i am after a low miles 560 sec and struggling. Any ideas?
Discussion
Firstly your best choice will probably be here http://www.mobile.de/?lang=en currently just under 100 forsale here, top line is €70.000 for a Koenig special AMG in Italy.
W124Bob said:
Firstly your best choice will probably be here http://www.mobile.de/?lang=en currently just under 100 forsale here, top line is €70.000 for a Koenig special AMG in Italy.
I love the interior of the Koenig car! 
This sold about 6 weeks ago low mileage cars seem to be making big money
https://www.silverstoneauctions.com/mercedes-560-s...
https://www.silverstoneauctions.com/mercedes-560-s...
If you have the money to burn(it has to be spent somewhere if you have it-women, drink, travel, houses , watches, cars etc) then you could do worse than a virtually new SEC for 40 grand.
They can take huge miles and the chassis assembly, paint and interior is of a quality far higher than modern cars. You could easily get a higher mile one, have the interior removed , cleaned and redyed and maybe even new carpets from Merc or a trimmer if you really wanted. I bought an 83 500 SEC for 1200 and am embarking on a 2 k resto to get it like new. Id say an extra grand would get it really like new. The 560 maybe too quick for the chassis and doesn't really suit the cars nature. However no harm in having the power.
Theres no guarantee a lower miler hasn't been clocked even with invoices/annual MOTs.
They can take huge miles and the chassis assembly, paint and interior is of a quality far higher than modern cars. You could easily get a higher mile one, have the interior removed , cleaned and redyed and maybe even new carpets from Merc or a trimmer if you really wanted. I bought an 83 500 SEC for 1200 and am embarking on a 2 k resto to get it like new. Id say an extra grand would get it really like new. The 560 maybe too quick for the chassis and doesn't really suit the cars nature. However no harm in having the power.
Theres no guarantee a lower miler hasn't been clocked even with invoices/annual MOTs.
Would not be my first merc. Had a few r107s. Still have one. All due respect, it is relatively easy to tell a low mileage car from a clocked one. Just put it on a ramp for a start. And i will get it inspected by the right people. A 36k miles coming up at the end of the month through a well known auction. May end up buying in Germany otherwise. I prefer lhd. Was hoping someone around here may know of a good car somewhere..
erics said:
Would not be my first merc. Had a few r107s. Still have one. All due respect, it is relatively easy to tell a low mileage car from a clocked one. Just put it on a ramp for a start. And i will get it inspected by the right people. A 36k miles coming up at the end of the month through a well known auction. May end up buying in Germany otherwise. I prefer lhd. Was hoping someone around here may know of a good car somewhere..
Money is obviously no object then why not have paid the 40 odd grand for the other one then?Money is always a object! At the time i had an agreement with Edik of ek motorsport to buy his 46k km 560sec lhd. Had driven it, liked it and waited for him to come back from holiday to hand out the £21k asking price. He had given me 'his word' that he would keep the car for me. Except he did not and sold it to a north european guy.. Awesome... Not!
Anyway, £40k sec not for me. Amazing stuff around £20-25k in Germany. Was just hoping to save myself the hassle to go inspect cars over there.
Anyway, £40k sec not for me. Amazing stuff around £20-25k in Germany. Was just hoping to save myself the hassle to go inspect cars over there.
Someone in the bargain barge thread bought a low mileage 500SEC - the stem seals packed up on the way home in a huge ball of blue smoke. Low mileage is asking for trouble on such an old car (also, older Mercs don't tend to like sitting around) and as a previous poster mentioned, these cars are capable on monstrous mileage anyway.
Somewhere like John Haynes are likely to have a very nice example.
Somewhere like John Haynes are likely to have a very nice example.
Edited by SuperHangOn on Sunday 7th September 18:33
mickyveloce said:
I fully support the sentiment expressed here; these cars were sold as GT's and I'd want one with a story to tell, not one bought and ignored by it's first owner.
There are some splendid examples advertised in Germany with many thousands of kilometres under their 205/70's.
yup. That's where i am looking now.There are some splendid examples advertised in Germany with many thousands of kilometres under their 205/70's.
