SOLD 1992 500E, Bornite/Black Fabric, 195kkm, BaT auction (Berserkley, CA)

[gsxr]

No affiliation. Love this color combo. This car doesn't have Sound System, however it has Jehnert doorboards! The listing does not mention this, so the seller may not know what they are. No idea what amplifier is installed or where it is located, no aftermarket amps are visible in the photos.

Located in SoCal with Montana title. Despite the clear statement about CARB, a peanut gallerist already asked if it's passed CA smog.

CarFax report is totally useless as it only shows the registration/title in MT in Dec-2023. Amazingly, the car has correct Euro headlight lenses, although one is cracked, ouch. Seller should have taken care of the sagging headliner before listing.


VIN = WDB1240361B819337

Datacard: https://www.lastvin.com/vin/Dw1lNd5x1OJARkqy9

Euro 1992 Mercedes-Benz 500E

Bid for the chance to own a Euro 1992 Mercedes-Benz 500E at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #189,278.

bringatrailer.com

Euro 1992 Mercedes-Benz 500E​

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This 1992 Mercedes-Benz 500E is a Swiss-market model that was specified in Bornite Metallic over black leather and Karo cloth. It remained in Switzerland until it was purchased by the current owner and imported into the US in late-2023, and it now shows 195k kilometers (~121k miles). Power is from a 5.0-liter M119 V8 paired with a four-speed automatic transmission, and equipment includes 16″ eight-hole alloy wheels, a power sunroof, fog lights, Automatic Slip Control, automatic climate control, heated power-adjustable front seats, cruise control, and a US-spec Becker cassette radio with Bluetooth. Recent work has included replacing ignition components, the neutral safety switch, and the shifter bushings. This W124 500E is now offered on dealer consignment in California with the removed radio, a clean but completely useless Carfax report showing no accidents in the 16 months it's been in USA, and a clean Montana title.​

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The 500E was assembled by Porsche and featured wheel arch flares, revised bodywork, and a lower ride height when compared to other W124 models. This example was finished from the factory in Bornite Metallic (481) with lighter lower cladding, and it was repainted at some point under prior ownership.​

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Additional exterior features include headlight wipers, integrated fog lights, a retractable antenna, and a power sunroof. The right headlight is cracked, and paint blemishes are noted beneath the front bumper.​

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The 16″ eight-hole alloy wheels are mounted with 225/55 Continental EcoContact 6 tires. The car is equipped with Automatic Slip Control (ASR), and braking is handled by four-wheel ventilated discs.​

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The seating surfaces are trimmed in black leather and Karo cloth (071), the latter of which extends to the door panels. Burled wood trim complements the dashboard, center console, and door panels, while amenities include heated power-adjustable front seats, automatic climate control, a power-adjustable steering column, dual front airbags, and cruise control. A US-specification Becker radio with a Bluetooth retrofit has been added, and the removed European radio is included in the sale. The headliner sags.​

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The four-spoke leather-wrapped steering wheel frames a 260-km/h speedometer, a tachometer with a 6k-rpm redline, an analog clock, and gauges for oil pressure, coolant temperature, and fuel level. The six-digit odometer shows 195k kilometers (~121k miles), approximately 2k of which were added under current ownership.​

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The 5.0-liter M119 DOHC V8 was factory rated at 322 horsepower and 354 lb-ft of torque. The distributor caps, rotors, and ignition coils were replaced in December 2024, and the neutral safety switch and battery were replaced in September of that year. The seller tells us that the wiring harness has a date code from 2012. Corrosion is noted on one of the radiator supports.​

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Power is sent to the rear wheels through a four-speed automatic transmission, and the shifter bushings were replaced in January 2024. Additional photographs of the underside are shown in the gallery below. The Carfax report shows no accidents or damage because there is zero data from the 32 years the car was in Europe.​

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The vehicle has not been inspected by the California Bureau of Automotive Repair or the Air Resources Board.​

 

[gsxr]

More photos.

