Need info. 67 300se cabriolet

[stangsteve]

I found a 67 300se cabrio. that will be coming up for auction in 4 to 6 weeks. The only rust I can find is a tiny bit in the floor pans. All external trim, bumps, grill ect. have been removed from the car and piled inside the car. I guess previous owner started restoration and lost interest. Not sure if it runs & will be auctioned as a none runner. Drive train is 100% complete. Suspention is depleted of air, so the car is sitting very low. The body & paint (off white ext. & brn inter & top) is not bad, just minnor nicks & dents. It's hard to see the interrior because of everything piled in it. The top is nice both insde & out. All glass and chrome is good. The car is an automatic. I work as a mechanic & I own a few Mercedes 85td ,82d, 83sd, & 59 190sl. I have a lot of car experience, but none with w112 MBZ. so I need advice from you experts. What could I sell this car for if I put it back together & get it running? How high should I bid ? Thanks you

[Larry Delor]

Which engine? Options? (A/C, Auto vs stick, etc)

[stangsteve]

It has a/c & it is an automatic. I'm not sure what the engine # is, but it is an injected 6cyl. I'm assuming that is the only engine that came in a 1967 300se cabrio

[wbain5280]

You have an M189 all AL 6cyl used in the 300's from the 50's and 60'sm including the Gullwing and 300SL.

You need to visit the M-100 Group to read up on the air suspension and Chris Johnson'e 300SE site.

http://www.m-100.cc/forum/default.asp

http://www.300se.org/

Heckflosse Homepage

http://www.heckflosse.nl/

Neil Dubey at Star Motors has a web site:

http://www.starmotorsny.com/index.html

and an air suspension guide:

http://www.starmotorsny.com/pdf/AirSuspensionGuide.pdf

These cars are rather expensive because they are low production volume and cabrios. The owner didn't loose interest, he ran out of money. Everything from the water pump to the air suspension valves are high priced items. My advice, forget about buying this car and find an 80's coupe, such as a 560SEC. You don't know anything about these types of cars and this one would be expensive to learn on. As an alternative, you could find a 220SE, 250SE or 280SE cab in good shape for 20K and up. There were many more of them made.

There's an old saying, there's nothing more expensive than an cheap Mercedes.

[Tomguy]

IF you can pick this up for under a grand...
IF you can do ALL the wrenching yourself...
IF it doesn't need many parts to get into pristine condition...
You MIGHT wind up with a great project/investment.

IF it needs anything more than a minor wrenching, forget it. Distributor caps are around $200-500 a pop alone for that engine. Air valves cost around $1000 to rebuild from what I last heard. Suspension bellows for the 4 corners will run over $1000 also. It's a rare and beautiful automobile that'll cost nearly as much as a Gullwing to restore and be worth nowhere near as much when done.

[Arthur Dalton]

Originally Posted by stangsteve

It has a/c & it is an automatic. I'm not sure what the engine # is, but it is an injected 6cyl. I'm assuming that is the only engine that came in a 1967 300se cabrio

Chassis is 112.023, with the later 189.987 engine. [ 8/65 on]
Rare car, as only 708 built from 2/62-12/67.
Worth some $$$ just in parts.

[peter serbanica]

Check the trunk area for rust!!!!!!

[Q45Denver]

Definately worth restoring as you should easily get $50K plus restored. However, it might cost you $30K plus to restore and some parts might be hard to get-especially the suspension and engine parts. Basically the same engine as the Gullwing and the same suspension as the 6.3.

[Q45Denver]

Not a 300Se but formally owned be Madonna.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1969-Mercedes-Benz-280-SE_W0QQitemZ220214251600QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item220214251600

http://www.vh1.com/video/play.jhtml?vid=33284&artist=1098

[stangsteve]

First of all thank you all for your help. I have been busy doing home work on this car. I smooth taked the person who runs the auction yard, to let me try to get the car running. A slick tongue & $20 bucks did it. I had to hot wire the car to start it, because the key wouldn't turn the ignition. I cranked it a few times & got it started. It seem to run very rich as if the cold start valve was stuck, dumping fuel into the intake. I only let it run for a few sec. just needed to verify that it would run. The engine sounded good, no unussual noises. They had a compressor, so i fill up the air reservor. It took awhile, but all 4 bellows inflated. I drained the res. only a small amount of clear water came out. Now I could do a visual of the under side. The only rust was a 1 inch hole in the rear floor pan. I check the trunk, the fenderwells, firewall, frame top to bottom & could not find any more rust. There is a leak in the suspension after 10 min. the rear deflated & then the front. The complete steering linkage is new as well as the exhaust system. Couldn't inspect brakes but pedel felt firm, clean fluid & 4 new brake lines at each wheel. engine and trans fluid look clean. Like I said in my first post the car is partially disasembled but eveything is inside the car. I went through some of the boxes of parts & found the speedometer 89k. I think origianal milage. The chrome on this cabriolet is immaculate, must of been garaged its whole life. It will need carpet and door panels because of holes cut in it for speaker. Only 253 112 coupes & cabrio's were built in 1967. I'm guessing only 50 where cabrio. I would say this is a very rare car. I'm hoping to be the high bider when it goes to auction Thank for listening Steve

[wbain5280]

If you know what the chassis number is you might find it here:

http://www.300se.org/

[Baltobenz]

Whether it's worth it or not depends on you. If you plan on flipping it for a quick profit, this car will really piss you off. I've had my 300se returned to me twice by mechanics who freaked out and decided not to work on it. It sounds like you already have a good grasp of the situation though.

If you're buying it for your personal pleasure and plan on hanging on to it for a few years I think its a good deal if you get it for under $10000, considering your doing all the labor yourself. Do become comfortable with the idea that you may be putting $10,000 or more in parts into it over that period of time. I doubt you'll lose money, but I would imagine it would still be a challenge to turn enough of a profit to make it anything but a labor of love. Take the time to understand how it works and you find it's really not THAT complicated. A good internet search will get you better parts prices than what was quoted above. dbdepot.de and ebay.de are good sources, even with the weak dollar.

Here are a few links to cabrios that sold on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1964-Mercedes-Benz-220-SE-Convertible_W0QQitemZ150227816353QQihZ005QQcategoryZ6329QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1967-Mercedes-250SE-Cabriolet-Gorgeous-Rust-Free-W111_W0QQitemZ120234602614QQihZ002QQcategoryZ6329QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1964-Mercedes-300SE-Cabriolet-immaculate-89k-miles_W0QQitemZ110236874617QQihZ001QQcategoryZ6330QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Good luck with the auction, please let us know what it goes for.

[wbain5280]

That first one, the 64 220SE, is a pre 63 first version due to the single circuit brakes, ventilation flap on the firewall and the intake manifold.