500sl r129 - First 6 months
Discussion
500sl r129 – first 6 months
As segments of the classic car market reach ever more giddy heights, cars I considered attainable a few years ago have long since drifted frustratingly out of reach. The Porsche wave seems to have gathered more momentum than most. In the late 90’s I paid Porsche racer Nick Faure low twenties for a pristine and very unfashionable LHD 964rs. I sold it several glorious years later for about the same amount. With the best of those cars rapidly approaching the £200k mark, I decided I better take the plunge now on a more affordable piece of quality German engineering – an r129 500sl.
Before buying the SL I hadn’t owned a Mercedes for many years, but I was already a fan thanks to a best friend at school. His family had a small fleet - a w123 280te, a 190e, and a big 380 sec coupe. On the occasions I went to stay with them, they would let me drive the 280 and 190 slowly up and down the gravel drive to their house. Aged 11, my overarching memories are of the pure joy of driving, the feeling of pride at being trusted with those cars and the sheer quality of them.
Several years later I had just passed my test when the first r129s started to appear on the roads. I was driving the family Escort at the time – a 1.3 “Popular” – we couldn’t stretch to the “L” - and I recall being very excited that Dad had ticked “front headrests” on the Ford options menu. The difference in the level of engineering sophistication, expense and sheer elegance of the SL made it seem other worldly.
Fasting forward to today, and the significant inflation in classic car prices seems to have bypassed some models completely, making them look ridiculously good value. The r129 SL seems to be the starkest example of this, perhaps because there are quite a few of them around, perhaps because they aren’t quite classic yet. With prices already starting to firm, I took the plunge in April of this year on a 1991 500sl in silver with dark blue leather, one previous owner and just over 80,000 miles. Anyway, enough background, here are my impressions after 6 months with the car.
Looks and build
A complete absence of chrome and lots of straight lines don’t shout “classic” like the older r107, but it must be on the cusp. It’s a very attractive car from most angles except perhaps from straight on at the back, which looks a bit heavy and slab-like. As far as road presence goes, it has plenty. These cars turned lots of heads in the 1990’s and judging by people’s reactions, they still do. I don’t think any other £5,000 - £10,000 car on the road today looks less like a £5,000 - £10,000 car, if that makes sense.
My car is a relatively early car with the orange indicators and two-tone bodywork – silver on top and grey underneath. Personally, I much prefer the look of these original early cars compared to some of the later models. It is surprising what a difference colour, bumper design and wheel choice make to the look of these cars. Although some people seem to favour later model years for their gearbox/engine combination, I suspect these early cars may become the most sought after in time. Big wheels and tyres just don’t look right in my view.
With the top down I love the way everything at the back is flush with the bodywork. The hood mechanism is covered by some lovely gunmetal parts which looks brand new even after 23 years. I imagine the money spent on developing the hood mechanism was probably more than many manufacturers spend on an entire model.
The exceptional build quality of these cars (especially the early cars) is probably the thing that most makes them seem so undervalued. It is a fantastically well engineered and built car. It is also a heavy car, and you can see why the first time you heave the front seat backs forward to access the rear. They weigh a tonne. The doors also require a good slam as the windows don’t drop down and up to provide a seal on the early cars. On the move squeaks and rattles are virtually non-existent, even over quite poorly surfaced roads. The controls have a lovely progression and weighting to them, but with much longer pedal travels than in most modern cars. Cleaning the car properly for the first time also revealed just how good the paint quality is. Although the car has some stone chips, the depth and lustre puts modern cars’ paint finishes to shame.
Engine and transmission
Another reason I went for an early 500 is its M119 V8 engine, whose most powerful variant (326hp) is fitted to these early cars. As a reference point this is slightly more powerful than the engine in a Porsche 928 S4 of similar vintage, which without knowing one might naturally view as a much more sporting proposition. In his very helpful and knowledgeable buying guide, “R129” on this forum has described it as a “purist’s engine”. Having experienced it from the driver’s seat, it really is a jewel, and the main reason I still get up at 5am on a Summer weekend to go for a cross-country blast. Unsurprisingly it is smooth and refined at low revs, but it also has proper top-end bite and an appetite for revs which isn’t hinted at when tootling around. It’s at its most impressive when you lock out top (4th) and use the car’s full performance in the 70-110 mph range when the engine is in the meat of 3rd gear. It makes a muted but very cultured V8 noise and relishes high revs in a way you might not associate with an older, big capacity V8. In a straight line it still has too much for most hot hatches, especially rolling on the throttle from higher speeds when its slippery shape helps. You would need something as quick as an M135i to embarrass it in a straight line. I’m not sure exactly what “R129” means when he describes it as a purist’s engine (R129?), but as many will know, in turbocharged form this engine won Le Mans for the Sauber Mercedes team. That should be enough for most purists.
Being an early car it has the 4-speed box. One reviewer, whose article comes fairly high up in a Google search, seems to virtually write-off the 4 speed cars for their complete lack of response, saying it spoils a wonderful engine. In my experience this is a gross exageration, although at town speeds it can feel a little sluggish. Once warm the car is keen to slot into top gear early and waft around on an ample wave of torque if you let it. When you lift your foot off the throttle it can seem almost as though drive has been disconnected and the car is free-wheeling, as the engine revs drop virtually to idle. It is probably just an indicator of how tall top gear is, but it certainly gives the car a very relaxed, laid-back demeanour. With the gearbox in “S” (as opposed to “E”), the car will change down without the need to mash accelerator into carpet, but I prefer the extra control and response which comes from selecting gears “manually”. The notches in the Mercedes gate are as logically designed as you would expect, and once you get into the habit, dropping a hand down to select 3rd or even 2nd becomes second nature. If you are prepared to do this, which I think enhances the driving experience anyway, the rewards are handsome. Even if you aren’t, the car does kick-down. You just have to plan for the slight delay – a bit like managing the performance of an early turbo car! Perhaps tellingly I have never selected “E” on the gearbox, and have no desire too.
