SWMBO says get it...why would I hesitate Mercedes 300SL

My buddy Richard called me about an early 90's Mercedes 300SL a co-worker is selling.   Under $3,000 for a running, driving, nice looking, neat car.   It's been garaged all it's life, Mobil 1, dealer service, etc.  The only glitches are hydraulic problems with the convertible top (a hardtop is included), cruise control doesn't work, trunk light is out, and cigarette lighter doesn't work.   Richard knows the car and reports it is super clean and tight.   

The hydraulics on the top appear to be cost prohibitive for the current owner and I will probably not get them fixed.

Anybody got any things I should watch for or address immediately?

Those cars are built like tanks.  Looking forward to your build thread.

I've always wanted one of these.  Get it so that I may live vicariously through you.

Pocket lint price-point. How could it go wrong unless you fall in love with it after a while?

Are these the ones that used biodegradable wiring insulation?  If so, may want to price out a harness replacement, if I try hasn't been done yet.

There is literally nothing that can go wrong with purchasing a luxury car at the bottom of it's depreciation curve. Nothing. 

The thing you have to remember is that these require care and feeding and that care and feeding doesn't know that the car is worth $3k instead of $30k. You pretty much HAVE to diy these or they'll eat you alive. Even then, sometimes you need to drom $500 or $1k into a $3k car. They make no sense unless you like them. 

As you've found, the top hydraulics are pricey. If it's a 300sL, go for it. If a SL320, I might pass. That engine seems to have had headgasket problems in its first few years. 

Drive it first. My father had a 96 and I hated the way it drove. How a car could be so numb and so twitchy at the same time I'll never know. It was almost schizophrenic. Driving it at anything over granpaw speed was terrifying. The Samurai is more confidence inspiring and it's actively trying to kill you. 

He also had top problems. One was a leaking latch cylinder above the drivers visor that dumped oil everywhere. The cylinder was $480. The other was a top computer that kept throwing error lights. That part was a paltry $4800. Needless to say the top never did get fixed after the computer puked. It would still go up and down, just not automatically. And since that same computer controlled automatic roll bar, there was some concern about if it would deploy in a rollover situation, or maybe when you were trying to get something from behind the seats. They got it deployed and left it up.

Do it. Parts are common and the engine is pretty reliable. 

Why would you hesitate? Because a 500sl is not that much more. Just sayin. 

eastsidemav said:

Are these the ones that used biodegradable wiring insulation?  If so, may want to price out a harness replacement, if I try hasn't been done yet.

I think that was from mid-1992 onward. 

I have a 92 500SL.  In general i think the R129 is a neat car, but i have to say it's hard for me to imagine owning one that didnt have 300+hp. It's a heavy car and very UN-athletic in stock form, so acceleration seems to be its main argument for not just being a 'boring' cruiser that rides well because it's basically a land yacht (that manages not to look it). If mine didn't have one of the 'big' engines and wasn't red and wasn't cheap i'm not sure i'd like it enough to have pursued it. 

If it's in good shape you'll easily be able to get 3k back out of it. If you don't mind tying up the 3k to find out how much you like it, i say go for it. Maybe you'll love it, or maybe you'll find out you'd really love a 320-390hp version and find a project-status one of those for less than you sell the 300SL for... who knows?

You guys enable me.   I made the deal.   I go later this month to get the car (it is 400 miles away).

Awesome!  No regerts!