What happened to all the W116 - '73-'80 450 SEL's?

[Ether]

amskeptic I am thoroughly enjoying your prose.

Oldschool is an apt description of how it feels to me rolling down the road in my 300SD. Solid, solid,solid is how everything in my old warrior feels.

"That star, reflected laser-sharp in the hood, is a roadway homing-device."

Hey man, I'm stealing that phrase.

he,he....giddyup...................

[TClanton]

There is a certain point in the commute home every afternoon when I have to go under an underpass with iron grates in it...the wat the light from the grates catches the star, it looks like sparks are coming out of it....it is SO COOL that I go that way every day now............thought I was the only one obsessed with my hood star....

[mikemover]

HEY, check it out!

I'm getting some work done on my SD, and the loaner they gave me is a black on black 420 SEL/W126 with a freshly rebuilt engine!!!! Woohoo! I've been having a blast today! Pedal to the floor at every light! V-8 is great!

The power seats are great, driving position and legroom is great, and the suspension is great...

I still prefer the 116 styling and the more "direct" or "hands-on" feel of the handling, and the interior is a bit too "refined" and "gadgety" for my taste, but this car sure is fun to drive...makes my diesel seem VERY slow.

I can only imagine how much more fun a 450 or a 6.9 would be...now there's DEFININTELY going to be one in my future!

I'm like a kid with a borrowed toy!
mike

I have a feeling you don't hear much from 116 owners 'cuz we don't need much help! I bought my '77 450 SEL in Florida last year and drove it North to Rochester the next day. In the year since I've put in oil and anti-freeze (and gas for that big V-8), and taken out fun, fun, fun.

Cops wave me through, valets come running to park it, and BMWs and Audis get a quick look at my rear plate. Talk about flash! When this 17 foot silver and chrome chariot shows up, people treat me like J.R. Ewing.

Nobody knows I bought it for a song, and It's made to be serviced with ordinary tools. I kept my Saab for 250K. I think this will go for 1M.

gbarnold

'77 450 SEL
'86 300e
'94 Caravan
'86 Caravan
'69 Saab Sonett

Well, I am new to the 116 line. The one I Have, I haven't yet to drive due to lack of parts. It sat untreated for a few years and the fuel tank and pump are useless. So I have been progressingly cleaning it up a bit.

The car itself, a Euro model, with the AMG package. Considering there is only one other 116 around the mountains here in upstate (Lake PLacid area). That one is a cherry 1973 450SE Convertible. Its kind of strange, I've been cleaning up the car, things are written in German, like the cruise lever, all of the stickers under the hood and in the glove box. Cloth interior, no leather anyplace. Manual climate control....which I love, my 123 has auto climate control, and I hate it....many, many hours into it, and it still doesn't work. I gave up and bypassed everything so it works in one fixed way.

I poured some fuel into the upper throttle plate, and it roared to life for a few seconds, the car has an awesome sound to the exhaust. Supposedly AMG upped the horsepower to 270 with cams, injectors and a few other upgrades, so I am very anxious to get it on the road!! I don't think I'll be getting 20-22mpg!!!

But I think that a previous post was right, the owners drive them until the t-chain breaks and thats all she wrote, out into the field or scrap yard they go...

Originally posted by gbarnold
I have a feeling you don't hear much from 116 owners 'cuz we don't need much help! I bought my '77 450 SEL in Florida last year and drove it North to Rochester the next day
Nobody knows I bought it for a song, and It's made to be serviced with ordinary tools.
gbarnold

Rochester, New York? I'm west along Lake Ontario in the beautiful farmland. . . the better which to enjoy occasional
blasts to 100 on the parkway.
Mine is butterscotch yellow, honk when you see me.
Colin : )
p.s. the woeful day you have to pull the heads is the day
"ordinary hand tools" are no more. . .
photo over the parkway before 98
with Lake Ontario hidden just past

Hello Amskeptic:

Yes we must be neighbors. Your machine looks in fine shape! Look out for the Troopers near Hamlin Beach Park!

Do you have any favorite mechanics? I've been happy with Whitney Imports in Fairport--much cheaper than Holtz. The most extensive job I did myself was the water pump in my 300e--out on the driveway in December. No fun! The climate control servo for the 450SEL is the next job. Looks pretty straightforward.

If you see "Heavy Steel" coming, flash yer lights!

gbarnold

Originally posted by gbarnold
Hello Amskeptic:

Do you have any favorite mechanics? I've been happy with Whitney Imports in Fairport--much cheaper than Holtz
If you see "Heavy Steel" coming, flash yer lights!
gbarnold

I am my favorite mechanic. Very slow, prone to getting distracted by all the pretty parts and end up cleaning and painting and detailing my repairs. I like doing it right to the ridiculous degree, don't ask me to adjust the valves on mechanical lifter engines,
I'll take all damn day.

Holtz has some horror stories.
Dorschel is a nouveau-slick boutique.
I bought my 525i from Impact Motors across the street
from Whitney, a good transaction.
I'll be looking for ya.
Colin

Well, this is very intersting amskeptic. before I moved up into the mountains, I used to work for Dorschels!

Not a bad place to work, but the huge building and the tile floors in the drive through scared a lot of customers away, mostly due to the fact that what is the $75 per hour (that is what is was 3 years ago when I left) paying for?? The building, just to be bigger?? The place is insane as far as that goes. I was a Saab and Lexus tech there, most of our business went to places like impact motors, just because they are cheaper, and do somewhat of a decent job.

And as far as Holtz goes....I couldn't get them to work on my diesel a long time ago..."It's too old"..they said. They won't take anything beyond 15 or 20 years.

