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  #1  
Old 04-07-2008, 11:02 PM
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Location: Carson City, NV
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W114 or W116?

Background: The place (junkyard) I work for offers a free tank of gasoline a week, sometimes more, to employees. I'm unable to take advantage of that perk, since I just have diesels right now. So, I'm considering getting a gas burner, driving it for a while, and then selling it when I leave this job (some months most likely). The gas comes from the tanks of cars that have been junked. We try to keep the good gas separate from the bad gas, and are pretty good at it. The gasser I buy will basically be a work beater to drive for a few months.

Current candidates include a '71 250 and a 70something 450SEL. The 250 will be sold by my employer once we get the title from DMV. Mileage is unknown. I haven't driven it, but I'm told it runs and drives well. Paint is oxidized, but the body is straight. Interior is complete but worn.

The SEL has been sitting behind a local gas station since at least October. The tag on it expired in June of 07. Mileage is at 276,000. Exterior condition is the same as the 250. Interior has sheepskin covers front and rear. I'm not sure how the underlying upholstery is, but the exposed front armrest looks awful.

I'm looking for approximate values, pre purchase inspection tips, and any other advice you may have. I'm a school trained diesel mechanic, and have worked on domestic and Jap gassers before, but never a gas Benz. Any advice will be appreciated.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
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  #2  
Old 04-07-2008, 11:16 PM
t walgamuth's Avatar
dieselarchitect
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Lafayette Indiana
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As little as you can get it for. The low hundreds. Either one will use plenty of gas.

Tom W
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..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.
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  #3  
Old 04-07-2008, 11:25 PM
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If both are same external/internal condition, the w116 will be worth more in resale value simply because it's higher-end. But not by much. The seats of the 450 may be a lot better than you think, the sheepskin covers usually protect the leather from wear and tears.

PPI is important stuff like rubber fuel lines (ESPECIALLY if the 450 is a 73-75 - they have D-Jet with high-pressure under-hood EFI lines likely to burst if weak from age), brake lines, belts hoses etc. On the 450, check if the swaybar mounts against the firewall are rusty or not. If they are, and they're loose, that could make it unsafe to drive. I see you're in Nevada so I'm guessing external rust won't be much of an issue but dry-rot will. So make sure the rubber works. Being that you are in Nevada, I'm guessing A/C is important. The 250 will have manual A/C, the 450 will have the dreaded climate control servo which is probably shot by now (if not, consider yourself lucky). Meaning it could cost a pretty penny to fix the A/C on the 450, whereas the 250 might just need a shot of freon/R134a if converted.

Your gas is free - a tank a week. How much driving will you be doing? Neither car will get more than 22MPG most likely, but the 450 probably won't break 16 ALL HIGHWAY if you drive it like most people (or how it was intended). I got around 13MPG in my 4.5 on my best highway trip ever, but averaged 90MPH (milemarker/time calculation). Will that be enough to get you to work and back, and go other places? If yes, I would take the 450 over the 250 on power and looks alone, if both cars are in the same shape.
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  #4  
Old 04-07-2008, 11:37 PM
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Work is 5.7 miles from home. A tank a week should cover most of my driving needs, and the diesels will still need to be run once in a while anyway.

I haven't had a daily driver with AC since 2005, but if it did work, that would be nice, and help out the resale quite a bit.

Rubber and sway bar mounts-got it.

I heard somewhere that SEL's require premium fuel. Is that right, or is it only certain ones?
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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
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  #5  
Old 04-08-2008, 07:47 AM
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Another thing to consider is why the 450 is parked. There are two different M117 (4.5) motors that could be under the hood. Both are bad news when it comes to fixing a dead car on the cheap.

The older motor has D-jet EFI, something you could spend hours on w/o much success unless you happen to work at a junk yard that has a spare car lying about. An older 280se 4.5 would supply the same spares. Hopefully you own a soldering iron and have access to a tail pipe sniffer to check the exhaust for the CO % level.

The later 4.5 has CIS, a nifty and simple mechanical fuel injection system. Though it stops being so nifty when somebody lets it sit a long time and the injection system cloggs up from dead gas.