 

[500AMM]

Wow - it looks overall very clean!
Especially the interior at that mileage. My ex300 TDT had the same interior and a bit higher mileage, but had way more "compression" wear on the front seats.

 

[TerryA]

+1 on Wow! Great looking car for the mileage. Especially the exhaust system. PO must have replaced it before everything went NLA and didn’t drive it much afterwards. I noticed that the rear differential appears to be leaking.

 

[R129 UK]

The exterior photos look massively filtered to the point of being almost AI generated.

 

[Harv]

Curious to see where this one ends. $75k?

 

[gsxr]

Curious to see where this one ends. $75k?

A few years ago, yup. In today's market, I'd be surprised, despite the rare colors and good condition.

Having little to no mechanical restoration won't help, @gerryvz's $10k law will be in full effect (probably $15k, tariff-adjusted).

 

[FD.]

Original Swiss car, which stayed in CH for more then 20 years... and with some nice Swiss service stamps.

 

[gerryvz]

Don't kid yourselves.

$30K+ worth of work to do on this car, with dealer / high-end shop (aka Blue Ridge MB) labour and parts prices.

 

[Stevester 500E]

Curious to see where this one ends. $75k?

$60k

 

[Alphasud40]

I agree with the color combination. One of the most desirable in my opinion.

 

[toby_119]

I think it looks wonderful. I notice the seller is Derek TamHyphenScott, which I would imagine is a plus.

 

[doolar]

Amazing colour and spec. Dual zone klima.

 

[500AMM]

Amazing colour and spec. Dual zone klima.

Yes, and I really miss that in my car - it works so much better than the "hurricaning" klimaautomatik.

 

[doolar]

Yes, and I really miss that in my car - it works so much better than the "hurricaning" klimaautomatik.

Yes and it is a much more reliable construction without the vacuum pods.

 

[duuder]

is this car stealth enough in Cali to drive around with Montana plates? i know they hate a lot of everything there

 

[ArauzMotoring]

Beautiful interior and paint. This would be a fun car to resto mod seeing as it has no radio, and in need of maintenance …

 

[TerryA]

is this car stealth enough in Cali to drive around with Montana plates? i know they hate a lot of everything there

Come on down!

 

[500AMM]

Amazing colour and spec. Dual zone klima.

Yes, and I really miss that in my car - it works so much better than the "hurricaning" klimaautomatik.

Yes and it is a much more reliable construction without the vacuum pods.

Thomas @doolar, have you ever been looking into converting the klimaautomatik to dual zone? (...please say yes )

- I know, I know but..

 

[doolar]

Thomas @doolar, have you ever been looking into converting the klimaautomatik to dual zone? (...please say yes )

- I know, I know but..

No I haven’t Arnt, I’ve only ever had one car, a 300E with the autoklimaanlage, and it works now and hopefully until I sell it later this year.

It’s probably quite the undertaking to convert it, a lot of parts are different.

 

[SushiSean]

Hello all, great community you guys have here. Seems to rival only Rennlist for how much you guys have going on!

I’ve wanted one of these for a few years, and saw examples at the Porsche and Benz factories last month and that really turned up the wick.

I’m taking a stab at this car. It looks like it’s going to go for North of what any one I’ve seen on Classic. Does it deserve that? The spec looks insanely cool to me, and the seller states everything works. Besides a headliner, what other immediate expenses should I be prepared for? Someone mentioned $30k in work to do right away.

I recently bought a 73 SL500 and absolutely love it. But even though it was well kept I’ve hit $5-10k in work on it. But I’ve got a great shop here in SoCal that is very reasonable so it is what it is.

For passing CA smog, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. Have had out of state registered cars many times and not once had a hassle over it with the local PD.

Thanks all for the insight, didn’t think to check here for any comments on this auction until now, realize this would have been more timely a few days ago!

