Well this is my 5th Mercedes, but my first W140. Its a 1-owner, garage kept 1993 400SEL that was manufactured in September of '92, so the car turned 20 years old this month.

The car has been well maintained and the primary driver was a woman who is now in her early 70s, whose husband bought it new for her in November of 1992. The car has the sticker with it as well and the purchase order, where the car was purchased for a little over $80K.

Some of the "biggie items" that tend to fail on these cars after a few years have already been addressed on this one. The engine wiring harness has already been replaced (2001) in the amount of $1700 (when the car was reported as having an engine miss, probably because of a bad wiring harness), as well as the A/C evaporator in 2005. The instrument cluster was also replaced by the dealer in the late 90s. The car has had over $2000 spent in repairs/service (at a Mercedes repair shop) since January and to be honest, I didnt pay too much than that for the car. The brakes were recently replaced all the way around, valve cover gaskets replaced in April (which was about $500) and the list goes on and on, just this year alone. Anytime the car needed anything replaced, the owner had the mechanic work on it. It was was serviced by the local Mercedes dealer until '96, then it was serviced by the same Mercedes shop in town tech since then. The car also has new $700 Michelins on it. The car runs and drives perfectly, smooth ride, everything works, no strange noises, no rattles/squeaks, the transmission shifts smoothly and shifts into reverse instantly, etc.

As far as I know, the mechanic told me all he would recommend for me to do is to replace the motor mounts before too long. The car is super smooth, but I can feel a slight vibration through the steering wheel during acceleration at lower speeds. I am going to call a few places on a quote for this. Also the automatic door closer does not work, which I already knew about. Also, not sure if a big problem, buy when I unlock the driver door, the window will roll down a little (which I guess is normal?), but when I tried to lock with the key, it was a little fussy going back up, I had to hold the key just right to get the window to go up. May be better off using the switch inside or the keyless system to lock it. I am still learning all of this stuff about the car, so not sure what the best way to do certain things yet. Also, the power antenna will not go down/up. Its about 1/2 way up and looks broken. I read a receipt where it said something was wrong with the trunk closer having a problem and it said "very expensive", but I guess it was eventually repaired, as I dont see any problems. I still havent went through all of the receipts, there are tons of them that date all the way back to 1993.

Well here are a few pics of my new ride. I know that these are complex cars and much more complex than my '88 300SEL W126 I owned previously (that is now my mothers car), but I hope with some loving care this car has received since '92 that this car will be a good work car for me for years ahead. I have wanted one of these cars for years, but it never worked out. I have done alot of research and tried to find one with all of the problem areas already addressed, which was a task, especially finding one in good condition and reasonably priced.

Thanks again for all of the info/advice on my other thread where I was originally considering a '92 500SEL.







NOT SURE WHAT THESE ARE - THE OWNER SAID SHE FOUND THEM IN THE CAR, BUT WASNT SURE IF THEY WENT WITH IT. I THOUGHT SOMEONE HERE WOULD KNOW?



more pics to follow...

Stacks of service records...





















Setting next to my '93 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham...

Looks like a very clean car.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Thanks Paul. Yeah, the owners appear to have taken very good care of it the last 20 years of its life. The car has been garaged since new, so that has really helped keep the interior in good shape. Only a couple of small dents on the car that I have been able to find.

WOW, a lot of service records! Looks very nice. Good score!

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97 W202

Thanks! Yeah, I was pretty pleased with the amount of service records with the car and this was only a small sample. Many were written in the owners manual, as well as more receipts inside the book. These were just some of the larger ones in the folder. The PO even kept them all in order by date. Also, these were all receipts by the dealer up until 1996, then since then, the rest were from two local service shops that specialize in Mercedes vehicles, so none of the work was cheap.

I paid $3350. for the car and at a quick glance, since January they spent around $2500. on the car. I think I got a good deal on it. Now I need to save up to get the motor mounts replaced here before too long. lol.

They only sold the car because they recently moved out of state and the new house didnt have enough room for this car, so they decided to let it go. I think he said he also had a Mercedes SL roadster and a couple of other cars.

Looks like a well sorted W140. How many miles on it?

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1989 300CE

regarding that baggie of Keys: They are for cable locks typically used for computer equipment. They may also be associated with bike locks, small safes, and Safety deposits boxes. I would be extremely surprised if they were utilized by the Germans in 1992.