Brakes and suspension
The brakes are perfectly adequate in normal driving, but if you are pressing on then, as with any fast, heavy, older car, they need to be managed sympathetically. It seems best suited to fast flowing roads where you can get into a good rhythm by just lifting off the throttle or using moderate braking. A succession of big stops into tight corners would no doubt have them wilting pretty quickly though. It is a heavy GT car after all, and I’ve often found myself travelling more quickly than I thought thanks to that engine and the car’s general refinement.
Those GT credentials define the ride and handling too. My car has ADS suspension which I would have avoided, but the rest of the car was so good I decided to take the risk. It is still working fine for the moment, touch wood. In the normal setting the car rides extremely comfortably and body control is good, although you always sense the weight of the car when braking and in tighter turns. The firmer setting on the ADS comes into its own when you up the pace significantly. Dips and crests which would have the car wallowing and floating in the standard setting are dealt with very effectively. Body roll is reduced significantly and the whole car just seems much more comfortable at pace with only a modest sacrifice of ride comfort (modestly wide tyres and tall side-walls no doubt help). Despite the heavy engine, the balance of the car feels very neutral especially in medium to high speed corners where you can really feel the outside rear tyre working. In slower turns there is understeer, as you would expect, but grip is still strong. The steering wheel is over-sized by today’s standards, but well weighted and lovely to hold, albeit not delivering much in the way of feel or feedback. So while it’s not an MX5, the chassis is very competent and a match for the engine, which is a real compliment given the performance the engine is capable of delivering.
Interior
My car has a blue leather interior which extends to the steering wheel and gearshift. It’s one of a long list of options which contributed to the car’s circa £90,000 price tag in 1991 – a cool £180,000 in today’s money – or the equivalent of an SLS. The leather still imbues the interior with a wonderful smell when I first open the car after two weeks of not having driven it, and the only signs of wear are a very slight discolouration of the gear selector and a small amount of wear on the driver’s seat side bolster (an area you frequently see worn on older cars). The front seats are extremely comfortable with sufficient electric adjustment to suit both me (6 foot 3”) and my wife (5 foot 1”). When combined with an electrically adjustable steering wheel, finding a good driving position is child’s play. The side bolsters provide more lateral support in cornering than I expected, but I think the squab could afford to be angled up slightly more under the knees.
Unfortunately my car’s original Becker stereo has been changed for a later unit, so I am on the look-out for an original Becker. They occasionally appear on ebay, but I haven’t been brave enough to bid for one yet (the last one I saw was in Romania).
The heater is excellent and perfectly capable of keeping the front passengers warm on chilly days with the hood down. Anyone in the back needs to wrap up well unless it’s a warm summer day. Storage space is good with large door pockets and a generous centre console/arm rest.
Practicality
When I picked my car up from the dealer it had the hard top in place. It fits extremely well and makes the car very quiet and refined. I have stored it on a stand for the Summer, but will probably put it back on towards the end of this month. As many have pointed out, taking it on and off is definitely a two man job. I asked my wife to help me the first time, but you really need a bit of height and muscle to avoid risking damage to yourself, the top, or the car body. It is a chunky piece of metal, and needs a fair bit of space to store properly too.
Boot space is generous and perfectly adequate for two people’s holiday luggage on a pan European jaunt. The rear seats can be used for extra storage, but they are perfectly useable for younger children too. Although the standard belts are lap belts only, it is possible to fit 3 point belts or even harnesses for extra security. My five and two year old love to travel in the back and we’ve enjoyed cruising around the country lanes on many weekends this Summer. I am quite tall, so I need to move the driver’s seat forward to give the children leg room behind, but it’s such an easy car to drive, a slightly compromised driving position is worth the enjoyment of being able to take the whole family out. With children in the back the pop-up roll-hoop needs to be in the permanently raised position which means you can’t fit the wind deflector, so it can get quite cold and buffet back there. 50-55mph is the comfortable max with any little ones in the back. Between the hood operation, the roll-bar and the heavy electric seats there are lots of things to trap little arms and legs, so I always make sure they are standing well away while the electrics are doing their thing.
Running costs and reliability
I haven’t owned the car long enough to give a good appraisal of running costs, but this is where I am so far. When I bought the car I treated it to a major service at a good independent for peace of mind. That was just over £500. It is insured on a classic policy for about £300 a year. It is kept in an open ended barn, connected to a Ctek trickle charger and driven about once every three weeks. The Ctek is a great piece of kit and the car has never failed to start first time and settle immediately to a smooth idle.
Reliability has been excellent so far, although once when I parked up after an early morning drive the car seemed to be sitting down quite heavily on the right rear corner. By the time I got home things seemed to be back to normal, so I’m not sure what that was, but I am certainly wary of some big potential bills should the ADS start playing up. Fingers and toes are permanently crossed! The hood works very smoothly and just needs a little manual help to seat properly in the screen header. I’m hoping it is just the catches that need to be adjusted. I haven’t bothered to measure fuel consumption, but I imagine it’s in the low twenties.
