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How many miles do you have on your W126?

8K views 66 replies 30 participants last post by  Gray_es300 
#1 ·
Hello!
I recently purchased a 1982 380SE Euro with 373,506 miles on the broken odometer. The same lady owned it since 1987, and it seems to have been serviced at the same shop since 1984. According to the records, the odometer had been broken for the past few years, but the lady hadn't driven it too much during that time. I believe the car was imported around 1984. Upon removing the instrument cluster to replace the odometer gears, I noticed that there was a sticker that said "52,045KM", which must have been the mileage on the original European cluster. I am now left wondering about how many miles the car has, but it must be around 400,000. I still need to check on the timing chain guides and such, but that is for another thread.

Anyways, how many miles do you have on your W126? Particularly interested in M116/M117 cars, but all are welcome!
 

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#5 ·
The 91 300SE was bought with 172K miles and sold with 238K, owned for 10 years

My present 91 560SEC was bought with 217K and now has 227K after 2+ years. Heads were rebuilt with new chain and guides at 175K according to documentation
 
#10 ·
1989 560 SEC supercharged has 104k. I need to drive it more!!! These cars are best when driven on a weekly basis.
Been driving a 85 500SEC (72k miles) for the last few weeks. A car I am preparing for market. Over 600 miles and every day it gets better. Just can't stop driving this car.
 
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#14 ·
Nice mileage everyone!



I'm hoping to daily drive this car, but have a lot of regular maintenance and tinkering until it'll be ready. The previous owner already spent LOTS of money on new A/C, so I don't have to worry about that. The A/C just went out in my DD 240D, wish the 380SE was ready.

Oh, and here's a cluster picture.
 

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#11 ·
This is what mine had on it when I bought it 3 1/2 years ago.....



Not sure how accurate that is because the speedo was changed from metric to MPH around 1995 when the car was shipped from Argentina to Washington DC in 1996.

This is what it has today......

 
#21 ·
This is what mine had on it when I bought it 3 1/2 years ago.....

I thought for a second your gauge hands were white :eek was gonna offer up a suggestion :)1poke:) while she's down for the winter to pull the cluster and paint said hands :grin I'd do it for you but I'm 1000 miles away. I used Testors Red model paint

I thought about some of those grill badges, both mileage and Country and had both (one of each) on the SE but there just doesn't seem to be enough room on the coupe grills to fit any (to me anyway), at the present time she would only be eligible for the 250K km badge and it would still be nice to have a Country of Origin badge if they weren't so big

When I'm out tootling around in the coupe a few tunes come to mind, I have em on my MP3 thingy in the truck but no place (at the moment) to plug it in. Imagine HEARING me coming down the block before you could see me with "I can't drive 55", "Runnin' Down The Dream", "Highway Star", and "Slowride" to name a few :grin
 
#17 ·
Bought my 420SEL with 171k, odometer broke after 2 years of ownership at 178k. Contrary to what my broken signature says, I estimate that it has 203-208k now.

For some reason my signature reverted back to the way it was in October, did the forum have some data get corrupted or something?
 
#20 ·
Something like 190k miles on the 420SEC, bought with around 175k about 5 years ago. I kept it sitting around for ages, just needed to buy one before all the cheap ones went. Used it more lately though.

Bought the 420SE in 2008 and around 129k, now about 160k.

I do cycle most places locally though, the cars are for proper trips. They most definitely get better with use don't they. The SE had been unused for some time when I got it and it woke up beautifully over the course of a few long higher speed journeys.
 
#23 ·
37k ish on the 560sec, with documents from 1989 tracking its life

Next on the list is replacing more suspension and body rubbers bits!



My old 560sec in Cali had 210k miles the body and interior were perfect trans just took a second to go in reverse


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#28 ·
I can't quite imagine what its like to have to store my car in the winter... Yet I haven't had the chance to drive my '77 Suburban in almost 3 months due to being busy with school and the 380SE. :frown

Love the widebody, D&W! I can't wait to see it just get better and better on your thread!
 
#29 ·
147,000 miles on the 560SEL.

Gotta love some Purple - all line-ups/incarnations.

I've got 76 Deep Purple LPs and about 35 CDs. Yes, there are a great many bootlegs in that count including many imported boots.

They've found a loving spot on my shelves (and turntables/CD players) since 1969.



And, for pure driving fun, give this fine tune a spin.



I'll start this tune driving 60 and be running 90+ by the time it's over.
 
#32 ·
The 86 SDL just clocked in at 327500
I have not driven the 82 SD, but it has 425000
 
#38 ·
We've put 67,000 miles on the SEC since purchase seven years ago.

I agree with 1783pictures: What a car. What a car. Those of us that own these are really fortunate for the experience.
"What a car, what a car" is the understatement of the decade. All I know is I'd rather take her for a spin even if I don't have anywhere I need to go. I've got permanent marks in the side yard where I park the truck so's I can back her outta the garage
 
#52 · (Edited)
Somewhere I have a picture of my SEC with the all twos odometer; was watching and waiting for that one, mostly because of a Car Talk puzzler from years ago...

I do have this one from last year though. Anyone care to guess the significance of this astronomical number?
 

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