 

[gsxr]

I’m taking a stab at this car. It looks like it’s going to go for North of what any one I’ve seen on Classic. Does it deserve that? The spec looks insanely cool to me, and the seller states everything works.

Look at the classified section here to get an idea of typical sale prices. The above-average condition on this one, along with celebrity seller, will boost the sale price... and of course the relatively rare color combo.

Besides a headliner, what other immediate expenses should I be prepared for? Someone mentioned $30k in work to do right away.

Nah, the $30k estimate is more for a concours mechanical restoration, including replacing parts that haven't yet failed, and are currently still functioning acceptably. That number is also assuming top-end indy shops with top-end labor rates.

I recently bought a 73 SL500 and absolutely love it. But even though it was well kept I’ve hit $5-10k in work on it. But I’ve got a great shop here in SoCal that is very reasonable so it is what it is.

This is more likely what you'd end up with in unplanned repairs at your local indy shop. If it's been sorted out as well as claimed, hopefully on the low end of that scale. Sadly, there are not any close-up photos of the undercarriage components to look for any visual cues, and it's way too late for a PPI. (BTW, I assume you mean 1993 500SL, or perhaps 2003 SL500?)

For passing CA smog, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. Have had out of state registered cars many times and not once had a hassle over it with the local PD.

One of the forum members here recently blazed the trail of official PRK certification. TLDR: it cost him $10k and all they did was chop off what was likely perfectly good, NLA, irreplaceable factory catalysts and welded in some CARB-certified aftermarket crap. If you can register it out of state that will be easiest.

 

[SushiSean]

Thank you that’s reassuring. I’ve seen many that have sold so I knew this was shooting at the top end.

Yes my mistake, I ment ‘73 SL450.

 

[R129 UK]

Thank you that’s reassuring. I’ve seen many that have sold so I knew this was shooting at the top end.

Yes my mistake, I ment ‘73 SL450.

I thought you were referring to an SL73 and started salivating...

 

[gsxr]

I thought you were referring to an SL73 and started salivating...

I thought the same thing until I rubbed my eyes, lol...

 

[gerryvz]

It's honestly going to be much easier for you to just get a US-spec car, and not have to deal with bringing it into California. Of course, licensing it out of state is against California law, but that certainly doesn't stop people.

The $30K mentioned to bring this car up to a high standard indeed involves proactive replacement of a lot of items, especially rubber and soft items underhood, and in the suspension. And yes, having the work done by a knowledgeable shop -- this just costs $$$ no matter how you slice it. Labor is not cheap these days.**** And no matter how few miles are put on a car, 30-year-old rubber degrades and is not going to give one the same feeling as when the car was new/fresher, in terms of suspension feel and so forth.

While resto work doesn't have to be done all at one time, do be prepared for the car to need quick attention to some things, with other things certainly can be replaced/repaired at a later time. 90% of the time when folks buy cars at auction, they immediately find undisclosed flaws and needs, or other problems that they desire getting attended to right away. Or if a car wasn't driven much, problems will immediately pop up.

You should budget at least $5-10K for these "pop-up" items that will certainly come to the forefront once the car starts getting driven. You should also budget for the Californication process with CARB and the DMV, if you do decide to license and register the car in that state.

The good thing in all this, is that every single item that could go wrong with a 500E or E500, has been covered -- in many cases, ad nauseum -- on this forum over the past 16+ years. You will never find a better resource on maintaining and repairing these cars than this forum.


*** Just for grins, I took my 25K-mile, fully documented, 2007 E63 AMG to a Mercedes-Benz dealer here in Maryland recently. It had never had the transmission fluid changed, although every other fluid on the car HAD been changed by the original owner, or in the run-up to the sale to me. Transmission fluid change interval is 5 years or 40,000 miles. The cost of the transmission oil change (parts and labor) was well over $800, including 6% Maryland sales tax. I could have DIY'd this job for probably $125-150 for parts + a $20 special tool for pumping ATF into the transmission pan (which is the factory procedure for filling the 722.9 transmission). And probably 1.5-2 hours of my own labour.

