SOLD SOLD: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 184kmi, $9800 (Tulsa, OK)

[8899]

UPDATE 1: Price reduced from $10,500 to $9,800 in early September 2012.

UPDATE 2: Price reduced to $8,800 in October 2013. Thread title updated.

UPDATE 3: Car has been sold as of May 2014. Thread title updated.

UPDATE 4: For sale again Feb-2016, see post #31 for details. Thread title updated.


No affiliation.

VIN #: WDBEA36E0NB728709

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/ctd/3255917932.html

1992 MERCEDES 500E SPORTS SEDAN - $10500 (san rafael)

Date: 2012-08-26, 11:29AM PDT
Reply to this post

I am selling a 1992 Mercedes 500E sports sedan which has 172250 miles. We just replaced the engine and transmission using an engine and transmission that came out of another 1992 500E which only had approximately 121000 miles but was involved in a major rear end accident. It was necessary to replace the original engine because someone had attempted to work on it who was not a professional and created more problems than solving problems. The paint and interior as well as the wood are all in excellent condition and everything on the car works such as the a/c, cruise control, power seats, etc.

The vin # of this car is WDBEA36E0NB728709 and it comes with a clean California title as well as a current smog certificate. This car has never been in an accident and has all the originial vin tags on all the panels of the body. It drives like a new car and you are welcome to have it inspected by any competent Mercedes mechanic.

If you would like to come and drive it, please call me at (415) 999-0083.

Thanks, Robert​

 

[redred]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $10,500 (San Rafael, CA)

The entire engine and tranny were replaced? Man, how badly did the previous mechanic mess it up???

 

[gerryvz]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $10,500 (San Rafael, CA)

It's a Robert Fenton car. Absolutely common (for him) to swap drivetrains in cars where it's needed, or to repair minor to moderate wrecked cars to bring them back. Very much in keeping with at least a couple dozen E500Es I've seen Robert sell over the years.

This one clearly looks like a driver only, IMHO. Dunno if the price is good or not - would depend on a good inspection and the degree of deferred maintenance the car has.

The trunk badge is way off where it should be. I wonder what the story is behind that..... ?

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[redred]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $9,800 (San Rafael, CA)

Autocheck attached

 

[BobC]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $9,800 (San Rafael, CA)

I looked at this car and drove it. Robert, who is a real gentleman and an aficionado of these cars, used it as his daily driver. (He has another very low mileage 500E as well.) Robert said the front, and I believe rear, where re-sprayed. Perhaps that is a factor in the trunk badge that Gerry noted above. I ended up passing on the car: Robert essentially said his price (then) at $10,500 was firm, and I didn't feel the car was worth that amount. I entirely agree with Gerry's assessment. The cosmetics are far from perfect, despite the nice photos; but this car may very well make a wonderful driver, if Robert took the expected proper care of the car during his tenure with it. I cannot vouch for the mechanicals or condition, but it seemed to drive satisfactorily.

 

[alexis]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $9,800 (San Rafael, CA)

Hi,
The trunk door seems very strange to me. As far as I know, this kind of trunk door was used only for the E500, 1994 and on models. Plus, there is no chrom insert as I think most (all) of us have on their cars. Doesn't seems to be the original trunk door IMO
Alexis

 

[JordiC]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $9,800 (San Rafael, CA)

Hi,
The trunk door seems very strange to me. As far as I know, this kind of trunk door was used only for the E500, 1994 and on models.

The updated trunk lid with the chrome above the tag was present on '94 and up models. This particular trunk with the black trim is correct for models '93 and older.

 

[redred]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $9,800 (San Rafael, CA)

Still for sale with a lowered price $9,800


http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/ctd/3352206390.html

 

[DW SD]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $9,800 (San Rafael, CA)

I saw this car in person last week - still for sale - asking $11k, now. The respray on the hood was very poor quality as was the panel fitment (gaps). there were significant scratches in the finish, too.

