560SL General Repair and Maintenance
 

I am a new 560SL owner having boughr through e-bay. The car arrived with a fairly long list of unanticipated problems all of which were minor since I disposed of major problems such as timing chain issues during my search.
Upon opening the hood and looking at my engine compartment for the first time, I thought about immediately offering it for sale again. However, having a fair degree of shade tree mechanical experience and perhaps more courage than good sense I decided to dig in. The problems ranged from severe driveabilty deficienties to climate control and a host of door lock and trim issues.
The real purpose of this post is to encourage 107 owners to not panic. I have found this car actually easier to work on than many others despite the appearance of complexity. Access to the many little widgets is good, parts are out there with Harley Davidson-like availability and prices for those parts are reasonable through many on-line sources. This site has been a major source of information about what to do and more importantly what NOT to do. My other source is ALLDATADIY, one of the best $25 investments I have made in a long time.
So, all you 107 owners out there do yourself a favor by not simply replacing every major assembly in sight in the hope of stumbling across a repair, and take a deep breath before taking your car to a mechanic. You would not have bought this 20 to 30 year old car if you didn't really want it. There are many newer cars a much lower prices. The 107s are fun to work on and the feeling of accomplishment in fixing something yorself is hard to beat. Let research and logic guide your hands.