Off to see a 500E.... (Does anyone know the car?)

[shmooauto]

Hi Chaps,

I have a hankering for a 500E. Off to see this one on Weds. Anyone know the car by chance?

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C792005

Many thanks,

Ed

[r129sl]

shmooauto said:

Hi Chaps,

I have a hankering for a 500E. Off to see this one on Weds. Anyone know the car by chance?

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C792005

Many thanks,

Ed

Looks OK. Good value, given you could presumably realise some money by selling the Carlsson wheels. Although removing the privacy glass and replacing the straight through exhaust won't be cheap. The colour is quiet unusual on a 500 E and rather nice.

[shmooauto]

Yeah, not so sure on wheels, but bought new from Germany by current owner. I'd like to get some larger period SL wheels on it? 600's I think?

Exhaust again done recently by this owner due to cats failing. Zero exhausts in Kent did it. Any idea how much and where to get a std one from? MB dealers I presume not the route to go?

Ed

[r129sl]

It all depends what you want. I'm an originality freak. I'd imagine a complete system from MB will be pretty pricey. Whereas the stainless system that's on should be good, so long as it is not too lairy and noisy (although that might be your thing). The colour is very unusual on a 500 E and really, really nice. Price looks pretty sensible, these days.

[shmooauto]

I like standard as well, but 16" wheels might be taking it too far. Have to see what they look like in the flesh.

Exhaust, my main concern really as rather it was std. However there e to a lot of non-std cars in America I notice so I presume they'll take an exhaust mod if done well. Just don't want it to be booming or overly noisy. Chaps website seems to suggest they know what they're doing so we'll just have to se when we get there.

Do you run one?

[CharlesdeGaulle]

I really like the look of that. As r129sl has already noted, it's a great colour. I'm not a fan of the wheels personally, although I suppose I can sort-of see the appeal.

Seems sensibly priced to me too, although I am far from knowledgeable on these. Far from knowledgeable on anything actually, come to think of it.

Anyway, buy it and start an owner's thread.

[RDMcG]

Love the car but the wheels and lower profile tires take away from it..it is such a subtle car in its standard trim.

[shmooauto]

I'd like to fit larger Merc wheels, any suggestions to what fits/suits and what I'm looking for?

[r129sl]

shmooauto said:

Do you run one?

Sadly not but I've always liked them, since they were new cars.

The standard wheel is the 8J x 16 8 hole also seen on the R129. The LTD cars came with a 8.25J x 17 six spoke wheel referred to as Cegnius. You will have seen this on the 190 E 2.5-16 Evo II and also on some r129s. Anything that fits a 129 will fit a 500E: the chassis is exactly the same. A lot of people fit 18" AMG disc wheels.

[shmooauto]

Excellent. I thought SL wheels were the way to go. Thank you very much.

[shmooauto]

Didn't buy it. Was rusty underneath in certain places and the paintwork very was poor. Exhaust sounded totally wrong on the car and the service history in the last 2 or 3yrs was minimal considering how much these can cost to keep on the road. So the search continues. Shame people can't describe cars more accurately!