New to peachparts and new owner of 72 280se 4.5

[72merc280se]

I recently bought the car. It's in pretty darn good shape. However there are quite a few minor issues the previous owner did not inform me of. Dash lights do not work, leaks gas, can't figure out how to lock the car. Etc.. I've gotten mixed thoughts on vintage mercedes so thought I'd check into a forum and ask for tips..
Pardon the rambling..

[Tomguy]

Dash lights are the rheostat (the left knob on the cluster). Turn it back and forth a bunch of times with the lights on to see if you get signs of life. Where is the gas leaking from? And locking is easy - you just can't push the knob down on the driver's door when it's open. You need to use the key or open the rear door to lock that way (keeps you from locking the keys in the car). If the pneumatic locking system has leaks though, only the driver's door will wind up locking/unlocking.

I loved my 4.5, it was a reliable and fun DD while I was in college, and I am looking forward to the day when I can get another to replace it!

[DieselPaul]

Originally Posted by 72merc280se

I've gotten mixed thoughts on vintage mercedes so thought I'd check into a forum and ask for tips..
Pardon the rambling..

What have people told you? 9/10 critiques of Mercedes are made by people who have never worked on one, or people who spent their life working on carbureted american V8s, and worked on one Mercedes, one time, and were surprised their SAE tools didn't fit it.

[Tomguy]

Haha, I still remember hearing the comment about "How hard those Mercedes are to work on" when going to a full-serve station once when I was putzing around, by some dodgy old mechanic. My reply was "It's actually really easy to work on, much less complex than those finicky carbs with 5000 vacuum lines" - he looked at me like I had two heads and kept his yap shut

[72merc280se]

We'll I took the car to the local mechanic in Bellflower, he said so himself that the 72 280 is very hard to find parts which i guess makes it hard to work on... I don't know. Either way he helped us out with the few quirks and are ready to roll. BUT. We are now on the hunt for quite a few things. Including a distributor and.. Advance.?? Engine mounts. Antenna. Driver interior door handle. Driver door stop. There's several other issues.

My newest question for you guys is how many engine mounts are on this car?

I really appreciate your help fellas.

[MCMLXIX]

Originally Posted by 72merc280se

We'll I took the car to the local mechanic in Bellflower, he said so himself that the 72 280 is very hard to find parts which i guess makes it hard to work on... I don't know. Either way he helped us out with the few quirks and are ready to roll. BUT. We are now on the hunt for quite a few things. Including a distributor and.. Advance.?? Engine mounts. Antenna. Driver interior door handle. Driver door stop. There's several other issues.

My newest question for you guys is how many engine mounts are on this car?

I really appreciate your help fellas.

Two motor mounts and two little shocks to help with the torque.
There is a parts section, post an add for parts you need or search the listings. Use caution when buying cheap knock off parts.
Mercedes still has a lot of ports availabel for your car. Check with Tom Hanson from the Mercedes-Benz Classic center in California...


Fill out your profile to include where you're located. Also, I'm sure we would all love to see pics.

[ctaylor738]

It is not hard to find parts for these cars, but you can't just run down to your local NAPA store and expect them to have stuff in stock. Pelican, our sponsor, and other online places sell the more generic stuff like for brakes, tune-up, oil change, hoses, suspension, etc. For used parts, try Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market.

One of the best resources around is the Mercedes Electronic Parts Catalog, which will give you part numbers which you can use with the Classic Center, a local dealer, or the online places. It's free. You can sign up at https://epc.startekinfo.com/epc/subscribe.jsp.

You can check prices and availability at www.getmercedesparts.com.

[DieselPaul]

Get the part number off your distributor, I may have a good used one.