My First Post!!! (More...We just purchased a full European 300sl 1986 R107!!)

[PoloBenz]

Hi,
I have been coming to this site for quite sometime (just recently registered though). Ever since I purchased my 300e and found this site, I come home every day and check it out! From the 500e discusions, to questions regarding oil grades and ovp's! (Glad there is a search feature!)
Anyway, I would like to ask you guys if anyone has a Euro 300sl R107. My father and I were driving down the road (typical, huh?) and we see it sitting there!!! Diamond blue, and in need of a good cleaning; however, under the water spots of the front windshield was the "word" European! So we check it out thinking it was a mis-bagged 560 or 380 with Euro headlights. Low and behold, it turns out to be a FULL Euro car...bumpers, lights, manuals, everything (except for Speedometer and minor things) It has the bumpers, the economy mode and sport mode switches. Automatic AC, ABS, cruise control, heated seats, rear defroster for hard top. We fell in love with the car! The owner had NO real clue about the rareness of this car. It has the leveling fog lights, the city lights, and all the goodies!
"I bought it in 1986 in Germany while on vacation, spent a whole lot of $$ to import it back to the States (Northern California all it's life), and have all records since it has been well maintained. And I know it is a rare car because I haven't seen any 300's like this one."
Next day we buy it!!!!!!! It is SOOOO smooth!! It has the M103 Engine it it, new flex disc, rotors, tires, and a bunch of other stuff. Altho it does need gasket work (yea a lot of $$ here!)

Now for the bad things: The dumb @$$ who worked on the car previously had striped the ORIGINAL bolt in the oil drain. So we have to get it done by a shop tomorrow! The car was very low on oil. Long story; however, the car has been siting in a shop for 6 months being driven 20 feet a day by the workers of the shop WITHOUT!!! PROPER maintenance- it really makes me angry that they could of at least changed the oil! I put in 3 full quarts of oil to get the 3/4 max on the dip stick. My question is: When the car is idling, the oil gauge drops to like 1-2, when I give it gas, it goes back up to full, why does this happen?
Does anyone konw anything about these cars?
Is it worth a lot of money as a collectors car (being in excellent shape)?
Is it hard to get parts for this car?
Thank you for reading my post if you made it this far! I apologize for my tangent on this new car, in addition to all the grammar and spelling mistakes I made because I'm too excited while writing this! I'm just really excited about this rare find, and being the only one who actually appreciates it's value in the family really gets me angry! I wish to keep this car for a long time, I'm sure it is/will become a collectable in the States!
-Tony

MBZ 300e W124 (My Car)
MBZ 300sl W107 Euro (My "new" Car)
Dodge Caravan (Father's) soon to be sold for a W124 (3/400e)!
Old-smobile (Mother's) soon to be sold for a R107 (380 or 560)!

My Euro model experience grows all the time. Mine (for a little over 2 years) was converted and I have sealed beam headlights and the headlamp adjustment is not functional. Euro bumpers remain. Yours sounds most cool. Do you have the 5-speed manual?

Your oil pressure is operating normally.

Regarding value, sadly, the European models are not as valuable in the US because some dealers won’t work on them or take them as trades, some insurance companies won’t insure them, and there are EPA and DOT issues. I’m surprised it’s in the US because they changed the laws in 1985 and it almost ended the gray market imports. Do not count on it having any collector value or even maintaining it’s value unless you “bought it right”. It would most likely be a very bad investment but may be a great driver!!

Usually, the parts are available but if you have any strange trouble the dealer may disavow any responsibility (they didn’t import it) and they may not have the information to tell you about it. They are wired differently and the part locations are different. I do a lot of research and have to buy extra parts. EG: shocks replaced. Hardware for US models is included. I had to buy the Euro hardware (for the rears) separately. These things are discovered at inspection or installation. More days, more work. Every time I buy parts it is a hassle. For dealer service, I got turned down completely for intermittent electrical problems and had to learn the ignition system and hunt down the problem myself. I hope you have a lot of time and mechanical/electrical skill or a lot of money and a creative mechanic. I have installed $3000 in parts myself and spent $3000 on professional service in 2 years but the 107 I bought was known to need work when I bought it. Please don’t misunderstand me, I love the car and am willing to do all this but there is no payback. I recommend getting only US models in the USA.

