SL Newbie
 

This is one of my first visits to the SL section of this site. I have quite a bit of experience with the diesel powered W123 body cars, but am new to the gasser and SL world of Mercedes and am looking to buy a R107 for my Mother.

I have seen every thing from a 280SL to a 450SL for sale around here. What engine would be most desirable from a reliability standpoint? Are earlier cars more reliable because of less emissions equipment?

What are the common issues with this body? I have seen some mention of a subframe recall, what should I look for regarding this? What are the rust prone areas I should check?

Any advice and tips would be appreciated.

Thank you.

A 560 is likely your best bet. It's a bit thirstier but much more modern than the earlier models.
Look for rust in the rocker panels, above the headlights, in the soft top compartment, wheel wells, trunk lid lip.

I generally recomend the 560SL only due to age and essentially more car for the money. The bottom line is that it is cheeper to spend the money up front and get a good specimen instead of a fixer uper.

Thanks for the replies. Is the 560 the most reliable engine of the bunch? Since this car is for my Mom I think she would appreciate reliability and fuel economy over raw power. :D

the 560 is significantly more modern than the earlier 107 cars. None of the SLs sold in the US is what I would think of as fuel effecient. What's the real world fuel milage for the 560 SL?

No, the early iron block 450 is the most reliable engine. The earliest (72-75) had the D Jet fuel injection system, though, and it was problematic. The 76-80 models had the K Jet, all mechanical fuel injection and much more reliable. Also the least expensive of all the fuel management systems to work on of all 107 model years. The 560 is a nice engine, but it wasn't as solid as the 450.

The EPA rated it at 12/16. I would imagine the M110 in the 280SL would do quite a bit better.

My 560SL does 15-17 overall in mixed driving; though not everybody observes the requirement, MB says it must have premium. The 560 engine AFAIK is as reliable as any of the others, and mine has been fine at 170K with only the expected/known issues--had the timing chain done once (an issue common to all the V8 engines used in the 107), had the radiator neck go and needed a new one, and needed a new starter. The top and bottom ends are fine and still factory with no redo having been needed; it'll burn a quart or so in about 2000 miles. Not sure how hard the fuel system is to work on, but on mine it's needed no attention whatever in the last 5 years and 25K miles.

Even the much-maligned 380 engine is actually as reliable as any other, from what I read, except for the single-row timing chain (before 1984) which needs either to be replaced more frequently or converted to dual-row. It's known for being less thirsty than any of the other V8 engines, and burns regular happily. Any of them will need regular attention to maintenance but will last essentially forever given that.

The last of the 560s is now a 19-year-old car, and stuff happens with any vehicle that old; if you're going to get into it, you need to be ready to deal with such things. Given that, I treasure mine--it's a great car to drive and I know of no two-seat drop-top that's more usable on a daily basis.

If it were for *my* Mom, I'd go for a 380SL with double-row timing chain, recently redone front and rear subframe mounts and engine mounts, no rust and great cosmetics, and the five-horizontal-button version of the ACC with a freshly resoldered circuit board (an easy 1-hour DIY even for me). What you should pay for that car gets you more fun and cachet for the buck than anything else I can think of.

Aw man, these things have climate control too?! :( :rolleyes: :D

Once you get past the early 450SLs, you're stuck with the ACC.

Unless you score a euro car....

Reliable(?) climate control starts with the horizontal buttons.....

Jim

If you can find a good 1984/5 Euro 280SL (dual ohc straight 6) you will get better mileage from one of the strongest engines Mercedes ever built together with the neat bumpers and better performance than from most of the early V8's. The 560SL is faster but thirstier and a lot more common. I have never had any problems locating parts either, though this is one of the bugaboos non Euro lovers tend to promote. Looking in one of the sunshine states will lessen the chances of your picking up a rust bucket

I'm going to look at a '77 450SL with a claimed 21,000 miles on it tomorrow. I'll report back...

Well the car was originally silver but had been re-painted red. The paint had some chips, but they had done a good job with the color change, it took me quite a while to notice it. It drove nicely and the AC was cold, but the seats and pedals had way to much ware for the claimed 21K. Digging around in the glove box I found some stamps in the maintenance book with 110,000 and 120,000 miles noted at the time of service. :rolleyes: The asking price of $4800 did not seem too out of line, but I think I will keep looking...

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/car/778430354.html

There was thread about that car earlier in the week. So it appears it was a phony claim on the mileage. Not surprised.

Phony claim or not any car with 21K miles repainted has got to be a POS.