Yup, what Tomuy said. When I took the engine apart it needed a few valves and valve guides, but the bottom end looked NEW.

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Csaba
1972 280SEL 4.5, silver

upon further research i also noticed the 4.5 has a 3 spd auto?? How is that to drive? It seems for a car with this much power you would rather have a 4spd at least (especially since other models had this). How is that to drive... would anyone recommend swapping that out if i go for the 4.5?

The 3 speed is more like a 2.3.4th gear with the 1-2 change at about 60mph. 0-60 is about 10 seconds, passing speed on highway is good.

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With best regards

Al

ok cool. It is faster than my 240d regardless

> It seems for a car with this much power you would rather have a 4spd at least

The more torque an engine has the fewer speeds it needs in the transmission. Or lets say the fewer speeds it can get away with, it's always nice to have more. The 4.5 does fine with a 3 speed, after all the American V8s of the 60s and 70s had either a 2-speed or 3-speed auto.
The 4.5 shifts into 3rd around 28mph, but the little red line on the speedo shows that first can be wound out until 60 mph. To do this one has to manually downshift, as even with pedal to the metal the transmission will shift into 2nd much sooner (40-50 mph).

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Csaba
1972 280SEL 4.5, silver

I just took the plunge into the world of W108s and Mercedes Benz a little over a month ago. I got the six cylinder with an automatic and it's fine in LA traffic. It's lovely to drive but there are some things to be concerned about.

Obviously, as you mentioned, rust is a big one.

The Bosch MFI on the six cylinder cars is pretty reliable but if something happens to the injection pump, it's very expensive to replace.

Rubber. My car spent the majority of its life with one family in the Bay Area and the door rubbers as well as the windshield seal and all the window fuzzies are shot. The windshield seal from Mercedes is pretty reasonable but the door rubbers and the window fuzzies are insane. There are alternatives for both though caveat emptor.

Cooling can be a problem with the straight sixes, based on what I've read here and what my mechanic has told me but if you keep the car well maintained and keep an eye on your coolant temp gauge you should be fine.

The W113 Pagoda group is a fantastic resource for M130 info. I use it regularly and I'm about to embark on their "linkage tour" this weekend.

Power windows on these cars suck. They break with some regularity and parts to fix them aren't super cheap. Find a car with manual windows if possible.

All that said, the W108 is an amazing car to drive. I'm 6'4" 280lbs and its one of the most comfortable cars in terms of interior space and ride that I've ever been in. I love the reactions I get from people on the road, it seems to make them happy. I don't drive mine daily, but I drive it quite a bit and it keeps up with modern traffic and once I get the a/c sorted, it will have everything I'd want in terms of modern conveniences.

Good luck!

The rubber in the suspension is mainly the front subframe mounts, rear differential & trailing-arm mounts, and motor mounts. The front suspension is all metal kingpins & bushings with lots of grease-fittings.
As for which 108, I like to keep my old cars simple. My vote would be for one of the basic 6-cylinder 'S' models with carbs and a stick-shift. A friend once told me "These cars feel 500 pounds lighter with a stick-shift". While the 6 is no fuel miser, the V8s typically get really horrid gas mileage.
And I still feel carbs are easier/cheaper to DIY. A well sorted FI system performs better, but a neglected one requires specialized knowledge, and expensive parts.
Just try to find one that's been driven fairly regularly and hasn't been allowed to sit a long time as stale gasahol is rough on the old fuel systems.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

I have had my 4.5 back from my mechanic about a month. The FI system is running really well and it really makes a difference in how the car drives.

I have noticed that the more I step on the gas pedal the better the car drives. I do not mean the extra speed or acceleration. It is like the 4.5 begs to be revved. I usually put the transmission into "2" when accelerating from a stop. Once I get the car up to 35-40 mph I shift into "D" and the transmission immediately shifts into 3rd gear. No matter how hard I floor the throttle when in "D" the transmission will shift into third no later than about 40mph. I find this process really brings out the best in the 4.5. Otherwise if left in "D" the transmission shifts to third at around 26/27mph.

At first I was very concerned about how high revving the 4.5 was with the 3 speed auto. I think at 70mph the engine is at around 3000rpm.

saw a 250s and a 280se 4.5 this weekend. The 250s was a manual column shift... pretty neat. The s280se had too much rust but was really nice to drive. I already have a bunch of manual cars and while driving it.... this car (probably for the first time ever) felt like it should be with an automatic. Idk why... but there is something awesome while driving one of these bad boys. Now i want one even more and i am pretty set on the 4.5. Yea the jetronic is ... well... kind of stone agey... but for the time... pretty impressive.

Is there a more simple .. easier to maintain system that is a swap in for the jetronic? I can learn how to work the jetronic but the parts for it look kind of a PITA to get and expensive to replace. $250 for an injector (WTF???) I am coming from the world of MFI .. but still... that seems insane. Maybe i am wrong though..

Also that control unit looks like something out of the computer of the original tron movie.

> Power windows on these cars suck.

Yes! I think the problem is that when the windows go all the way up it puts pressure on the whole mechanism, and after 40+ years it bends the whole mechanism a little. When it bends the gear on the motor and the one in the mechanism no longer align correctly, it onlt half of the gear teeth now overlap. thus they are much more likely to strip, especially in the all the way up position, as people often keep pressing the button a few extra seconds.

Now I make sure that when rolling up the windows I release the button as soon as the windows are up, and when the car is in the garage I leave the front windows slightly cracked.

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Csaba
1972 280SEL 4.5, silver

I learned to drive a manual on a '61 Ponton 180b columnshift.
Didn't know that was an option on the W108 until many years later when I had the chance to test drive a '69 280S with a manual columnshift. I enjoyed it.
Unless you dread rowing a stickshift on those SF hills, if you want "more simple", go for that 250S. No 'stone-age' electronics, $250 injectors, or $1000 fuel-pumps. Power steering is desirable on these cars, but it's a bonus if that 250S has manual windows.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

is there a noticeable acceleration difference between a 280se i6 (m130 vs. m117)?

I know the sound will be different.. but in terms of sheering driving.

Yes

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With best regards

Al

Unless your injectors actually crack and leak, there are plenty of places to send them to that will refurb them WAY less than that, probably $80-100 for all 8 I guess. Yes, some people have used MegaSquirt (which is kinda dated at this point). You can throw in a Haltech if you want modern, either of those will cost a fair amount though and you need to investigate RoI... like if you want a better injection system, why not put it on a new engine, like a 5.6 M117 etc. As is, a properly maintained 4.5 with D-Jet will still be reliable and quick, even if not as fuel-efficient as a modern closed-loop feedback system would be. Plus a Haltech would be super-flexible and allow for forced induction, if you want to test just how bulletproof that M117 bottom end actually is...

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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

When the Jetronic systems first came out they were considered something magical. Unless you had one of those Wizard hats with stars and moons all over it there was no way you could hope to work on such a system.

Since I didn't have such a hat I dug into the thing and found that almost every part, short of the computer and some of the total mechanical parts, could be tested with a voltmeter.

And any part could be rebuilt. Most of them by myself. And if not then by repair shops that worked on such items.

Parts new are expensive. Parts used and in working order are affordable. They can be picked up off of Ebay if you know what you are looking for.

There are a number of good books out on how to service these systems and they, too, can be had for cheap at Amazon if you buy a used one.

The Mercedes manual on this system is good to use if you already know what you are doing. You can tell from trying to use it that Mercedes is expecting the user to be a trained professional.

It is not hard to learn how to repair these systems. Just think of it as a carb that is spread out all over the engine.