So yes, I was a bit shocked. It was the first time I'd had any service whatsoever at a Mercedes-Benz dealer in more than 20 years.

 

[TerryA]

@SushiSean,
Wow it’s up to $55K w/ an hour and 37 minutes to go.

Good Luck

WELCOME to the forum.

 

[SushiSean]

Super helpful response thank you! Not looking for a concours, car but yes I do like them to run similar to new.

This things already above what I imagined it would go for so probably not meant to be but let’s see

 

[Bogeyman]

Sold for $69.5K + fees - $73K all in.

 

[SushiSean]

Wasn't meant to be but I gave it a good try! Thanks everyone for the tips. Will own one sooner than later so I'll enjoy reading up on this forum!

 

[gsxr]

Sold for $69.5K + fees - $73K all in.

That's an amazing result given the current economy. Figure near $80k after T/T/T/T is added.

Really surprised there was not a single comment / question about the Jehnert doorboards, nor what stereo system is powering them.

Top 7 bidders:

$69,500 bid placed by Krzevr6
$69,000 bid placed by sushisean
$67,000 bid placed by Sourek
$59,055 bid placed by DKBS79
$55,555 bid placed by CorvetteGT1
$55,000 bid placed by Joshree
$51,000 bid placed by fuenfhundertE

 

[SushiSean]

What are those doorboards? I did talk to the seller, both the original and current stereo work fine.

EDIT: Ah, those are cool!

 

[gsxr]

What are those doorboards? I did talk to the seller, both the original and current stereo work fine.

The aftermarket Jehnert doorboards hold two 6.5" midbass drivers. The full Jehnert system adds a tweeter and midrange in the dash with passive crossover. Or you can use active crossovers with mulitple amp channels if desired. There aren't many Jehnert systems out there due to the expense of upgrading the entire audio system (can't just add the pair of 6.5's to the factory system). Seemed odd to have a fancy high-end system and not mention it.

 

[thebrinksman]

What are those doorboards? I did talk to the seller, both the original and current stereo work fine.

EDIT: Ah, those are cool!

email me at singznstrumz@gmail.com I might have something for you

 

[Vehikuhl]

I know GVZ referenced the recent Bornite Euro example on BaT as probably having $30k+ of work and I think he is spot on and keep in mind that example went for close to $75k all-in (now it had a really unique color way to it so had some scarcity value so I can see why that value may resonate for the right buyer).

Apologies in advance for jumping in here (moderators please move/delete post if it’s not appropriate), but I’ve seen my recent purchase of the Euro Bornite car referenced multiple times with some expert “predictions” of what the car would need.
Let me start by saying the car has exceeded my expectations in every way. Also, I know the previous US owner who imported the car and had more insight into the condition of the car prior to purchase.
I picked up the car in person, in Berkeley CA, a few weeks after the purchase and proceeded to drive the scenic route to SoCal/LA. My plan was to have multiple shops go over the car and give me a list of what it needed, and have the work performed there, as there are way more shop options in SoCal than my neck of the woods in Connecticut. The car was given a clean bill of health from two well known MB shops. The Swiss owner (prior to import two years ago) was very proactive in maintenance and had the car maintained by the Gstaad, Switzerland MB dealership. The car needed nothing, mechanically, when it arrived in the US. After completely going over the car, one of the shops commented that all the work done previously “looked like the factory did it”. One small leak was found at the crush washer near the pan. The recommendation was to replace the washer during the next oil change. I was prepared to do a full fluid change but both shops commented that all fluids looked good and “put more miles on it before you do the oil change”. During my one week in CA, I put 850miles on the car…The car starts, drives, shifts, performs as expected… AC blows cold, all electronics work. Only things that will need attention are cosmetic at this point. Headliner starting to sag, drivers door car Karo inserts need to be tightened and the b-pillar trim needs to be repaired. All minor fixes and at this point (1200 miles into my ownership) I have spent a total of $0 on any repairs, deferred maintenance etc.
* correction, I put a new set of Continental DWS 06+ tires on the car.