Recently I had to replace the electric aerial and its rubber grommets, but genuine Hirshmann kit is readily available on ebay and not too expensive. There is some trim around the hinge mechanism on the sun-visors which looks like it will need replacing, but that is it so far. I know certain items and jobs can be very expensive, but with good independents and relatively plentiful supplies of parts, I’m hoping running costs will be justifiable in the long term. Depreciation certainly won’t be an issue.
Conclusion
Thanks to those who have had the stamina to read all of this – I appreciate it’s a bit longer than your typical post! To anyone who is toying with buying an r129, based on my experience to date, I couldn’t recommend them more highly. They are beautifully built, fast, stylish, and with future classic potential. Every time I go out in the car I discover something new which deepens my respect for it. The engine, the design, the build quality and the feel good factor are all individually worth the current prices. In combination it’s an unbeatable package. I personally wouldn’t be brave enough to buy a £3-4k car, but even at £8-10k they are a veritable bargain. Buying one has also been quite therapeutic. I now watch the prices of air-cooled 911s continue their inexorable rise with slightly less frustration.
As segments of the classic car market reach ever more giddy heights, cars I considered attainable a few years ago have long since drifted frustratingly out of reach. The Porsche wave seems to have gathered more momentum than most. In the late 90’s I paid Porsche racer Nick Faure low twenties for a pristine and very unfashionable LHD 964rs. I sold it several glorious years later for about the same amount. With the best of those cars rapidly approaching the £200k mark, I decided I better take the plunge now on a more affordable piece of quality German engineering – an r129 500sl.
Before buying the SL I hadn’t owned a Mercedes for many years, but I was already a fan thanks to a best friend at school. His family had a small fleet - a w123 280te, a 190e, and a big 380 sec coupe. On the occasions I went to stay with them, they would let me drive the 280 and 190 slowly up and down the gravel drive to their house. Aged 11, my overarching memories are of the pure joy of driving, the feeling of pride at being trusted with those cars and the sheer quality of them.
Several years later I had just passed my test when the first r129s started to appear on the roads. I was driving the family Escort at the time – a 1.3 “Popular” – we couldn’t stretch to the “L” - and I recall being very excited that Dad had ticked “front headrests” on the Ford options menu. The difference in the level of engineering sophistication, expense and sheer elegance of the SL made it seem other worldly.
Fasting forward to today, and the significant inflation in classic car prices seems to have bypassed some models completely, making them look ridiculously good value. The r129 SL seems to be the starkest example of this, perhaps because there are quite a few of them around, perhaps because they aren’t quite classic yet. With prices already starting to firm, I took the plunge in April of this year on a 1991 500sl in silver with dark blue leather, one previous owner and just over 80,000 miles. Anyway, enough background, here are my impressions after 6 months with the car.
Looks and build
A complete absence of chrome and lots of straight lines don’t shout “classic” like the older r107, but it must be on the cusp. It’s a very attractive car from most angles except perhaps from straight on at the back, which looks a bit heavy and slab-like. As far as road presence goes, it has plenty. These cars turned lots of heads in the 1990’s and judging by people’s reactions, they still do. I don’t think any other £5,000 - £10,000 car on the road today looks less like a £5,000 - £10,000 car, if that makes sense.
My car is a relatively early car with the orange indicators and two-tone bodywork – silver on top and grey underneath. Personally, I much prefer the look of these original early cars compared to some of the later models. It is surprising what a difference colour, bumper design and wheel choice make to the look of these cars. Although some people seem to favour later model years for their gearbox/engine combination, I suspect these early cars may become the most sought after in time. Big wheels and tyres just don’t look right in my view.
With the top down I love the way everything at the back is flush with the bodywork. The hood mechanism is covered by some lovely gunmetal parts which looks brand new even after 23 years. I imagine the money spent on developing the hood mechanism was probably more than many manufacturers spend on an entire model.
The exceptional build quality of these cars (especially the early cars) is probably the thing that most makes them seem so undervalued. It is a fantastically well engineered and built car. It is also a heavy car, and you can see why the first time you heave the front seat backs forward to access the rear. They weigh a tonne. The doors also require a good slam as the windows don’t drop down and up to provide a seal on the early cars. On the move squeaks and rattles are virtually non-existent, even over quite poorly surfaced roads. The controls have a lovely progression and weighting to them, but with much longer pedal travels than in most modern cars. Cleaning the car properly for the first time also revealed just how good the paint quality is. Although the car has some stone chips, the depth and lustre puts modern cars’ paint finishes to shame.
Engine and transmission
Another reason I went for an early 500 is its M119 V8 engine, whose most powerful variant (326hp) is fitted to these early cars. As a reference point this is slightly more powerful than the engine in a Porsche 928 S4 of similar vintage, which without knowing one might naturally view as a much more sporting proposition. In his very helpful and knowledgeable buying guide, “R129” on this forum has described it as a “purist’s engine”. Having experienced it from the driver’s seat, it really is a jewel, and the main reason I still get up at 5am on a Summer weekend to go for a cross-country blast. Unsurprisingly it is smooth and refined at low revs, but it also has proper top-end bite and an appetite for revs which isn’t hinted at when tootling around. It’s at its most impressive when you lock out top (4th) and use the car’s full performance in the 70-110 mph range when the engine is in the meat of 3rd gear. It makes a muted but very cultured V8 noise and relishes high revs in a way you might not associate with an older, big capacity V8. In a straight line it still has too much for most hot hatches, especially rolling on the throttle from higher speeds when its slippery shape helps. You would need something as quick as an M135i to embarrass it in a straight line. I’m not sure exactly what “R129” means when he describes it as a purist’s engine (R129?), but as many will know, in turbocharged form this engine won Le Mans for the Sauber Mercedes team. That should be enough for most purists.
