Looking at this 560 SEC... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

G-Benz · #1 08-08-2009, 07:12 PM

Here's the link with pics...

http://princecars.com/44329/1988_Mercedes_Benz_560sec.html

I took a test drive and played with the interior appointments...found a LOT of stuff needing attention. Engine was strong but hesitated under acceleration.
Discovered a bit of rust cancer on the front trunk lip by the driver's side just underneath the rear windshield...but hey, this is Texas, not Illinois.

So not worth $6000!!! Offered $3000 and he countered with $3500. I think I'll try to seal the deal at $3200.

BTW, it only occurred to me that I was driving a Euro SEC as I gazed at the needle settling at 110 km/hr speedo on the highway. So...would the mileage reflect total kms or miles?

I'm not a purist, and since this car needs a lot of work, my plan is to recondition this car over a period of one year, having the body painted monocolor (probably onyx blue) and powdercoating the wheels to match. BTW, I told him I was not interested in the stereo as I would do a cleaner install of my own (he was impressed with the system in the 300E).

I tend to be emotional on these types of purchases, so I trust you guys on this decision...what do you think?

iwrock · #2 08-08-2009, 07:42 PM

Holy Crap, a GENII euro car! Love the lights and bumper, as well as the tails.

Definitely needs some TLC, and geez that box in the trunk is huge!

Yes, the odo is more than likely total KMs.

This going to be your new cruiser? What you doing with the W124? Teenager start driving in your family?

iwrock · #3 08-08-2009, 07:43 PM

You know what would look awesome in there?

Find an 89-91 SEC in the wrecking yard, and pull the interior. The perforated leather in the later cars looks and feels 1000x better than the earlier interiors.

G-Benz · #4 08-08-2009, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iwrock

...This going to be your new cruiser? What you doing with the W124? Teenager start driving in your family?

This one is for the kid. She's 15 now, so I've got some time. SEC fuel efficiency would make this one rotten vehicle for me as a daily driver, but for someone who lives a couple of blocks from school, no problem.

BTW, the A/C is toast as well...

TMAllison · #5 08-08-2009, 08:53 PM

Is it just me or does the interior wear and tear seem like more than 80k miles....

msega · #6 08-08-2009, 09:31 PM

Arghh! I was looking at the ad for this car too..

Ah well, wouldn't be able to afford it anyway. I really want an SEC sometime though.

Hopefully, your kid is a very safe driver.

That's alot of car for a 15/16 year old.

Jim B. · #7 08-08-2009, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by G-Benz

This one is for the kid. She's 15 now, so I've got some time. SEC fuel efficiency would make this one rotten vehicle for me as a daily driver, but for someone who lives a couple of blocks from school, no problem.

BTW, the A/C is toast as well...

The car is very definately Generation II euro, and Ultra rare, for several reasons:

It has:

A WDBxxx VIN # ( a US car would have a WDBCA vin # )

Euro headlights wipers and motors. (worth about $750 on resale)

Euro front and rear bumpers. (worth about $500 - $1000 on resale)

Euro tail lights. (worth about $200 on resale)

Euro speedometer

Euro running 560 engine (worth about $2000 + )

Euro Air conditioning round 2 buttons control (much simpler to fix than the far more complicated mandatory american and euro-option automatic climate control (worth about $300 even if non- op)

And believe me, there are Mercedes Benz W126 enthusiasts out there, that will pay BIG $$$ for those parts!!

So you could even get some money back if the motor seized and you parted it out..

I think I see about $3,000+ in parts right there you could easily realize if you stripped out this car and let the W126 euro enthusiasts know about it !!