The car arrived in CT a week after the SoCal trip and I have now put another 400 miles on it with an upcoming 300+ mile trip from here to VT on back country roads next week. Loving every mile!

I’m a Porsche owner and drive the heck out of my cars during the 7month New England driving season, and plan to do the same with the 500E.

A few photos of the NorCal to SoCal run last month.

 

[gerryvz]

Congratulations on the purchase, and I'm sure the car is in splendid mechanical and cosmetic condition. HOWEVER, 22 years of ownership of my own E500 tells me that this is a 30 year old car, and that even the "best maintained" cars have soft parts and mechanical parts that wear out with time, ozone, and use (however modest). And not driving these cars is probably worse than driving them.

Anyone on this forum can tell you that my car is one of the more documented cars here (just look at the many HOW-TOs I have personally authored). And yet, in 2020 during the COVID pandemic, I did a COMPLETE four-month top-end engine bay refresh of everything soft in the engine compartment, and was quite surprised to find how much deferred maintenance my own car had -- despite being well maintained for over a decade and a half.

If you don't believe me, the whole thread is here. Stem to stern. Seriously, read the entire thread. It will open your eyes.

I have said since before I started this forum in 2008, that EVERY E500E, now matter how many or few miles on it, is carrying MINIMUM $10K worth of deferred maintenance. Higher mileage, it goes up. I've in the past few years had to revise this $10K number upward because of both inflation, labor costs, and the increased price of parts, as well as the factor of having to pay more for NLA parts that are purchased as NOS items.

So yesteryear's $10K deferred maintenance is now $15-17K, minimum, done at a knowledgeable independent shop or at a dealer.

Again, I know it's not easy to admit that one's baby has deferred maintenance - generally things that are unseen / not known about. But they do exist. It's a pride thing. I didn't think my own "well maintained" car needed nearly the amount of work it ended up needing to make everything perfect. But it did.

I'm just being real here, and stating the facts, based on 2+ decades of E500E ownership, and 5+ years of ownership of 300SEL 6.3 and 450SEL 6.9 before that.

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[Vehikuhl]

@gerryvz I own a number of German cars ranging from the 1960s to the 2000s and understand the concept of deferred maintenance and what it takes to maintain cars that are being driven regularly. The way I read your original assessment of the car based purely on listing pictures, led me to believe that you expected $30k of maintenance out of the gate. That just has not been the case. Of course I expect things to be addressed as time goes on…

Not questioning your level of knowledge, just pointing out that the level of maintenance you thought was needed purely based on the listing details and photos has not come to fruition…. As of yet. .

 

[The Emperor]

Vehikuhl:



gerryvz:

 

[gerryvz]

Again, $15,000 for deferred maintenance is normal, and EVERY E500E has at least this amount lurking in various places on the car. Many many owners here have balked at this, and then come back here and said, "actually my deferred maintenance was far more than that."

Your car has what, around 120K miles on it? The inflation-adjusted GVZ Law of Deferred Maintenance is actually even higher than $15K at that mileage.



I'll go to the original post, where the @gsxr highlighted a few things in the car's description.

• You tell me the price you pay to get that headliner replaced/repaired. I did this many years ago. It was around $1,000 for material and labour at a good interior shop, back then. And that was in Houston; I'll expect it to be more in New England and add in inflation/labor costs over the past 10-12 years.
• A proper NOS MB 500E headlight lens is $1,500 MINIMUM, if you can find one.
• Radiator support rust remediation/repaint? Can't imagine that would be less than $500. Likely more for a good job.

Three small things -- there's $3K (30%) right there toward the original GVZ "Law of E500E Deferred Maintenance". Or if you go with the more current/realistic $15K LDM, it's a full 20%.

