I'm looking for ORIGINAL manuals (Owner's, Service, Parts, Engine/Chasis, etc.) for a 1978 450 SL. I think the manuals cover 450 SL & 450 SLC.
I'm not interested in reprints....I have them.
I've been watching ebay, and I've seen everything but 1978 manuals.
Are there any out there?

The only one of those that is year specific is the Owner's manual.

For service, you want the Maintenance Manual that covers model years 1972-1980. It covers all Mercedes models for those years. They come up on eBay occasionally, but printed original manuals are not cheap.

The parts manual is probably the hardest to find. Any 107 parts manual printed after about September of 1977 until about September of 1985 will include your 450SL. I don't know how often they were printed. The 560SL parts manual is specific to the 560SL, though there will be a lot of overlap.

Any 107 Chassis & Body manual printed after about September 1977 will cover your '78, even the ones that include the 560SL.

The engine manual you're looking for is the M117 4.5L manual that covers both the SL and SEL engines of the '70s. I've forgotten which years the fuel injection system changed, just make sure any engine manual that you're looking at covers your fuel injection system.

The cheapest legal way to obtain this information is to buy the official MB CD for the 107 chassis. I know Performance Products sells the real deal (i.e. not the CD-R copies you see on eBay). I think they charge about $125, which is about what you're going to pay for the printed Chassis & Body manual alone. The CD will have the Chassis & Body, Engine, and Maintenance manuals. The owner's manual on the CD is for model year 1989, which is fine if you have a 560SL. The parts manual you'll have to obtain seperately.

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Mike Heath
1988 560SL Black/Palomino
1988 300SEL Black Pearl/Burgandy
1984 500SEC Anthracite Grey/Palomino

Thanks for the info. I'm particularly interested in an ORIGINAL Owner's Manual for my '78 450SL.

I purchased the CD two or three years ago. It's great. I also purchased the Maintenance Manuals at the same time.

Any clues on the ORIGINAL Owner's Manual?????

Neil,

Funny you should mention that. I've just started going through my library that I've collected over the last 30 years and sorting out duplicates. I also have all the info on original MB microfiche, but I've always preferred the manuals, because going from square to square on a reader is as big a PITA as I can imagine it is to click page to page with a mouse. I'll post a list of what I have, but I do know I have a spare M116,117 manual printed in 1983 which deffinately covers your engine. This an original MB manual in excellent condition, and I'd like to get $100.00 for it. As has been pointed out reprints are available with unclear pictures but originals are scarcer than hens teeth.

Let me know,
Peter

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Auto Zentral Ltd.

Thanks for your input and assistance.
I have finally found an ORIGINAL Owner's Manual! It only took about 3 or 4 years to find one.
Check out Schiff European Literature Inc., www.schiffeuropean.com
He has a pretty impressive and extensive inventory of manuals and catalogs.

Good luck with the reprint.

Peter

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Auto Zentral Ltd.

Autozen,

Received the aforementioned Owner's Manual today.
Too bad, oh Wise One (?), it is the real deal - ORIGINAL.
Printed in Germany - ZKD 1. 78. 6. Ru - Blue & white cover - Orange tab markers and subject headings - slightly yellowed with age.

I would highly recommend this literature source to ALL Mercedes enthusiasts.

kinda sounds like mine... I have the origional manual, blue on white, owner's handbook, service book, emissions thingy, all in the origional MB plastic envelope. It's kinda falling out of the binding, but it's all there, and I wanna keep it for my car. You should have seen the reaction on my mechanic's face when I went in for the first time with my service book for it's 50K mile checkup (about 2 years ago).