Being an early car it has the 4-speed box. One reviewer, whose article comes fairly high up in a Google search, seems to virtually write-off the 4 speed cars for their complete lack of response, saying it spoils a wonderful engine. In my experience this is a gross exageration, although at town speeds it can feel a little sluggish. Once warm the car is keen to slot into top gear early and waft around on an ample wave of torque if you let it. When you lift your foot off the throttle it can seem almost as though drive has been disconnected and the car is free-wheeling, as the engine revs drop virtually to idle. It is probably just an indicator of how tall top gear is, but it certainly gives the car a very relaxed, laid-back demeanour. With the gearbox in “S” (as opposed to “E”), the car will change down without the need to mash accelerator into carpet, but I prefer the extra control and response which comes from selecting gears “manually”. The notches in the Mercedes gate are as logically designed as you would expect, and once you get into the habit, dropping a hand down to select 3rd or even 2nd becomes second nature. If you are prepared to do this, which I think enhances the driving experience anyway, the rewards are handsome. Even if you aren’t, the car does kick-down. You just have to plan for the slight delay – a bit like managing the performance of an early turbo car! Perhaps tellingly I have never selected “E” on the gearbox, and have no desire too.
Brakes and suspension
The brakes are perfectly adequate in normal driving, but if you are pressing on then, as with any fast, heavy, older car, they need to be managed sympathetically. It seems best suited to fast flowing roads where you can get into a good rhythm by just lifting off the throttle or using moderate braking. A succession of big stops into tight corners would no doubt have them wilting pretty quickly though. It is a heavy GT car after all, and I’ve often found myself travelling more quickly than I thought thanks to that engine and the car’s general refinement.
Those GT credentials define the ride and handling too. My car has ADS suspension which I would have avoided, but the rest of the car was so good I decided to take the risk. It is still working fine for the moment, touch wood. In the normal setting the car rides extremely comfortably and body control is good, although you always sense the weight of the car when braking and in tighter turns. The firmer setting on the ADS comes into its own when you up the pace significantly. Dips and crests which would have the car wallowing and floating in the standard setting are dealt with very effectively. Body roll is reduced significantly and the whole car just seems much more comfortable at pace with only a modest sacrifice of ride comfort (modestly wide tyres and tall side-walls no doubt help). Despite the heavy engine, the balance of the car feels very neutral especially in medium to high speed corners where you can really feel the outside rear tyre working. In slower turns there is understeer, as you would expect, but grip is still strong. The steering wheel is over-sized by today’s standards, but well weighted and lovely to hold, albeit not delivering much in the way of feel or feedback. So while it’s not an MX5, the chassis is very competent and a match for the engine, which is a real compliment given the performance the engine is capable of delivering.
Interior
My car has a blue leather interior which extends to the steering wheel and gearshift. It’s one of a long list of options which contributed to the car’s circa £90,000 price tag in 1991 – a cool £180,000 in today’s money – or the equivalent of an SLS. The leather still imbues the interior with a wonderful smell when I first open the car after two weeks of not having driven it, and the only signs of wear are a very slight discolouration of the gear selector and a small amount of wear on the driver’s seat side bolster (an area you frequently see worn on older cars). The front seats are extremely comfortable with sufficient electric adjustment to suit both me (6 foot 3”) and my wife (5 foot 1”). When combined with an electrically adjustable steering wheel, finding a good driving position is child’s play. The side bolsters provide more lateral support in cornering than I expected, but I think the squab could afford to be angled up slightly more under the knees.
Unfortunately my car’s original Becker stereo has been changed for a later unit, so I am on the look-out for an original Becker. They occasionally appear on ebay, but I haven’t been brave enough to bid for one yet (the last one I saw was in Romania).
The heater is excellent and perfectly capable of keeping the front passengers warm on chilly days with the hood down. Anyone in the back needs to wrap up well unless it’s a warm summer day. Storage space is good with large door pockets and a generous centre console/arm rest.
Practicality
When I picked my car up from the dealer it had the hard top in place. It fits extremely well and makes the car very quiet and refined. I have stored it on a stand for the Summer, but will probably put it back on towards the end of this month. As many have pointed out, taking it on and off is definitely a two man job. I asked my wife to help me the first time, but you really need a bit of height and muscle to avoid risking damage to yourself, the top, or the car body. It is a chunky piece of metal, and needs a fair bit of space to store properly too.
Boot space is generous and perfectly adequate for two people’s holiday luggage on a pan European jaunt. The rear seats can be used for extra storage, but they are perfectly useable for younger children too. Although the standard belts are lap belts only, it is possible to fit 3 point belts or even harnesses for extra security. My five and two year old love to travel in the back and we’ve enjoyed cruising around the country lanes on many weekends this Summer. I am quite tall, so I need to move the driver’s seat forward to give the children leg room behind, but it’s such an easy car to drive, a slightly compromised driving position is worth the enjoyment of being able to take the whole family out. With children in the back the pop-up roll-hoop needs to be in the permanently raised position which means you can’t fit the wind deflector, so it can get quite cold and buffet back there. 50-55mph is the comfortable max with any little ones in the back. Between the hood operation, the roll-bar and the heavy electric seats there are lots of things to trap little arms and legs, so I always make sure they are standing well away while the electrics are doing their thing.
