Mercedes 280 SE

plasmaguy

Hi,

Anyone have any opinion or knowledge on these?

Here's one I am interested in.

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C133247/

Is there anything to look out for? Anyone in Ireland who services them? Expensive to run?

Thanks.

2cv

plasmaguy wrote: »

Hi,

Anyone have any opinion or knowledge on these?

Here's one I am interested in.

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C133247/

Is there anything to look out for? Anyone in Ireland who services them? Expensive to run?

Thanks.

Great cars!!

Here's one for sale in Cork

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Mercedes-Benz/280-SE/2.8-stra/200937195193873/advert?channel=CARS

Dades

2cv wrote: »

Here's one for sale in Cork

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Mercedes-Benz/280-SE/2.8-stra/200937195193873/advert?channel=CARS

Do they all sit so low or does that guy have his mother-in-law in the boot? :pac:

I much prefer the old school steering wheel on the Irish one.

Tommyboy40

They rust everywhere !
Sill's, rear wheel-arches, trunkfloor, front and rear floor inside, ins the narrow spot under the rear seat (between the floor and the rear-seat-support, inside the venting-duct in front of the windshield, inside front fender, round the headlights, front inner fenders, rear support under trunk and so on...
Take a look through this guys restoration-project for pics of spots.
Mercedes Benz W114 & W115 stroke 8 International Forum :: My restoration -now in english

Check the inside of the rear 'long' bumper, they can literally hang in the chrome and nothing else. Also, check the front bumpers inside for rust. They're expensive to replace.

The heater core is also an issue with these, check that the fan blows hard, if it's faulty the whole dash has to come out to fix it. I think his price is a bit steep.

Tommyboy40

It's also got US spec headlights which i really like:).

PaulK_CCI

Tommyboy40 wrote: »

Take a look through this guys restoration-project for pics of spots.
Mercedes Benz W114 & W115 stroke 8 International Forum :: My restoration -now in english

Interesting link, but the car that the op is looking at is in fact a W108 S-class and not a W114/115!

However, most of your suggestions would of course suit a W108 just as much as a W114/5, although I would not go as far as claiming that they would rust 'everywhere'. In fact the early Merc hold up pretty well compared to some of their contemporary competitors. But bottom line is always, how well the car has been looked after all those years.

They are popular 'regular drivers' because most of the parts are still off the shelf, and the cars drive quite well, and have most of the 'luxuries' that people expect from modern cars, like power steering.

Interesting point from Dades about wondering why the car sits so low... The W108's have a center shock absorber/leveling system for the diff/rear axle, and this can sometimes fail. It's big money to replace, and I have seen them replaced by a simple spring system, as used in the W110 Fintails. Something to watch out for...