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Contemplating the Cabriolets

I like the single bar grilles, and these headlights are an improvement on both the bugeyes that preceded them and what came after. But I'll take that sentiment and turn it into bargain pricing. 😏 They look better in silver or grey, hiding the headlights (the controversial item).

Funny, when I bought my E5E the sentiment was "there's no such thing as a sports sedan." The masses are often (usually arguably) horribly wrong.

maw
 
maw1124 said:
I like the single bar grilles, and these headlights are an improvement on both the bugeyes that preceded them and what came after. But I'll take that sentiment and turn it into bargain pricing. 😏 They look better in silver or grey, hiding the headlights (the controversial item).
Click to expand...

RicardoD said:
@Jlaa I am a sucker for the vertical bars on the front grills of some newer MB model now. I see the new SL has adopted this style.

View attachment 151691
Click to expand...
@RicardoD @maw1124 Gotcha! I don't mind and quite enjoy vertical bars too! That said, my personal uneducated and unrefined opinion, so help me God, and you are free to flame me as being a moron --- is that this:

1660006814991.png

....Is a mess. I don't understand the bulbous-nature of the turn signal area flowing into the more angular inner angle of the headlight .... but then with those angles we then have circular projector lenses inside ... .and then below all that we have a rhombus cut out for a foglight, except the foglight is not actually a rhombus, it is an ellipse of some sort floating inside the rhombus with this weird THICK belt of plasti-chrome surrounding the ellipse --- next to a trapezoid style lower frowny-intake, and above all that is an upside-down-frowny schnoz-grille thing that's HAPPY (not frowny) and it protrudes out like some giant schnoz appendage thing with a HUGE winged plastic-chrome bar in the middle ..... that's what I mean.

It doesn't go together (for my tastes).

This looks much more cohesive for my tastes:

1660007212471.png
 
RNM on BaH for $67,5 Oct-21

"Sold" on BaH for $83,0 Jul-22 High bidder ghosted, 2nd high bidder @$82,5 didn't buy.

[Bidder #3 @ $81k and bidder #4 @ $78.5k apparently also weren't interested? -Moderator]
 
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An R107 is a lovely thing but at >$75k....no thanks. Doesn't that get you a very strong Pagoda?

I remember when the R230 came out and how much I loved it. The R129 had been out for sooooo long and just felt stale and lame, the car for a rich 70 something banker, not a sports car. The 230 was interesting, had the cool top, and then very soon after had the awesome M113k with its Nascar soundtrack. IIRC contemporary reviews said it drove far more athletically than the R129, which debuted in the late 80s and could trace its lineage to the w124, which used many of the components of the w201 from 1982. This was in 2001, remember.

Nowadays it suffers from the same issues of other Benzes of the era: electrical gremlins, plasticky interiors that wear poorly, and more aggressive shapes and forming of the exterior which did not produce the same single mm panel gaps that the more rectilinear Sacco cars enjoyed. Many have sadly fallen into the wrong hands, but I still think a R230/w220/c215 in the right colors in good shape looks great. Of course, the R129/w140 beat those cars by a country mile now for me.
 
ace10 said:
RNM on BaH for $67,5 Oct-21
"Sold" on BaH for $83,0 Jul-22 High bidder ghosted, 2nd high bidder @$82,5 didn't buy.
Click to expand...
Pretty rare that HaT would accept a car a second time from the same dealer, after RNM. And now a THIRD listing, same car, same dealer? No reserve last time, but this time HaT allowed a reserve? Fishy.

Real shame about the R-134a conversion too.
 
ace10 said:
RNM on BaH for $67,5 Oct-21

"Sold" on BaH for $83,0 Jul-22 High bidder ghosted, 2nd high bidder @$82,5 didn't buy.

[Bidder #3 @ $81k and bidder #4 @ $78.5k apparently also weren't interested? -Moderator]
Click to expand...
Triple black is nice. Those numbers are not. Even worse than storing a roof (which kills these and the 129 for me, Sacco worship aside). Officially for me, the 500E eliminates the need for any Mercedes within 12 years of it, forward or backwards, until they supercharged the M119. Jokes @gsxr, I know the M113 isn't the M119, but MB never supercharged the latter from the factory, so we have what we have. In Sacco's last sedan no less.

maw
 
dionphaneuf said:
I remember when the R230 came out and how much I loved it. ....Nowadays it suffers from the same issues of other Benzes of the era: electrical gremlins, plasticky interiors that wear poorly,
Click to expand...
The R230 is better than an R129 in every way, but it's more complex and therefore like any luxury car, it will become neglected as it depreciates and passes into the hands of owners who cannot really afford to maintain them. All cars do this when they hit 15-20 years old. The neglected ones make way to the junk yard and preserved ones will begin to appreciate in value. R129's are starting to appreciate now as fewer cars exist, the R230 will find its way too. it might be a tougher journey thanks to ABC.
 
One car I'm waiting for is the lexus LC500. Terrible UI, but it looks spectacular and has an amazing exhaust along with Toyota reliability. I figure in 5-10 years you'll be able to get these for a song on some automall in Newport Beach after all the housewives have moved onto something else.
 
maw1124 said:
No friend of mine ever uttered such. You need better assumptions.