Running costs and reliability
I haven’t owned the car long enough to give a good appraisal of running costs, but this is where I am so far. When I bought the car I treated it to a major service at a good independent for peace of mind. That was just over £500. It is insured on a classic policy for about £300 a year. It is kept in an open ended barn, connected to a Ctek trickle charger and driven about once every three weeks. The Ctek is a great piece of kit and the car has never failed to start first time and settle immediately to a smooth idle.
Reliability has been excellent so far, although once when I parked up after an early morning drive the car seemed to be sitting down quite heavily on the right rear corner. By the time I got home things seemed to be back to normal, so I’m not sure what that was, but I am certainly wary of some big potential bills should the ADS start playing up. Fingers and toes are permanently crossed! The hood works very smoothly and just needs a little manual help to seat properly in the screen header. I’m hoping it is just the catches that need to be adjusted. I haven’t bothered to measure fuel consumption, but I imagine it’s in the low twenties.
Recently I had to replace the electric aerial and its rubber grommets, but genuine Hirshmann kit is readily available on ebay and not too expensive. There is some trim around the hinge mechanism on the sun-visors which looks like it will need replacing, but that is it so far. I know certain items and jobs can be very expensive, but with good independents and relatively plentiful supplies of parts, I’m hoping running costs will be justifiable in the long term. Depreciation certainly won’t be an issue.
Conclusion
Thanks to those who have had the stamina to read all of this – I appreciate it’s a bit longer than your typical post! To anyone who is toying with buying an r129, based on my experience to date, I couldn’t recommend them more highly. They are beautifully built, fast, stylish, and with future classic potential. Every time I go out in the car I discover something new which deepens my respect for it. The engine, the design, the build quality and the feel good factor are all individually worth the current prices. In combination it’s an unbeatable package. I personally wouldn’t be brave enough to buy a £3-4k car, but even at £8-10k they are a veritable bargain. Buying one has also been quite therapeutic. I now watch the prices of air-cooled 911s continue their inexorable rise with slightly less frustration.
rubystone - you clearly have good taste in cars! I would love to use the car all year round but i am London based with no garage, so mine sits in a barn in Somerset. A high days and holidays car. My Old man is "forced" to drive it regularly. I agree on values not shooting up, but i think you'll see a bigger divergence develop between pristine cars and the rest.
Nuisance Value - glad to hear you've managed to hang on to yours. I am sure it will appreciate the new garage. A lovely oak framed garage with office on top is right up there on my wish list.
Nuisance Value - glad to hear you've managed to hang on to yours. I am sure it will appreciate the new garage. A lovely oak framed garage with office on top is right up there on my wish list.
Thank you R129. Your posts/buying guide were hugely informative and made me want to buy the car in the first place. I'll let you know how life with ADS goes. Can you recommend any specialists who know their way around the system? I'm sure I'll need to replace the spheres at some point and I'd like to take it to someone who knows what they are doing.
On the engine front I like the fact that it shares its engine with the 500e - another car I've always hankered after. I've also seen Bob Berridge racing his C11 in historic Group C. Nice to have that pedigree and to know that the engine can produce over 900hp for 24 hours!
Thank you for the link to the Becker radios. I'm trying to make sure the car is as original as possible, so this is one job that needs doing. Some of the early 500s which come to auction are so cheap I almost think it would be worth buying one to keep for spares - a criminal idea, but a no-brainer at £3-4k. Here is a pic of my car enjoying a summer evening cruise.
On the engine front I like the fact that it shares its engine with the 500e - another car I've always hankered after. I've also seen Bob Berridge racing his C11 in historic Group C. Nice to have that pedigree and to know that the engine can produce over 900hp for 24 hours!
Thank you for the link to the Becker radios. I'm trying to make sure the car is as original as possible, so this is one job that needs doing. Some of the early 500s which come to auction are so cheap I almost think it would be worth buying one to keep for spares - a criminal idea, but a no-brainer at £3-4k. Here is a pic of my car enjoying a summer evening cruise.
What a lovely pair. Those early wheels are growing on me.
Here is one that deserves rescuing. I don't know what the Japanese imports are like generally, but this colour combo works really well. Estimate is less than £4k.
http://www.swva.co.uk/mercedes-500sl-1991/
Here is one that deserves rescuing. I don't know what the Japanese imports are like generally, but this colour combo works really well. Estimate is less than £4k.
http://www.swva.co.uk/mercedes-500sl-1991/
The bornite with tan leather is a fantastic colour.
R129 - my most recent scalp was a Clio 200 cup. Caught out of his natural habitat - the twisties - he was easy game.
A more serious question re. the electric hood - with winter approaching do people put the hard top on and keep it on until the spring or is the consensus that you should try to keep exercising the hood mechanism even in colder weather? Is there a special hood lubrication/maintenance service which a good independent would typically do? Any thoughts appreciated.
R129 - my most recent scalp was a Clio 200 cup. Caught out of his natural habitat - the twisties - he was easy game.
A more serious question re. the electric hood - with winter approaching do people put the hard top on and keep it on until the spring or is the consensus that you should try to keep exercising the hood mechanism even in colder weather? Is there a special hood lubrication/maintenance service which a good independent would typically do? Any thoughts appreciated.
Parisien said:
Any further up-dates to your ownership Adam? Just taken delivery of a 320SL!
Hello Parisien.Congratulations on your purchase. I hope you enjoy it over the Summer. Here is a brief report of life with the 500sl since my first post.
I have managed to source an original working Becker Grand Prix from Ebay for about £130. R129 recommended a very good place in Germany (koenigs-klassik) who will sell you a Becker with ipod connection for €500, so I felt rather pleased with my bargain purchase, and it even worked! Dorchester car radios did an excellent job replacing the more modern Panasonic CD changer. As you can see from the picture, it just looks right.