Robert's 31k mile car has really bad paint etching all over the top panels. I am not a body / paint expert, though I do have an detailed eye. I suspect some significant polishing still might leave significant issues or very thin clearcoat. I was a bit disappointed thinking I might see a time capsule.

Doug

 

[alexis]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $9,800 (San Rafael, CA)

Hi,
In Europe the trunk door for the pre 1994 models was "oblique" not "straight" like the 1994 and 1995 models.
On this car the trunk door is "straight" and without chrome : strange, except if it is something specific to the north american models.
Alex

 

[gsxr]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $9,800 (San Rafael, CA)

The 1991-1993 USA models have a trunk lid insert, which is why it looks different. Perfectly normal.

 

[alexis]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $9,800 (San Rafael, CA)

Hi,
Ok, I didn't know that as we never got this insert over here.
Thanks
Alex

 

[bing]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $9,800 (San Rafael, CA)

The 1991-1993 USA models have a trunk lid insert,

Hi,
Ok, I didn't know that as we never got this insert over here.
Thanks
Alex

Purely for the purpose of square license plates. JDM cars the same!

 

[gsxr]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $9,800 (San Rafael, CA)

Price reduced to $8,800:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/ctd/4127735682.html

1992 MERCEDES 500E - $8800 (san rafael)

I am selling a 1992 Mercedes-Benz 500E 4-door sedan. This car is black pearl with gray leather interior and has a clean California title. The VIN is WDBEA36E0NB728709. It has 172k miles and is in excellent running condition. The engine and transmission have only 121k miles since when I acquired the car, the original engine and transmission had been worked on by another mechanic who clearly did not have much experience working on this kind of car (a common problem). Therefore,I replaced them with the lower mileage units from another 1992 500e which had been rear ended and served as a great donor car for this vehicle.
This car is rare in that only 1,500 were imported in a 3 year-span. They were a collaboration between Mercedes and Porsche and have 32V-DOHC, 322 HP, 5.0, V-8 engines. All systems run flawlessly. This is a straight undamaged vehicle with all its original VIN tags which indicates that
it has not been in accident which required replacement of any body panels.
If you are seeing the car and taking it for a test drive, please call me at 415-999-0083. Thank you for looking, Robert.​

 

[gerryvz]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $8,800 (San Rafael, CA)

Meh.

I think it needs to come down in price a bit more.

 

[C36]

FS: 1992 500E pearl black / gray, 172kmi, $7900 (San Rafael CA)

hey guys
came across this today on CL (not affiliated)

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/ctd/4356811062.html

I called to get more info. The owner owns a MB repair shop (500e specialist) as well as sells them. the car is stock. The engine was replaced because a previous mechanic did a bad job on the timing chain (he said timing was off). so instead of tracking down the issue he instead chose to replace the engine with 121k.
Also wiring harness was replaced 5-7 years according to him.

maybe someone knows this car? is it a good deal?

thanks
Ray

 

[Roma_500E]

Re: FS: 1992 500E pearl black / gray, 172kmi, $7900 (San Rafael CA)

Looks like a great deal. However, it sounds fishy to me cuz the guy is E500E specialist and sells it for $7900 .... Also I m not fan of used engines and trannies especially on cars like that . Anyway close inspection in person will give answer to all questions.

 

[KarlC]

Re: FS: 1992 500E pearl black / gray, 172kmi, $7900 (San Rafael CA)

See this thread .....

http://www.500eboard.com/forums/sho...-500E-Black-Grey-172kmi-8-800-(San-Rafael-CA)

 

[Roma_500E]

Re: FS: 1992 500E pearl black / gray, 172kmi, $7900 (San Rafael CA)

Somebody should merge threads .

 

[gerryvz]

Re: FS: 1992 500E pearl black / gray, 172kmi, $7900 (San Rafael CA)

It's a Robert Fenton car. He buys and sells them and is well known (largely through me) on this forum. He is also a member of this forum.

