Just thought I would say hello properly :-)
I have been looking for a W116 for a while and finally found a good one. I was originally after a 450 non 6.9 (http://forum.w116.org/shop/buying-a-450sel-in-oz-need-help/msg29763), but after coming across a good 280SEL, I decided it would be a good first W116.
It's only got ~180000k's on it, most of the stuff works, no real rust that I could find and apart from stuffed seat springs, a small tear on the drivers seat, cracking wood panels, a crack on the dashboard top, the interior is very good. The paintwork is good save for a bit of cracking on one guard, some chips at the front and the usual scuff marks.
Mechanically it seems good apart from the air-cond not working and a noisy fuel pump (and whatever the workshop that is checking it over next week finds).
I plan to spend some money over the next few months to bring it up to the standard of repair and appearance that I am after.
In closing, I must thank everyone for making this forum such a good source of information relevant to these cars. The information here helped me a great deal when out looking.
Welcome, and I'm sure you're going to really enjoy the 6-cyl M110 engine!
welcome to the regulars...the 280sel, one of the rarest 116s of all - about the same in scarcity as the 6.9 numbers wise!
enjoy a solid car that will undoubtedly give you many years of service
*taps fingers together in a semi sinister way* Ahhhhh another 280SEL...we better see some pics of your car (friendly, excited tone). Congrats on the purchase too BTW! ;D
Welcome bb!
Congrats on the 280SEL, they are great cars and I'm sure you will enjoy it!
:)
Congrats bb ;)
What year is the car, colour, and anything else you'd like to add.
Also, have you got a mechanic in mind, or will you be working on it yourself. EDIT, I meant to say, which workshop?
Quote from: 116Benz on 01 November 2007, 10:01 AM
*taps fingers together in a semi sinister way* Ahhhhh another 280SEL...we better see some pics of your car (friendly, excited tone).
Sure thing. I will post some over the next few days.
QuoteCongrats on the purchase too BTW! ;D
Cheers.
Quote from: oscar on 01 November 2007, 05:53 PM
Congrats bb ;)
What year is the car, colour, and anything else you'd like to add.
Also, have you got a mechanic in mind, or will you be working on it yourself. EDIT, I meant to say, which workshop?
It's a White 1978 280SEL with a weird brown with a slight tinge of orange interior colour. Hard to describe, but pictures will tell.
Apparently it was owned by one owner in Melbourne from new up until a few months ago. I know who the old owner is and am trying to contact them to get some documentation on the car (it came with none).
I bought it from a member of the ACT Mercedes Benz club who bought it from the original owner in Melbourne but decided that he had enough Benz's already.
In terms of workshop, I don't really know at this stage. It's going to MB Spares for a look over next week and a quote on some repairs that I want to do straight up, but I would like to do at least some work myself and of-course capitalise on any contacts this forum might lead to (!).
Being in Canberra I thought MBSpares might be your first port of call. If it was from an ACT club member and with mbspares contact with the club hopefully they know a bit about already. The one owner cars are the rarest kind of w116 and I'd like to hook up with a well maintained one one day. This 280sel is as good as a one owner if the PO only had it for a couple of months.
But good luck with tracking down papers. Hopefully there's plenty of receipts to show what's been carried out. Looking forward to the pics - interior sounds like bamboo or maybe tobacco. Check here www.meinbenz.de - click polsterung then w116
EDIT: sorry, just checked and that site hasn't got those colors.
Yeah, MB Spares know the car and the seller. It has been there a couple of times for some small jobs.
I am going to write a letter to the original owner and see what I can source. Hopefully I will get at least some paperwork.
In terms of interior colour, looking at the link you provided, it would appear that biege is the colour: http://www.meinbenz.de/polster/116/116_204leder_bambus.jpg
Looking at those pictures, I cant decide whether it has leather of mb-tex upholstery. I thought it was mb-tex but I am not so sure after looking at these pictures. When I get home in a couple of days (away at the moment) I will have another look.
This picture is what is giving me second thoughts: http://www.meinbenz.de/polster/116/116_204leder_bambus1.jpg. My back seat looks almost exactly like that and I assume 'leder' is German for leather.
Quote from: bb on 01 November 2007, 06:14 PM
Quote from: oscar on 01 November 2007, 05:53 PM
Congrats bb ;)
What year is the car, colour, and anything else you'd like to add.
Also, have you got a mechanic in mind, or will you be working on it yourself. EDIT, I meant to say, which workshop?
It's a White 1978 280SEL with a weird brown with a slight tinge of orange interior colour. Hard to describe, but pictures will tell.
I knew it, another white one!!
Seems white was popular on W116's ;D
Leder is indeed the German word for leather. Hopefully you will have the data card with the car and you will be able to tell from that what the upholstery colour number is and you will be able to work out if it is leather or MB-Tax.
Quote from: bb on 01 November 2007, 07:13 PM
My back seat looks almost exactly like that and I assume 'leder' is German for leather.
white SEL's are great cars and I'm sure you will enjoy yours a lot,
welcome to the best resource on the internet for w116 cars.
