Buying a 6.9

[GreaseMonkey]

What are the obvious clues to buying a 6.9?
Can anyone give me a lead on what specifics to look for apart from the usual checks what should I be looking for or checking?
I may be on to a good one, but want to make sure I am not buying a disaster.
Any help appreciated,
regards,
Chris M.

[WGB]

Best history and obvious visible condition.

Minimal rust.

All struts leak free.

Run over bumps to check spheres but if there is no history of sphere replacement they will probably need to be done anyway.

Get a leak down test on the motor but if it runs right and smoke free it probably is.

Everything else will cost you money anyway but these are the expensive bits.

Bill

Bill

[nathan]

theres no such thing as a bargain 6.9!  spend more and pay less later, or buy cheap and get punished later on!  unfortunately due to numbers, you sometimes have to wait a while before you can get the one you want.
Bill mentioned all the immediately expensive bits, but as noted, once replaced you will get a decent life out of them!
keep us posted
regards
nathan

[TJ 450]

theres no such thing as a bargain 6.9!  spend more and pay less later, or buy cheap and get punished later on!  unfortunately due to numbers, you sometimes have to wait a while before you can get the one you want.
Bill mentioned all the immediately expensive bits, but as noted, once replaced you will get a decent life out of them!
keep us posted
regards
nathan

I second that... if the purchase price is cheap it is going to cost a lot to get it up to scratch even if the basics are OK. If you get a banger, you will likely end up spending much more than if you got a good one to begin with. If you are well-informed, you will know that this rule is applied to buying any Mercedes and the M-100 powered cars are probably the extreme of this.
My car was a non-runner and will probably cost me about 15k by the time I've got it to the standard I'm after. I was aware of this when I purchased mine, but many may not be.

Tim

[oscar]

GM, Got no advice except to say I reckon Milan Brown would be a perfect match for Kermit Green.   Take a look at this one in Vic which has been advertised for some time now and has dropped from up around $17k to $10,900.  Admittedly the latest pics there have me wondering whether the front is sagging a little as I've seen pics in the past where it looked perfect.  I'm sure someone here has had a look at it before but I can't remember who.  Well worth a closer look I reckon. 

Link

[GreaseMonkey]

Thanks for all your replies;
all info appreciated.
I am not necessarily after a cheap one, and in fact had assumed a good 6.9 was out of reach, and had no intention of looking for one, but - maybe I was dreaming - if I happened to find someone who did not really know what they had, except it was probably an expensive car when new, has been regularly serviced but now is a bit of a gas-hog, and I might get it for a few grand, I am giving no more hints until I have at least had first refusal.
I just wanted to know if anything special to these cars (different to other W116 models) to look for.
Suspension, ok check struts for leaks and over bumps for spheres, other things are obvious checks, history, running smooth, rust, odometer, smoke etc.
Oscar, I certainly have nothing against Milan Brown if it was on a good car, but that one advertised has the look of the possible disasters mentioned above.
Yes, it is low at the front, and is it unusual to have a car advertised with one side view and two photos from the rear?  Rego runs out this month, over 300,000kms, open to offers, all sounds a bit desparate to me.
By the way, after some in depth research into colours I found my wagon was a shade lighter than the famous frog-puppet and a lot closer to Wasabi - Japanese mustard - so he is temporarily renamed, at least until I can get it repainted the original Silver Green.......but I still kinda like Cypress Green, maybe I'll throw this open to debate on another post later.
Meanwhile, if this 6.9 comes to anything I will post back.
While on the subject, has anyone checked on ebay item
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=200237340936&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=010
starting at $3,900 ending 15th?
Not my idea of a bargain, but someone may want to take it on.
Back later,
Chris M.

[oscar]

Hmm, yeah saw that one earlier.  All I can say is that it's been advertised at least twice in the past, as long as a year ago if not further before that.  Seller also had a spare 6.9 motor which I think must have sold last time he advertised.  I can't remember whether this 6.9 ever reached a reserve or not in the past or whether the asking price now is below what was previously advertised.   Maybe Nathan kept records, I can't remember.   Whilst I personally have nothing against people running LPG in w116's let alone 6.9's, I've always thought that if I ever get round to owning a decent 6.9, I'd want to be a bit of an original freak about it.  If I got a cheapie rusted 6.9, well I wouldn't mind experimenting so long as it stayed on the road and looked presentable.

[Uku]

Greetings, fellow W116 enthusiasts !

I'm a 17 year old guy from Estonia and new in this club, 2 years I owned a white 280SE. Few days ago I sold and found an interesting replacement. One fellow club member from our Estonian Mercedes-Benz club offers me a silver 450SEL 6.9 - it would be a dream come true.
The guy lives in England but brought it to Tallinn some weeks ago - it's right-hand drive ofcourse .
But I checked it out, in Estonia there is no problem registrating it when it has at least 25 years of age.

Now about the car. It's from 1978, little rust. 3rd owner, wasn't driven from 1982-1989.
It has power windows, power roof, air conditioner, cruise control, ABS etc.
The owner has replaced the fuel pump (Bosch), spark plugs (Bosch), ignition cable kit (Lucas), fuel injector, injection nozzles,  fixed the suspension.

The muffler needs replacing, it has been there for 30 years 
Also the generator is in the end of it's life.
How much could these 2 things cost ? Is the muffler/generator replacable by a 450 version ?

Owner said that the gearbox is great, engine runs smoothly. Next Wednesday I'm going to see that car - wish me luck 

How could I add pictures of my 280SE and this 450SEL 6.9 ? - then you can see how it looks.

[Uku]

Run over bumps to check spheres but if there is no history of sphere replacement they will probably need to be done anyway.

Bill

Bill, how soft should the hydraulic suspension be compared to an common 280SE ?

Uku

[oscar]

Uku, welcome.  So you owned a 280SE when you were 15?  That makes you the youngeswt w116 owner, congratulations   Previous was 17 I think.

Anyway, this 6.9 sounds interesting, with ABS too.  Good luck, I hope you get it. 
For posting photos you can got to www.imageshack.us or www.photobucket.com upload photos and copy the code across to a post in the forum.  Read the instructions on either site.  Or you can use w116.org's gallery. Instructions are in the link below.

Link

[Uku]

This was my 280SE, from 1977. 

[Uku]

And this is the 6.9 I was telling you about.

[Big_Richard]

.

[WGB]

Run over bumps to check spheres but if there is no history of sphere replacement they will probably need to be done anyway.

Bill

Bill, how soft should the hydraulic suspension be compared to an common 280SE ?

Uku

The feel of the suspension is quite different to a coil sprung 116.

I think the low speed bump absorption for small sharp bumps is probably better with the steel but go over a large diameter bump (Like a hump backed bridge) or a speed hump in a 6.9 and you hardly even notice the bump is there.

As well the constant workings of the hydraulics keep the car level and also work well with the anti-squat and anti-dive so the car has the potential to get better the more you throw it around.

The problem is that it is much easier to get a fully functioning steel suspension for real world money than a fully functioning hydraulic one.

In my opinion most 6.9's would probably improve dramatically with 4 new struts after all the usual work with pumps and spheres is done but the cost is higher than a set of shocks for a steel suspension.

Bill

[Uku]

Bill, thank you for the response. 6.9 is a totally new thing for me but thanks to the experience I had with 280SE, I at least know the places where to find rust.
To be honest, I'm scared of the 450SEL 6.9. Running costs are much higher but I think the driving pleasure will compensate it
I had one question in my mind. Are there 215/70 R14 tyres available nowadays ? Because I haven't seen any...

Uku