Robert is the real deal and there is no doubt in my mind that this car is now correct. Nothing fishy going on here. This is an honest car and the work was done right.

Robert has the largest collection of NOS, new and used MB parts west of the Mississippi River.

His username here is "BENZPARTS" if anyone wants to send him a PM.

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[Stevester 500E]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $8,800 (San Rafael, CA)

I feel $7900 is a fair market value price. But how may here would pay fair market value, hence the consensus that the car's price needs to come down for the 500e wheeler dealer crowd to be interested.

 

[Maui]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $8,800 (San Rafael, CA)

In my mind, any 500E that could be driven daily is worth $7900.

 

[gsxr]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $8,800 (San Rafael, CA)

I can't believe this car hasn't sold yet. Fenton does good work. Probably is 10x better than the $7k black car in San Diego with a shot tranny...

 

[gerryvz]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $8,800 (San Rafael, CA)

I can't believe this car hasn't sold yet. Fenton does good work. Probably is 10x better than the $7k black car in San Diego with a shot tranny...

I would agree with both Dave and Maui on this one. If I was in the market for an honestly fettled "driver" car in this price range, this would be an excellent candidate. Trust me, Robert knows what he is doing, and this car was fixed correctly. I think he is probably trying to clear some of his considerable inventory of cars for sale.

 

[KarlC]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $8,800 (San Rafael, CA)

A member of this board went to see this car recently here is the report back, please keep in mind this is just meant to be facts about the car and not at all about the seller.

"It was a pretty tired and needy car, not something that I'd expect an expert repair shop would be putting on the market. But more importantly, the shop was not exactly open about the car. I'd seen this car for sale on Craigslist on/off for a while, and as the forum thread indicates, it had been for sale since at least 2012. The shop made no mention of this, and when I asked when the car was put up for sale, they said "recently." I asked when the engine swap was done, and they literally said, "last week". I said, "Ok, how do you mean, because I saw this car on CL a few months ago and it said the engine had been replaced -- do you mean it's been replaced a second time?" they said, "Oh, no, I meant we just finished the job last week." This just seamed, because the car'd been posted for sale, as-is, for over a year. The car also had bodywork issues, paint problems, and lots of worn items that I'd have expected a mechanic shop with easy access to parts to replace (trunk bump stops, air snorkels, misc rubber bits). There was evidence of pretty big leaks in the engine bay. When I asked if there was any records or service history, they just said, "No" and didn't elaborate. They didn't seem interested in answering questions or really showing me the car at all (even though I drove to the shop to look at the car). Its ez to see why the car has sat unsold for so long." ​

I hope this helpful, as it is in no way meant to be negative, thanks

 

[kannan1024]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $8,800 (San Rafael, CA)

Thank you for the update KarlC.

 

[gerryvz]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $8,800 (San Rafael, CA)

I will take a look at this car on Friday of this week, because I will physically be at the location where this car is.

I am wondering what people would expect, for a car advertised with ~175K miles on it at $8.8K (likely in the $7K range if one negotiated well). Seriously, on an $7-8K car, one would expect little niggly rubber bits to be replaced? Seriously ?!? I'd seriously hate to see what the commenter would expect a $15K car to be ... a captruff-quality concours car?!?

At that price level, IMHO (and I'm on record here multiple times saying it), for the average owner/buyer an E500E has so much deferred maintenance that it's really best off as a rolling/driving part car, and is best off to donate its parts to keep other cars on the road.

I will get the straight dope on the engine swap, and give a detailed report on this car's condition after I see it at the end of the week. I seriously doubt (having known the seller for nearly 15 years) if he's trying to misrepresent the car or try to sell it as something that it's not. At that price, any sort of expectation of perfection is misguided.

The seller also has a 1992 500E (199 over gray leather) with around 35K miles on it that is for sale.

