I saw a great 1985 500 SEL last night. I was really impressed. I might buy it just to have a temporary driver. It needs a few things but its in great shape over all.
Does anyone here have a car like this? I was told that in 1985 the German Mark was three and a half to the dollar and so people went to Germany and simply had cars shipped to The States. Does anyone know about this?
The European headlamps with the height adjustment were very cool. And many other things about the car also.
Thanks
Jason

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1988 300CE 120K RIP(Midnight Blue/Parchment)
1987 300E 202K (Arctic White/Palomino)


Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons. It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth. ~Song of The Open Road

Check the followings as they are hard/costly to fix:
1. AC
2. Sun roof
3. Engine roughing
4. White/black smoke
5. Engine overheat
6. Oil/water leak
7. ASD functionality (if available)

All the best...

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Master Computer Engineer, A+, Network+, MCP/MCSA/MCSE 4/2k/2k3 - Messaging, MCTS, MCITP, MCT, Brainbench, ICDL and starting Ph.D

380SE 1984 <------- Totaled by flipping accident
300SE 1988 <------- Sold
Volvo S70 2000 <---- 4 family
Opel Omega 2002 <-- 4 family
560SEC 1989 <------ Sold
560SEL 1990 <------ Sold
560SEL 1991 <------ 4 my mother
560SEL 1989 <------ Sold
600SEL 1992 <------ Current

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZkhazenzcc

What you were told is basically true. 1984 and 1985 were the glory days for those gray market cars to be brought in. The savings were really big for the high line cars, the S and SL especially.

For example, in one case I personally was acquainted with a man who'd used a registered importer to pick up a brand new euro-spec '84 500SEC over in Germany, for a price of $40,000 USD, then spent about $10,000 to certify it US legal after the DOT/EPA changes were made, and about $20,000 for a full AMG conversion, (done by the registered importer, which was also an authorized AMG dealer in California at the time). The AMG conversion included
interior, body kit, Penta wheels, engine, transmission, and suspension. Total =$70,000 to his driveway. A huge savings from buying new at a Mercedes dealer in the USA. So many people did it, that Mercedes noticed; it's said that the 560 engine was introduced in part to kill the gray market, and to satisfy the American customers' demand for higher performance. In any case, it worked. The exchange rate changed, too, and in 1986, the gray market pretty much was over as a viable alternative to buying new.

I was asked to drive the car to Denver from SF just before Christmas in '85 and it was a wonderful trip, in that near new car, and convinced me I ought to own an SEC one day.

A euro-spec 500SEL gives 240 hp. Contrast with a stock 560SEL that gives 238 hp.

So long as the conversion has been performed well, (there were a lot of fly by night importers in those days), the car can be a good buy and a lot of fun.

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

I had a 1984 500sel euro and it cost me an arm and a leg to maintain. It had the hydro-pneumatic suspension on all 4 corners. That cost me a ton of money ($700 just to replace 1 hydrostrut. ) I spent mucho dinero on the a/c system. I had a german indy mechanic replace the timing chain but after only a few months one of the cheap plastic rails broke. Consequently I bent valves on 1 of the banks and once again, spent a fortune on the car to get it running again.

If you did your homework you would find that these cars are plentiful and you can get them dirt cheap. Many of them sitting around in peoples yards. Chassis sitting flat on top of the old tires because the hydro-p suspension is spent and flat.

I would stay away from any of these IMHO.

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Frank
84 500SEL EURO 101K ( JUST LIKE MY 1ST WIFE. GLAD TO GET RID OF HER! )
85 300D 310K (sold)
90 350SDL 184K sold
83 300D 118K (sold)
88 300E 153k (sold)
93 400E 105K (sold)

I just bought a 1983 500SL AMG with the full boat - engine, 5-speed, suspension, body kit, interior peices, etc. He paid $58,000 for it in 1983 - a 380SL sold for $43,000. Not a bad deal for the buyer - he got much, much more car.

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600