W116.org

I think Max needs some of the Blue Pills.

Bill

hi everyone .i live in Perth WA and recently bought a red w116 280s while holidaying in Launceston Tasmania.
needs only a small amount of work done to make it a real beauty.
left it with a friend and  cant wait to drive it on my next trip over in October.
btw how do i include a photo?

heh melcrom,
so do you have this car in perth or tassie?
we will have to keep you posted on the next perth meet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZf3PjdQzgo
regards

I see two really nice 116s in Honolulu that are around, a really nice turbo diesel and a black on black 6.9! but the others have been really rusty poor sleds, Sad. I just picked up a super clean 116 will post up pics soon!

I've seen two particularly nice 300 SDs in the last couple months.  I'd say it was owing to the bio-diesel craze but one was clearly original (plus older owners) and the other had no funny looking/smelling exhaust.  Short of that, I've only seen a couple others on the road.  Casualties of petroleum prices.

ryan, when you come and see mine, i will show you the other 116 in the next street.2 in one area.
mind you living in a poor mans suburb,to get away from the crime in the richer suburbs, does mean you have to live with pooer people and pooer and older more scrappy cars.
the upside is that i get to see old cr*p

The number of W116's I see getting around Canberra seems to have increased as the year has gone on... 

Good ones or bad ones or is it just SELfor50 with a different paint job each week

I suppose it is normal to assume a cetain number of cars will drop off, as the years go by, until there are few enough good ones left, that their status changes into 'classic' and preices rise.
The rotten broken ones can now donate organs to keep the good ones going.
Hopefully between us we can save the ones worth saving, and the decline should stop and numbers stay level.
I had to turn down a '78 450SEL last week, cheap, drove well, but too much rust, but am still stalking a local 6.9, they may sell...........
Chris M.

I recently decided against selling my 350 for the second time - and man am I glad I did.
When I read about guys complaining about rust issues I realise again how lucky I am to have an example that has never had that problem - never been dismantled in any way.

Today I washed it and took it out for its first drive in 2 weeks - all 4 windows down, the wind blowing through my hair - it was great.
I couldn't help but to give it a bit of stick - that turbine smooth engine keeps asking for it...
Everything just works so well and it soaks up bumps and holes in the road in a way which my Hilux can only dream about.
Each time I drive it I appreciate it all over again.
When I get home I pop the hood I droole over the engine, marveling at how clean its oil still is after 9mnths and 4000kms.
Have you guys ever noticed the distinct smell of the engines and their components when hot on older Mercs?
...Let me get back to reality...

I hope I can offer some encouragement by noting that no more than a couple of weeks would go by without me seeing at least one W116. I see so many that I can't recognise them all. That is on top of the regular ones I do know about. I don't know what all the fuss is about I really do see them all over the place both being driven and parked as I drive past.

For those curious, I don't always get a chance to see which W116 they are but usually they are the 280SEL.

Here in Bridgetown - Greenbushes, population c.4000, there's my 6.9, a 450SE, a 450SEL, and a 280SEL (that may have left town again recently). That's one per thousand population, or 20,000 in Australia....

Geez that's a few more than my guestimate! I like the figures though.   Wish there was a way to look at the various state road authority figures.

Forgot to update my other post about the good 280sel.  Not sure what happened to it yet, haven't spoke to the owner but this car was in very good nic prior to an impact.

I have been playing 'spot the 116' in traffic now and i am yet to have a day when I haven't seen one, and not always the same ones either. I do remember when I was working in the UK in 2000/01 and looking for a cheap interesting older runabout and there are very few about. The classics exist over there but generally just a weekend car. Then when I returned to Adelaide it really hit me just how much older our fleet is. So I guess a lot of these responses depend on where you are. The other thing that hit me was driving at peak times and feeling like there was a nuclear bomb scare.......dramatically less cars on the road and big wide dual lane roads in normal residential/business areas. Didn't take long for me to start cursing our traffic again though!! I think as much as anything it is the childish rudeness of Adelaide drivers not letting other cars in, as if getting to your destination one car length earlier matters! I have been back to the UK midlands a couple of times since and it is such a pleasant surprise how polite and cooperative the drivers are.

And Oscar, that 280sel looks like a fixer to me. You won't let some over eager insurance assessor send it off to the crushers I hope! Better talk to that owner quick! A much easier fix than povo by the looks.

scroo the insurance.they will junk it. i would like to see how the other car looked after hitting this one.