Should I buy? 1978 350SE 4 spd stickshift

[mirafioriman]

Manuals are rare in the UK too. A few 280s came here with manuals but few if any V8s. I seem to remember reading that the V8s never came with a manual box as Mercedes didn't have one strong enough but obviously not.

[RustInPeace]

"French lights"
The French were doing things differently with car headlights until 1993  Old French cars had by law to have yellow tinted lenses. All that changed 20 years ago, and they now have sensible headlights like the rest of Europe.. The 280 I found is totally original, from 1973 so it has these old school yellow headlight beams.

The only manual shift 350s I saw here are mostly half dead. They are often offered at an inflated price as well, probably in case someone wants to pull the gearbox and trans for using in a better car.

Good to know that I can squeeze some W123 bits in for repairing -got lots lying around!
Don't fancy the purple velour - was this car owned by Prince in 1983? Falco had a W123 from that time that came up for sale in Nuremberg last year y'know (no joke).
JC

[mercedesbenz911]

The eBay 350 looks nice.  Why do almost all MBs on ebay.de have such poor pictures?

Well I got more details about the car and the exterior condition was indeed too good to be true.  I'm starting to reconsider now.  The biggest issue for me is price.  $5,000 USD for a car with super high miles, crap interior, in need of a respray?  Seems way too high to me.  If I can get the price lowered a lot then I'd like to buy it otherwise I'm going to pass.

I've attached some more photos so you can see another view of the interior, the trunk and headliner, and high-mileage emblems. Headliner's intact, and we replaced the seal on the trunk a few years ago, so it does not leak.



The paint is buffing up to a nice shine again with a rotary buffer and some rubbing compound, but due to prep issues when last repainted by previous owner, I would count on doing a repaint soon. A couple spots are starting to peel, so we don't take it through the automatic car washes. It had some light rust beneath the driver/passenger doors that was not filled/sanded well, so it looks a bit bubbly under the paint, although it feels solid enough--but that should be taken care of during prep for repaint next time. Since it's been in the desert since '89, and spent some time in Libya too, I assume the rust spots developed when it was newer and housed in northern Italy. Have seen no further progression of the rust. Seat upholstery is in good shape, but not original. Interior door panels/dash have cracking, and there are light cracks in the burlwood decorative panels, same as our '86 has.



We've driven it to Vegas often; it's never broken down on the road for us. Not to say it couldn't happen, but mechanically it's pretty sound. Just replaced a steering coupling that was about to fail, and the engine and A/C are working great. Electric window issues come and go, as happens on the newer one as well. I think it's just one of those issues you have if it's 20 yrs old or more. Vacuum issues were solved last repair--but if you let it sit for a couple weeks without driving it, sometimes you have to start it up to get enough vacuum for the other doors to open automatically when you unlock it.



You'd definitely want to put new tires on it before driving the freeways/highways to Houston. They have plenty of tread, the problem is dry rot---too much sun on them.



I'd say the order of work would be:



-tires (before any long freeway drive). This is the most critical right now.



-prep/repaint

-seatbelt replacement (plastic piece that keeps it from retracting too far is gone, so it's a little hard to reach on driver's side when buckling up, and you can't replace that piece without removing the belt)

-work on driver door latch (lube it?--a couple of time it's had trouble latching shut--we had to slam it a few times and fiddle with the mechanism--then it's fine for a few more months, so something is intermittently sticking and keeping the latch from catching)



-replace some interior panels and the dash

-reupholster to original specs for aesthetics



It's not perfect, but it's mostly original and thus very restorable mechanically sound for driving. My spouse loves driving this car and still takes it to work now and then. Transmission seems fine, and it leaves other cars in the dust as you accelerate on freeway on-ramps.

[pompy]

This is max a $2k car 

[Ilike300sd]

$5,000 USD for a car with super high miles, crap interior, in need of a respray?  Seems way too high to me.  If I can get the price lowered a lot then I'd like to buy it otherwise I'm going to pass.

That is WAY too much IMO.  I'm thinking about putting my 78 450SEL for sale tomorrow for about $2000 and it's already been repainted, interior is good except for back seat foam needs replaced, and it runs like a top and needs nothing. 

[nathan]

he can GAGF (you like that MT?). that is way too much money.
by the condition of the cracker interior, its obbviously been in way too much sun. the reskinned seats were probably because it was trashed too. coupled with a high km engine, im sure the rest of the drivetrain is very tired.  manual or not, not worth 1500. you could get a 6.9 for 5k and blow the doors of this thing anyhow.
good luck, if i were in the US, id love to go on  a 20 hour roadtrip to pick up a 116. having done several country trips to pick up 116s, i can attest to the fun of the journey.
regards
nathan

[1980sdga]

160 MPH speedo, proper bumpers, three pedals 

Automatic climate control, manual transmission, the way God intended...

Maybe 3 grand?  5 large seems out there!

[Big_Richard]

.

[TJ 450]

I was under the impression that ACCII was available, but a very rare option on Euro delivered cars?

MT, that car in Balga was a Euro.

Tim

[jbrasile]

ACC was optional on every 116 version starting around 76, I saw a 280S for sale here in Sao Paulo a while back that had ACC and was fully loaded except it was a 4 speed not an auto.

Tks,

Joe

[Big_Richard]

.

[Hemersam]

$5,000? Way too much, IMO.
Hemersam

[mercedesbenz911]

Yeah, I'm going to pass.  I've got my eye on a few others in much better condition for less.  Manual trans would've been nice but it's not worth it when the rest of the car is no good.

[powerglide]

After the legendary 6.9, the 350SE manual is the duck's guts.  If you're prepared to rebuild it, $1 or $5k won't make all that much difference in the end.  K-jet will be easier to deal with, too.

[RustInPeace]

For price comparison, examples of 350 manual at exaggerated prices:

350SE,  3/1975, 369.000 km, manual shift. Found in an Austrian barn after 15 years there. Imported to Germany and left out under open sky. Engine not seized, never been run since at least 15 years. Bodywork beyond repair (IMHO), big rust on critical areas, sills open like sardine cans, doors dustbin ripe.. oh, leaking windows direkt on to seats/parcel shelf. No exotic options. 3900Euro!

350SE,  1/1977, km unknown, manual shift, usual options. Standing 12 years, changed owner 6 months ago. New owner had engine running at beginning, but seems to have b* something, now non-running. Rust -don't know, probably enough. Paint classic white, BAD condition with green algae and moss. Quote from owner (translated) "..with smallest effort car will be like new"  - why is this monkeyswing for sale after 6 months then! Price imagined around 5 to 6 thousand Euro!

I do not know if these are usual sellers looking for usual mug, or if this represents darker, more malevolent undercurrents moving in the depths of the 116 markt  5000US would be high here - sorted cars with most things in order available for this price. It seems if you want a Vee motor and you want manual, then choice is slim.

The automatic AC would be a real turn off - big $ and pain when something goes wrong.