1969 280 SEL..got any info or advice?
 

Fabs here..as you may know i've been looking around for a used mercedes that i can use as a daily driver (have canadian winters too..) i came across a 1969 280 sel..the person sent me some pics of the car and seems to be in good shape, no rust, never winter driven with about 62000 miles. There is minimal work to be done. Would this car be a good concideration as an all-around every day car? any advice would be nice? Oh ya, i'm sure the car has a carb in it, would this be of concer to me? And if any of you have some info or stats it would be much appreciated.thanks
fabs

RE: 1969 280 SEL..got any info or advice?
 

In the good old days MB nomenclature was easy. If it has an "E" in the lettering as opposed to the "S" only then it is injected, something like (Einspritzer).

I had a 300 SEL 3.5 and a beloved Beast, the mighty 6.3.

These are great cars, both of mine were V8s, yours would be the very nice inline 2.8L six.

Any car this old MUST be driven and checked out unless the price is near giveaway.

The levers for the heat/AC always break, upgraded new units are available.

When you step on the brakes and the wheel pulls to the right, do not assume it is an expensive caliper (though you will claim this as part of your barganing). It will likely be a $30 flexible brake hose.

Unless records are meticulous. assume it has been neglected. Assuming it drives well plan on a minimum of oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid, and coolant changes.

DONT FORGET TO CHANGE THE DIFFERENTIAL FLUID, IT HAS TURNED TO PASTE. Change the power steering fluid.

Change the AC to R134 if it has A/C.

Unless fairly new, change all rubber brake lines, belts, hoses. Check the seatbelts. Some of these cars had the dangerous Kangol clasps for the belts that comprised a hook that was held in position with a magnet. The belt webbing at the clasp was held with metal clips. Upgrade to a standard buckle.

Of course you'll check the brakes, tires, rust etc. This can be a good reliable daily driver. You will desperately need some serious winter tires if you plan to drive in the nipply Canadian winters. GLuck.

RE: 1969 280 SEL..got any info or advice?
 

2Kinga, what's up, thanks for your reply. I would do a changing of all the fluids. As for winter tires, not a problem, if there are a common size i can probably find studded tires and put some sand bags in the trunk.
As for repairs, the only think i know right now is that one of the valves has to be adjusted? he mentioned that it's not that big of a job to do? not sure.. So if it's the 280sel..does it then have injectores? or carbed?
thanks again.
Fabs
if all the elements are okay, would it be considered a good daily driver? even in winter? thanks
fabs

RE: 1969 280 SEL..got any info or advice?
 

This car, if stock is injected, you'll know for sure when you lift the hood. If it were a 280S then it would be a carb.

I would have no problem using it as a daily driver (8 years ago my daily driver was a 1980 Citroen CX). Price is essential here, save enough money on entry you have some cash in reserve for any repairs on a 37 year old car (which in many ways will be more reliable than a 7 year old MB). What kind of $$ are we talking to buy it.

Options (A/C, Floor Shifter auto or manual on the column makes a difference, sunroof, etc.) and condition are crucial.

RE: 1969 280 SEL..got any info or advice?
 

Hey 2king..what's up?
UPDATE****
I spoke to the guy, price wise he's asking $3500 canadian negotiaable. He might be interested in a trade for my 2001 suzuki esteem. the thing is this
he had fixed some of the smaller problems with it (electric windows, wipers...)
he did a paint touch up, the body and paint were good but a litle faded, so he redid it.
the car was supposidly never winter driven
about 68 000 miles on the dash
the only thing left is that he has to change the bushings in the steering? he said it may be hard to find the parts for it? any advice?
and then it has to pass the second inspection. The draw-back is that he's not in a hurry to fix it and i don't hae the time to bring it back for inspection...
any advice?
let me know.thanks
fabs
oh ya, it has injectors and a floor shifter too..

RE: 1969 280 SEL..got any info or advice?
 

Look very carefully for rust, trunk, door bottoms and especially the shock towers. Check the area under the spare tire.

This car will need a good paint job. Don't overpay for paint, good quality, not show quality.
I think $3500 CDN is on the high side based on what I know of this car.

I suspect the odo is 100K or perhaps 200K shy of actual, let me guess, no documentation of miles or service to veryfy an average of a mere 2000 miles/year. Puh-lease, I am not buying that yang, unless proven otherwise the miles are a lie.

How is the interior, (MB Tex I imagine, thier version of fake leather which often looks new after 40 years unlike leather which is cracked and dry rotted by this time.

The floor shift in these cars is a real bonus and rare. A sunroof is also rare. Not an issue since these cars are not really collectables, don't pay a dime extra for these features. Pay for condition, driveability, miles, service history, and lastly features. Holla back when you get more info.

Oh, btw, start searching parts now. Autohaus Arizona is the best I have found for parts. Bushings should be an easy fing. There are many vintage MB parts suppliers.

which of these 3 would you choose? need advice
 

Hey 2Kings, what up? i sppoke to the guy today, but the only thing i'm not too keen on is that it seems that he really doesn't want to finish off the repairs that are needed to be done to pass inspection, and i can't waste my time on that, also what happens if i trade cars and then the merc doesn't pass inspection, i'm screwed at that point. Also he said the parts were a little more tough to find.
It does have the floor shifter, electric windows but NO sunroof, which is okay too...

The other thing is this i have 3 possible offers at hand:
1. is for an 89 300se 6 cyl. engine
2. a 1988 560 sel 8 cyl 5.6L
3. a 1982 300(turbo deasil)
I know that these 2 crs are not that far different from each other. I have not seen either car yet. Both cars have 198 000km
and 178 000km (respectivly) the turbo deisel, don't know how many km it has . The 300se sounds good and is i guess, a little cheaper on the gas too, but there is no documentation and it's from a used car lot. The 560 is sold privitly and has basically been a 2 owner car. The second owner (this person now), has done quite a bit of work on the car and has 2 things left to do (hand brake cables have to be changed and the air vent module has to be changed (vents work, low, med and high but doesn't shut off completly). i told him i would be interesed in a trade if he fixed these repairs..waiting for his reply.