The car is kept at my parents in a stone outbuilding with one open side, and plugged into a ctek trickle charger. Dad has the pleasure of exercising it when I'm not there. The other day he unplugged the ctek to use another appliance and forgot to plug the charger back in for two weeks. The next time I drove the car it started up fine with no labouring whatsoever, but within 5 miles had coasted to a halt with ASR warning light on. Turned the ignition off an on and it fired up fine again, but problem reoccurred after another few miles. Managed to limp home and after much internet searching to diagnose the problem, I decided to leave the car to Avantgarde Automotive in Somerset. The proprietor, Steve, kindly picked the car up from the house and promptly broke down on the way to his work shop. In the end it turned out that it just needed a brand new battery and the car was then back in rude health.
After several months wearing the hard top over the Winter, it was with some trepidation that I pushed the roof button back for the first time. I shouldn't have worried. Everything whirred beautifully into place, and what a fantastic piece of kit it is. I decided to wash the soft-top with an Autoglym kit, which seemed to work very well too.
The kids continue to love the car - calling it Daddy's Summer car. You do have to wrap them up well in the back though as you cant have the wind deflector fitted because the roll bar needs to be up. I am toying with the idea of getting 3 or 4 point belts fitted for them so we can do some longer trips. Would love to take the car over to France, but would probably be reported to the NSPCC if we did that 4 up. So for the moment we satisfy ourselves with local outings.
Since selling my Audi S8, my only other performance reference point to the 500 is our 170,000 mile Audi A2 1.4TDI. As a consequence the 500 feels ballistic. You do have to use the gearbox though, otherwise it defaults into lazy mode and can feel lethargic. As I said before, it thrives on revs, and a good A or B road can very easily see you dipping in and out of 3 figures if you are exercising the engine.
Steve at Avantgarde recently replaced the front discs, plugs, gearbox oil and various other items. I also asked him to look at the suspension as the car seemed to visibly sit down on the offside rear. I had feared an ADS problem (mine has ADS as an option), but Steve reported that all was well there, so it may be springs. I've no idea when they were done last, so I will probably replace those soon anyway. Incidentally, I can highly recommend Steve (if that's allowed?). Great knowledge, great workmanship and great value too.
I was able to show Dad the controls for the electric rear-view mirror. It is miraculous that it has survived given the amount of manual manipulation it's had - another testament to older Mercedes build quality.
Other jobs for the near future include replacement of the plastic windows in the hood (first signs of splitting at the edges), dealing with a couple of tiny rust spots near the front wheel arches and replacing the underbonnet heat insulation.
Tell me how you get on with the 320. All the best.
Adam
Hello again......
In 2014 I wrote a piece for the forum entitled ‘r129 500sl - first 6 months’ about my experience of buying and owning an early r129. My original intention had been to provide regular updates, but shortly after that, we relocated to Singapore for 3 years and the car went into storage. Over 7 years later, and with 91,000 miles on the clock, the car is still with me (two more recent photos below), and I’ve finally pulled my finger out to pen a slightly overdue follow-up with some further thoughts on ownership, and highlights from a European road-trip.
Running costs: Although prices have been rising for a while, the R129 still seems relatively good value to buy compared to many other modern classics, but running costs have reflected its big ticket list price when new. The list below (not chronological) is from the collection of invoices I could lay my hands on. I think there may be one or two others for services which I must have mis-filed, but call it £13-14k of maintenance, repairs, enhancements over the last 7 years in my ownership, plus c.£10-11k in fuel, tax and insurance over the same period.
£590.40 - correct a small paint bubble where the near-side front wing meets the Sacco panel and repaint front bumper
£1,266.72 - wheels refurbed, air-con conversion to R134a, gearbox control switch, anti-roll bar bushes, sun-visor trims
£663.84 - gearbox oil, front discs and pads, spark plugs, MOT, battery
£735.71 - service, MOT, fan belt tensioner, check rear diff and leak from power steering
£976.00 - PAS feed pipe, distributor caps and rotor arms, MAF relay
£585.43 - service, cam cover gasket
£2,483.40 - steering tie rods, new front grille, MOT, new digital instrument cluster
£252.00 - bonnet insulation
£1,910.20 - rear suspension spheres, service, new tyres (Michelin), battery, second hand analogue instrument cluster
£495.68 - front discs and pads, throttle cable
£2,640.40 - ADS suspension pump replacement and fitting
£146.60 - investigate noise from suspension
£65.00 - rear boot struts
The car is a high days and holidays car doing 2-3,000 thousand miles a year and was purchased for about £11k in 2014. All well known specialists using either Mercedes or high quality equivalent parts. One big bill for an ADS suspension pump, which many cars would avoid, but highlights the costs associated with running a 30 year old modern classic as high quality parts eventually get to the ends of their lives and need replacing. The R129’s super build quality cannot stave off the inevitable impact of simple wear and tear indefinitely. It is just delayed for longer than in lesser quality cars.
Part of the joy of ownership has been being able to take the family out on special trips. The picture below was taken in 2018 when the kids were 8 and 5. My older girl is a tall 12 year old now and can no longer fit her head comfortably under the pop-up roll bar, but up to about age 10 the rear seats have been perfectly usable.