Isn't that an original international license plate, I see on the back, the little round country plate visible on the rear bumper, where they sometimes get installed? (maybe MC for Monte Carlo or NL for Holland?) <------ MORE evidence it was actually driven in Europe for some years if that is what I see (it is hard to see)...
~~~~~~~~~

Definately a rare euro car, so it's Engine too, will be higher compression and much more powerful in actual usable driving.

The interior probably has degraded because it is some cheesy cheap aftermarket conversion, that needs to be replaced (get Gen. II interior pieces from a junkyard. Normal W126 Mercedes interiors do NOT degrade that way, on the rear seats and arms. I have seen Euro upholstery catalogs, and this one is NOT factory done.

How someone ever managed to get this car licensed post gray market with no DOT EPA conversion of all those above things (about $10,000 job, at least) long after the gray market for 80's Mercedes Benzes was destroyed is a mystery, to me.

I see this car as a Unicorn. How on earth it ever slipped through the conversion process utterly eludes me. I believe it to be essentially a European version that flew quietly under the radar and got over here some way untouched by the DOT/EPA conversion process, not destroyed and still US plated. Amazing.

If you are VERY fortunate it may still have the Euro exhaust without cats, and if you hit the jackpot it may even have the ultra rare, even in euro verison, 300HP "ECE" version engine.

Who knows what rear end it is? The US car had the lazy 2.47 and this one may even have a 2.65, or 2.82 or other higher performing rear end. A little metal tag on the pumpkin will say what ratio it has, so put it up on the rack and look...

The total miles would be in kms because it is a euro speedometer, and they are not high at all.

1 km = 0.621 miles 1 mile = 1.609 km

To me this ALONE makes it worth $6000, easily, if it is half way good.

If the seller will take $3,500 for it, even with the rust area at the rear (common problem with ALL these models and per the license plate it appears to be Florida car which does have rust tendencies towards the beaches there) I see real value here even with the issues.

But to the seller, you should look at it with an indifferent face, and simply just point out the faults you found to make the price lower.

But treat it as a used car and get the PPI and see what it needs.

I think you have found a beautiful, ultra rare, airbag-less car, that if fixed up properly, (DON'T repaint it in "onyx" or a cheap non factory color!!), an impossible to find 2nd gen. (1986-1991) full euro car still full of valuable euro parts on it that somehow evaded the DOT EPA conversion process and should be repaired and treasured.

Reconversion back to MB Upholstery, sourcing a used dark amber euro corner, rust repair and good repaint, and reapairing the AC and engine idle issue are all things you could use to justify a price reduction.

But among 560SEC enthusiasts, in the USA, what you would then have is a car that would make them all very very envious.

Its high performance, and legality while in Euro form, would make it rare fast and very beaufitul compared to almost ANY smogged up and uglier version US spec car.

If I were in your shoes for this reason I would try and buy it. The selling dealer does not know about all the bonuses it has.

Not so much for a non enthusiast teen age female driver who would not understand or appreciate it, or its rarity and value.

For a savvy Mercedes W126 fancier, with some work it would be a sensational car!!!

I would get it and fix it if it were me!!!

G-Benz · #8 08-09-2009, 12:22 AM

Wow! Should have kept this find under wraps then!

Thanks for the info Jim!

I did notice that along with the broken amber lens, both taillights suffered damage as well, though the pics don't show this. What makes these taillights so different from the american versions?

Jim B. · #9 08-09-2009, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by G-Benz

Wow! Should have kept this find under wraps then!

Thanks for the info Jim!

Well, If you were not a 560 SEC fanatic, you could not have known this. That is why we are here, to help you. The fanatics are found at benzworld in the W126 section.

Quote:

I did notice that along with the broken amber lens, both taillights suffered damage as well, though the pics don't show this. What makes these taillights so different from the american versions?

The euro tail lights are ALL orange on the outer edges. (The American ones, where they end, at their outer tips on the corner edges, are red reflectors.)

I just picked up a set of NEW euro orange tipped Euro tails, and had been looking for good ones for years.

Now I am rolling with them and NON personalized licence plates (My initials are JFB) that nobody said I could get regular issue non personal plates containing them, but a fast long trip down to the Santa Barbara DMV nabbed them, and proved the people wrong. (A DMV local contact did what not even my Congressman could do!!).

What it used to look like, with the American style tail lights it came with, with red reflectors on the corners.

And the old alphanumeric 1995 plates it had on it till a couple of weeks ago.

And figured, why not get a sequential pair while I was at it? For the '08 Outback too. The back of the garage shows old "impersonal" California plates from Previous cars, 167JIM (1973), 2JIM123 (1988) and 3JIM988 (1994) from which I pulled them, and replated them before I sold them.

You can barely read them but they are still with me.

The "license plate" in my signature pic seen below, is on the front of my Mercedes now. Just for laughs.

ImBroke · #10 08-09-2009, 08:30 AM

It has to be yours. This car needs to get in the hands of a Mercedes Enthusiast.

Jim B. · #11 08-09-2009, 08:38 AM

I agree. Hope to see more pic's after our weekend Soccer Dad does the deal!!!

From what little I could see, this one is ultra rare, and could be a dazzler, once it's all fixed up.

The VIN# in the dealer advertisement must be incorrect, as it won't hit on the Russian VIN# decoder site.

G-Benz · #12 08-09-2009, 03:22 PM

Jim, based on your comments regarding the difficulty with which to get these cars DOT certified, I called the owner today, concerned that the car may have never been registered in the states (after all, he is a dealer himself, so he may just drive cars and them move them later). Although never registered in Texas, he claims that it has been registered in Illinois at one point (even though the pic has Florida tags on it). I will have to see some paperwork on that, or I might be inheriting a real headache!

Ditto on the taillights...I perused some parts sites and only saw the amber/red tip style available...the ones on the car are amber tipped, but as I said earlier, they are both damaged...wonder if those could be restored, or if there is a source for these?

I plan on taking another look at the car (this time with my trusted indie in tow) before I make a definite decision. And Jim, I have always admired your car, and followed the pic progress of your projects. I will follow your advice and try to leave this car as unmolested as possible (although I still might opt for the monotone paintwork in the OEM color).

Right now, the hardest part of this is getting the wife to go along with this deal...she knows me too well and reminded me that this is more a passion for myself than my daughter...heck, the kid wants a Jeep anyway!