Eying this '95 SL500 Convertible

"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen) 02/19/2014 at 12:40 • Filed to: None

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I won't buy it, but are these good? I do want a convertible at some point, so this is for my continuing education credits.

I am a sucker for dark-green cars with cream interiors. I see it has a 5.0 v8 good for 315 hp and 345 tq, not bad.

http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/cto/426956…

Audi-os, amigos > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 02/19/2014 at 12:43

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Damn it's purty.

Big Bubba Ray > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 02/19/2014 at 12:53

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No idea if these are good or not, but damn that's a good looking car. Love the color too.

Party-vi > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 02/19/2014 at 12:55

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Those seats look beat for only 50,000 miles, but I'd snap this up in a heartbeat if everything checked out. I love the R129.

philipilihp > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 02/19/2014 at 13:02

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I was driving behind a black SL 500 this morning. This is the first car that I ever really wanted as a kid. I need one in red in my life at some point. I'm thinking about making it my mid-life crisis car.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Party-vi 02/19/2014 at 13:05

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Yeah, I'm preparing for the day that I am car-payment free and feel comfortable with another payment. Be-it much lower.

This fits the bill for me: Convertible, V8, large 2-door coupe.

I suppose it's one shortfall is the lack of el manuel. Couldn't find one on Autotrader with a manual in a 500 mile range, makes me think it doesn't exist...

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > philipilihp 02/19/2014 at 13:16

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Haha, buy it now and by the time you hit midlife it may have appreciated in value :P

Party-vi > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 02/19/2014 at 13:24

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Wikipedia says only the 6 cylinder cars came with a manual, but I don't think it was even offered over here.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Party-vi 02/19/2014 at 13:28

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Hmmm, that's a downer.

Reading the wikipedia page for the R129 is infuriating, it's so badly done.

Louros > Party-vi 02/19/2014 at 13:29

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They were offered here for a year or two, IIRC there were only a couple hundred sold

Louros > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 02/19/2014 at 13:31

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These are generally good cars, some early models had issues with the wiring harness but some quick Googling should tell you what to avoid. I think by '95 that issue was fixed.

NotUnlessRoundIsFunny > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 02/19/2014 at 13:37

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I've always had a soft spot for those...one of my teachers had a poster of one on the wall that made quite an impression. And they're still from the "built like a tank" era of Mercedes, imho.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > NotUnlessRoundIsFunny 02/19/2014 at 14:06

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Yeah, I prefer this generation or older when it comes to Mercedes.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Louros 02/19/2014 at 14:06

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cool, thanks!

NotUnlessRoundIsFunny > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 02/19/2014 at 14:09

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I seem to have become obsessed with finding a pre-1995 Mercedes wagon. I've just always loved the W124 in a not-entirely-rational way.

Jagvar > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 02/19/2014 at 14:26

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Oppo will crucify me for this, but my favorite color on this car is beige . Or, as Mercedes-Benz calls it, "Smoke Silver." It looks like either silver or gold, depending on the light.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > NotUnlessRoundIsFunny 02/19/2014 at 14:28

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Yeah, those are pretty cool.

I also like the stereo typical middle eastern Mercedes's.

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Party-vi 02/19/2014 at 15:00

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It was, but only around 200 SL320s were bought with the 5MT. They might one day be collector's cars, but right now they command somewhat inflated (though justified) prices at around $25,000 for a nice example.

Party-vi > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 02/19/2014 at 15:02

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WHAT!? $25k for a 6-cyl. SL!? That's hardly justified considering these aren't lithe sports cars and a nice SL500 is worth around $10k.

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Party-vi 02/19/2014 at 15:14

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The group to take the data from is really tiny. While $25k is a ton of money to fork over for an I6-powered R129, you have to think about how it's in almost showroom-condition and being sold by a dealer looking for huge margins. I've heard that some decent drivers have been picked up for between 5 and 10 grand, but that's when the owner doesn't know what they have. It's really all about whether some wealthy Mercedes enthusiast is going to pay tons of money for a car down the road, thus inflating the values of the extremely nice examples. The real shame is that they never made and 500s or AMGs with manuals—an SL73 would be an incredible supercar had the car not been so heavy with a soft chassis and a performance draining 5AT. Now imagine an stripped-down, fixed top SL73 with a 6MT and opened up engine. It would be a serious, German Zonda wearing a suit.

Party-vi > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 02/19/2014 at 15:24

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I agree that anyone knowing what they have will ask for a premium, but that's quite an investment considering the R107 hasn't started to appreciate yet and the R129 will probably appreciate after the R107.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Jagvar 02/19/2014 at 16:54

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Shit beige is only a manner of speaking. It's called beige because it's usually associated with camcordorolla's. I see no problem with a beige SL500! Haha.

syaieya > Louros 02/19/2014 at 19:24

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93 to 95 was the era of biodegradable wiring harnesses. Most of them have been replaced by now.

Another issue with them is the hydraulics go out in the top and leak. Then there's heater cores that will need replacing and there's a few other bits here and there that are big.

syaieya > Jagvar 02/19/2014 at 19:25

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Beige is not a bad color, it's not an exciting or offensive color but it works especially for that era of mercedes.

The Cosworth 190E's also wore it well.

syaieya > Party-vi 02/19/2014 at 19:31

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The different engines really make little difference for these cars. The 300's are ample and have the manual appeal when you can find them. Plus they do a little better on gas.

The V8's are the pride of the fleet but they are very much the middle ground being more complicated to repair and paired only to the automatic

The V12's, though lust worthy will drive you broke. The maintenance on them is not worth the extra power over the 8.

I actually saw a 6 manual for sale this past week. It was in white and they were asking only about 10k for it. It was online for like a week before dissapearing.