Prior to ULEZ most of our 4-up outings were short sunny Sunday trips into London for a brunch, but over the years we have done 4-up trips from London to Goodwood and some European jaunts to Italy where my wife and kids have flown and I have picked them up at the airport and then used the car locally. As a tall driver (6 foot 3), I have to compromise my driving position to give anyone behind even minimal leg room, but its such an easy and relaxing car to drive, having my knees around my ears for a short time has never been a problem. It helps to have enthusiastic children too, which mine are!
We have done London - Northern Italy round trips twice, covering around 2,000 miles each trip. In June 2018 we came back from Singapore for the summer, and Dad and I drove down to Lucca, stopping overnight in Beaune and then again at my in-laws in Turin. A few R129 related memories of that trip:
My sheer excitement at the prospect of a European road-trip after 3 years driving a VW Golf in the urban confines of Singapore (due to high taxes on cars, a basic Golf is a £100k car in Singapore!). Tigastor, an excellent storage company near Aylesbury, arranged for the car to be given a thorough going over by Autoclass in Milton Keynes to make sure it was ready for the trip. Tigastor then kindly delivered the car to London when I flew in, and Dad and I spent one night in an Airbnb in Battersea before setting off for the tunnel the next morning. I remember not being able to sleep much due to excitement, getting up at about 4am to sit by the window looking down at the car outside in the street as the sun rose, before setting off in those magical early hours of June sunlight when no-one apart from a few urban foxes is around and driving through London is a rare pleasure.
It is of course a very relaxing and comfortable car on long, fast journeys. Stability is excellent due to the car’s high kerb weight and relatively low geared steering, also helped by a bit of age-related play around the centre. With the ADS suspension in its standard setting the car soaked up most things, with the long travel only occasionally making the car feel floaty over sudden dips or compressions at speed. At an 85-90mph French motorway cruise, wind noise from the soft top (which we kept up mostly) was the only thing which dented its GT credentials. Refinement with the hard top is markedly better, but we didn’t take it as we wanted the option of going top-down during the journey. Shorter occupants could probably still go roof down using the wind deflector at those speeds, but at 6 foot 3, the top of my head sticks up into the wind-stream too much. I think we were getting between 22-24mpg, which meant a good 350 mile range between stops.
Dad and I shared the driving on that trip, the other 4 members of the family flying with hand luggage only, so we loaded the SL to the gunnels with the family’s main bags for a two week stay. We filled the 250 litre boot, the child seats behind us and every other nook and cranny. It was definitely a squeeze to get everything in, but it proved the car’s practical touring ability. The pictures below show two huge North Face bags on the back seats and, with some careful packing, all of the things around the car in the other picture eventually went into the boot.
The ADS suspension came into its own on the second leg of our outward journey. After overnighting in Turin, we borrowed my kind father-in-law’s 330d touring and loaded up the rest of the family to make the trip from Turin down to Lucca in the north of Tuscany. We decided to take the Ligurian coastal motorway, which is an incredible feat of engineering. Mostly two lanes, heavily trafficked, weaving a sinuous path along the rocky Ligurian coastline, offering up frequent spectacular views of the Mediterranean. Due to the hilly terrain, the radius of the turns can be tighter than on a typical motorway, and they come one after another, with relatively few long straights to punctuate the action. Making proper progress requires a higher level of concentration as you plunge from bright sunlight into long, dark tunnels, passing wide lorries on narrow-laned bridges spanning great gorges (one of the bridges on this section tragically collapsed a few months later). Here, the ability of the ADS system to firm up the damping, reduce roll and in the process make the nose more responsive on turn-in, was very welcome and increased confidence.
We enjoyed the car immensely over the next two weeks, although as a newbie to convertibles, I had naively assumed better weather = more top down motoring. I discovered that the sun is so strong in July in Italy that driving top-down between 10am - 4pm was too much for me, even with hats, air-con and the rest. So my favourite outings were the early morning blasts - just me - using the excuse of going to pick up fresh bread, or early evening four-up trips to pretty local towns like Pietrasanta for evening meals and the Italian “passeggiata”.
Anyway, that’s all for..........hopefully not the next 7 years! This year I’m hitting the big five-0, so am in the process of negotiating a pass for at least one big European classic motorsport road-trip. Current thinking is Pau Classic Grand-Prix, but whichever one I’ll aim to write-up the trip.
In 2014 I wrote a piece for the forum entitled ‘r129 500sl - first 6 months’ about my experience of buying and owning an early r129. My original intention had been to provide regular updates, but shortly after that, we relocated to Singapore for 3 years and the car went into storage. Over 7 years later, and with 91,000 miles on the clock, the car is still with me (two more recent photos below), and I’ve finally pulled my finger out to pen a slightly overdue follow-up with some further thoughts on ownership, and highlights from a European road-trip.
Running costs: Although prices have been rising for a while, the R129 still seems relatively good value to buy compared to many other modern classics, but running costs have reflected its big ticket list price when new. The list below (not chronological) is from the collection of invoices I could lay my hands on. I think there may be one or two others for services which I must have mis-filed, but call it £13-14k of maintenance, repairs, enhancements over the last 7 years in my ownership, plus c.£10-11k in fuel, tax and insurance over the same period.
