Hello, I am thinking about buying a 1996 SL 320 with the m104 engine. I have already done some research, what kind of problems this timeless automobile could have and I have got a general overview about them. As I am a bit limited by the budget, I would like to know, how the Maintenance costs are after the purchase? But that doesn't mean I will buy, let say cars in a Miserable condition. Your Help is appreciated. Greetings from Germany
@sina M. Servicing costs are what you make them. If you take it to Mercedes stealership then be prepared to pay crazy amounts in labour charges. But if you take it to a good reputable independant Merc specialist it won't cost you much more than any other car. Service intervals are not to close together and probably unlikely you will be doing high mileage anyway. Normal service parts are not much dearer than any manufacturer. However maintenance and running costs are another matter and you need to bear in mind its a 25 year old car with some quite complex electronic systems. When these parts fail which they invariably can and will do, you can incur expensive troubleshooting bills along with astronomical costs for replacement electronic modules when they fail. If you have done your research well you should know this already. So if you have limited budget and the thought of a 1500 euro bill for an electronic module is something that would worry you then probably the R129 would not be a good proposition for you. Remember when new these were premium cars for the very wealthy. The reason there are so many around now in bad condition is due to the fact that although people could afford to buy them used at a fraction of new cost, they simply couldn't afford to maintain them well!
@@leeyunhan but at least with a rebuilt engine you know exactly what you've got... You could spend a bit less on doing a complete engine swap, only to have it blow up a few months later making it a much more expensive job in the long run. Plus you no longer have an original matching numbers car which will devalue your vehicle. Complete used engine swaps are fine for cheap old Japanese bangers, but not for quality valuable classic cars.
That is true. We always recommend preserving the value of these classics and to keep them running for many hundredes of thousands of kilometres more. They are meant to be driven and enjoyed! When we do engine rebuilds, even the nuts and bolts are not spared.
I guess you guys can make a timelapse of your restoration projects. Would be interesting to watch.
0:10 tastefull
Hello,
I am thinking about buying a 1996 SL 320 with the m104 engine. I have already done some research, what kind of problems this timeless automobile could have and I have got a general overview about them.
As I am a bit limited by the budget, I would like to know, how the Maintenance costs are after the purchase? But that doesn't mean I will buy, let say cars in a Miserable condition.
Your Help is appreciated.
Greetings from Germany
@sina M. Servicing costs are what you make them. If you take it to Mercedes stealership then be prepared to pay crazy amounts in labour charges. But if you take it to a good reputable independant Merc specialist it won't cost you much more than any other car. Service intervals are not to close together and probably unlikely you will be doing high mileage anyway. Normal service parts are not much dearer than any manufacturer. However maintenance and running costs are another matter and you need to bear in mind its a 25 year old car with some quite complex electronic systems. When these parts fail which they invariably can and will do, you can incur expensive troubleshooting bills along with astronomical costs for replacement electronic modules when they fail. If you have done your research well you should know this already. So if you have limited budget and the thought of a 1500 euro bill for an electronic module is something that would worry you then probably the R129 would not be a good proposition for you. Remember when new these were premium cars for the very wealthy. The reason there are so many around now in bad condition is due to the fact that although people could afford to buy them used at a fraction of new cost, they simply couldn't afford to maintain them well!
HOW much is the cost of the RE built?
Probably cost more than a used engine
@@leeyunhan but at least with a rebuilt engine you know exactly what you've got... You could spend a bit less on doing a complete engine swap, only to have it blow up a few months later making it a much more expensive job in the long run. Plus you no longer have an original matching numbers car which will devalue your vehicle. Complete used engine swaps are fine for cheap old Japanese bangers, but not for quality valuable classic cars.
That is true. We always recommend preserving the value of these classics and to keep them running for many hundredes of thousands of kilometres more. They are meant to be driven and enjoyed! When we do engine rebuilds, even the nuts and bolts are not spared.
@@HLClassics i tought m104 could last millions of miles but you rebuild the motors already. May i know of what factors you did that?