92 500SEL. Whats it worth?
 

A buddy of mine is looking at this 09/91 MFG 140 500SEL. 151k

Listed at $2500.

Pros:
-Body is largely rust free
-Interior is clean, leather is nice. Electronics work.
-Vacuum assist doors work fine.
-A/C System is charged so it hasnt leaked out/evap hasnt died
-Started up without issue, after it had been sitting for a while.
-HVAC seemed to work, blower did not spool up but when hitting buttons I heard stuff moving around in the dash.

Cons:
-Reverse is intermittent.
-SLS is not functional, rams looks clean and not-leaky, could be level control arm/valve or spheres.
-Check engine light is on, tach/oil pressure not functional.
-Some tensioner or idler device on the M119's belt area looks to be shaky and vibrating.

My buddy wants to offer $1200. He has a spare 560SEL for parts and it seems like that 560's transmission would mate up with the m119.

What do you gents think?

See, you do not know if the harness has been replaced, if the A/C was just charged for a quick sale, etc I owned a similar car for years, my old E32 750iL...the W140 will spend quite a bit of time being wrenched upon.

A $1000 W140 sounds like a nightmare just waiting to occur. I would scrap that bad 560SEL and find a nice 420SEL if he wants a gasoline powered S-class as the W126s are pretty simple to operate upon. I had to change the ASR/TB unit once on a W140 and was not a fun experience.

But hey, this is my opinion and everyone has one. ;)

honestly, i'd spend twice the money on a 126 than spend the 1200 on a 140. that means i can use more than the trans if i need a parts donor. the 140 ac doesn't leak, YET. it will. WHY is the check engine light on? anyone check? fistfull of caps and rotors? really, buy another 126. good luck, chuck.

He's already got two 126's. He wishes to enter W140 land as hes been a longtime fan of the chassis.

Get a later year S320 - post 95 facelift. More bugs worked out by then and fewer gadget options to go bad. Pick and pull yards are starting to get more W140s; however, unlike the W126s, they have numerous system failures that were just too expensive to fix and they have accumulated. In other words, there is not much worth picking off them.

$2500 is fair price without the engine loom