Outstanding 350SEL

[marku]

This 350 is for sale by Mercedes-Benz Classic and described by them as in truly outstanding condition.




https://specials.mercedes-benz-classic.com/en/vehicles/?cid=327

[s class]

Yes indeed, that is something of a benchmark.  No restoration will ever be as pure.

[daantjie]

Velour is in fantastic shape.

[ptashek]

Nice indeed. But it rubs me the wrong way they can't publicly provide a valuation for it.
For me this accounts to looking for that special snowflake of a client, who's got a ton of cash and no idea what they're doing

How much would you guys pay for one like it? I have a fairly good idea what it costs to do a ground-up restoration, s-class has years of experience to judge from...
I'd say 20kEUR, maybe a bit more for it being a 350SEL.
Am I being silly?

[s class]

I think somewhere around the 20k E mark is justified.  Put another way, I would be prepared to pay that much for it, provided the mechanicals are as decent as they seem. 

To try and get a ratty one into that state will cost more. 

[floyd111]

My 2 cents..
I am seeing similar things.. Great velours indeed. Nothing visible to moan about. But, what was done to the car? How are we to know? Price is missing, and besides the mileage apparently being as low as possible, I would not have chosen this specimen for a rebuilt, for it is pretty close to a low-spec, option wise. No airco, no zebrano, an (awful) radio-delete plate, and, back in the day, velours was pretty much the non-option outfit. Shipping region-specific cars across continents halfway their life also doesn't add. How many owners did it have?
I DO moan about the rims. A pure, no-budget, no-option W116 should have steel wheels with caps.

I, more than some, really need the price of concourse W116's to go up worldwide, (haha)
Not sure that goal is served with this exact car.
W116 was famous for it's options. Few were supplied to people with budget for options.
For people interested in such, and better versions, I know of a few suppliers that have better equipped cars with full history (and more miles) offering models 10-15000 euros.
I just wish there were more of them, at higher prices with an actual profit margin worth mentioning.

[s class]

...I would not have chosen this specimen for a rebuilt, for it is pretty close to a low-spec, option wise. No airco, no zebrano, an (awful) radio-delete plate, and, back in the day, velours was pretty much the non-option outfit. ...

Disagree. 

No aircon was common for many northern climate markets.  No zebrano on the centre console is correct for the year model.  It only became available later.  It is correct for the car to have the black centre console.  The radio delete plate is correct and period.  Depending on the market, the standard upholstery was leather or tex.  Velours was ALWAYS an expensve, added cost upmarket option, even on 6.9's.  It is VERY attractive to see it in a 350.  And realise that the 350SEL is the least numerous version of the series, only about half as numerous as 6.9s. 

...I DO moan about the rims. A pure, no-budget, no-option W116 should have steel wheels with caps....

Disagree

It is not a pure no-budget car.  See my comments about the cost and desirability of the velour.  There was nothing stopping the first owner specifying alloy wheels.  What is FAR more important than which options the car currently has, is the fact that the options on the car match the build sheet and options code plate on the radiator cross-member. 

When I was young, I used to pursue fully optioned 116's, but perhaps its because I have quite a number now, I would rather live with an accurate car that lacks some of the 'cool' options.  My 350SE is an example.  It has the standard/low spec interior (leather) and it has the non-option steel rims.  But it is equipped with A/C, sunroof, tempomat, all of which were expensive options.  It would be nicer if it had central locking and electric windows, but no way in hell I'm deviating from the as-build specification.

...W116 was famous for it's options. Few were supplied to people with budget for options.....

Disagree. 

Non-optioned cars outnumber the highly optioned examples.  My 1976 6.9 has exactly zero additional options beyond what was standard for the original sale market of the car (Finland).  And that is how I am restoring the car.  Non-optioned. 

Fortunately there are lots of flavours of 116's out there, pick the ones that work for you.  For me, I'll stick to my as-built spec on the cars, some of them non-optioned, some highly optioned. 

[floyd111]

I knew you were gonna disagree.
As much as I love the W116, I can't stand the blue interior. It just hurts the eyes...
Love the velours in parchment or brown, but where I'm from, leather was the only respectable thing.. I only recently re-programmed myself.
Are you saying Velours was more costly than leather those days?
Learn something every day. Wish I could find a company to fit my cars with new velours..
Zebrano not available till later? Never knew. That makes this a valid, original case, be it an ugly one. And the radio-delete designation plate? Can't imagine anyone with taste would want that inside the cabin, instead of on the trunk, haha.

When I say.. W116 famous for options, I didn't mean most cars sold had tons of options. It was the option-fitted models people  (kids) spoke of, back in the day.