My problem with the high mileage ones is not the mileage per se. It is that they became so cheap that many owners did not care about maintenance. Or let's just say that they did not maintain them the way they should have done for a car of this caliber.
I run a 83k miles porsche 993 c2s and took it to Hedingham Castle this weekend. It did put to shame cars with half the mileage. Simply because I spend a lot of time and money to get everything right.
If anyone can point me towards a 'higher mileage' but otherwise mint 560 sec, am all ears!
I owned a SEC and took it from 100,000 to 160,000miles in five years.
They're built for use and they get abuse. If you're buying to use, to drive and to enjoy, none of them will meet your needs. They are all poor.
The low mileage ones are never that good in the metal. They're low mileage because nobody cast so much as an eye on them for years at a time. There are always little bodywork niggles. The interiors always smell a bit from lack of air. Press them into use and you'll find the suspension is creaky and stiff and imprecise because all of the rubber has gone hard or collapsed. They spring oil leaks all over the joint. The windows never work and seal correctly. They have electrical gremlins. If you want to use one of these low mileage cars, you'll need to spend big money on it which is not reflected in the asking price.
The high mileage ones have suffered shoe-string servicing and are worn out. You'll need a paint job. You'll need an interior re-dye (surprisingly effective). You'll need to go over the suspension, the pipework and the engine (chains, tensioners, rails, valve stem oil seals &c). The air con will need a condenser and a compressor. You'll need an alternator, a radiator, a blower motor, a starter motor and on and on. You'll need bits of trim. You'll need a new audio system.
I'd buy the high mileage worn out one with a good history. They're not expensive to overhaul, even comprehensively. Doing it without regard to cost, using genuine parts (which is a bit mad since they're all made by Bosch, Lemförder, Sachs/Boge, Behr-Hella and so on), is unlikely to set you back more than £15,000, allowing £5,000 for paint. Doing it with a bit of care and research, maybe half that. You end up with a car which is in better order, fitter for use than the low mileage garage queen; you have a car with a story, a history, a character, a car that has carried its driver's family on holidays, his mistress on assignations, himself on late-night work trips across Europe; and you have a car which you know inside out, and know it is good because you did or specified the work yourself.
The 5.6 is the one to have. Even after 30years, it will see off most things, especially above 100mph. It just devastates little Audi TDIs. And it has self-levelling suspension which is much better for touring than the standard set up.
They're built for use and they get abuse. If you're buying to use, to drive and to enjoy, none of them will meet your needs. They are all poor.
The low mileage ones are never that good in the metal. They're low mileage because nobody cast so much as an eye on them for years at a time. There are always little bodywork niggles. The interiors always smell a bit from lack of air. Press them into use and you'll find the suspension is creaky and stiff and imprecise because all of the rubber has gone hard or collapsed. They spring oil leaks all over the joint. The windows never work and seal correctly. They have electrical gremlins. If you want to use one of these low mileage cars, you'll need to spend big money on it which is not reflected in the asking price.
The high mileage ones have suffered shoe-string servicing and are worn out. You'll need a paint job. You'll need an interior re-dye (surprisingly effective). You'll need to go over the suspension, the pipework and the engine (chains, tensioners, rails, valve stem oil seals &c). The air con will need a condenser and a compressor. You'll need an alternator, a radiator, a blower motor, a starter motor and on and on. You'll need bits of trim. You'll need a new audio system.
I'd buy the high mileage worn out one with a good history. They're not expensive to overhaul, even comprehensively. Doing it without regard to cost, using genuine parts (which is a bit mad since they're all made by Bosch, Lemförder, Sachs/Boge, Behr-Hella and so on), is unlikely to set you back more than £15,000, allowing £5,000 for paint. Doing it with a bit of care and research, maybe half that. You end up with a car which is in better order, fitter for use than the low mileage garage queen; you have a car with a story, a history, a character, a car that has carried its driver's family on holidays, his mistress on assignations, himself on late-night work trips across Europe; and you have a car which you know inside out, and know it is good because you did or specified the work yourself.
The 5.6 is the one to have. Even after 30years, it will see off most things, especially above 100mph. It just devastates little Audi TDIs. And it has self-levelling suspension which is much better for touring than the standard set up.
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