w108 vs w109

[billhard]

Those of you who have experience with these models, would you help me clear up somethings.

First I really like the 300SEL 1969 or 1970 specifically with M130 engine. However, I have been told that looking for a 280SEL would save me from air suspension nightmares, are they really that bad? I think the air suspension is such a cool piece of engineering. Will I be forever fighting it?

Next I was told to look for a 3.5 or 4.5 v8 because the 6 cylinder is very hard to find parts for and when you do find them they cost a fortune. Do you all agree with these ideas?

Thanks for the input.

[alabbasi]

Originally Posted by billhard

Those of you who have experience with these models, would you help me clear up somethings.

First I really like the 300SEL 1969 or 1970 specifically with M130 engine. However, I have been told that looking for a 280SEL would save me from air suspension nightmares, are they really that bad? I think the air suspension is such a cool piece of engineering. Will I be forever fighting it?

Next I was told to look for a 3.5 or 4.5 v8 because the 6 cylinder is very hard to find parts for and when you do find them they cost a fortune. Do you all agree with these ideas?

Thanks for the input.

For simplicity, I would agree with both comments, air suspension is not unreliable, but will need attention every few years and is expensive. Coil springs are going to last forever and shocks run about 30-45 dollars / corner.

The MFI parts for a six cyl car are getting expensive because they are the same parts used in the pagonda SL's. Thus making those parts a little more in demand. D-Jetronic has it's own issues and many parts are expensive also. But they are easier (and cheaper) to find used on eBay.

[tyl604]

I had a 70 300SEL 6.3 for many years. The air suspension was always a problem. There was a relief valve used to evacuate some sort of milky substance from the system and a container which was to be kept full of denatured alcohol. Not sure what the alcohol was for. In any event I replaced the balloons several times and generally had problems the entire time I had the car.

However I absolutely loved the car.

[Skippy]

I've seen denatured alcohol used as a dryer in air brake systems. Maybe the milky substance was some sort of watered up oil?

For the record, my entire S-class experience consists of doing an over the web appraisal of a 108 with the M117 (72 280SE 4.5) and then driving it about a 1/4 mile into the garage where it now sits until DMV mails us a title. It drove very nicely and had lots of power in spite of not idling right, but I've been doing some reading on the cost of M117 repairs and I think the M130 (of which I own one) is probably cheaper to maintain.

I'm not a fan of air suspension on anything that isn't a commercial truck, but if you dig it and want to put up with some extra maintenance and repairs, go for it.

[tonkovich]

Having had a '69 280s, I must say that if you can deal with the carbs, there's nothing like driving a mercedes four speed with great handling. the sel with auto just doesnt compare, and clutch replacement is cheaper than auto trans work.

(need i mention the horrible fuel economy on all these models)