Strong exhaust smell

My '86 560 Sl has a strong exhaust odor when I start the car. It is not a catalytic rotten egg smell. It just smells of a very strong odor. The car has new plugs and wires.I mentioned this to my mechanic and he says its an old car and they all do it. I'm not so sure ? Any one out there have an idea as to what this is? Thanks you all....

Larry '86 560 sl

My '79 450SL smells rich too. My mechanic checked everything it could be. Found nothing wrong. I can smell it on my clothes after a drive, does'nt last too long though. Reminds me of my '69 428CJ Mach One. My advice, enjoy it and live with it.

sbr

[Mark Herzig]

I'd definately get that checked out. My '79 450 doesn't exhibit any smells as described. I wonder if there is some exhaust leak e.g. manifold gaskets. I would doubt if the car was running rich you would smell that without some leak of some sort...

Just a guess though

btw: what kinda gas mileage are you getting sbr?

My wrench checked the fuel system, timing and the exhaust. He did find a crack in the front neck of the cat which I had welded and it is now much quieter. This also seemed to help the smell somewhat. I'm not saying that my car really stinks, but it does have an exhaust aroma to it, not rotten eggs. The last time I did a long highway trip I was averaging 17-18 mpg.

sbr
'79 450SL
76,000 miles
Milan brown/ palomino
(for sale)

I stopped by the mechanic who had done previous work on this car. He told me my problem was probably due to a bad oxygen sensor ($150-200). He said it should be changed every 60,000 miles. I thought his diagnosis was not on the mark and the price seemed high. I'll put this out to the forum to get a response.
Thanks
Larry 86 560SL

Not that this is completely relevant to your cars, but I just had the same problem on my E320 and replaced the oxygen sensor, and the problem went away. $140.00 for the part and $30 to install (my mechanic).