Just thought I'd share that, seems interesting to hear someone elses thoughts on Dorschels!!

Originally posted by brandoncrone
Well, this is very intersting amskeptic. before I moved up into the mountains, I used to work for Dorschels!

You done good gittin' out. It's getting fancy-silly.
I bought a LS400 from them, the torque converter unlocked
with a hideous groan. I ask my salesman, "Bob" on the test drive,
shall we take care of that?
and Bob replies "a happy customer makes us happy."
Hideous noise still there with a new ominous shudder.
Mr. Service Manager tells me that is a normal sound for an electronically-controlled transmission.
Oh, can I drive yours? . . . . well no,
customers are not allowed to drive service manager's cars. Upshot was a very nice man with a '90 LS400 let me drive his,
no noise.
They finally replaced the torque converter.
And copped an attitude when I came in with a new gawdawful
vibration in the driveshaft. Did you know Lexus performs final balance with a special heavy bolt through the driveshaft coupling?
Someone did not match-mark bolt positions.
Anyways, I hate the new "juice bar" with neon lights, and the power suits and ties. Too hoity-toity.
Holtz has stiffed personal friends of mine.
It is not that hard to tell a customer,
" We do not know what is wrong with your BMW,
can we keep it a little while to replicate the symptoms
that the OBC codes have not picked up?"
as opposed to changing the DME and airbox for $1,100.00
and claiming, " well, it's better than it was."
I found a split fabric-covered ( i.e. original) vacuum hose
under the intake manifold that was causing a lean hesitation.
I love cars, and I love beautiful engineering,
and I love human passion for excellence.
The car world has been hijacked by greed masquerading
under new-age customer-speak phony pandering.
I miss Mercedes-of-old.
Colin
here's some old Americana, one of our last real efforts

So, let me guess Mr. Service Manager would be Mike Brienzi, he is the only one I remember being there that had a 90 LS400. Hope its alright if I drop names....Salesman Bob sounds familiar, I can't remember his last name. I never had a problem with the high end salesmen, they were always nice.

Just don't let them tell you something is normal, Lexus is the pursuit of perfection, and let me tell you they pretty much are the Japanese Benzs', not to put the two carlines together, but in a way they are. Lexus has a lot of similiarities with Mercedes, especially the drivetrain past the transmission.

I hope you are enjoying your Lexus, they are very nice, but nothing compared to a Mercedes!!

The juice bar is a good idea, it just doesn't belong in a dealership.

[jbrasile]

Hello all,
I have not posted anything for a while but this topic has really caught my attention. I own a 1980 450SEL US, and must agree with all the ones that have made positive comments about the car.
The presence these vehicles have is simply not there in the 126, 140 and even 220 I had my US bumpers and headlights converted to Euro and the car looks gorgeous in its intended original form.
These cars have an elegance of engineering that is just incredible. Any maintenance and minor work required is easily acomplished and the quality of materials is vastly superior to all cars that came after it. Yes the interior looks a little spartan when compared to a 126 series II but the design is just superb, simple functional, timeless...
When properly maintaind the 450 V8 will cover phenomenal miles and the rest of the car is just indistructible. The climate control is probably the weakest system in the car but if properly repaired will function correctly for a very long time.
I had my front and rear suspensions totally rebuilt and it rides like new.
My step father has a 126 280S in Europe, and I also own a 300E purchased two months ago in Brasil to use during frequent trips but that car is now for sale to be replaced by another 116. To me personally they still are the best sedans ever built period!!!

Originally posted by brandoncrone
I hope you are enjoying your Lexus, they are very nice, but nothing compared to a Mercedes!!

Oh, I *sold* that automotive appliance.
Got a frisky 5 Series in its place so I could
remember the joys of heel-and-toe.
The Lexus gave me 110,000 flawless miles
with the best sound system bar-none, and I will always remember the quality with great respect.
I love my 450SEL, however. . . .
Colin : )

[jwduffey]

I have a 1973 450SE- has the thin bumpers. I've only owned it for a short time, but I absolutely love it. The previous owner, who is a mechanic, replaced a lot of items like the front end, AC, window seals, etc. It is a gas hog but I didn't buy it for fuel economy anyway. Almost every time I drive the car people want to ask questions about it. No one can believe it is almost 30 years old. I have always liked the 116 body style, but I have to say my favorite is my 1989 300 SEL (126). I get so many comments on that car. The only problems I've had is one of the motor mounts went bad, had to replace the little shock absorber on the engine and had to replace the transmission. The car only had about 75,000 miles on it at the time but was nearly 11 years old. I was a little disappointed that it needed a replacement with so few miles on it. It has less than 95,000 miles now and still looks new.

I have also wondered where the 116's are. Most of the ones I do see are neglected. I did look on Ebay for a while before buying the one I have, but I never saw any. I also checked the Auto Trader and the local paper but with no luck. I really wanted a 73 model with the thin bumpers so when my neighbor opened his garage door one day and I saw that car sitting inside I pestered the hell out of him until he sold it to me.

[1977450sel]

It's great to see postings about the w116. I have a '77 450sel. This is the first and only car I have ever had. My first exposure to Mercedes was my friends 1985 500sel. Once I saw the w116 body style I knew it was me. Its such a classic, nostalgic car. It might only be 25 years old, which by the way is older than me, but it just represents quality, a time capsule of style and of an era gone by. I mean the car says Made in West Germany! I occasionaly see a few others around town, but I have yet to see another red one like mine. In the 2 years I have owned this car, I've had minimal problems, considering its age, i would say it's remarkable. Getting parts for the car is not a problem, they do get a little expensive, but it's a german car! I am completely content with this car and if i had to purchase a new car i would look for another w116.