560SL Advice please
Discussion
The 560SL is the nicest R107 that was imported into the US. Prior to 85, there were some gray import cars from Europe which were nice but legislation killed the import business by 1986, leaving just the 560SL. Power is about the same as a Euro market 500SL. They will all be equipped with leather and all be equipped with automatic climate control.
When you buy, make sure that you carfax the car. If it's lived in the south west or the west, it will likely be rust free (don't assume that Florida cars are rust free). The trade off is that the interior is shot. M117 engines are durable but will usually need a valve job at around 200k miles. Even if it's a low mileage car, expect the head gaskets to weep from rot and that the heads will need to come off.
Aside from this, they are very simple cars to work on and very durable. You can free up the engine by replacing exhaust manifolds which are very restrictive with the tri-y's used on the European 500SL's. This should free up a decent amount of HP.
Fuel economy is in the teens, low teens for city and high teens for highway. It's a big V8 with CIS fuel injection. Engines and reliable and the car is simple.
If you need more info, just ask. Thanks.
When you buy, make sure that you carfax the car. If it's lived in the south west or the west, it will likely be rust free (don't assume that Florida cars are rust free). The trade off is that the interior is shot. M117 engines are durable but will usually need a valve job at around 200k miles. Even if it's a low mileage car, expect the head gaskets to weep from rot and that the heads will need to come off.
Aside from this, they are very simple cars to work on and very durable. You can free up the engine by replacing exhaust manifolds which are very restrictive with the tri-y's used on the European 500SL's. This should free up a decent amount of HP.
Fuel economy is in the teens, low teens for city and high teens for highway. It's a big V8 with CIS fuel injection. Engines and reliable and the car is simple.
If you need more info, just ask. Thanks.
Edited by alabbasi on Thursday 18th October 14:24
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