttt, regardless of your mileage, if you go about 16-17 years before an overhaul, it's not so bad. What other car from that era wouldn't need significant refreshing after that amount of time? There's not another car from that era I could think of aside from a 911 that I would still drive today.
 
#4 ·
amen

I love to hate 911's (964/993) , they've become so iconic and ridiculously expensive
then I look at my r129 and I know that it's 3x the car in every aspect, and when came out it cost twice as much as a 911, now people buy them for $500 bucks

that's not sitting well with me :)
 
#5 ·
I guess lot depends on your driving style and will for perfection.
I never own a car that long, but all indications show that brake discs are 1/2 million miles items for me.
Routinely make >100k on brake pads in sedans and even in SUV they lasted > 60k.
Sure when you drive >300 hp roadster - you want pristine suspension, but on the other hand my father's W124 closing on 30 years/300k miles rides on original bushings.
I mean I have no way to know for sure, but the car is in the family over 7 years and nothing was new on it when I bought it.
 
#7 ·
I have owned several different Mercedes cars, 2 Sl's, but they never felt Mercedes solid to me. I mean I would replace shocks, brakes, but you could tell there is more that needed to be done, especially when changing direction, on a windy road, you can feel that mass move wayyyy to much from side to side. It will be interesting to see what a new sl felt like, this time with much better tires also.
 
#6 ·
I hate all the repairs on me too, but I'll get them done! that also goes for motor vehicles, too.
I'm looking for vehicles from my past ownership list and "pagoda", 993 are the top of the list. I loved them in 70-80's, late 90-00's respectively. I totally agree my "pass on" price to my repurchase price has not elated everyone in the household!
 
#8 ·
2000 SL500 with 30 000 miles and it is shot to hell - doesn't sound right to me. I think this poor car lived a life of hell and abuse from it's previous owners.

Not necessary to warn others that they are all like this. Many which have been looked after and driven sensibly, look and drive like they did when coming off the factory floor some 20 odd years ago.

Sad that you bought yourself a dog.
 
#9 ·
well I hope I didn't freighten you too much, but the truth is, I'm completely redoing my 1997 SL500, and bought a PRISTINE condition 2000 sl500 for parts, from which I took the interior, brakes and few other parts. What you are seeing is the spindle bushing, from a 30,000 mile, super babied and always garaged SL ;), there is little sign on use from the seats, brake, etc etc, tires are from 2004, which tells you the previous owner did not beat the living hell out of this car.

Should have seen the original parts on the 1997.....

again rubber parts, most fail at 10 years, no matter what milage, our cars are 17+ years old, think about it, the production stopped in 1999. I bet you $100, you remove your spindle it looks the same, while you're at it, remove your top strut mounts, spring pads and don't forget to check your front lca bushings :)

BOO!
 
#20 ·
Well Pete its interesting to see the parts you put in on the rear. I am doing the same thing but added the subframe mounts. So far with doing all the front end work and now the rear the most wear I have seen is in the outer rear lower control arm bushings. My struts seemed good, so did the mounts. Front lower control arm bushings a little rotted but not bad. Sorry to say I destroyed one rear lower control arm trying to get the old inner bushing out. I almost would tell anyone to simply buy the lower control arm with the bushing. They are dirty little buggers to get out and I had a made up tool that should have made it easy. I also ended up taking the fuel tank bullkhead out to get at the shock bolt. There was just not way around it and if you don't do that it takes a while if and that is a big if, you can get at them. I tried to grab onto the shaft of the shock below but it is of such good hard metal that even a good pair of vice-grips would slip, and I can get them tight! Now if I can just get how to remove those subframe bushings. Well that might wait til spring. So far the front has taken 4 hours each side, which was springs, struts, strut mounts and anti sway bar bushings, the back 6 hours on one side and I am not done. I think I will have another 2-3 hours on that. I don't have all the air tools but I know what i am doing and I do have an electric impact so....... My car is from California so it also does not have rusted bolts which has saved time in taking the bolts out of the links. While I don't want to discourage anyone, please don't get upset if a project like this takes a while. For me its a hobby nd I hope to test drive it before it goes to bed. Snow today!!!!! Cost is only the parts so for me its not terrible. Now if a dealer did it, and yes they are faster and have all the tools, it still would be a large bill. My guess is before long due to cost of keeping these up, only we that do our own work, or have a large pocket will stay at it. My guess is that is why the value goes down quickly, that is the average person struggles with this. However, when things are right, they are really right. Take that from a guy who has over 40 cars in his life, some vettes, some camaros and some rice burners. This is the sweetest!
 
#21 ·
wow, we have a lot in common :) except for the rust, I had another post out there, you could see the rust and oxydation on this car, 2 years later I can not believe I actually decided to rebuild it.

yeah this is definatelly not a project for someone who has no time, tools, and or wants to keep him SL forever. I do love these cars and think the value will only go up, out of the thousands made, many are long gone.

I'm 2 years in, but then I'm taking my time, I wanna do it right the first time, and yes after the suspension is done, I will paint it, then maybe a year later I will rebuild the subframe mounts and install quaife lsd, if I ever find out how to disable the ASR without disabling ABS.....

I do it all myself too, just me and my trusted Dewalt electric impact gun
 
#22 ·
Well I finished!!!!. About 20 hours total laying on a piece of carpet on a garage floor���� Took it for a small spin but really have to get it aligned then off to bed for the winter so I really could not tell the difference. Of all the things I replaced the things in the worst shape were the rear outer subframe bushings (bearings to some). So all the work included front springs, front struts, front control arms, strut top bearing, stabiler bar bushings, wheel seals, drilled and vented silver arror rotors and shock bellows. In the rear, shocks, lower control arms, outer bushings, H&R springs, new Mercedes rotor with brembo brake pads, stabilizer bushings. Oil change too. I gave up on the subframe mounts. We pay someone for that. Shocks were the worst I think. It is much lower and looks great!
 
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