Why?
 

Why are the 400SEL more than the 560 SEL?? and the SDL is more than either one of them?? as you can guess I have been car shopping..

Supply and demand. More 560s than 420s, very few SDLs.

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL
83 300SD

Yeah that continues with the 129s and 140s too, the 300's go for about the same as 500's and sometimes the V12s. But the 560s better anyway, I mean, from the view of a guy whos 19 with more speeding tickets than fingers and toes.

Price=condition, not engine size, usually
 

The difference between the 5.6L, and the 4.2L engines is nominal performance wise. My mechanic told me that the 4.2L has a higher top end speed because of gearing ratio differences. He also said that he thought that the 4.2L was more reliable over time, but didn't say why. Condition of the car usually sets the price, not engine size. 560SELs and 420SELs (V-126) were the S-class flag ships. The ultimate pride of Mercedes at the time! Not hard to see why.

BEAUTIFUL!
 

Gotta luv it...

Maintenance costs play a big factor too. V-12's cost more to maintain so will have lower resale. Also the 300SDL's are more rare. The 400SEL is a W140 so it will be more expensive than a W126 to keep going.

I know some guy let his wife drive his 560, she, being used to diesel, filled the car up with diesel drove it like empty. needless to say, that was that.

It must not of been comletely empty, but the guy replaced the engine, completely. I dont know what the deal was, it was when I was shopping for my car, i asked why he changed the engine that was the response. Maybe the mech. shafted him.

I don't understand why Diesel pumps don't have the big nozzle like leaded pumps used to have. I've never seen a Diesel pump with a recovery sheath.

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL
83 300SD ... $950, see cars forum

The 560SEL is supposed to have a 2.47 rear axle, but I've heard from other sources that some of them had a 2.65.

Regardless, to get these cars to redline in top gear it would have to have serious AMG engineering.:)

I do prefer the 420SEL because it gets better gas mileage and, as was said, the power difference is not noticeable(lots more weight in a 560).

I think in '88 the V8's had the compression ratios raised resulting in more power. This happened when the 750iL came around.

According to "mercedes500.de", the 560 does have a 2.65 shorter final drive gear than the 420.

Maximum velocity in the most powerful 560 was indeed 155 mph, or 250 km/h. High compression without the catalyst, of course.

Maximum velocity in a 420 was about 235 km/h.

After '87, the 560 could reach 240 km/h and the 420 reach 235 km/h. That's 149 and 146 mph, respectively.

So the 560 is faster by a few miles per hour. But it does have some serious weight to lug! 1830kg vs 1660kg for the 420. 3660 lbs for the 420, and 4034 lbs for the 560.

These cars are in Eural base format, I believe. So the 560 is loaded, and the 420 is not.

Any MB with Ted in it is loaded :)

Sixto
95 S420 ... going S500 hunting tomorrow :cool:
87 300SDL
83 300SD ... $950, see cars forum
__________________
1. There should always be a Mercedes between me and the road.

How many S500 badges do I need on the S420's door to make me an ace?

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL
83 300SD ... $950, see cars forum