W111 3.5 coupe on eBay
 

I'm not affiliated with this guy, just was his auction.

3.5 coupe

I noticed that the serial number makes this the 7th one built!! Surely that adds something? Other than that, it looks like a bunch of work for somebody.

Guy with zero feedback selling a car? Good luck, dude.

- Will

Not too bad a price, actually.

Minuses: The skewed single wiper arm means the entire linkage is likely frozen and need replacing (MAJOR job that requires dismantling the entire dash!!)

Has manual windows. :((

The seats and rear shelf are shot - new leather will cost maybe $2,500 ??

Pluses: While the w/s linkage is removed to fix the wiper, the wood can be refinished

Original color and not a lot of rust!!

Very low serial number is worth bragging about and adds a certain cachet..
My 111026 s/n is 000047 and it impresses people.

At 1100rpm, the oil pressure is about 30. I think thats a bit low for such a high rpm. As for the low VIN number check his feedback. Depends how much his reserve is. Looks fairly original. Decent body, some missing wood

I can restore that car in under $30,000 :D

Actually a 10,000 reserve is not bad. Its probably going to suck your bank funds like a Hummer at a gas station. Wouldn't be hard to put in power windows as your going to have to replace the door panels. Wonder what he did to cover the rust holes in the floor pans; maybe a little bondo, some straw or fiberglass and Henry's roofing compound to seal it all up :D
HMM, HMM, just like Christmas down at the farm don't know whatcha gonna get til ya open the box

Those are some ugly wheels.

And it's annoying that eBay doesn't work right in Firefox. I hate having to use IE. Ugh.
:mad:

Final price: $10,212. There were 3 guys in for over 9k, and the winning bidder snuck in with 14 seconds to go. All's fair and all, but I'd be torqued to loose it for $100. Then again looking at the pictures, maybe not.


Mine's 3472, towards the end, I gather; they only made 4500+/- right?

Which brings up another question. With these being so rare and all, how come they are for sale constantly? Is there something that all you owners out there know that I am fixing to find out, like a $5k annual tuneup or something?

Still love it.

- Will

$10k was a good deal?
 

If $10k was a fair price for this ebay car, how much are these cars worth now? Besides the power windows, it didn't have A/C or a sunroof.

And is it really desirable to have an early one? Are there rare features that are specific to the first few cars compared to a later car?

Also, how does having a euro model affect the value? I always thought it was better to have a US car, unless you wanted stick shift. It seems that lots of the chopped coupe/cabs that have been for sale lately always start with a Euro model, so I figured it was less desirable, thus the reason for the cab conversion.

I've been thinking about selling my coupe as I don't drive it much anymore. But then I put away my Cabriolet yesterday and got my coupe out, and it drives so well and has such beautiful lines that I don't think I can let it go, even if its a late serial numbered 3.5.

Perry

Heck, his is the 2nd oldest one on ebay....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mercedes-Benz-200-Series-1971-Mercedes-Benz-280SE-3-5-Coupe-000001_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6329QQitemZ4571156701QQrdZ1

Low number isn't everything. I've been working with mercedes for 20 years now. I have seen this particular car for sale over a dozen times. I doubt it's been 10 different owners. Not everybody thinks that where there's smoke, there's fire. Sometimes, it's just smoke.

-cth

Is it just my current suspicion of all things eBay, or does the bid history look really strange?
Other people with no history bidding up their own bid, etc?

Perry,
Tell me about your car. Always wanted a 111.

John

Cooperclassiccars feedback is nearly as low as the VIN Number. Bit of an odd car. Someone has cut the rear deck to put speakers in, its listed as electric windows when it has cranks and did that center console and tail lights come out in 1970 or were they available in 1969? I am not sure if it has original rebuilt engine and tranny or what. Very good looking from what is shown. What is shown and history of the seller don't seem to justify $20,000

Agree

In this case, the number 0001 is seen as considerable value-added. Is it? Who knows. S/n 1 Colt 1911 .45 is priceless.

I too have seen this red no 1 for sale before... Hemmings or something.

With the other beater drawing 10k, I may re-evaluate what mine is insured for.

-Wm

Mine's easy and cheap to maintain....
 

I used to drive my 3.5 coupe pretty regularly as least when compared to my other old cars, putting about 1000 miles a year. All thats been required in my three years of ownership are oil changes and a new air filter (and new tires as the old ones were 15 years old). Indie Mercedes shops seem to like working on the 3.5, compared to my Cab. I think its because the V8 design was used through the 80's, so they have lots of experience with them. But then when I ask people to adjust my mechanical fuel injection on my 6cyl cabriolet, they run away.

My 3.5 starts every time, even if its been sitting for 6 months in my warehouse. Runs great when its cold or hot outside. Its comfy on roadtrips and can deal with bumper to bumper traffic. When the big sunroof is open with all the windows down, its almost as good as being in a cabriolet. Even the old Becker Europa 4-channel stereo sounds good. I love the smell of the original leather interior. It handles great for a big car, and the floor shifter makes the experience seem more sporty. And its nice to be in a big car, being next to semis or big SUV's don't make me nervous as it does in my vintage Porsches.

Maybe other peoples experience or costs of ownership is different than mine....its probably because the previous owner who was also the original owner of my 3.5 had put over $7000 worth of mechanical repairs/maintainance before I bought it, so its been as easy/cheap as owning a new car for me. If it wasn't for the V8 style gas mileage, I would still drive it everyday.

The Ebay red 0001 car was for sale a few years ago on www.oursl.com. Cooper classics website currently shows the unrealistic asking price of $50k for the car...so $20k isn't even close to their reserve I bet. Also, the level of detailing isn't even close to what a $50k car should be...which I think would be a trailer queen restored by Hatch and Sons.

Perry