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New-to-me 1986 300SDL
Finally getting around to posting pictures. I purchased this car almost a month ago from the original owner...80 year old man. He had all the records, all the keys, a binder full of service records and the car was in immaculate condition. I've wanted to replace my SD with an SDL for a while, and just had to jump on this one. It has been garage kept since day one, and it shows. The car still has original paint, which is in really great shape. The interior is near perfect. It's obvious that he had the seats color sprayed at some point, but whoever did the work did a good job. I actually didn't notice this until after I bought the car.
I had the brakes, motor mounts, radiator and AC push button control replaced right after I bought it, and it's going to need a new transmission (rebuilt) at some point, as the current one leaks and there's a bit of a delay and a slight jerk into reverse. The car came with chrome 15 hole rims and old tires, however I swapped those onto my 300SD, which I'm selling. Today I picked up some rims which I bought locally and had refinished. They look great! Also took the original Becker out and sent it back to Becker Autosound to clean/rehab and install an auxiliary cable so that I can use it with my iPod/iPhone. And I replaced the headlight doors, which were old and cracked, and the cruise control amp with a rebuilt unit from fellow forum member JamesDean (highly recommended, by the way). This car has a #14 head, but the temp reads normally, unlike one of the other SDLs that I looked at, and it's obvious that it has never been overheated (I plan to keep it that way). I'm amazed at how much smoother the 603 engine is than the 617 in my SD, not to mention the difference in performance!
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1986 300SDL - 116K 2014 Prius Plug-in (company car) 2014 Q5 TDI (wife's car) |
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Simply......
Beautiful
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daw_two Germantown, TN Links: Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior Cluster Needles Paint New Old Stock (NOS) parts Past: 3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda" 04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben" & many more |
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Very clean and very nice! Just wish he could have ordered something a little more spicey in the color combo field.....
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Thanks! Definitely not my first color choice, especially on the exterior. It's growing on me, though...particularly the palomino interior. I think it looks a lot better since I got rid of the chrome wheels and put back on stock painted.
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1986 300SDL - 116K 2014 Prius Plug-in (company car) 2014 Q5 TDI (wife's car) |
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Wow, that is such a nice example!
I am NOT jealous I too was amazed at the difference between the 603 and the 617. The five cylinder seemed like a tractor engine compared with the six. For even more performance you can remove the ALDA and set the boost pressure up to 13psi. My SDL was only making 7 psi of boost when I got him...
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"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy" Current Monika '74 450 SL BrownHilda '79 280SL FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee Krystal 2004 Volvo S60 Gone '74 Jeep CJ5 '97 Jeep ZJ Laredo Rudolf ‘86 300SDL Bruno '81 300SD Fritzi '84 BMW '92 Subaru '96 Impala SS '71 Buick GS conv '67 GTO conv '63 Corvair conv '57 Nomad |
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OK OP you ready? I gotta buncha q's...
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How was it obvious the seats were re-dyed? Please qualify "temp reads normally" and how did it differ in the "other" SDL you looked at? Finally, where did you get the wheels redone? They look really good. Thanks, MBZ123
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1987 300SDL "Rhona" 218k 1986 300SDL "Johanna" 166k - Abducted 5/15 outta SFV Reward 4 info 1984 300TD "Petra" 212k - Parts yard pirate, arrrrgh 1982 300CD "FrankenFemme" 178k - Eyes only TS-XWRKS transplant abomination (loc. classified) 1980 230CE "Lulu" aka "Terminal" 277k - Dying the slow death 1985 300CD "Gerda" 203k - She ain't playin' SOLD 1983 300TD "Svetlana" 240k...and pleading for more. SOLD "What a heavy load Einstein must've had...F&@%!NG morons everywhere!" - David Lynch |
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Very beautiful SDL congrats
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Awesome SDL despite it not being the best color.
Nice looking radiator too! .
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1983 123.133 California - GreaseCar Veg System |
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How is this obvious? Why did you replace the radiator? Because it was more than 5 years old is a good answer but was it cracked or leaking?
There isn't much to criticize in the pictures so I'll say it needs proper length lug bolts. I'm not feeling the pinstripes continuing over the headlights or what appears to be green coolant, either. Sixto 87 300D |
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Color/condition/records/miles/options/ghetto-window-tinting/exorbitant pricing/seller-deception, or most anything can kill a used car's desirability from the standpoint of a buyer - but at the end of the day, condition/records trumps everything on aging/scarce used cars.