£590.40 - correct a small paint bubble where the near-side front wing meets the Sacco panel and repaint front bumper
£1,266.72 - wheels refurbed, air-con conversion to R134a, gearbox control switch, anti-roll bar bushes, sun-visor trims
£663.84 - gearbox oil, front discs and pads, spark plugs, MOT, battery
£735.71 - service, MOT, fan belt tensioner, check rear diff and leak from power steering
£976.00 - PAS feed pipe, distributor caps and rotor arms, MAF relay
£585.43 - service, cam cover gasket
£2,483.40 - steering tie rods, new front grille, MOT, new digital instrument cluster
£252.00 - bonnet insulation
£1,910.20 - rear suspension spheres, service, new tyres (Michelin), battery, second hand analogue instrument cluster
£495.68 - front discs and pads, throttle cable
£2,640.40 - ADS suspension pump replacement and fitting
£146.60 - investigate noise from suspension
£65.00 - rear boot struts
The car is a high days and holidays car doing 2-3,000 thousand miles a year and was purchased for about £11k in 2014. All well known specialists using either Mercedes or high quality equivalent parts. One big bill for an ADS suspension pump, which many cars would avoid, but highlights the costs associated with running a 30 year old modern classic as high quality parts eventually get to the ends of their lives and need replacing. The R129’s super build quality cannot stave off the inevitable impact of simple wear and tear indefinitely. It is just delayed for longer than in lesser quality cars.
Part of the joy of ownership has been being able to take the family out on special trips. The picture below was taken in 2018 when the kids were 8 and 5. My older girl is a tall 12 year old now and can no longer fit her head comfortably under the pop-up roll bar, but up to about age 10 the rear seats have been perfectly usable.
Prior to ULEZ most of our 4-up outings were short sunny Sunday trips into London for a brunch, but over the years we have done 4-up trips from London to Goodwood and some European jaunts to Italy where my wife and kids have flown and I have picked them up at the airport and then used the car locally. As a tall driver (6 foot 3), I have to compromise my driving position to give anyone behind even minimal leg room, but its such an easy and relaxing car to drive, having my knees around my ears for a short time has never been a problem. It helps to have enthusiastic children too, which mine are!
We have done London - Northern Italy round trips twice, covering around 2,000 miles each trip. In June 2018 we came back from Singapore for the summer, and Dad and I drove down to Lucca, stopping overnight in Beaune and then again at my in-laws in Turin. A few R129 related memories of that trip:
My sheer excitement at the prospect of a European road-trip after 3 years driving a VW Golf in the urban confines of Singapore (due to high taxes on cars, a basic Golf is a £100k car in Singapore!). Tigastor, an excellent storage company near Aylesbury, arranged for the car to be given a thorough going over by Autoclass in Milton Keynes to make sure it was ready for the trip. Tigastor then kindly delivered the car to London when I flew in, and Dad and I spent one night in an Airbnb in Battersea before setting off for the tunnel the next morning. I remember not being able to sleep much due to excitement, getting up at about 4am to sit by the window looking down at the car outside in the street as the sun rose, before setting off in those magical early hours of June sunlight when no-one apart from a few urban foxes is around and driving through London is a rare pleasure.
It is of course a very relaxing and comfortable car on long, fast journeys. Stability is excellent due to the car’s high kerb weight and relatively low geared steering, also helped by a bit of age-related play around the centre. With the ADS suspension in its standard setting the car soaked up most things, with the long travel only occasionally making the car feel floaty over sudden dips or compressions at speed. At an 85-90mph French motorway cruise, wind noise from the soft top (which we kept up mostly) was the only thing which dented its GT credentials. Refinement with the hard top is markedly better, but we didn’t take it as we wanted the option of going top-down during the journey. Shorter occupants could probably still go roof down using the wind deflector at those speeds, but at 6 foot 3, the top of my head sticks up into the wind-stream too much. I think we were getting between 22-24mpg, which meant a good 350 mile range between stops.
Dad and I shared the driving on that trip, the other 4 members of the family flying with hand luggage only, so we loaded the SL to the gunnels with the family’s main bags for a two week stay. We filled the 250 litre boot, the child seats behind us and every other nook and cranny. It was definitely a squeeze to get everything in, but it proved the car’s practical touring ability. The pictures below show two huge North Face bags on the back seats and, with some careful packing, all of the things around the car in the other picture eventually went into the boot.
The ADS suspension came into its own on the second leg of our outward journey. After overnighting in Turin, we borrowed my kind father-in-law’s 330d touring and loaded up the rest of the family to make the trip from Turin down to Lucca in the north of Tuscany. We decided to take the Ligurian coastal motorway, which is an incredible feat of engineering. Mostly two lanes, heavily trafficked, weaving a sinuous path along the rocky Ligurian coastline, offering up frequent spectacular views of the Mediterranean. Due to the hilly terrain, the radius of the turns can be tighter than on a typical motorway, and they come one after another, with relatively few long straights to punctuate the action. Making proper progress requires a higher level of concentration as you plunge from bright sunlight into long, dark tunnels, passing wide lorries on narrow-laned bridges spanning great gorges (one of the bridges on this section tragically collapsed a few months later). Here, the ability of the ADS system to firm up the damping, reduce roll and in the process make the nose more responsive on turn-in, was very welcome and increased confidence.
We enjoyed the car immensely over the next two weeks, although as a newbie to convertibles, I had naively assumed better weather = more top down motoring. I discovered that the sun is so strong in July in Italy that driving top-down between 10am - 4pm was too much for me, even with hats, air-con and the rest. So my favourite outings were the early morning blasts - just me - using the excuse of going to pick up fresh bread, or early evening four-up trips to pretty local towns like Pietrasanta for evening meals and the Italian “passeggiata”.
Anyway, that’s all for..........hopefully not the next 7 years! This year I’m hitting the big five-0, so am in the process of negotiating a pass for at least one big European classic motorsport road-trip. Current thinking is Pau Classic Grand-Prix, but whichever one I’ll aim to write-up the trip.
Gassing Station | Mercedes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff