I know its not a 116 but

[robertd]

Hi gents,
I have been looking for quite some time for a clean well looked after 280SE but have been unsuccessful, most of what I have found have been sad cases where they have just been driven into the ground.
So that is why I am asking for your forgiveness for my recent folly, I came across this baby blue 1977 280E (povo pack).
I just could not help myself, its the condition that won me over. Just 1 owner since 1980, full service books and just feels great.
Robert
photos to [img width=800 height=535]http://gallery.w116.org/dl/36219-1/IMGP3899.jpg[/img]follow

[Big_Richard]

.

[littlefin]

Definitely no shame in W123 ownership, especially if it's been well maintained. Tough as old boots.

My, that interior is BLUE!

[Type17]

I can see why the condition won you over!


123's are great - they're the 116's little brother 

[RustInPeace]

t a x i !

Just kidin'.. W123 is the nuts! Now I'm feeling in good company with my 123 collection too.
Skyblue (or Chinablue?) is a real 70's *Kult* color - you can see your car from far away in amongst a mass of homogenous generic plastic Ford nonsense on the parking place.
Really beautiful car anyway, for me no excuse required. I'm looking for an SE too, but if something like this appeared, I'd be driving it!

[robertd]

  The paint colour is starting to grow on me, it does soften the interior which I agree is very blue.
and yes Major Tom manual trasmission would be nice, but you can still work the auto pretty well if required.
Its going in for a Roadworthy test today to be able to transfer ownership, hoping its as good as it looks.
cheers
Rob

[TJ 450]

Very nice...

I like the colour combination too.

Tim

[Hemersam]

Nice looking car, but be advised: they are not as comfy as a W116.
Hemersam

[robertd]

All done, passed the roadworthy test with flying colours but needed a windscreen as it had very fine sandblasting all over, probably the original factory glass. now to get to work and give it a full lube service, change all the fluids and then give the paint a good cut and polish.  Has anyone had any experience with the clay bar, my mechanic highly recommends it.?
cheers
Robert

[Type17]

Clay Bar: If the paint feels rough when you run your fingertips over it after a regular washing, then a clay bar would help - it will remove all of the micro-crud that is stuck in the (invisible) pores of the paint. Note that it does not remove swirl marks or polish the paint, but it does clean it in a way that isn't possible with any other method, so that other treatments for swirls and dullness will have a better overall result.


There are a few pitfalls to using a clay bar, whereby you could introduce swirls or scratches, but if you read up on it (Google 'using a clay bar' or similar), they are easily avoided.


You should also be ready to polish/wax/protect the paint after a clay bar session, as you will have removed all previous protection, and the paint would be relatively vulnerable to damage if it was left 'naked'.


I use a clay bar on my daily driver once a year, in spring, and it really smartens it up after the winter. If your car has never been clay-bar'ed (or not within the last few years), you'll see a huge difference, and you'll be amazed at the amount of stuff that comes off an apparently clean car.

[robertd]

Thanks for your advise on the clay bar type 17, I going to have a crack at it.
Cheers

[Casey]

I've seen two different, though both very interesting euro blue W123 interiors lately.  One had sun-faded to nearly purple, which in my opinion made it look even better:



This one I found today had W116-style (pointed on the sides) headrests, which I bought because I just couldn't resist:



If you were to be interested in either of those sets of seat skins + door cards, I could probably fetch them for you...  Then again that's probably my dislike of blue MB-tex talking.  Anyways cheers on the W123 - I own three myself and my everyday car these days is the 200D.  W123's are the last classy chassis that Mercedes ever made.

[entresz]

My first Mercedes was a 123 and it was an awesome car! Even with 300,000+ kms on it, it still ran well.