Picked up my "new" shite Merc & BLOG

[Peter C]

Despite not needing another car I felt the need to buy another old Merc. I'm picking this up tonight:

 

1991 W126 300SE in silver with black leather,

113k miles with FMBSH up to 105k miles,

Decent spec, including non-functioning air conditioning,

Recent tyres,

Famous first owner - from new up to 2 years ago the car was apparently owned by Sir Stuart Rose, of Marks & Spencer fame.

 

Here's some pics:

 

 

 

 

 

The bodywork is apparently a little rough around the edges and the bumper chrome is starting to rust, but the oily bits are ok and the car will be sold with full 12 months MoT.

 

The plan is to smoke around in it for the next 6 weeks, if it performs ok I'll be taking it to Poland in mid July for our family summer hols and then keep running it until the tax runs out (6 months) and review my plans. If nothing falls off I might keep it. Alternatively, I might decide to sell it on and if I am lucky I won't loose much £££.

 

These old Mercs are amazingly cheap nowadays and won't get any cheaper. The tired ones will die soon and the decent ones will go up in value. Not sure what the future holds for this 300SE. I guess time will tell.

 

I hope to have a tinker with it this weekend and take some pics of it parked alongside my W123 230E.

 

Peter C

[Cavcraft]

Saw that on RR, looks like a bargain to me. They're pretty bullet proof really and as long as the mechanics have been looked after you shouldn't go too far wrong.

[Peter C]

I got it!

 

The car was as the seller stated - how rare is that nowadays?

 

Drove it home 30 miles from Reading and it seems fine. There is a tiny blow from one of the head to manifold joints, but it's nothing that a bit of JB Weld can't sort out. The ride is amazingly smooth and the engine pulls well. Result!

 

Needs a good clean, which I will sort out today.

 

More photos to come, perhaps even a little blog?

[Pete-M]

Oooh, these are good things. 500/560 SELs are always in my ebay watch list.

 

I've got the workshop manual CD here somewhere.

[VWPowered]

thats nice thta, a mate just scrapped a 500SE, same colour etc as that one above too

[ashmicro]

That's not just an S Class, That's an M&S-Class.

 

Very nice indeed.

[Cheggers]

That's not just an S Class, That's an M&S-Class.

 

Very nice indeed.

I lol'd

 

Nice car.

[Peter C]

Update.

 

I spent 4 hours giving the Merc a good clean and polish.

 

The bodywork looks a lot better but I still need to sort out the nearside front wing rust. A blob of filler and rattle can localised repair is on the menu. W126s tend to rot around the rear window. This one is 100% solid with no evidence of any rust, repairs or water ingress into the boot. Result.

 

The interior is in amazing condition. I've cleaned everything and revived the plastics and leather. Apart from one rear window, all the electrics work, even the adjustable steering column - nice touch!

 

I had a quick look on the VOSA website. The MoT history goes back to 2005, at the time the mileage was 109k miles. In 5 years the car had done 4k miles (it's on 113k miles now). I think the car would benefit from a bit of regular use.

 

Some photos to show off my efforts:

 

The bloody thing is massive!

 

 

Looks happy next to my W123:

 

 

Nice interior:

 

 

 

 

 

I thought the boot would be bigger than this:

 

 

I hope that nothing goes wrong here:

 

 

I'll keep you posted.

[retrogeezer]

what a bargEain that was......lovely.

[Station]

I saw that on RR, it looks charming. Bet it's a beaut to drive.

 

Did 'Stuart Rose' own this car until recently?

[Peter C]

Did 'Stuart Rose' own this car until recently?

The story is:

 

The guy I bought it through (a mechanic) apparently serviced Stuart Rose's old Bentleys and Astons. The mechanic told SR to let him know if he ever wanted to sell the Merc. One day, a couple of years ago, SR offered the car to matey, who at the time did not want it, but he arranged for one of his friends / clients to buy it. The friend / client kept it for a couple of years and asked matey to sell it again. That was a couple of weeks ago and that's where I come in. I am the third owner, actually 4th according to the logbook but that is because SR had the Merc registered as a company car when new and subsequently bought it from M&S. That said, SR's name will not appear on the new logbook. I haven't gone through all the paperwork that came with the car, there might be a record of previous ownership there.

 

The service history certainly is almost full, up to 100k, although that was back in 2003. VOSA MoT records have confirmed that the car had 109k on the clock in 2005 and the car was annually MoT'd. The mileage of 113k is therefore genuine.

 

I've checked the car over: engine and gearbox oils, filters, exhaust, etc and everything is fine. I will change the engine oil, because I always do so whenever I buy an old car, but otherwise nothing urgent needs doing. The gearbox oil is fresh (bright red) and even the air filter looks new.

 

I've sorted out the rust on the front wing, pics to follow.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Excellent. Why dont Merc sell an S-class with wheel trimz nowadays?

[pandamonium]

Excellent! I was toying with the idea of one of these before I bought my W123. Have you got more pics of your W123?

[strangehighways]

Lovely car. Makes me miss my SEC even more now!

[Peter C]

I started poking about with a screwdriver and this happened:

 

 

At this point I must explain that I hate doing bodywork repairs. I don't have the patience to do it properly and bearing in mind that I am starting the job with a bodge in mind I find it difficult to motivate myself to do it properly.

 

However, after an hour's worth of filling, sanding and spraying the wing now looks like this:

 

 

The paint match and finish are actually quite good, for a rattle can. Where as before the scabs looked awful from a mile off, now you'd have to know that Peter's been bodging to notice that the wing is not perfect. The swage line hides the joint between the paints and for a total financial outlay of £5.99 (Halfords spray can), I am happy.

 

Here's a couple of snaps of the W126 parked alongside my W123:

 

 

[Peter C]

Have you got more pics of your W123?

 

 

 

 

[FredTransit]

Your W123 is the upmarket version of mine, I don't even have paint on the hubcaps! They make a lovely couple.....

[Peter C]

Your W123 is the upmarket version of mine, I don't even have paint on the hubcaps!

I think all non-alloy wheeled W123s had colour coded wheel trims. If your's weren't colour coded that's because they were replacement trims, which are all silver before the paint is sprayed on.

 

They make a lovely couple.....

A match made in heaven, or was it Stuttgart?

[TheScrapman]

Excellent. Why dont Merc sell an S-class with wheel trimz nowadays?

Maybe not, but it is a requirement to have winter tyres here in Düsseldorf, so you see many a €100,000 Merc/BMW/Porsche/Maserati cruising about on black steels. As this years fashion in expensive motors appears to be brown, it makes for a delightful combination.

 

There was a brand new turd brown s-class parked opposite our flat the other day. I think of the dealership with the customer looking to spend 100k on a new motor. On looking through the colour chart, he thought hmmm, I think brown would look nice.

 

Sorry, I digress. Nice Benz there sir, the 6-pot makes for a lovely cruiser. And being a late one, they tend to have more toys. Black leather is a rare option too, and rather sought after.

[Lukas]

You are right, many luxury-cars are driving around with hubcaps and steelwheels, at least during winter.

[Peter C]

A little update.

 

I've had this old barge for a couple of weeks now and I am pleased to report that absolutely nothing has gone wrong! What a car! Starts first time everytime, runs like a dream and is oh soooo comfortable. Fuel economy is not too bad either, on my commute I get low 20s and high 20s MPG on a motorway run.

 

So far so good.