Me too. After I build a new garage I'd like to own an SDL.

B

2. SD

3. White ext., dark brown interior



4. I like the front end and general responsiveness especially well. I like the roominess, specially after 3 years of either driving my BMW 325i or a Chev van. The beemer's a hot little car but claustrophobic compared to my shiny white w126.

__________________
Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

A "nice" "126" is sort of redundant. That is, of course, if the car has been cared for.

The 560 and 500 engines are powerful; the 420 only slightly less so (and it gave me 17 mpg combined in New Orleans traffic/highway driving). The 300 might be the best compromise.

To me, the best color combo is smoke silver/beige. Very elegant. Black and dark blue look superb when they're clean. But my anthracite (medium metallic grey) over light grey leather had the look of a banker's car.

The V-8s are tough, as long as you change the oil regularly and have the timing chain and other maintenance done. My 420 was totalled in 2004 with 198,000 miles on it, 60K of them mine. A month before, my regular mechanic had had to replace the oil pan (a crack caused by a road obstruction was causing a leak), and he said the internals of the engine were clean as the proverbial whistle.

The W126 rides like no other car of its day. I miss mine.

__________________
* *
-- Paul W. (The Benzadmiral)
('03 Buick Park Avenue, charcoal/cream)
Formerly:
'97 C230, smoke silver/parchment; '86 420SEL, anthracite/light grey; '84 280CE (W123), dark blue/palomino

I love the ride and size of the SEL. I'm very comfortable with the size although some might be intimidated by it being nearly as long as a Suburban (have one of those too).

I still want an SDL and would love to one day have an SEC, preferably a 560. Mileage really isn't that bad with the 560, I see 14 in town if I drive easy and routinely break 20 on extended highway trips which ain't too shabby for a big land yacht.

__________________
Mike Tangas
'73 280SEL 4.5 (9/72)- RIP
Only 8,173 units built from 5/71 thru 11/72

'02 CLK320 Cabriolet - wifey's mid-life crisis

2012 VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI...at least its a diesel

Non illegitemae carborundum.

I firmly believe that the 86-91 S class Mercedes is the PEAK of Mercedes mechanical quality. I sold an 86 560SEL at 200K miles and currently own a 91 300SE with 145K miles.
1. Stick with a 420 or 300. The 560 has problems with the rear hyd suspension. Very expensive to fix and hard ride quality.
2. 86 has bad camshafts. Will fail at 100k miles even with regular oil changes. (560 engine)
3. R-12 A-C on all models, will be to be change to 134. My compressor went to 175K miles on the 560. My 300SE is still original and working at 145K .
4. The sunroof can be a problem on all models if not lubricated with special MBZ grease in the slide block area.
5. Personally I do not think the extra room in an SEL is that big a deal.
6. The 300 is a strait six that does NOT have a lot of power. But it gets GREAT gas mileage for a big car, plus a valve job is MUCH cheaper on a strait six vs a V-8.

Other than the minor window regulator and motor problems, maybe a idle control motor, and rusted exhaust pipe/rear muffler, these the FINE cars that can easily go to 200K miles, a whole lot cheaper the the new models will .

Good luck, I personally like white exterior. Also, the leather on the front driver seat bolster will wear. In addition, the leather on top of the rear seat back will dry out from sun.

I disagree on the rear suspension. It isn't all the difficult to diagnose and definitely not overly expensive to fiv UNLESS the rear struct are shot, then it is very expensive. The routine rear suspension repair costs about $200 for past plus about $30 worth of fluid to correct. Majority of the time it is simply the accumulators have gone bad, they cost about $100 apiece, two required. When everything is functioning correctly the hydraulic suspension is unbelievably smooth.

The '86's did have a bad batch of cams, seemed the harden layer of the lobes wore through quicker than should have. But that was limited to a certain series of part numbers (numbers posted somewhere here on these forums by stevebfl). Mine lasted nearly 200K miles before requiring replacement.

I would also stick strictly with R-12 rather than converting to R-134. The R-12 system kicks butt, R-12 is still available and not exhorbantly expensive. Costs more than R-134, but well worth it. A conversion to R-134 requires extensive labor to be done correctly, changing o-rings, flushing and changing oil, and it is very likely the compressor will take a dump within a couple years at best (at least according to some of the conversions I read about). It was designed for R-12 so I keep it that way, but to each his (or her) own.

__________________
Mike Tangas
'73 280SEL 4.5 (9/72)- RIP
Only 8,173 units built from 5/71 thru 11/72

'02 CLK320 Cabriolet - wifey's mid-life crisis

2012 VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI...at least its a diesel

Non illegitemae carborundum.

You could get 420SEL rear springs and regular shocks and strip off the hydraulic stuff, pump included.


I'm going to use Freeze-12 in mine. See http://dieselgiant.com/repairyourac.htm for tips. I have the freeze-12 and I need the expansion valve, cleaner, vacuum pump and oil. Oh gee, more stuff for the moneypit.

Is the Suburban, aka Titanic, yours or Gov't issue?

__________________
Regards

Warren

Currently 1965 220Sb, 2002 FORD Crown Vic Police Interceptor

Had 1965 220SEb, 1967 230S, 280SE 4.5, 300SE (W126), 420SEL

ENTER > = (HP RPN)

Not part of the in-crowd since 1952.