1993 400 SEL, 94,000 miles; But has the instrument cluster problem and has a hard starting and fluctuating idle issue. The owner is done throwing money at the car; has replaced the water pump and a great deal of parts chasing down the idle issue; he is done fooling with this car.
(I believe No expert or Mercedes person has worked on it yet; as the owner is a muscle car man)
I have not yet looked at the car; so what should I look for?
I can repair most anything if I am aimed correctly.
They are "askin" $2500. OBO

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"Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration...
don't Fail Us Now"

Before purchasing any MB vehicle best to have a PPI (pre-purchase inspection) performed by a MB-trained tech who is familiar with that particular vehicle. That way you will have a professional evaluation of the vehicle and get a reasonable idea of what it will cost to repair existing issues. A low purchase price is irrelevant if it will cost you thousands of dollars to make the car right.

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Fred Hoelzle

That is really low miles for that car, but I warn you they can be costly to service, but you may already know that. Also, seem to have a lot of poor running issues as far as not wanting to start/missing, etc and sometimes hard to diagnose.

I also have a 1993 400SEL and mine is nearing 230,000 miles. My car was a one-owner car (I purchased from the original couple that bought it new in October of 1992). The car has ALL of the service records since new and has only been serviced by MB mechanics. It was dealer serviced until 1999, then he started taking the car to independent shops that specialized in Mercedes automobiles. I was able to speak to the mechanic that had serviced the car for the last 9 years. His English was not very good, but I could make out enough that he said it was a good car and all it really needed was motor mounts. All of the "big" problem issues had been addressed... new A/C evaporator, as well as blower motor, heater core was replaced 3 years ago, as well as the main engine wiring harness. The instrument cluster was replaced under warranty in 1996 with a brand new unit (with the digital odometer). Also, the valve cover gaskets were replaced in April of 2012 to the tune of $500, but oddly enough, they are leaking again!!

I purchased the car in September of 2012... quickly things went downhill despite my beautiful S-Class being well maintained. About a month after purchased I started having problems where after the engine was hot and I would restart the car, it would act as if it was running out of fuel and it would run poorly. This went on for awhile. I realized that my check engine light never does come on, so if there was a code trouble, I would never know it. Then one day in the spring of 2013, the car started, sputtered, stalled and it took me almost a month to finally get it started again! It would have a raw fuel smell and crank over fast. When I finally got it started it would set there and run like a new car... but I could drive it up the road, come back and go in the house for say 10 minutes, go back out or start it and it would either not start, or would be missing.

I was told to check this and that, etc. Finally someone from another MB forum was nice enough to send me a used (and good) EZL unit, as I was told that may be the problem. I replaced it, but the car still seemed like it had a slight miss, but it went away. Again, I drove the car, came home and the car restarted everytime, but then again on the next trip out to test it, the car was missing badly. He also sent me some distributor caps and rotors, but apparently you need a $ tool to get the rotor button screws loose and apparently I have stripped one out and I cannot get it off. I am wondering if I replace the caps/rotor buttons that it may help. Mine seemed to have an oily residue inside the caps for some reason and I wonder if that is the issue. Apparently the issue was not the EZL.

So now, I wait until I can afford to take it to a MB shop and have a professional check it before I start throwing money at it that I don't have. I was always warned that if you were not a good DIY'er (which I am not) or have a lot of $, not to buy a W140, but I thought since I had one that had been well maintained with all of the big ticket items replaced that I would be OK, but apparently not, but I am prone to bad luck. lol. I have 5 other cars and I love this one even more than my 2012 model. I am thinking of selling my 1995 Lincoln which I also love, but want to sell it and put that $ toward getting my MB fixed.

Like someone said, have a PPI done on the car and get it running before buying... if not, the frustration can drive you crazy. lol.

Big $ items on these are the A/C evaporator (mine was a $3300 repair), as well as the main engine wiring harness, but apparently these have like 3 separate engine wiring harnesses that can go bad (from what I have read on other threads). Apparently in addition to the main harness, there is also one that runs to the alternator and some sensors, as well as one to the throttle body/fuel injectors (which from what I have read, when this fails, it gives some of the symptoms my car has, so that may be my issue).

They are awesome cars, built like tanks, but can be a pain.

Good luck with whatever you decide.