I see there are several models of cats available for a 1989 420 SEL. Can anyone recommend or not recommend any of the following cats?
1. Mercedes is about $2,000
2. Bosal is about $515
3. A & B is about $631
4. Timevalve (stainless steel) $575

Others?

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1989 420 SEL

I'm pretty sure timevalve has a lifetime warentee on thier cats. They arn't mandrel bent, but i doubt you are racing the sel anyhow. I've heard mixed reviews on bosal. I don't see the name on your list, but I've had trouble with Davico cats (www.catalyticconverter.net).

If you are up against a budget, a universal cat welded onto the original system is an acceptable fix in my experience. I drove the 16v like that for a little over 70k miles, two emissions inspections in between (Pennsylvania).

cheers,
dan r.

the 380sl also has 2 precats on the pipes going into the engine, one on each manifold. verify if yours has them. there has been some debate on them butI believe MB put them there for a reason and thus when you change the precat, you might strongly consider changing the precats also. the car can run and emissions ok without precats but I experienced a clogged precat and once removed, early failure of a replacement cat. I dont know of miller has a cat for your model, they are also another aftermarket manufacturer.

Well in the EPC I do not see any precats. Basically the exhaust manifold crossover pipe connects to the front exhaust pipe assembly which has the cat and the O2 sensor.

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1989 420 SEL