Good luck
Steve

[PoloBenz]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for the reply. I completely understand your viewpoint, and have feard the inevitable with this car! However, I am pleased to say that I took it into a top notch mechanic today (after passing smog with flying colors!!) who said that the car is absolutely perfect. It does need a good engine cleaning, other than that, everything is fine, including the oil (it turned out to be oild oil that leakd on the engine from a lousy oil change, which made it look very dirty. Regarding parts: I went thro the previous records for the car to find out that most parts are off the W124 and some from the W140 chassiss! No major work has been done to the car (I should be worried about that one!). The dealer was very pleased to help me out. They were excited to actually come out ot the "parts department store thing" and check the car out! It attracted quite a bit of attention. They said they will work on the car with the only problem being that I might have to wait a little bit longer than usual to get parts (some might have to come from Germany). Other than that, the car is great! It sure is fun to drive!!! Value wise, I am not too woried about not getting good money for it when it comes to sell. I got it for a pretty good price! I found one in the MBZ collecter's website for 24,000 USD in Denmark! The SL is such a great car!!! I love it! It may not be as solid as my W124, but it sure drives nice!
Thanks for the post. I'm glad to hear somone out there has a "grey market" Euro SL!!!
-Tony

I am happy for you and your car sound great. I hope you don’t have any big problems or parts delay. The 107s had a lot of changes from 1983 to 1986 so it may be a bigger problem than the 124s. Best luck and enjoyment!

Steve

tony

if you live in northern california and near san rafael i actually saw the car for sale. i actually own a 280sl 107. i saw the car walking to work after leaving the my car with the mechanic.

i couldn't believe my eyes and thought about buying it but i already have one and actually have no room for a second.

best of luck with the car.

steve.

[PoloBenz]

Hehe, thats the one! I live in San Anselmo. The car was in San Rafael at the Firestone Tire place. It's such as nice car!! I'm glad you didn't buy it, ...just kiding. It's a great car, and *knocking on wood* i hope nothing major goes bad on it!
Steve- Sorry I forgot to answer you question. It isn't a stick....i wish it was!!! That would of been sweet!

-Tony

tony

ive had my sl for over three years. ive driven it about 15,000 miles in that time. the car runs great and its fun to drive on highways as well as mountain roads. its a little slow at times but it its very reliable. mine is a 5 speed stick. there is another car just like mine in san rafael.

just remember to use premium gas and the valves need to be adjusted periodically.


steve

Hello, I am Ezzy from Japan.
We have special models only for Japan that is Euro look US engine models because of our smog issues. Euro version usually does not come with catalytic converter so we have one with US specs.
I usually buy all the parts from US because parts price here are usually double and sometimes triple!
So, I use a few US parts shop to buy parts, but some of exterior parts cannot ordered because they are not available in US.
In this case, I directly place an order to Germany venders.
Please try this guy. They can help you if you need EURO parts.
http://www.speed-autoteile.com/home-n.htm

Hope this will help.

Regards, Ezzy.

[300SL]

It is in Lafayette, CA waiting to be sold. It is in excellent condition and has always been garaged. We don't know how to find out the value of the car since it is gray market. Any ideas?

[coleyjf]

Hi Tony

Congratulations on your new 300SL

You'll love it - I have an 88 300SL 107 and it's a great motor. You mentioned the smog test - mine has done 120K miles and just had it's annual UK (MOT) test, the mech said it would have pased the test for a new car so I'm not surprised.

There are Euro parts available on eBay from this side of the pond so getting the bits which are different (not too many I think) should be fairly easy - I've been getting parts from the US without any problems.

I like the straight 6 engine better than the V8 - sounds nice and smooth with a gentle growl when you push it up the revs rather than a shout, miuch more refined I think!

By the way - It's a revised model ( face lift) 1986 - 89 as this was when they brought the 300SL out to replace the 280 so it's got the updated stuff on it like ABS as standard - uprated suspension - flat 15" alloys -better engine out of the E class - improved fuel control - AND in the UK it runs on 95 octane gas (NOT 98)

Cheers

Jim

Is this tony's car from San Anselmo

If not is it a stick or automatic

thanks

steve c. '84 280sl 188k

[t walgamuth]

as far as value goes, i think as the cars get older the euro models will eventually be more valuable than the us cars as they are simpler and lighter, hence better handling. and the whole gray market thing is about done with even today.

they seem to have a tendency to rust a bit more than us models though so check that carefully.

then....enjoy, but before buying be sure your insurer will insure it.

tom w

[deanyel]

I think a 107 300SL has very strong value in the U.S. - better than a 280, better than a 380, better than a 450, better even than a 560 - because it's rare and very desirable, light weight, small bumpers, great, easy to work on motor. The 103 motor came out in Europe just about the same time the gray market shut down here. There can't be more than a couple of dozen of them in the U.S. This theory is based on the premise that all 107s have suffered seriously value deterioration in recent years - only a truly pristine 560 is worth anything.