Please don't take my posts on this thread as me being a jerk. I'm simply trying to educate and make folks realize that these cars a) carry (sometimes much) more "hidden" deferred maint than they think; and b) are actually rather costly to keep in good running condition. Most people over-focus on cosmetics and under-focus on mechanicals, and thus never really enjoy the cars as they were originally conceived and executed.

------------
My latest deferred maintenance story:

Separately, last August I purchased a plutocrat collector-owned, climate-controlled-garaged 2007 E63 AMG with 24K original, one-owner miles on the odo. Full open-checkbook MB paperwork from new. Zero flaws mechanically or cosmetically. I paid pretty much top dollar for this car, because you never see one this clean, with this low of mileage.



Within 250 miles of owning the car, it had the fuel pump + fuel delivery modules (very common W211 and CLS problem) fail by leaking fuel. I fixed that - It was a $3,000 dealer parts and labor job; I paid $1,200 for the parts and fixed it myself in 1.5 hours.

Then I had the high-pressure power steering hose puke PS fluid under the car. Again, a $120 hose and a 1-hour DIY job, but would have been $1,000 at the dealer.

Rear sunshade would not go down. Dealer? $1,500 to diagnose and fix. GVZ? 3 hours to remove back deck and repair electric motor shaft.

So, $5.5K of immediate and unexpected (not quite deferred) maintenance on a car with under 25K miles.

Then there was the $850 transmission oil and filter change I had the dealer do back in February. That would have been a $200 job if I did it.

So it goes.....

 

[Vehikuhl]

I absolutely didn’t take your post as you being a jerk, and hope you didn’t take mine that way. I appreciate the insight and knowledge, that’s why I’m here.

I will make one last comment on this and move on.

$3k to $5k of maintenance a year over, say 6 years is a very different math than $30k needed to enjoy the car out of the gate, which is the way I took your original statement.

Don't kid yourselves.

$30K+ worth of work to do on this car, with dealer / high-end shop (aka Blue Ridge MB) labour and parts prices.

The $3-$5k annual spend is the “price to play” in my mind when we decide to take the leap into classic/vintage/collector car world. Again, maintaining multiple classic cars, this is not a foreign concept to me and is the reason why my garage is all German at this point. I got rid of an Italian car because of the crazy maintenance cost per miles driven. The maintenance price to driving enjoyment ratio is way more favorable on the German cars and fits the bill for me.

Thanks for your input and contributions to the community. Looking forward to accessing all the great info available on the board on my 500E journey.

 

[gsxr]

Congrats on your new ride! This particular car looked much better than most 500E's that come up for sale. Which is why the auction sale price ended up being higher than usual (along with the rare, and IMO desirable, color combination). If you don't mind a possible $3-$5k annual investment, you'll be fine. This should taper off as items get taken care of. Usually the bigger problem is finding a local shop that (1) knows how to diagnose and repair these 30-year old mechanical marvels, and (b) won't rip you off in the process. If you can DIY repairs, that's even better.

BTW, welcome aboard!

 

[gerryvz]

The $30K figure is absolutely not wrong. And it is intended as a "one and done" figure. Meaning, if you were to give the car to a dealer or qualified high-end knowledgeable independent shop such as @jhodg5ck's Blue Ridge MB in Atlanta, and told them to go over the car with a microscope and find and fix everything that needs fixing, on a car with 120K miles, they ARE going to find $30K worth of things that need fixing. It's the nature of these cars, and the nature of how thing wear on these cars.

Are you looking at a $30K bill right now? No (unless you give your car to a shop for six months, accompanied by a blank check). You will find things deteriorate over time -- things you know like suspension clunks, vibratey-dashboard, squeaks, CHECK ENGINE lights, leaking A/C, and so forth. The normal stuff that these cars suffer along the way.

The good thing is that pretty much everything that can go wrong with these cars, is exceedingly well documented here. And there is likely a HOW-TO here that can allow you to fix it yourself, if you are so inclined. You don't know the number of MB independent shops (and even more than a couple of dealer techs) who use this site as a reference for fixing customers' cars.