Neither of these fuel injected cars will like bad gas very much.

The other car has a pair of zenith carbs. Keeping them running is simple. Worse case, you spend a day of your life rebuilding them and tuning the car again. Personally, it's more fun.

go with the 250.

-CTH
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  #6  
Old 04-08-2008, 11:15 AM
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If you're used to old cars and carbs, the 250 is a better choice than the 450. (If that 250 is a manual-shift, grab it!) I think the twin carb 250 is a better DIY proposition than a neglected FI system. Neither car is known for being thrifty with gas, but a properly timed & tuned 6-cylinder 250 should be able to top 20 mpg on the highway, while I doubt the V8 450 will make it past the mid teens.

Happy Motoring, Mark
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  #7  
Old 04-09-2008, 11:11 AM
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All gas mileage aside, trying to resurrect a 450SEL (which is a complicated top of the line car) from out of the weeds versus a simple workaday 250 with your boss' blessing seems a pretty easy decision. Especially considering the fact that you plan on actually USING the car for the next few months only. I think if it were me, I'd probably end up spending more of that time working on the w116 and sourcing parts than actually driving it. Not to mention the fact that the w114 is about thousand pounds lighter and the SEL is a long wheelbase, which would be harder to park. If you were planning on escorting groups of people or dignitaries perhaps it would make more sense, for simply getting to work and taking advantage of free gas I think the 250 is a better choice.
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  #8  
Old 04-09-2008, 09:16 PM
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Update

The 250 went up for sale today so I got to take a better look at it. The interior is better than I thought. It isn't new by any means, but it isn't excessively worn and has few to no tears. Tires are nearly new Michelins. Some of the exterior chrome trim strips are in the process of peeling off. The car has been repainted, and some of the repaint is peeling off the right rear quarter panel, where it looks like there may have been a collision repair. Other than that, it has only a little surface rust (less than either of my current drivers), and the underside is clean and not rusty. The exhaust system seems to have been replaced fairly recently. It has AC, but there is no belt on it.

I talked with the assistant manager, who drove it from the hold lot to the "for sale" area, and he said it drove well and didn't demonstrate any issues except for a slightly rough idle. It's had the same gas in it since at least December.

Asking price is $849. I know they will go lower, but I'm not sure how much. What do you think?

Edit: It's a column-shift automatic. Is that unusual?
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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
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  #9  
Old 04-09-2008, 10:08 PM
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Columnshift automatic isn't that unusual, though the floorshift looks cooler. Finding one of these wth minimal rust is a significant accomplishment and the nearly-new Michelns are a bonus.

Happy Motoring, Mark
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  #10  
Old 04-09-2008, 10:37 PM
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gimme a low-tech 240D
 
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'71 250 at Carson City NV betcha its mostly rust-free. Typically more durable seats than later models too. The real rust-prone yrs and w/ floppy seats were '74 +. Zenith carbs wont tolerate alot of fiddling though. Rule is set em up right and leave em alone. Wear parts include carb accelerator pumps and chokes. Rough idle while cold aint uncommon, blow it out with italian tune up says me.

Heck, for that kinda money it sounds like a good save. Owning and driving the nimble 114 ye wont feel any love lost for yer diesels.
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  #11  
Old 04-10-2008, 09:53 PM
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I have a '71 250C and a '76 450SEL.

The 250C is way funner to drive.

You can't set the idle on the 450SEL without a CO meter.

A full tank on the 450SEL is 25 gallons! I don't run super in mine.

Michael
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  #12  
Old 04-12-2008, 11:13 PM
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Looks like management will come down to 700 on the 250 for me, since I'm an employee. Does this sound like a good deal?
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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
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  #13  
Old 04-13-2008, 11:27 AM
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They should be able to come down lower for a good employee like you. Assuming that you can get her back on the road for $250 or less then you would have a good deal. That is on the assumption that a 250 is worth about 1k on the road.
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  #14  
Old 05-01-2008, 11:37 PM
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I bought the 250. See my separate thread on it for details.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
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