We be headin' "UP" to the 'Southlands'... hahahaaa ;D
BB, welcome mate - i think back when you were looking for a 450 I suggested BC's cause you wouldn't need to spend anything. (and now he's dropped the price!) oh well.
Either way, welcome to the world of 116 ownership.
If you happen to see a Silver 450 (that has a 6.9 badge but ISN'T actually a 6.9) with missing bumper bars, looks like shit and growls like a pornstar... Make sure you wave!
If you need any help with working on the car or spare parts etc let me know - good chance I can help you...not as much with a M110 as I could with a M117, but i'll do what I can to help.
BB = Big Brother?? :D
Welcome to the Board and enjoy your Newly acquired car:)
Thanks for the welcome everyone.
SELfor50: Thanks for the offer. Would quite like to catch up at some point.
Ok, finally had a chance to take some pictures of the beast.
Couldnt work out how to upload pictures to the bloody gallery, so I used imageshack instead.
Found some howto guides in the forums but despite being logged in, I could find nothing to click that would allow me to add anything.
These pictures are of the car as I bought it; please excuse the fact that I have not had a chance to clean it yet. Overall, with a bit of work and a good tidy up, I think it will be quite a good example.
(http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/9011/1000787mq7.jpg)
(http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/4247/1000795gi4.jpg)
(http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/9127/1000789rt8.jpg)
(http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/8357/1000794oz4.jpg)
(http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/83/1000790gj2.jpg)
(http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/1716/1000792ne0.jpg)
(http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/6039/1000791ep2.jpg)
(http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/797/1000801dm9.jpg)
(http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/1135/1000796zl5.jpg)
Very nice bb, very very nice.
Holy moly, it's like looking at my car, albeit yours is a lot cleaner in areas. Same interior colour, dash mat, same white, same model etc...
But yes, very very nice! ;D ;D
Can someone have a good look at the pictures of the inside and tell me what the covering on the seats is. I'm thinking the mb-tex vinyl...
I would say that without a doubt that it is MB-Tex. If it was leather, it wouldn't look half this good. Do you have the data card ?
Easily MB-Tex. There's none of those Leather creases and lines.
Quote from: CraigS on 07 November 2007, 05:42 AM
I would say that without a doubt that it is MB-Tex. If it was leather, it wouldn't look half this good. Do you have the data card ?
I was thinking the same thing. It has held up well given the age of the car.
Unless this data card is stuck to the car, no I dont have it. I got it with no documentation at all other than the rego papers :-(
That said, I do know a bit about its history and who owned it for most of its life. I am currently following that lead up in the hope of getting some sort of documentation.
Quote from: Andrew280SEL on 07 November 2007, 05:45 AM
Easily MB-Tex. There's none of those Leather creases and lines.
Cool. Thanks for the info.
bb: Welcome to the joys of the W116 and the M110! May you get many years and kms of pleasure out of it.
Without a doubt those seats are MBTex - almost indestructible, far more serviceable than leather, and more flexible so, in my opinion, more comfortable, as the leather becomes hard, unyielding, and shiny with age. I have MBTex in all but one of mine, and even in the 42-year-old it's in amazingly good nick. And it requires no more care than the occasional wipe over with a damp cloth.
Warning: do NOT, under any circumstances, use Armorall on your vinyl: certain and quick death will ensue from the application of that muck. Best treatment for the dash-pad vinyl and doorcard trim is an occasional application of vaseline / petroleum jelly or baby oil. I use petroleum jelly.
Your interior colour is Bamboo.
bb that looks fantastic, inside and out. That engine bay is pretty schmick too. Congratulations ;D
Quote from: OzBenzHead on 07 November 2007, 06:23 AM
Warning: do NOT, under any circumstances, use Armorall on your vinyl: certain and quick death will ensue from the application of that muck. Best treatment for the dash-pad vinyl and doorcard trim is an occasional application of vaseline / petroleum jelly or baby oil. I use petroleum jelly.
Oh dear.... :-[
Quote from: Michel on 07 November 2007, 02:23 PM
However, can someone tell me what is the secret behind 'blocking' the number plate?
I'd say he used Paint in Windows and drew a black square box over the plate area. ;)
Quote from: Andrew280SEL on 07 November 2007, 03:00 PM
Quote from: OzBenzHead on 07 November 2007, 06:23 AM[...] I use petroleum jelly.
Oh dear.... :-[ [...]
Well, Andrew, you
could try KY jelly, but I'm sure it won't do your MBTex much good. ;D ;D ;D
Those wheels look very nice. Saw some of those on a 114. They shine up a treat.
hehe... I was waiting for someone to ask why I blocked the number plates out.
I suppose there is no real reason other than to maintain a bit of anonymity on a public forum. For the 2 seconds it takes to put a rectangle on a picture, I thought why not.
Obviously that is separate and not connected to the fact that I will meet people from here and go on drive days etc.
and of course there are more people here than on public roads !
Quote from: bb on 08 November 2007, 02:54 AM
hehe... I was waiting for someone to ask why I blocked the number plates out.
I suppose there is no real reason other than to maintain a bit of anonymity on a public forum. For the 2 seconds it takes to put a rectangle on a picture, I thought why not.
Obviously that is separate and not connected to the fact that I will meet people from here and go on drive days etc.