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77' 300D, "Cartman" SOLD @ 150K (didn't know what I had)
83' 300SD, "The Superdon" 325k+ @ 28mpg
95 E320 wagon, "Millennium Falcon" 231k+ @ 24 Mpg
95 E300D, "Sherley" 308k @ 33.69 Mpg, currently anticipating a head
99 Suzuki Intruder "Trudy" @ 45 mpg

Man, if I was going to pick up a W140, I would have picked a 6 cylinder, they are WAY lighter

The keys look familiar to me, I was working in a dealership back when this would have been new. It's just a barrel key, could have been for lots of different stuff. Is there a brand on the key head?
What comes to mind first are aftermarket wheels. They had these fairly poplular wheels that were chrome and had a large circular disc that covered the wheel bolt area, typically with a gold MB star on it, and the cover was held on with a single bolt with a head that used this type of key.

I also saw a car that came in with an aftermarket lock over the hood release lever that I believe used a barrel key as well.
Last thought would be a hidden storage compartment, maybe you haven't even found it yet! Check around the spare tire well.
Good car!

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Wheels i am thinking of look lik ethis, what I am suggesting is the wheels were on at one point then removed, although why would the key still be in the car? It's a possiblity though. You can see the bolt that hold on the cover at about the 11 o'clock position.

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Click here to see a photo album of my '62 Sprite Project Moneypit (Now Sold)

Very nice car! So clean!

Those little keys are commonly used on luggage, servers, small vending equipment....etc. I would bet they go to a set of luggage.

Or, if the car came with a lockbox or cd changer or something in it (trunk?) they might go to that.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Great looking car!

Look through the service records for the replacement of heater tee. I would change that sucker in a "New York Second"

Best of luck with your car. They require more attention, but they are the best cars to drive on the planet.

Martin

Thanks. It has around 200K, most of which are freeway miles. Average of 10K miles per year. Garage kept, so that has helped preserve the interior.

Thanks! Well thats what I was thinking too. The owner wasnt sure either, I am guessing they may have been placed in there by mistake by a detailer or a repair shop or something. Who knows what all can happen in 20 years. lol.

Thanks! Well I didnt see a name on the key, only 4 numbers. You can kinda see them on the one of the keys there in the pic. I bet it was cool working in a MB dealer in '93. I was still in the 10th/11th grade in the 1993 year. lol.

Thanks!

Thanks! Well I looked through some of the records today, there are so many! I didnt notice anything about a "heater tee". Is this what you are talking about in the pic below?



I also went through more service records. I was pleased to see that in 2008 that not only the A/C evaporator was replaced, but also the dryer, receiver and heater core was also replaced. Not sure if this is standard practice or not when the evaporator is replaced... maybe so since they are already in there. This set the owner back nearly $3200! That is only $150 less than I paid for the entire car! I knew this repair wasnt a cheap one, which is why when I purchased a W140, I wanted that to have already been addressed.

There is also a receipt in there for an "actuator" being replaced? Not sure what that is on this car, but that bill was over $1700. I also found a receipt from the dealer where they replaced the instrument cluster in November of 1995 under warranty. That explains why is has the electronic odometer instead of the "wheel" type. The paper said that the oil pressure indicator was "bouncing" on the gauge, but pressure was fine and said that cluster was faulty. Seems like this was a problem on the early W140. Also as mentioned, the engine wiring harness was replaced in 2002. Part was around $440 and labor was $375 if I recall. Also, valve cover gaskets were recently replaced back in April, so I was happy to see that as well. The list goes on and on.

I am not sure if the lower body harness has been replaced or not. I didnt see any records of that, nor do I know the best way to check to see if that wiring is OK. I really didnt realize that could be an issue until after I had purchased the car. I thought only the engine wiring harness were the ones to go bad. There are no current electrical issues with the car so far, no warning lights on, etc. Hoping it has been replaced in the past, or is still OK. I looked under the hood today a little and these were the only wires I could even see exposed under the hood and they still look fine from what I can tell. These may be part of the engine harness though rather than the body harness?





and an overall shot of the engine...



The mechanic that has been working on the car for years told me the only thing he recommended was motor mounts to get the car super smooth again. I didnt think anything about it when I test drove it, but when driving home I did notice a little vibration through the steering wheel when accelerating at low speeds. I guess this is what he was talking about. They quoted me $850 (parts/labor) to replace these, but I am going to call some other Mercedes/German auto repair shops to get a quote from them.

This......

........will clean up just like that when I'm done with it. Nice find!!!!!

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85 190E 2.3(SOLD)
86 230E (-->300D) sold
87 300D (-->300TD) sold
68 250S w/ a 615 and manual tranny (RIP)
87 300TD (SOLD)
95 S280 "The KRAKEN" (Turbo 2.9 602 transplant) traded
86 190E 2.3... current project