Doktorno and I bought this car to do vintage racing. Then we got the car and found that it's too good to destroy with racing. Rust-free because it spent its whole live in a garage in the AZ and Nev desert. No sunburn issues. Runs great. Was born white, but given a quality respray to silver/blue. Someone loved this car, even though we have no records to prove it.

We had to clean the tank, get a new suspension, a new starter, and some other things, but man she is fun to drive. What a great car full of character.

Interior is next on the list. Seats, cocomats, stereo, etc. Some pics:

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

Nice Kenwood EQ! What great pick you made, that's a beauty!

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John Breslin
93 500E, 92 500E, 86 190E 16V, 62 220SEb
Music City Chapter MBCA

That's a nice car, looks a lot like my 71 6.3. If you don't mind me asking Brian, do you have a p# for the starter?

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With best regards

Al

Take care of that power antenna. Used ones are about $350.

All in all very nice. I once had one of these and it was unreal to drive. The amazing thing is that this car is 42 years old and some carmakers are just now catching up to it.

Make sure to find all the grease fitting on the rear axle and rear wheel bearings, and don't ever let the air system canister get low on liquid. Water in the air suspension system will eat up the little lines that run everywhere under the car.

And join the M-100 club. It cost about fifty bucks a year or so but if you own a 6.3 it is well worth it.

The International M-100 Group

Nice car. Glad you guys didn't turn it in to a "race car". With some nice seat skins fitted and a classic Becker, that'll make a stunning ride to take the family out and about.

The pics and color combo really make it out to be a beauty. I'm sure you can still have fun with it... a bit of oppo at a roundabout when no one is looking?

I have a question for the 108 6.3-savvy crowd on here; the last pic of the engine bay shows a radiator that looks about the same width and (I am assuming) height as the radiator in my 108 2.8... Since my temps climb in traffic with the AC off, what happens with this big motor? Where does the heat all go, or do they also "get hot when stopped"?

My layman's thinking would be that since I consider my car's radiator marginally sized, the V8 radiators must be larger (wider, taller) but that doesn't appear to be the case, or is it?

How good is your radiator? I had a 280SEL 4.5 which had always ran cool in stop go traffic. One thing that you can do is fit the mechanical fan from a 4.5. I believe that the blades are bigger then the ones on the 2.8 and 3.5.

__________________
With best regards

Al

Thanks Al. Pulling radiator is on the list of things to do... It may well have clogged arteries after 40 years of a dubious diet. I will look in to the 4.5 fan/shroud too.

I just couldn't see a 2.8, 3.5, 4.5 and 6.3 sharing the same sized radiator. Either my 2.8s setup has way more cooling capacity (which I am not seeing--I have a problem somewhere) or the 6.3 is potentially not cooled adequately, just based on how much heat that size of radiator can remove from the system. since the v8s run cool enough, I guess that means I need to check my radiator...

So far, it's had no issues of overheating to our amazement. Then again, it's not 100d yet here in Houston. It will be.

Alabassi, I don't think I have the starter number, but I'll grab that file when I can and see if my MB guy wrote it down. I doubt it though.

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

The sixes have 10 liters of coolant. You need to buy some mercedes citrus cooling system flush ,remove the thermo,replace the cover and run it for a while .
Then undo the drain plug on the block,by the starter motor and run as much clear water as you can through the radiator ,block and even tale the heater hoses off and poke the hose in them and give the heater a good blow out.
Dont expect it to become clean immediately ,you need to do it a couple or even three times over a couple of weeks to get all of the brown stuff out of the block and hopefully the radiator.
If you do it and still see bits of brown stuff stuck in the top of the radiator tubes you will need to get a rad shop to take the tanks off and clean the tubes.
Make sure your Vee belt is good and the pump is quiet. The water pump is bolted to a alloy housing which can eat out and prevent the pump impeller from working properly.
The 6.3 uses the same size radiator but the outlet on the bottom is on the opposite side.
My 6.3 runs the stock radiator tanks with a thicker core (one more row of fins) and it runs too cold. I dont even run a fan and at a constant 100 mph the temp drops off. Last weekend I powered up a mountain at full throttle (yes these are fun to drive) rising several thousand feet and it stayed at 175 F.
The only problem with this is that the cold start in the injection makes the engine run rich.
I have reset the cold start thermo to shut off earlier (it should be 60C) .

Great looking car. Love the contrast of the blue and silver.

But now what are you going to buy to race?

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1967 230S Fintail Rally Car (Build & Photo Thread)

Website: www.bringatrailer.com

Thanks Brian

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With best regards

Al

That is such a pretty car, guys. Keep us all posted on your progress. I for one enjoy it vicariously.

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Charles Cleaver
1975 350SE + 1992 300CE-24 SportLine 5-speed + 2002 SLK320 6-speed + 1974 W114 280
1986 190E 2.3-16 (Decomm rear self-leveling suspension; Euro-code headlamps) sold
2004 Audi S4 6-spd - sold
1969 (2) and 1980 Porsche 911T, S, and SC - alas gone
1987 300SDL - Graf Spee; Euro-code headlamps; 16-inch 8-hole wheels - sold
1994 E420+(E500 suspension/E-code headlamps/PAD chip) sold
1968 250SE 4-speed (NICE car) - long gone
1962 220S 4-speed/column mount - long gone

Bought ths, but know that whatever we race may be subject to serious damage. So may not race this either!

1969 Porsche 911S

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

I thought the hubcaps were supposed to match the roof color. I wonder if the blue top was added at some point or the hubcaps were changed for some reason.......?
dws

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1966 Porsche 912
1970 Mercedes 280S
1981 Mercedes 380SL
1984 500SEC Euro
1984 Porsche 944
1986 Jaguar XJS V12
1986 Corvette Z51 (For Sale)
1989 Mercedes 300SE
2010 BMW 328i/M

starter is A001 151 74 01

The 6.3 uses the same body as the diesel starter but with a different armature and snout. To save hassles use a 6.9 starter. the body is smaller ( same as the m116-117 V8 Starters) but works perfectly . I used a worn one for 4 years until it finally died on me.