tbilisi79

I used to be an active member when I had my 500sel w140 back in the day.

A few weeks ago I bought a 87 420sel , won it on ebay. When I went to pick it up I fell in love with it. It looked amazing, and in tedious was very nice. Everything worked except Ac. Car drove great on good roads but was harsh over bumps. But for the price I thought it didn't matter.
Got the car home, cleaned it up and it looked even better. Cruised around all weekend, filled up the freon and ac started working, not great but well enough to use it. So everything was well, the motor was smooth, idled well, no chain noise at startup. A bit of valve or rocker noise at idle which went away once the car was in drive.
I originally bought this car for my parents, but plans changed and it was not in the cards to keep it. I already have 2 cars and I didn't want to have a 3rd one that I'd have to keep on the street. Also I knew that I would not have spare money for this car to do the usual, timing chain check/replace, ac sorting out and the rest of the stufff that goes with the car.
So I sold it, within a week, broke even and that was it. New owner loves the car.

Now I cannt stop thinking about it. I really want a 560, sales doesn't scare me. I have a Lincoln that on bags and I good with my hands.
420 would be fine too. I came to a conclusion that I was a 126 more than I ever wanted a 140. It's just more elegant and the ride is so classic. It's like an old dinosaur in a nice suit. I can go on for hours but you guys all know that.

So to sum it up. Just a few questions.

Timing chain, tensioner, guides (upper? Or lower). How much would that job cost to do, with MB parts at Indy.
Ac problems, is it the evaporator inside the dash that's a weak link, like w140?
And front end, how much to rebuild . I found shocks for $80 and control arms from moot for $65 each side... Which sounds suspiciously cheap.

I know MB is never a financially good investment, but I dream of owning one of these sometime soon. I could buy one now, but I'll wait till I have a bigger house to store the car properly.

JU570

Can't really help with your questions sorry. But I too used to have a w140 (s320), and having had two c126s (now only keeping my 560SEC), I do agree it just drives so much more boss than the w140. w140 is a great car in its own right, but the 126s feel so much more classier to drive. Good luck with your hunt.

Tony Funches

I find bargains galore in Colorado, but in California; Forget about it.
Repair/Maint costs can be brought down to a modicum of common sense by shrewd shopping & the various forums; we try to share as much as is possible ... deciding what your purchase budget is will tell a lot; I bought my current 560SEL for $650 off Craigslist, when it had already reached 308,000 on the odometer. I went ahead & bought it because I knew what the needed repairs would include, & how to do the procedure(s) myself. A local indie repair shop did the rest, spread out over months of Social Security paydays ... the Eng-Trans were perfect from the start ...
I'm now at 333,500 & still rolling, but shimming the valves is going to have to happen as soon as I can buy the Special Tool to compress the valve springs ...
Let us know MORE about what you seek so we can keep you informed when we see something for you!

vdubpower

head over to benz world . org the w126 forum there is massive and helpful

schurmann

I asked about a front-end overhaul at a Mercedes dealer about 2 years ago and they quoted a price of about $4000 I think. It's expensive at the dealer, you see all the A-arms and all the linkage gets replaced, I think requires special tools and pretty much a Mercedes-trained mechanic. I would replace just the shocks and the 1 or 2 bushing sets that are bad, that would be a more reasonable plan. Unless you are on a full-restoration plan?