@RicardoD, +1... the new soft top SL AMG definitely has my attention... until I see that screen in the dash... :doh:

maw
Click to expand...
@RicardoD ... if you can stomach the bubble eyes, this one may not fetch much (non-AMG but nice color combo) and may suit your needs. I feel like Brilliant Silver is the color that best hides the bubble eyes.

maw

2008 Mercedes-Benz SL550 w/43k Miles For Sale | The MB Market

Bid for your chance to own this 2008 Mercedes-Benz SL550 Roadster only on The MB Market. This 43k-mile example is finished in Iridium Silver Metallic (775) over Red (807) Nappa leather and powered by a 5.5-liter V8 paired with a seven-speed automatic transmission.
thembmarket.com thembmarket.com
 
@maw1124 Yup, that is my desired color combination but not the year. What a beautiful vehicle. Doesn't matter, not ready to pull the trigger on anything like this yet, but this is a car my wife would also enjoy driving.
 
Was casually watching this driver quality A124, but came to my senses with facing the stark reality of a $3K hauling fee.
She had a few needs, but money has been spent on her.

Hammered for under $10K

carsandbids.com

1995 Mercedes-Benz E320 Cabriolet - Final-Year Model, Polar White, Mostly Unmodified

This 1995 Mercedes-Benz E320 Cabriolet is for sale on Cars & Bids! Auction ends October 21 2022.
carsandbids.com carsandbids.com

9A6la4zP-inl1zcA-Mm-(edit).jpg


I've been following the action on CnB for the past couple of months, and noticing that stuff I follow seems to hammer for reasonable $$$ more often than not.
 
Or go RNM way more than it did before... to my comment to @Jlaa about being late to the party. He and I have been watching this along with @gsxr for some time. This being Oct'22, I've been seeing weakness since Apr, May at the latest. These people are pissed at BaT's 6mo backlog (or are being outright rejected).

maw
 
My guess is this will fetch a pretty penny...

bringatrailer.com

No Reserve: 1996 BMW Alpina B3 3.2 Cabriolet

Bid for the chance to own a No Reserve: 1996 BMW Alpina B3 3.2 Cabriolet at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #89,970.
bringatrailer.com bringatrailer.com

I recall when these drop top E36M Cabrio cars could be had for $12k-$15k (very clean low milers). LOADS of fun for that money, as I drove several before deciding that for the extra $10K I would spend on a turbo charger "science project", I could just have a clean, newer, factory 333hp in the E46M Cabrio + red interior and paddle shifters, which I ended up buying instead.

If this stays under $25k, it's still LOADS of fun for that money, especially with this... 181108_SWITCH_TRONIC: ALPINA Automobiles (which I didn't know existed back then, circa '09).

maw
 
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maw1124 said:
Well well well, what have we here?

bringatrailer.com

M119-Powered 1994 Mercedes-Benz E320 Cabriolet

Bid for the chance to own a M119-Powered 1994 Mercedes-Benz E320 Cabriolet at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #90,721.
bringatrailer.com bringatrailer.com
Click to expand...
I remember that one from years ago! It was discussed on PeachParts or BenzWorld, IIRC. Neat car as-is but would be awesomer with a 5.0L upgrade... or some Blue Ridge 6.0L magics.

:v8:
 
sheward said:
At the very least it needs some brakes and wheels to compliment the power increase. I also wonder how the chassis behaves with the added torque.
Click to expand...
@sheward, I suspect fine for what it is, which is a slightly more athletic drop top cruiser.

The E46M Cabrio is my comparison, with over 100hp per liter (81tq per liter). There, the fanboys argue you must have a coupe, and for maximum gymnastics I probably agree. But for drop top low BPM enjoyment, not at all. You just get to hear it get up and move.

I haven't reviewed the listing but as we all know there's plenty of aftermarket AMGification available in terms of suspension and transmission tuning to make this as close to a restomod as one will ever need, IMHO.

maw

EDIT... just reviewed it... that's a nice Fn car! If there was an A124 Cabrio that went, turned and stopped like a 500E (sort of), I would have bought one long ago. For now, that spot is taken (unless this goes for silly cheap).
 
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Bogeyman said:
Here's one for the low low mileage crowd - no, wait...

bringatrailer.com

No Reserve: 8k-Mile 1989 Mercedes-Benz 560SL

Bid for the chance to own a No Reserve: 8k-Mile 1989 Mercedes-Benz 560SL at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #91,765.
bringatrailer.com bringatrailer.com
Click to expand...
Low miles and registered in California but it’s been sitting outside in Louisiana for 30 years?!

maw
 
maw1124 said:
Almost worth storing the top…

rmsothebys.com

1982 Mercedes-Benz 500 SL 5.0 AMG | Miami | RM Sotheby's

1982 Mercedes-Benz 500 SL 5.0 AMG for sale at RM Sotheby's Miami
rmsothebys.com
Click to expand...
Documents = Kuwait Vehicle Registration? What exactly about this car makes them think it will fetch anything close to $150k?