Discovering false and/or misleading pitches about any used car after seeing it - will kill the deal for me in a heartbeat. Everything must match-up when determining the credibility of the car and seller. |
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There's a lot more to a used car than what the seller tells you. It takes time to forensically unravel the truth about a car's past - then you never really know for sure. You can buy a new car, and be left wondering too, when the car's left in a shop's custody - you never know what's taken place. The wheel lug bolts do look somewhat cheezy IMHO too. Are they unsafe being that short?? Last edited by Skid Row Joe; 06-15-2013 at 05:15 PM. |
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Ahhhhhhhh..beat me to it!
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As for the lugs, I seem to remember reading, here in the forum, the longer bolts are NLA and the short ones are standard replacement. Then again, I could have completely dreamt that up. OP - How's the undercarriage look? And if you could still chime in on my previous queries, it would be appreciated. MBZ123
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1987 300SDL "Rhona" 218k 1986 300SDL "Johanna" 166k - Abducted 5/15 outta SFV Reward 4 info 1984 300TD "Petra" 212k - Parts yard pirate, arrrrgh 1982 300CD "FrankenFemme" 178k - Eyes only TS-XWRKS transplant abomination (loc. classified) 1980 230CE "Lulu" aka "Terminal" 277k - Dying the slow death 1985 300CD "Gerda" 203k - She ain't playin' SOLD 1983 300TD "Svetlana" 240k...and pleading for more. SOLD "What a heavy load Einstein must've had...F&@%!NG morons everywhere!" - David Lynch |
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Regarding the service, the original owner's son is a mechanic at a local BMW dealer, so he has done the maintenance for the past few years. I don't have actual records of the work that has been done during that time, but have lots of print outs for parts orders placed online. Some things that he has done are obvious...changing the belts, fuel lines, shocks, etc. The original owner used the dealer for service for the first 15 or so years of ownership...all of those records I have. Seats...there are a couple of areas where it looks like some sort of a spray was used on the seats. On the drivers seat on the metal hinge between the back and seat rest, there is what looks like a zip tie and it has this coating on it. Also, on the front edge of the passenger seat I can almost see what looks like the original finish underneath whatever was sprayed on. The original owner's son did mention that the seats/leather had been reconditioned, however I didn't press him on what that meant. The temp on this SDL normally reads about 85 and gets up to as high as about 95, but never higher since I've owned it. From what I've read online, that is the normal range. The higher limit that I gave is when the AC is on and I'm sitting at a stop light, or when pulling a load on a highway incline (which we have here in SoCal). The other SDL that I drove sat at around 95 to 100 and got a bit higher than that while I was test driving it with the AC on. As I side note, I'm probably going to replace the green temp sensor on mine with a red temp sensor so that aux fan will kick on and the AC compressor will kick off at slightly lower limits. I have observed the aux fan on low while the AC is on. I purchased the used wheels from SoCal Mercedes Parts in Orange, CA. They sent the wheels out to a guy that they use all of the time, and that also does wheels for House of Imports (a local MB dealer in Orange County). Yes, I think they look great.
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1986 300SDL - 116K 2014 Prius Plug-in (company car) 2014 Q5 TDI (wife's car) |
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Lug bolts...I researched these as well. The extended lug bolts are no longer available from MB...there were apparently problems with them snapping due to being over torqued. The car came with the extended lug bolts with chrome 15 hole wheels, which I didn't like. I used the extended bolts temporarily on the painted rims that I switched onto the car from my SD, however they bolts had chrome caps, some of which were missing. So I just bit the bullet and ordered new MB lugs from PeachParts and had those installed when the refinished wheels were installed. Didn't want to take a chance that the old extended bolts had been improperly torqued in the past and also didn't like that some were missing the caps (which I couldn't find anywhere). Coolant...see below...
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1986 300SDL - 116K 2014 Prius Plug-in (company car) 2014 Q5 TDI (wife's car) |
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Quote:
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1986 300SDL - 116K 2014 Prius Plug-in (company car) 2014 Q5 TDI (wife's car) |
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