No airbag on the 86' 420SEL?

[86560SEL]

I thought that beginning in 1986, that a driverside airbag was standard on ALL Mercedes cars. Here is a 86' 420SEL, without airbag (link). At first, I thought maybe someone had it removed and installed a regular wheel out of a 85' older without airbag. However, I also noticed the different knee bolster that the non-airbag equipped cars have. I suppose its possible that was changed too? Then I was thinking... maybe this is a non-US model and did not come with one? I am thinking all had them though by 86'... even non-US models?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1986-Mercedes-Benz-420-SEL-No-Reserve_W0QQitemZ190051396827QQihZ009QQcategoryZ6331QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Jim B.]

Yes you are right, the US cars had drivers side airbags in them, but this one was probably a gray market car, judging by the bumpers, which look euro spec. Also it looks like it has a Euro importation compliance sticker on it.
(The VIN# would settle the argument once and for all). Still the gray market pretty much ceased to exist by 1986 though.

However, the Euro 420 cars could be had with very low level options, like no airconditioning, plastic hubcaps, no sunroof and fabric seats, unheard of in US spec cars. So I think it's possible it might not have had an airbag on it.

Then again it could have had the steering wheel swapped out at some point also! I really don't know for sure! Maybe someone else does.

[Hit Man X]

I've seen Euro cars as early as '83 with AirBag. Very odd it does not have an AirBag in there. There is no symbol on the cluster either for the SRS light...

Anyone know how much HP/TQ the Euro 420 had?

[Hit Man X]

Originally Posted by mbtechman

car could have been wrecked, and they put a reg. wheel on it, i see it all the time

There is no dash light for the AB/SRS!

[86560SEL]

Yeah, I also noticed the lack of the SRS lamp. Forgot to mention that. Must be a Euro car... however, I thought that by 86' those had them as well as standard, especially since it was optional even earlier than the USA version. I think somewhere once I read that 81' was the first year for the airbag on Euro models- as an option of course.

[Hit Man X]

I thought ABS came later too, but my 380 has it and it's a 1980

[Hatterasguy]

Looks like a typical 420SEL, with an OK euro light upgrade, and a mixed interior. They could have tried to hide the US spec wipers.

Wood is from a 560, so are various center console bits. The rest is from a pre 85 W126, also the seats have been recoverd. Notice they look funny and over stuffed.

Think of it as a mixed breed W126. Someone lived next to a junk yard!

Might be a decent enough car for $1k.