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560 sel amg real or fake?

1917 Views 18 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  AxelWulff
I am looking at purchasing a 560 sel amg. I have read that a real 560 amg always has the amg logo by the speedometer. When I confronted the seller with this, he said it was because this was an american spec amg, and that the german spec amg was the model that has the amg markings around the speedometer. True or False? The car has the amg body kit and american spec headlights. I would be purchasing this car over the internet so I have limited accsess to the vehichle. Can anything be found out through the vin #. I have run it through autocheck and it doesnt specifically list the car as an amg. Should it? PLease help.
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well if its a euro car then runnin the VIN wont help and the gauges dont matter because u can buy knockoffs off ebay for cheap and u can put AMG guages on non AMG W126 u need to look at the engine, the kit and so on
bronze560SEL - 3/16/2005 11:53 PM

well if its a euro car then runnin the VIN wont help and the gauges dont matter because u can buy knockoffs off ebay for cheap and u can put AMG guages on non AMG W126 u need to look at the engine, the kit and so on
Running the VIN through carfax will NOT yield anything regarding the AMG'ness of the car. It will just show a regular 560 with regular 560 info.

The gauges on ebay are NOTHING like the appearance of real gauges. The knock offs even have the wrong AMG logo on it.
carsben353 - 3/16/2005 9:16 PM

I am looking at purchasing a 560 sel amg. I have read that a real 560 amg always has the amg logo by the speedometer. When I confronted the seller with this, he said it was because this was an american spec amg, and that the german spec amg was the model that has the amg markings around the speedometer. True or False? The car has the amg body kit and american spec headlights. I would be purchasing this car over the internet so I have limited accsess to the vehichle. Can anything be found out through the vin #. I have run it through autocheck and it doesnt specifically list the car as an amg. Should it? PLease help.
Both US and German models had AMG speedometers. I have an AMG US speedometer thats in MPH as well as KMH and it definately has AMG stamped on it. There are 2 other members that have the exact same thing on their real cars. There were FAR less MPH speedo's than the KMH found worldwide.

It shouldn't list it as an AMG because AMG was a PRIVATE TUNINING company back then. They were not part of Mercedes. You took a car or bought a car from them that was "pimped" out by them.

Is this car white with a maroon interior by any chance?
quote> It shouldn't list it as an AMG because AMG was a PRIVATE TUNINING company back then. They were not part of Mercedes. You took a car or bought a car from them that was "pimped" out by them. <unquote

People still seem to have a mental block when it comes to AMG. There is no such thing as a difinitive "AMG" car, meaning ALL were different, Meaning AMG did as **MUCH** or as **LITTLE** as the buyer requested. One buyer just opts for the body kit (as Texans would say all hat and no cattle) and another buyer opted for the top level 6 litre engine but NO body kit (autobahn stealth power). Both cars left with AMG emblems. Now which one is an AMG car? Even better peel off the AMG emblem from the 6Litre now go find it! And BTW, with the AMG catalog ***ALL*** you had to do was order 1 AMG performance item and they would then let you order the emblem. Is a car with an AMG steering wheel "AMG"???????
that white benz is nice it just needs some euro lights
What do I look for in the motor?
THat is the one. THe seller said the only amg symbols on the car are on the kit and the trunk? None on the speedo none in the door jam or anywhere else. I realize amg's role back then but the listing states that it has amg cams and computer, How do I know if that is true or not. I have a 87 560 sel with a perfact black interior (rare) and Euro lights
Its a nice looking car I am looking for more hp and torque and the rarity of an amg would be nice. Do you think a euro spec 5.6 transplant would do better than an american spec amg motor even if it had amg cams and computer?
An AMG computer?

That would be news to me.
So you would presume this seller has no clue and that this could be a regular 560 with a kit and an emblem.
carsben353 - 3/17/2005 7:38 PM

So you would presume this seller has no clue and that this could be a regular 560 with a kit and an emblem.
Exactly.
What do you think of a 5.6 euro motor transplant in my 87 560 sel american spec? What would be the real horsepower gains? Would I need to punch or remove the cats to feel the real euro motor advantages?
There is more than one 560 EURO variant, if you get into how many versions of each engine MB produced it takes up pages. The one to get is the 300HP model but to get that output you need the EURO exhaust.
Will any particular year of the 560 have the 300 hp version?
Carsben353,

The exact configuration of the 1986-1991 560 engine depends on the country and year. The 560 300HP engine was available for all the years, but because this version is without catalytic converters it was only available in some markets and only for certain model years (and never in the US).

As an example, you could get the 300HP engine in Switzerland in '86 and '87, but (if I remember correctly..) from '88 the Swiss required the cats and the effect was reduced to 256HP.

Hope this helps.
Whether real or fake that is a beautiful auto. I agree with "bronze560SEL", with a set of Euros and clears it would look super sleek. I am a couple hundred miles from there.....I just may go investigate and take some better pics and share them on the forum.

BTW, "carsben353" are you still interested in bidding or are you doing so now?

Gary
I am interested in bidding, but there is also a 85 560 euro 10 miles from me with a bad tranny I might think about transplanting the motor. ARE THE LACK OF CATS THE REASON FOR THR HP INCREASE IN THE EURO MOTORS OR ARE THER DIFFERENCED IN THE ENGINE COMPONENTS?
No, it is not just the catalytic converter that makes the difference, but a lot of the changes in the engine came with the cats.

Other differences:
- Compression (US is 9:1, EU is 10:1)
- Headers
- Manifolds
- Exhaust

Which is why your US 560 won't give you 300HP even if you drop the cats.[:(]
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