As for the Turbo diesel, it's a friend of a friend that has it. It was a florida car and has had the necessary repairs done to it. My friend that knows this guy just bout a 77 diesel from him too, i was in it for a drive last night..OMG, the thing really sounds like a tank! haha
It rides okay, nothing really peppy, but gets great gas milage. The only thing i'm worried about is that i may have problems with the diesel starting up in winter time or acting finiky..Let me know whatcha think.
thanks
Fabs

RE: which of these 3 would you choose? need advice
 

I have owned 3 Diesels (Citroen, Peugeot, and MB) and I love them. If you are not "into" Diesels then stay away.

The 560SEL is a great car, more complex than the '69 and costly to fix. These cars with "lots of repairs done" worry me. What makes you think once you take ownership the repairs will stop? They won't and you will need some deep pockets, it helps if you can do your own work and get discount OEM parts online.

Although we are on the S forum a great value in used MBs is the '94-95 E class, but they are not in the same league as the S. If a late 80s early 90s S W140 can be bought for good money to allow some residual cash for repairs then go for it. You only live once.

Steer clear (unless they are at giveaway prices) from any MB sitting at "Dan's Auto Sales" or "J&F Motors". No books, no records, no history. These are low quality neglected or abused cars that will cause you much pain and anguish. Get a car from a private seller, preferably a car nut.

RE: which of these 3 would you choose? need advice
 

Well, I'm not trying to steal the post but as regards to the 560SEL, it is way more complex than the 69 and more costly to fix, but the catch is with the 560s is that if it has been abused/negletected and not maintained, yeah, it will be a big money pit. AKA, the expensive parts start to fail, lets say that the timing chain is neglected. Hm, normanlly it would cost about $200-$300 area to fix it parts and labor and maybe not even that much. But let that chain go unchecked forever and break, then, it's time to take out a large sum such as a few thousand or four. The suspension air pump is about $1000 usually just for the pump, but keep oil in it and the check valves in check, it rarely fails. And as mentioned, if you come across a 560SEL and there are many odd repairs, it means something is not quite right. I have one that's pushing 220,000 well maintained by me and the previous owner and it only cost me the usual things so far. Of course a couple of the rubber bushings is starting to wear ($30 a pop) and the high pressure power steering pump hose sprung a very small hair sized tear ($55 Euro and DIY job.) (High pressure caused fluid to spray everywhere through a small hole.) Oil changed every 3 thousand miles religiously (DIY plus oil and filter expense.) And that water pump, $500-$800 job when it fails. (mine failed due to age and the pump being a cheap variety from the previous owner.) A tie rod cost around $35 a side It's worth every penny. I paid well below book value from a private owner and had this car for about a year and some and only paid about $600 (mostly from that water pump repair) in parts that are outside the normal maintence, then again I know how to work on these things pretty well. And I'd probaly go ahead and set aside about another $600 for this year perfecting this car such as checking/changing that timing chain and buying new various rubber pieces/bushings that may have been over looked thus far, just making sure that everything is in tip top show room case whether it is getting rid of them pesky stone chips or just doing it so I don't have to worry about them later.Mostly available tools/time/space limits the extensiveness of my work (being a single soldier in the barracks sucks). The car rides and sounds like new. Even the steering is factory tight and perfectly alighned even when crusing at speeds of 90+ mph, trust me I did it done and still do it on the autobahn, legally. All in all, as any car age, parts do fail and break, but usually it's something small and inexpensive unless you neglect to fix it and then that liitle cheap part causes something bigger to fail that usually cause the car to not run and thus a big repair bill that could've been avoided in the first place. And that goes for just about any Mercedes.
The 300SE is a good buy, but it's still a W126 that's just a little easier on gas. And if you know how to fix a lot of things on a car, you will save a bundle since that most normal places don't know too much about these cars and take longer for repairs and or charge more just because it's a Mercedes or the specialty shops know what they doing but usually charge more per hour.

And an odd benz at some old car lot, hm, unless they are MBZ specialist they probably don't know jack mess about them and thus, them cars probably are not the best variety to buy. But a car from some car nut, as they are called, is usually good.

94-95 E'class is nice and out of them if I was to decide to get another Benz in addition to the one I have already, it would be the E420 or even an E500.
And W140s, just be careful. These can be either the greastest buy you can ever make, or can be your worst nightmare. You have to make sure these cars was well maintained and make sure you have a little cheese on the side for repairs, just as you would with a W126. And people wonder why some people would spend so much on these cars. Easy, drive one, and you'll see why people put so much time in energy in keeping them or even spend money to fix em and keep them running.

RE: 1969 280 SEL..got any info or advice?
 

Hey II Kings, for the diesel, i'm not sure when you say "if you're not INTO diesels?"..i've never owned a diesle car before, my only concern is, seeing as it'll be a daily driver, i kinda worry about this car acting-up in winter time. I've always heard stories, especially of older diesels (Vw's that is) that they have trouble starting up in winter time. Other than this facter, o'm not worried.
As for the 560, i think it is an awesome car, a real road-yacht..hahah You may be right about the repairs continuing..in the add, the person has changed a whoooole bunch of parts (brakes, bearings, suspension work, alternater)...i too thought" with so many little km on the car, why does it need all this work? i'm not sure, but i'll see what he says.

I'll keep ya posted on what happens..thanks agian.,
fabs