Just bought a Euro market 79 Merc 280SE. It has some rust and other issues but overall in decent shape.

Imported from Germany in 85 by the original owner, I am now the third owner. It even came with the original German plates.

It idles very rough (sounds almost like a diesel at idle) and has low power. I knew it wasn't going to be fast but it takes full throttle to get any speed at all. Accelerating from a stop it bogs down and hesitates but eventually smooths out. I think a general tune up is in order, maybe something a little more intensive.

Now I just need to learn German so I can figure out how to work the heater controls

I think that's a nice score. I don't think I have ever seen an MB with a velour interior though, they always have that leatherette thingy going on.

Yea all the US imported cars had leather/MB-tex interiors. The only way to have cloth is with a euro car.

If you're serious about figuring out the heater controls I can translate them for you...

Looks like a great highway cruiser!

Cool score! Have fun with it!

On the rough running, I'll bet it's been 30-ish years since it's had more than a minor tune-up. Give it a good looking over for cracks in vacuum tubing. I'd be really surprised if you didn't find a bunch of rubber-like tubing that looks good, but breaks if you look at it cross-eyed. Know wut Ah'm sayin', Vern?

That interior made me LOL

Tommy Suddard wrote: If you're serious about figuring out the heater controls I can translate them for you...

And I can proofread the translation .

The velours interior isn't that unusual for the 280S and 280SE models of that time in Germany as they were the 'poverty' models - well, poverty at a fairly high level.

The joke back then about German car makers in Germany at that time was that the air in the tires was an option...

These engines sound fairly gruff and make their power quite high the rev range, but it shouldn't feel completely underpowered.

Zomby woof wrote: That interior made me LOL

The lady at the DMV asked what color it was. The best answer I had was puke green

I'm going to do a full tune-up to it soon. Probably replace the shifter/throttle linkage bushings as well as I have read that those can wear out and provide similar symptoms regarding the acceleration.

I have a service record book from when it was in Germany but no service history past that.

I also found out it has a switch for adjusting the headlight level depending on how many passengers are in the car and if you are towing anything. How cool is that?

Actually these adjusters are now required in Europe and have been for quite a while. IIRC back when your W116 was built there were probably still optional but I think they became mandatory in the late 80s/early 90s.

Oh,and here's a map with the area where the license plate is from marked in red, courtesy of wikipedia:

Thistle green interior FTW. Really.

I was in Germany in the late 80's and one thing that I noticed was that they sure loved putting those horseshoes on their grills.

I found a brand new fuel, air and oil filters in the trunk today. Along with a new ignition rotor. Now I just need to order some plugs and wires and a distributor cap.

Great looking car. I hear velour was more expensive than leather so I don't know about "poverty." There was houndstooth cloth known affectionately as poverty cloth though. I have heated velour seats in my car in beige, they are really classy looking. Unfortunately the material is both rare, hard to find, and expensive so hopefully you wont need to do any repairs to it.

The euro model cars have manual climate control which is much better than the auto CC system in US models which is a POS.

You'll need to do plugs/wires and check for vacuum leaks. The plugs you want are Bosch W7dc(7500), use non-resistor plugs. I have the box from the wires I used last time if you want the #, I used bosch wires as the original Beru/MB ones are around 200$. The bosch wires were like 85$ and work fine if you want the number let me know. If the bosch plugs are hard to find I think you can use NGK bp6es but I'm not certain on that. These plugs are getting hard to find.

The m110 euro engine puts out between 170-185hp depending on model so it is no slouch. My car will hit 100mph on the freeway with no issues. If the car feels slow there is probably something wrong with it. My engine will rev past 6000rpm in good tune and just like the NASCAR announcer say,"is that bumble bees in the engine."

You might also want to do a valve adjustment on the engine as the engine uses solid lifters which need to be adjusted every 10,000 miles. You will also want to check/replace as many suspension bushings that you can get at. Sign up for mercedes EPC(european parts center) with your credit card, it is free but they use the credit card to keep chumps away.

Be sure and check the front and rear flex discs as they crack with age. If you blow a driveshaft up you might be screwed depending on if they one from a US model 280se will work. My car has a unique driveshaft for a 6cyl in a r107 slc and if it blows I have to find one from either another 280slc or 1st gen 380slc. The U-joint in non-servicible unless you find a good driveshaft shop with the correct balancing machine.

Sign up at benzworld and hit the w116 forums and good luck with the car.

Are the Bosch plug wires #09024? That is what come up in the rockauto catalog.

09024 are the ones I used on my car. If you want to check the connectors are the dist cap and spark plug. The wires will have "screw on" connectors. You don't actually screw anything on but the spark plug has the little screw connector at the lead removed.

If you have it use the plug tool in the tool kits as some of the plugs are a little tricky to get at.

Also order a valve cover gasket while you are at it for when you do the valve adjustment. The only tool you need for the valve adjustment is a 17mm crows foot socket. The valves tighten up over time and will likely need to be loosened.

I'll keep an eye out for the proper wiper blade arms for you, they are stainless so all you need to do is replace the rubber part. The original arms are easy to find and look better than the black ones on there. People don't know the rubber is replaceable and throw out the very expensive SS arms.

For the transmission my car used I think mann filter #h199x and you can use a good dexron 3 ATF of your choice. The fluid and filter will set you back ~50$ and you can drain the TC so you can get most of the fluid out.

If you haven't done it before the first oil change might be fun as the car uses a canister filter. Make sure you have the crush washers for the drain plug and bottom of the filter canister.

If you are going to go neurotic I'd also do the PS fluid and filter as well as the belt. You can use ATF but mercedes make PS fluid for about 7$ per quart.

You should also change the brake fluid, just use a Dot4 of your choice.

Check the valve clearence when you do the tune up, it is commonly over looked. There are special wrenches that make the job easier, I might be persuaded to loan you mine for the cost of shipping.

Is that one carbed or injected?

It has the Bosch injection.

I'm liking that in an early 80's Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous kinda way...

If only it looked like this...

Woody wrote: I was in Germany in the late 80's and one thing that I noticed was that they sure loved putting those horseshoes on their grills.

Ya, but at that angle wouldn't all the luck spill out on the turns?

Lord, I want your car. The Euro bits really make it; good score!

Nice score! It is amazing how much better the euro spec bumpers and headlights look on those,

Back in the day, my dad bought a 1979 300SD turbo new. As this was in the gas crisis days, he had an aux 20 gallon tank put in the trunk, so when he filled up both tanks, he could go more than 1000 miles between fillups.

Hotlinked for your pleasure

That reminds me of my old 300TD.

I really like the look of the Euro model. And these headlights are so much better than the ones on my W123. I can't believe how much light they put out!

Very nice.

My favorite MB's are the 6.3, the 600, the 6.9 and the mid 90's 500E. Sadly, I do not own any of the above....

I'm curious. What made you want a car like that? What are you going to use it for? I'm not well versed on older Mercedes.