No reserve... could be interesting.

Edit: 113kkm, so probably no odometer buyers here. Also, the 300kph speedo faceplate is hilarious. With a 3.46 diff, even if the "close ratio" manual trans happens to have an 0.80 overdrive (unlikely), the car would be redline-limited to around 250kph. I doubt it could even reach that speed given the lack of power and poor cD. Stock vMax was 223kph. This is like putting a 350kph speedo on any 124 (even an E60). Silly.

:watchdrama:
 
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I guess I should send my 84 500SL to Jono and empty my wallet so he can recreate that beauty. :jono:

I’d be interested in what it hammers for:brudda:
 
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I love my 500SL pretty much as it is. If I was to change anything, it might be to fit a 722.6 transmission which a friend did to a W126 and it completely woke the car up
 
I wasn't the one that did it, but the kid who does side work did. I helped him lift the transmission onto the transmission jack at about 9pm and got a text from him at 4am in the morning with a video of him driving it. He uses a stand alone controller that someone in Sweden built. He's done a few now and has gotten very good at it.
 
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maw1124 said:
One flew over the cuckoos nest... $7200++

bringatrailer.com

No Reserve: 1993 Mercedes-Benz 500SL

Bid for the chance to own a No Reserve: 1993 Mercedes-Benz 500SL at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #93,521.
bringatrailer.com bringatrailer.com
Click to expand...
Dealer was either lazy not taking video, which maybe cost him a few thou... or he knew the soft top was DOA and wasn't willing to admit it. Or was too lazy to pull the hard top, lol. Potentially decent buy there.

:spend:
 
Speaking of cabrios (no affiliation) if this is legit (and all the paperwork looks to be there):

Datacard:
www.lastvin.com

Mercedes VIN Decoder | Decode Your Mercedes-Benz VIN

Datacard for 1992 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (129.060) - WDB1290601F059250
www.lastvin.com


"1 of 2 ever made R129 SL32 AMG (with the M103 engine in it) "

Hello. My dad would like to sell his 1 of 2 ever made R129 SL32 [300SL 3.2L] AMG (with the M103 engine in it) prototype. Both cars were ordered by Mercedes themselfs at AMG at the time according to the paperwork.

My Dad wants 49.900€ for it which is what he had payed for the car himself. This makes his car the most cheapest and by far the most rarest 3.2 AMG that you can buy right now as there are only 2 other cars for sale with the 3.2 liter AMG M103 engine in them. Both of them are 190Es. AMG made around 145 of those. One costs 60k€ and the other one costs 100k€. AMG also made 10 R107 300SL 3.2 AMGs with the same engine. One of those cars was sold 6 months ago for 96k€.

We think that they were planning to mass produce these cars as one of the first mass produced AMGs ever alongside the C36 AMG starting in 1993 but they didnt go through with this plan and this secret prototype is what was left of that.

Mercedes didnt order AMG wheels or the bodykit because that would have made the car too flashy during testing. The first document is the original receipt from AMG. The next document is the Fahrzeugbrief showing that the car was first registered in Affalterbach. You can see that on the lower right side of the paper. Next is the decoded vin number showing that the base car was a company order. Mercedes didnt even order a radio system for the car because that was unnecessary for a developmental prototype.

Next is the Fax that was sent from the Mercedes department for Neuprojekte (prototyping) to Herr Frowein at AMG who was their Leiter der Entwicklung (head of prototyping) at the time, to order both prototypes. Next is the performance figures that Mercedes sent AMG for the standard 300SL. Next is the paper on which the second owner tried to negotiate a better price for the car in the AMG showroom in Affalterbach where the car was on display after they were done with testing it. He took delivery of the car in April of 1993. Last is the 12 page summary of what exactly AMG did with the engine and how to take care of it what oil to use stuff like that.

This is probably the best documented pre merger AMG ever. And one of the rarest ones too. It has the H Kennzeichen German historic registration plates reserved for only the best classic cars condition wise and the new TÜV until 7/2024. We also have a thick folder with the service papers for the car. The car is in Berlin Germany.

Facebook Private group, login required:


1686141197672.png

1686140661580.png

1686140812418.png

1686140832440.png

1686140872218.png

1686141021685.png
 
Last edited by a moderator:
We think that they were planning to mass produce these cars as one of the first mass produced AMGs ever alongside the C36 AMG starting in 1993 but they didnt go through with this plan and this secret prototype is what was left of that.
Click to expand...
ROTFL! Yeah, in spring 1992 when the M103 had one foot in the grave and the M104 production was ramping up as the new, improved replacement inline-cyl engine... MB/AMG were going to "mass produce" the 3.2L M103. NOT! :ROFLMAO:

Is there any paperwork that corroborates the "secret prototype" claim? This sure looks like an MB employee purchase that was sent to AMG for some extra ponies (177hp stock, 230hp AMG).

Neat car, but "rarity" is not always synonymous with "valuable"...

:scratchchin:
 
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