Found a well loved 92 500 SEL with only 143000 miles on May 2, 2010. I am the 3rd owner and the second owner since 1995 dropped over $24,000 in the car, ofcourse repairs. Everything was done by a Mercedes dealership or ASE MB mechanic and all records to prove it. Evap for A/C, Belts, Rotors, Brakes, all sched maintenance, Suspension, Transmission rebuilt @ 138,000 miles etc... The only thing that hasn't been addressed is engine wiring harness and valve cover gasket, but surpisingly enough no oil leaks or atleast that my MB mechanic felt needed replacing. But last week my love for th car was put to the test and I started to 2nd guess my purchase.

1) I noticed the under carriage blowing smoke while driving and when idle at stop lights. I took it to my mechanic and he noticed a transmission leak on the pan and around the odometer connection. He tightened the bolts, hammered into the lip of the pan which he said has helped in past fixes. He recommended that if continues to replace gasket and order a new odometer connection (not sure what part that is).

2) This past Sat we drove to a wedding and was cruising @ 65mph and 30 min into trip, the odometer and trip meter went out. It would come on and off periodically. Do you think it is due to a loose connection or bad part near the transmission pan? Any suggestions?

3) Coming home the car started to smoke again. I guess I will have to change gasket and use gasket glue. Any suggestions? Does anyone also know what part my mechanic was talking about regarding odometer transmission connection and will this cause my odometer to stop working along with trip meter?

4) Today going to a meeting the ASR light came and the car went into limp mode. I had enough acceleration to pull into a parking lot. After pulling fuses, letting the car sit and trying numerous times to drive the light finally did not turn and I drove home saving me a $100 tow bill. After numerous phone calls and searching the forum, I found an article recommending to change out the OVPR relay after trouble shooting every possible cause. Which would include the replacement of engine wire harness to other acctuators. I also took my battery back to Interstate for charging, it was only putting out 12.51v. Any suggestions? According to the blog replacing the OPVR relay seemed to be the thing that worked? Any suggestions?

5) Other than that I still love the car and I hope my $2500 investment was the right thing to do? Should I keep or sell? Seems like the only 3 major things that need to be addressed is wiring harness, valve cover gasket and trans fluid leak. Anything else I need to look for. I have 2 other MB, 2000 E320 and 1993 300E.