A quick background...

So far, I've owned:

1978 Porsche 924
My first car.

1977.5 Porsche 924
Replaced the first 924 after it's E-Brake broke and it went down a hill into a tree.

1968 Mercedes 250S
This one was, well, unique. I bought it from a Pick 'n' Pull for $450. Cosmetically it was in really nice shape inside and out. Under the hood... a '69 Ford 302 motor and Ford C4 tranny. I drove it for a year like that, then replaced the 302 with an '86 Ford 5.0HO. Drove it for six years that way. All the original gauges were hooked up and working (water temp, oil pressure... even the speedo and gear indicator were connected to the Ford AOD transmission and were accurate). This was a fun car... but never quite "right", as you can imagine.

1987 Toyota Supra Turbo
Put in a low-mileage JDM engine a few weeks after buying it. Six months later, a tree fell on it while it was parked.

1966 Volvo 1800S
Bought this from the original owner for $3200. Always covered/garaged. Really nice original shape. Relatively low mileage (125,000). I love this car and will probably keep it forever. I'm in the process of building up a new motor for it with a bit more power.

1985 Maserati Biturbo
55,000 miles on it. Only $800. Learned a lot working on this one... but it's outta here as soon as I have a chance to do a couple more minor things to it. Very, very fast... but too unreliable.

1984 Porsche 944
I still have this. Amazing handling. Decent power. The 300SEL will replace it.

1971 300SEL 3.5 (Euro model)
This was a very exciting find for me. I always loved the 108/109 body, and thought I'd get into that again eventually. It was owned by a disabled man who passed away and left it to his brother. All the little things (the ones that usually break) work great. Air suspension is perfect (rebuilt a couple years back). Power locks all work great. Power windows all work great. It runs nice and shifts are firm. It's a Euro model, so it has the big round clear fog lights, and even has the rear fog mounted on the bumper. The velvet/cloth interior is in really good shape considering its age. The car has only 164,000km (about 102,000 miles) on it. It's beautiful, with decent original paint and very fixable minor body damage at the front passanger fender. I picked it up in Sonora, CA for only $1500! I'm stoked!

Here are some pics:

Nice find! In case you didn't know, your headllight switch will have "left park" and "right park" modes, 1 and then 2 notches to the left of the "Off" position.

From what i understand, y'all stubborn 108/109 people caint stand to drive anything else.

We did a poll here couple of years ago and seemed 108's were the most driven Vintage MB's with the lowest attrition rate.

all things considered, make sure the brakes work and there are no trees in the immediate area. Lovely car. -CTH

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- cth350@gmail.com
http://www.111lakeside.com/

You should be arrested for Grand Theft Auto - it's beautiful, and you paid WAY too little. I'm not jealous! Really!

If the steering wheel is cracked spring for a good used one (about $150 on ebay): it will enhance your driving experience immeasurably. The velour was actually a high cost option (leather was standard, I believe) though I personally prefer the hides (too scratchy). These are wonderful cars and ride like a dream once the overbuilt suspension has been sorted out completely. The air suspension is really a brick so long as you remember to bleed the system every week (front left fender wall) and replenish the alcohol canister as needed. Also,it probably has a limited slip differential that requires special oil- NOT the gloppy 90W stuff. Don't break it!!!

$1500?! Oh that was a steal. That car looks really decent. That is about my most favorite car, next to the 280se 3.5.
Any rust? You could probably get away with a major restoration of the major systems for about $10,000 and what car could you buy today that would top it!?
Great catch
Leonard

Nice car! Just one of the of the most beautiful 4 doors every made. More and more they head to the junk yard, I told my daugther that in 20 years she may sell my 109 for what I have put in it! My new tech said his first "real car" was a 3.5 109 he got some 30 years ago. Thank God for me I finally found someone that knows how to work on one. Now replacing most of rubber parts lines, hoses, subframe ect. I would suggest a hard look at injection rubber as I understand they are prone to catch fire with old age. Again congrats on a nice find.

Simply stated, you stole this. I'm jealous. This is really a timeless design, and built with real quality.

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86 560SL
With homebrew first gear start!
85 380SL
Daily Driver Project

http://juliepalooza.8m.com/sl/mercedes.htm

you can tell by my signature that I am probably a bit jealous..

i'll be back in a 108 someday.... if I have a short commute... premium and 13 mpg...ouch.

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1989 300ce 129k
( facelifted front,updated tail lights, lowered suspension,bilstein sports, lorinser front spoiler, MOMO steering wheel, remus exhaust,stainless steel brake lines). (Gone)

1997 s320 154k (what a ride). Sold with 179k miles. Replaced with Hyundai Equus

1994 e320 Cabriolet 108k



1972 280se 4.5 153k Owned for 12 yrs, sorry I sold it


[/SIGPIC]

Wow. I think you just made a relative killing. Congrats.

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71 W111 3.5 coupe, European 4 speed
01 LX470
15 Yukon XL Denali
15 E63S Wagon

I think everyone who reads this thread is jealous.

I'll buy it off you for $2000

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Current:
2021 Charger Scat Pack Widebody "Sinabee"
2018 Durango R/T

Previous:
1972 280SE 4.5
2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited "Hefe", 1992 Jeep Cherokee Laredo "Jeepy", 2006 Charger R/T "Hemi"
1999 Chrysler 300M - RIP @ 221k

BTW...

Here are some pictures of the Ford 5.0HO powered '68 250S I used to have (and a bit of a friend's grey market '67 250S next to it), as well as an image of what is currently my "other" car, a '66 Volvo 1800S. The wheels on the 250S are from a '99 Mercedes CLK320. These are the only modern wheels I think look good on these cars.

I paid $1100 for mine hoping for an easy restoration as it had bad interior, ran rough and a dent in the back. Another $6000 later it still runs rough, has bad interior and a dent in the back. You got a deal. I must say I do like that ford powered 108 too. I wonder how hard it is to do that kind of conversion. I must go like a train.

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With best regards

Al

You'd better get the grease gun on those points and often. That's all on the front suspension, 2 or 3 on the driveshaft and 4 on the rear axle, two on the low pivot joint and one each on the rear caliper bearings. The rear calipers are attached to bearings and they are in turn attached to a small short torque arm which is then attached to the chassis. This arangement keeps the rear of the car from lifting during braking. There is also a rear sway bar not found on the steel spring W110, W111 or W108 cars, only on W112 and W109's.

You need to check this site: http://www.m-100.cc/

This site: http://www.300sel.com/

While these sites are M100 related, the 6.3 and your car are the same, save the engine and trans and other extra heavy duty components, driveshaft, brakes and rear axle.

Keep the air suspension drained of condensate and use denatured alchohol during the winter months. Get some spare air bags in case one blows out.

They are great cars. Best ride ever thanks to the air suspension.

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Regards

Warren

Currently 1965 220Sb, 2002 FORD Crown Vic Police Interceptor

Had 1965 220SEb, 1967 230S, 280SE 4.5, 300SE (W126), 420SEL

ENTER > = (HP RPN)

Not part of the in-crowd since 1952.

Great year, best 109 engine, and judging by the velour upholstery and kilo speedometer, a Euro delivery model. You won the lottery!