500E Euro Head Lights & The Good Ol’ Days

[DerFuror]

I recently reviewed my 500E maintenance folder in which I saw a 2011 receipt for the car’s Euro headlamp assemblies.

This is a realistic example where I can credibly say the “Good Ol’ Days” were indeed good. Nowadays, just seemingly add another zero to the purchase price if you can even find a pair for sale.

If there ever is a reason that I unload my 500E besides Death, it will be parts unavailability & Mercedes’ decision to not really support its classic car community.

 

[TimL]

View attachment 206925I recently reviewed my 500E maintenance folder in which I saw a 2011 receipt for the car’s Euro headlamp assemblies.

This is a realistic example where I can credibly say the “Good Ol’ Days” were indeed good. Nowadays, just seemingly add another zero to the purchase price if you can even find a pair for sale.

If there ever is a reason that I unload my 500E besides Death, it will be parts unavailability & Mercedes’ decision to not really support its classic car community.

110%! If I let got of my car it will be over frustration with the NLA situation and the resulting idiotic 3rd party scalper prices for NLA parts

 

[gerryvz]

110%! If I let got of my car it will be over frustration with the NLA situation and the resulting idiotic 3rd party scalper prices for NLA parts

NLA parts hoarding over multiple decades of ownership mitigates this issue ….

 

[gerryvz]

I remember when I bought my Euro C126 headlights from BergWerks back in 2003 or so, and I paid $500 for the pair. I thought that was "all the money" at the time.....

 

[Ertech]

wow. what does a good condition e500 USA lenses go for now ?

 

[gerryvz]

wow. what does a good condition e500 USA lenses go for now ?

For NOS Euro or US-spec E500 units, $2,000 and up for a pair. That's just for the lenses, not the complete E500 headlight units.

 

[gerryvz]

Here's a well-used set of pre-facelift Euro headlights, complete, for $3K.

FOR SALE - FS Euro Headlights | Parts for Sale

Good drivers condition. 2900 for the pair - complete- headlights and lens, no wiper motor- shipped CONUS. Here are some pics. Plug and play or restore/rechrome.

www.500eboard.co

 

[maw1124]

If there ever is a reason that I unload my 500E besides Death, it will be parts unavailability & Mercedes’ decision to not really support its classic car community.

110%! If I let got of my car it will be over frustration with the NLA situation and the resulting idiotic 3rd party scalper prices for NLA parts

Parts will be the only reason to get rid of this car. And all of the hoarding in the world won’t save you because inevitably be the part you didn’t hoard that you cannot find. Because of this site, you’ll know how to care for the car better than whoever you take it to, unless you do your own maintenance.

But the parts situation… you either took care of it during the good old days, or you’re holding your breath.

I suppose there’s another category of people who hoarded parts and are waiting to sell at grossly marked up prices… but I don’t count them.

maw

 

[gerryvz]

I suppose there’s another category of people who hoarded parts and are waiting to sell at grossly marked up prices… but I don’t count them.

maw

I doubt if anyone in the E500E world has put out the capital to do this, not to mention all of the time that these parts sit, supposedly appreciating in price.

That’s a lot of sunk cost built into doing that ….

I posit that there ARE more than a few folks in the E500E world who pursue the sunk cost fallacy, though.

My experience owning vintage Benzes for multiple decades is “where there’s a will, there’s a way” when it comes to parts. If one is truly dedicated to long-term ownership, they will beg, borrow, steal, hoard, substitute, reproduce and simply, find appropriate parts by any means possible.

This mindset works. Persistence is the primary attribute here.

 

[Sam SL]

As per a line in the Austin Powers movie "Yeh Capitalism".

 

[maw1124]

These are fairly simple cars, so you can keep them on the road. Witness the Island of Cuba.

If you're an originality stickler, I hope you spent your money already.

maw

 

[gerryvz]

Being a relative originality stickler made 20+ years of going to the wrecking yards in three different states totally worth it

It’s just too bad that the supply of W124s in the yards has dried up about 95% in the past 3-4 years.

 

[maw1124]

Being a relative originality stickler made 20+ years of going to the wrecking yards in three different states totally worth it

It’s just too bad that the supply of W124s in the yards has dried up about 95% in the past 3-4 years.

Case in point... you spent your money already... whether in parts yards or dealerships is irrelevant ... the key words are "spent already".

maw

 

[gerryvz]

A LOT less money spent at wrecking yards than for equivalent parts that would have been spent at dealerships. Perhaps 20 cents on the dollar ….

 

[maw1124]

@sheward and some others will appreciate that I have one car that's even more rare than this one, where the parts dried up a lot quicker, even at parts yards (including eBay and car-part). I had parts cars for that one, the last of which turned out to be too good to be a parts car so it's going to my son.

I feel like that car taught me tons of lessons that helped me with this one. For starters, "do the job while parts are available because they soon might not be." Another was, "buy old cars that have tons of parts overlap with other cars where they made lots of them."

Both lessons are gold for this car and my others.

maw