 

[KarlC]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $8,800 (San Rafael, CA)

Gerry it would be great to get your input on this car and his low mile salvage car (Note Doug's comment in post #9 above)

Thx

 

[gerryvz]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $8,800 (San Rafael, CA)

I saw the 31K salvage car about 6 weeks ago, it was just getting finished by the detailer and looked quite good. Basically that car had a complete 500E rear end welded onto it from the seat rearward. It is 100% straight and impossible to tell that it was welded together unless you remove the rear seat and trunk lining and see the weld marks. I think he is selling the car for around $20K-25K with salvage title. It was hit hard in the rear, which necessitated the Frankenstein operation.

As I remember it, the paint was looking pretty good from the detailing, though it wasn't 100% done when I saw it. I'll take another look at it on Friday and include photos of both cars, along with detailed reports.

 

[gerryvz]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 172kmi, $8,800 (San Rafael, CA)

I spoke with Robert tonight about this car. It has been sold, though he still has the "low miler" car I mentioned above.

He said the car was an excellent driver (for the price), ran well, and he had done a lot of important deferred maintenance jobs to it, such as replacing the motor mounts (which is not a cheap job). He also said the interior of the car (including the wood) was quite nice. I guess it doesn't matter as the car has been sold, but his comment to me mirrored my own comment above -- "What do you want / expect for an $8K car?!?" If you want a car in $20K condition, then you need to pay $20K for it. You can't buy a $20K car for $8K...life doesn't work that way.

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[dbenz]

1992 500E Tulsa OK - $9800

Saw this on CL. No affiliation.

https://tulsa.craigslist.org/cto/5466050032.html

1992 Mercedes 500E - Rare - $9800

For sale is my 1992 Mercedes 500E. Black with Grey interior. 184kmi

When I bought the car 2 years ago I had a 1987 Porsche 911 and was looking for a 4 door driver that would complement the 911. I came across the 500E and realized I had found what I was looking for. I wanted a driver that I could enjoy, not a garage queen. This car had around 172,000 miles on the car and 121,000 miles on the motor. It was an engine swap that was professionally done by Robert Fenton in California. I've driven the car for 2 years with no issues and put about 11,000 miles on it. I've enjoyed it but I lost my job and am having to sell the toys. The 911 was the first to go and now it's time to part with the 500E. The car runs good and there are no check engine lights. The paint/clear coat does have some crazing in spots. The interior is very nice, no rips/tears in the seats, the wood is in good shape too. The headliner does sag slightly, which is common. The car has been stored inside under cover when not in use. Car comes with a Noah Block-it cover.​

 

[sheward]

Re: 1992 500E Tulsa OK - $9800

Robert Fenton, owner of the shop that did the engine swap is a friend of Gerrys. The car looks taken care of and very fairly priced.

drew

 

[Campbelljj]

Re: 1992 500E Tulsa OK - $9800

Nice car.

 

[Dario]

F.S. 1992 500E pearl black/black 184K miles $5500 Owasso OK

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1992-Merced...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

buy it now $5500

 

[Dario]

Re: F.S. 1992 500E pearl black/black 184K miles $5500 Owasso OK

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[/TD][TD="width: 50.0%"]WDBEA36E0NB728709[/TD][/TR][TR][/TR][/TABLE]

 

[gsxr]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 184kmi, $9800 (Tulsa, OK)

OK, who stole it...?

 

[Dario]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 184kmi, $9800 (Tulsa, OK)

I should have bought it when i saw it still sitting with $5500 buy it now but it was in Ok I was like naaaaah

 

[Glasgo_Chris]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 184kmi, $9800 (Tulsa, OK)

good price

 

[Dario]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 184kmi, $9800 (Tulsa, OK)

That was dumb auction. One picture and low buy it now. Could have pulled more then that

 

[AMGTesTDriverNJ]

Re: FS: 1992 500E, Black/Grey, 184kmi, $9800 (Tulsa, OK)

Lot of cheap 500E's flying across the block as of late it would seem...