I respect purists, for all the values they hold, but to me, ugly still remains ugly, except maybe for an Ugly Duck 2CV
In my eyes, MB was trying very hard to re-invent themselves after the 60's, and there was big pressure to come up with a big bang. I personally think the interiors were not up to spec the first few years around. Compare them to the lush W111's..
A rock-bottom basic Pagoda is lush as well.
W116 received the dressing it merited, be it -like you explained- later on..

Still, data-card specific rebuilds are more valuable, no doubt. Still aesthetics count. This car is entirely correct, but not a gorgeous specimen. !974 is not 1972. Either go for a first edition, or an adult edition. Don't ship across continents. Inform clients with well-documented restoration data and history, as well as pricing.
If all of that is not an option, at least choose a well-equipped beauty of a specimen..-with options!, haha..

It is also a luxury to be able to choose from all the ideas we talk of.
I really don't have the choice, but..on that note, I DID have a discussion with my mechanic, whether we have the chance to retro-fit our cars with the outfit the data cards specify..

[ptashek]

My 2 cents..
I am seeing similar things.. Great velours indeed. Nothing visible to moan about. But, what was done to the car? How are we to know? Price is missing, and besides the mileage apparently being as low as possible, I would not have chosen this specimen for a rebuilt, for it is pretty close to a low-spec, option wise. No airco, no zebrano, an (awful) radio-delete plate, and, back in the day, velours was pretty much the non-option outfit. Shipping region-specific cars across continents halfway their life also doesn't add. How many owners did it have?
I DO moan about the rims. A pure, no-budget, no-option W116 should have steel wheels with caps.

I, more than some, really need the price of concourse W116's to go up worldwide, (haha)
Not sure that goal is served with this exact car.
W116 was famous for it's options. Few were supplied to people with budget for options.
For people interested in such, and better versions, I know of a few suppliers that have better equipped cars with full history (and more miles) offering models 10-15000 euros.
I just wish there were more of them, at higher prices with an actual profit margin worth mentioning.

Let's check the options...
Velours +1465DM, automatic gearbox with floor-shift +1776DM, central locking +382DM, additional rear-view mirror + 100DM, armrest +150DM, power windows +1100DM, five alloys 1550DM.

So yeah, it's hardly a base model by any means. Keep in mind this is a "SEL". The only model that's more rare than this is the 280SEL. Even the 6.9 was more common than either of those two (for obvious reasons, but still). Also, it's easy to say by the engine bay pics that it's not a concourse/musem restoration. The car was probably in top shape to begin with. I find it hard to believe Mercedes Classic would bother with anything else as a base, for anything but the most desirable models (think the Gullwing or 500K roadster).

This looks more like an honest refresher, with only what needed doing having been done. Actually, most serious collectors would probably buy it because of its rarity and originality, not because it's "concourse", maxed out on options or a 6.9

[s class]

Thank you ptashek, where's your 'like' button?

[shaggy]

Velour was the 'de rigeur' option in France and for some reason most people opted for the blue, along with silver paint or blue/grey metallic.
This car is to the same spec. as my French 280SE excepting air-con, which mine has. Blue velour is not my fave colour either!

[floyd111]

Thank you for the "hiding". I had it coming a long time.

[ZCarFan]

Velour was the 'de rigeur' option in France and for some reason most people opted for the blue, along with silver paint or blue/grey metallic.
This car is to the same spec. as my French 280SE excepting air-con, which mine has. Blue velour is not my fave colour either!

I have a W126 280 SE that is silver with blue velour inside.  Nicer overall I think than my W116 280SE with Topaz brown/palomino combination.

My W116 280SE came with sunroof, A/C, power windows , cruise, alloys etc. but no right side mirror.  Some cars just ended up with odd option combinations it seems. 

[ronw123w124]

Blue interior is okay with me, in fact my W116, a 78 280S came with blue cloth interior, as well as my 1990 260SE W126. Now a Mercedes with a green interior is something that just I cannot live with (sorry Ptashek).

My 280S is not exactly a bare bones no option car when it was ordered, it has aircon, central locking, even rear headrests but no sunroof which is really useless in this part of the world where I am. It has a 4speed manual transmission which is fine by me since It is mostly a weekend car, but in case I change my mind, I have spare auto tranny which I can install in the future if I feel like it. The only thing that I don't like about my car is that it doesn't have electric windows, but I'll be fitting one soon, I'm lucky that my friend is breaking 2 W116's and has agreed to sell me the electric windows for all 4 doors. I really can't live with manual windows, even in my W123 which also came with manual windows I eventually installed electric windows on it.

[beagle2022]

While we are on the weird options lottery, my 79 280sel has electric sunroof, cruise control, a/c etc, but no first aid kit.  Not missing.  Never fitted. A metal plate covers the place where it should be.  Clearly the first owner thought he would never get hurt.