Merc R129 500SL
Discussion
I've owned this car for around 3 months now. It came off the back of a few years of running a 1992 W124 E320 coupe. The coupe started its life with me as a second car, an quickly became the daily car of choice. It was a great car, cost £1,500 and never let me down over 30k miles (which took it over 200k). Anyway, onto the SL.
Having 3 kids, any fun car has to mean fun for four (the ex wife has moved on..) The E320 filled that superbly. I'd initially set a budget of £20k, but really couldn't find anything that floated all our boats. I've had a Maserati 3200GT and a Porsche 996 before and everything else seemed like I was trying a little too hard. And I really fancied a convertible. So I decided to go back to what I knew we all enjoyed.
So purchase #1. What a shed! A 96 SL320, bought blind for just over shed money, although it had 11 months MOT and only three owners. It was up for £2250, I offered £1750 on the phone, he said he'd accept £1600.... I guess I knew what to expect. The 'dealer' (180 miles away) that I collected it from operated out of a long row of commercial greenhouses - possibly selling more than just cars......
I drove it home and sold it - someone bought it for spares and I was a few £ down. Back to the classifieds and I found #2. The drive home in the SL320 made me realise that I really wanted a V8 and that the nature of the car really warranted it. So I happened upon this one. A 500SL from 1992. Sub 100k miles, two owners + dealer, the last owner since 99. Now my research has informed me that the earlier models are better built, and I can testify to this - presumably from a pre bean counter era? I was unsure about the colour (I call it brown but I'm sure it has a much more glamorous name). A ride over to see it (only 40 miles this time) saw me leave with the car, and three months later I'm so bloody happy with it! My kids think it's amazing. They stand next to the car begging me to rev it! We drive everywhere with the roof off because according to them #YOLO......
Two things have gone wrong in the 3 months - day 1 the wiper broke, needed a new assembly, minimal cost.
Day two (after the wiper had been fixed) the power steering failed. Needed a replacement hose, no big deal.
I've no plans to do anything with the car other than maintain it and use it as often as possible. At some point the wheels need a refurb, probably a job for the winter. In two weeks time we're off to Anglesey for a week and the kids are adamant we use the Merc. Happy times....
Day one (as you can see from the road, a bad day for the wiper to pack in):
Poorly power steering:
Posing by the canal....
Finally - the whole reason for having this car......
Any advice on SL ownership very gratefully received.
Thanks for looking, Simon.
Having 3 kids, any fun car has to mean fun for four (the ex wife has moved on..) The E320 filled that superbly. I'd initially set a budget of £20k, but really couldn't find anything that floated all our boats. I've had a Maserati 3200GT and a Porsche 996 before and everything else seemed like I was trying a little too hard. And I really fancied a convertible. So I decided to go back to what I knew we all enjoyed.
So purchase #1. What a shed! A 96 SL320, bought blind for just over shed money, although it had 11 months MOT and only three owners. It was up for £2250, I offered £1750 on the phone, he said he'd accept £1600.... I guess I knew what to expect. The 'dealer' (180 miles away) that I collected it from operated out of a long row of commercial greenhouses - possibly selling more than just cars......
I drove it home and sold it - someone bought it for spares and I was a few £ down. Back to the classifieds and I found #2. The drive home in the SL320 made me realise that I really wanted a V8 and that the nature of the car really warranted it. So I happened upon this one. A 500SL from 1992. Sub 100k miles, two owners + dealer, the last owner since 99. Now my research has informed me that the earlier models are better built, and I can testify to this - presumably from a pre bean counter era? I was unsure about the colour (I call it brown but I'm sure it has a much more glamorous name). A ride over to see it (only 40 miles this time) saw me leave with the car, and three months later I'm so bloody happy with it! My kids think it's amazing. They stand next to the car begging me to rev it! We drive everywhere with the roof off because according to them #YOLO......
Two things have gone wrong in the 3 months - day 1 the wiper broke, needed a new assembly, minimal cost.
Day two (after the wiper had been fixed) the power steering failed. Needed a replacement hose, no big deal.
I've no plans to do anything with the car other than maintain it and use it as often as possible. At some point the wheels need a refurb, probably a job for the winter. In two weeks time we're off to Anglesey for a week and the kids are adamant we use the Merc. Happy times....
Day one (as you can see from the road, a bad day for the wiper to pack in):
Poorly power steering:
Posing by the canal....
Finally - the whole reason for having this car......
Any advice on SL ownership very gratefully received.
Thanks for looking, Simon.
Edited by sinbaddio on Sunday 13th July 10:32
I've always loved 129's since my dad had one when I was a kid, was looking at them again last year but really wanted a manual car this time around. I will buy one at some point, think this has become the PH 129 owners thread.. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Lovely cars
Mine was a 500SL - earlier model - just before the facelift.
Bought it for £5K 4 years ago and just sold it for 6K - definitely going up in value. Only sold it as I wasnt using it enough and bought and E60 M5 which meant it had to go
Lovely wafting ability and surprising quick
One thing to look out for are the distributors (2). If you dont use the car much they quickly get damp inside and the car will suffer from bad misfiring. Once they start to go the only cure is a set of new caps at around £150 from memory
Good luck with it!
Simon
Mine was a 500SL - earlier model - just before the facelift.
Bought it for £5K 4 years ago and just sold it for 6K - definitely going up in value. Only sold it as I wasnt using it enough and bought and E60 M5 which meant it had to go
Lovely wafting ability and surprising quick
One thing to look out for are the distributors (2). If you dont use the car much they quickly get damp inside and the car will suffer from bad misfiring. Once they start to go the only cure is a set of new caps at around £150 from memory
Good luck with it!
Simon
I didn't realise these were so reasonably priced now.
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...
Low mileage, 3 owners from new .... Hmmmm
Nah, I can't and mustn't. I've just bought a new car!
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...
Low mileage, 3 owners from new .... Hmmmm
Nah, I can't and mustn't. I've just bought a new car!
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