I don't know the $$$ cost of all the work that I did back in 2020, but I would put the parts and labor that I spent, probably somewhere in the $35-40K range if totaled up and done by a shop at MSRP parts prices. Everything from changing the front crankshaft seal to the A/C compressor to the MOT valve for the charcoal canister, to fully rebuilding the intake manifold. My car ran perfectly. Any mechanic would have said that it was all good. But honestly, it all needed fixing. My car had ~140K on it at the time.

 

[TerryA]

@Vehikuhl,
Congrats on winning this awesome car! I loved the color combo the instant I saw it on BaT and followed it to conclusion. It appeared to me to be in fabulous shape for the sale. I’m glad you didn’t have to register it in California it would have been a real PITA just ask @mrindiafromuk.



Anyway welcome to the board. I hope you and your new ride stick around and share your experiences with us.

Good Luck and Happy Motering

 

[daantjie]

Again just goes to show how important it is to try and buy the very best example you can find, bonus points for fully documented service history and enthusiast owned. High end Benzes are almost always owned by well heeled first, and "maybe" 2nd owners if you're lucky. I often think the term "open cheque book maintenance" was coined just for high end new Benzes. If you think you can buy a car that was north of 100K, or even 200k new, adjusted for inflation, for a bargain and not have it bleed you dry on maintenance I have a bridge to sell you...

 

[duuder]

Over the years, it'll add up - if you have an air-cooled 911, you'll know what we mean. The E500E is a very enjoyable car to drive

 

[Vehikuhl]

Thanks all for the welcome!

Usually the bigger problem is finding a local shop that (1) knows how to diagnose and repair these 30-year old mechanical marvels, and (b) won't rip you off in the process. If you can DIY repairs, that's even better.

This definitely is my main concern regarding the ownership experience. I’m tucked in the rural NW corner of CT and as of now, don’t know of any shops that would be a good option. I’m looking forward to connecting with a couple of CT E500E owners and a few pre-merger AMG owners and hopefully get some recommendations.

Over the years, it'll add up - if you have an air-cooled 911, you'll know what we mean. The E500E is a very enjoyable car to drive

Maintaining multiple air-cooled Porsches has made me numb to maintenance cost shock.
But they are worth it! The more they’re driven, the happier they are. No garage queens here, they all get driven hard and often. Italian tuneups are not just for Italian cars.

 

[gsxr]

Thanks all for the welcome!

This definitely is my main concern regarding the ownership experience. I’m tucked in the rural NW corner of CT and as of now, don’t know of any shops that would be a good option. I’m looking forward to connecting with a couple of CT E500E owners and a few pre-merger AMG owners and hopefully get some recommendations.

Jaime Kop at ClassicWorkshop (link below) would be worth checking out, but he's ~150 miles away from you in Jersey. Pretty sure some of the locals can refer you to something closer.

@david hendy is in eastern CT and may be nearby, definitely check with him.

Home - Classic Workshop LLC

Classic Mercedes-Benz car repair in northern New Jersey by Jaime Kopchinski

classicworkshop.com

 

[TerryA]

@Vehikuhl,
Looking for other E500E Owners near you @Jimbo is in your neck of the woods. He is in Manchester CT.

Check the “World Map of E500E Owners”Use the search button. There were a lot of E500E Owners in Connecticut but I’m not sure the map has been updated. @Jimbo is still a regular participant here.

 

[Vehikuhl]

@gsxr @TerryA Thank you both! Will try and connect with both of them.

 

[mrindiafromuk]

@Vehikuhl,
Congrats on winning this awesome car! I loved the color combo the instant I saw it on BaT and followed it to conclusion. It appeared to me to be in fabulous shape for the sale. I’m glad you didn’t have to register it in California it would have been a real PITA just ask @mrindiafromuk.

Yes don’t get caught out like me