manzie49

Hello everyone Im new to this forum. Im not a Mercedes owner, but I have been hired to sell a E400/E500 1993 Mercedes. This car belongs to a terminally ill friend of mine. This car was his baby. He has converted a lot of the origianl car E400 to a E500, panels, many more parts. I haven't gone thru all the paper work on it yet. It has what I beleive to be a E500 engine in it. I found the paper work on that and that was a $8700
upgrade. Im not hoping to sell the car here but to get some kind of idea what I might have gotten my self into here. The car has 80,000 plus miles on it its white with tan leather interior that has been sat in. I can give more info on as we go. By doing what he did in the conversion has it help or hindered the value of the car. My gut is telling me that it lessoned the value. So if anyone here has heard of this before or can help me out with my dilema I would appreciate it. Please dont slam me or him for what he did to the car I'm not here to get beat up Im here to get some good ideas of what I can do to sell it. I will be willing to talk to someone over the phone at my expence of course. Thank for any help I get..Tom

neanderthal

i dont think he has affected the value of the car by doing what he did to it. but as long as he thinks of it as a 400E not the big dog. i know if i wanted a 500E i would look up the vin number and dismiss your vehicle right away.

what your vehicle has over other 400Es is novelty value. add $1000 to $3000 to the avg price of a 400E for that.

manzie49

Ok thanks so I take it the E500 is the big dog. by having that engine in this car, help? All I here is how fast this car is and as I stated that was a $8700 added feature. So if I advertise this car I should call it a 400E with 500E upgrades?

ashman

the 400e and 500e shared the same engine, so just by looking at it you can't tell. the difference between the engines in underneath, the 500e/e500 had about 50 hp more than the 400e I believe. the 400e had I think 260 -275 hp. the 500e/e500 has about 320 - 330 hp in that range.

The 500e also had different headlights, front and rear bumpers, flared fenders front and rear, totally different suspension, and the seats were different. the steering wheel itself was also slightly smaller than the normal mb steering wheel.

These4 are just the few things that were different. While they both shared the same chassis, the 500e definately had quite a bit of differneces between it and a normal w124.

Can you post pictures?

manzie49

Yes I can I was going to get the portfolio ready today but its raining in Michigan today.I have the VIN number for engine and I know for sure that several panels have been converted. I know he spent a lot of $ on this car. Im trying to figure out what I have here is it worth something or what. I will post pics as soon as I can get out there. I can probably get a long shot from the garage for you guys

AMG_Eric

keep in mind 124's are not worth a whole lot as new mbz's go. i have seen them go for as little as $3k and as much as $11k. cali was going to let his go and its super clean but the offers that were being tossed his way were kind of insulting i think he wrote.

as far as the suspension on the 500e it was designed and engineered by porsche. if you want to know more go to the 500e specialy sites. i think there are 2 or 3 of them.

manzie49

Here are some quick pics of what I have in my yard now..hope these help

jrmd01

Someone looking to buy a 400E will be interested especially with all of the upgrades to mimic a 500E

Someone looking to buy a REAL 500E will not give that car a second thought. As already mentioned by other forum members, Porsche designed and developed the 500E from top to bottom. There are lots of small details put into the 500E that separates it from all the rest and justifies it's high value. A 500E engine and side panels doesn't make the car a 500E.

My suggestion is to sell the car at the upper value of what KBB says the car is worth (as a 400E).

GL

shadowgriffen

the front and back bumbers have defenitely been changed, as well as the fenders...but it looks rather...unfinished? the suspension -I bet money- hasnt been changed, and its missing the 500E sideskirts that comliment the flared fenders, perhaps?

It looks rather "incomplete" IMO

manzie49

Ok people thanks for the input keep it coming. I think I'm getting a handle on what I have here..For sure it goes as a 400E with 500E upgrades is that fair and honest to say?

neanderthal

yes
the 500Es were partially built by porsche, and had more than just a different engine and panels and suspension and wheels. they were made in limited numbers.
you will not be able to pass this off as a 500E. best to call it a 400E upgraded to 500E and leave it at that. 500Es are usually priced in the high teens. 400Es can be had in the high 4Ks and low 5Ks. however much the owner spent on converting to 500E spec is irrelevant, thats his loss and you likely will not gain anywhere near that money trying to sell this car. add a few thou for the upgrades, sell it as an upgraded 400E and call it a day. someone out there will certainly appreciate it and will pose with "his 500E" but the cognoscenti will know.

pifcat2

Tom,

Put it on eBay with a reserve price and see what you get. It's definitely unique and something an enthusiast would buy but not the collector who would be willing to pay more for originality. As an example the previous owner of my '87 added over $25k in upgrades including a $14k RENNTech 3.6 engine but I was able to buy it for a fraction of that. There may be value added in a warranty from the converter as some may question the quality of work.

Felix

Jim's500E

The 500E badge was mounted incorrectly too, not a big deal but folks who know MBs know how that badge should be mounted and where (its close though where it is)....and you should probably put back the 400E badge...if you are selling it. Unlessa real 500E motor was put in which doesn't seem right because the entire engine bay was modded at the factory for the taller and wider than normal motor. The cost for a real 500E motor would be much more than 9 gs to install, let alone buy. 500Es had so many different things as compared to any regular W124.....something like 4000 parts are different so they say. (not sure if I beleive that myself)

Neat car but bottom line....itsa 400E and that's what the VIN will tell a seller and that's all that its worth, whatever a 400E is going for now. 500Es were practically entirely built by Porsche....paint and finishing touches were done by MB at Sindelfingen.

Good luck with the sale and hopefully the purist won't rip into you...clean that sucker up and it should sell no problemo, just don't expect a 500E market price.... looks nice !!

manzie49

Well guys I had a chance to go thru some of the paper work and The engine is a 500E engine vin#WDBEA36E3NB691125 the last 2 numbers were hard to read. It cost $1800 to install I see some replacement of front suspension with 500E parts. on that invoice i see over $4000 in parts used in the conversion

pifcat2

Tom,

BTW, who did the conversion? There was a guy that owned a shop who posted awhile ago about doing 5.0L V8 conversions (AudiRyder?) on the East Coast. IIRC, he claimed modern mods to the standard suspension (springs/bushings/sways/tires) could equal or surpass the 500E susp.

Jim's500E

Yes, would like to find out who did the conversion too....especially if its East Coast USA. (like I'm gonna put in a SL600 V12 in the 500E )

Hope they put in the ASR with that 500E motor !!

Anyway, BTW, 500E suspension is basically generic MB parts bin stuff, much of it from R129 SLs...special springs for the extra weight, longer stronger sway bars (etc, etc) but everything else is standard OE MB that bolt onto any W124 or W201. Sweet set-up with all them parts working together.

Very cool that you have all the invoices and details...that will help tremendously with a sale. You should have no problem selling it too...based on looks alone its nice. .... eBay it !!

manzie49

Hey guys the motor came from Active Foreign Auto parts (Tennessee). It appears the motor conversion was done by Autowerkes of Sarasota Florida..there is 2 pages of parts and labor that was done.

manzie49

Once again thanks for all your input and being pleasant about it. Its nice to see a forum that isn't out to slam everyone. If I didnt work GM I might go out and buy a Mercedes

Sam 325i

Can we part it out?

$100 and a shiny new donkey for the engine. :p

neanderthal

i raise you a shiny new *** instead of a donkey.

LAwebTek

When you decide how much you want for it, please let me know. I'm very interested in buying another Mercedes when I get my settlement check from the insurance company.

Thanks,
LA

E320BENZ

two shillings and a hay penny that's my final offer...

mhorn

Not much I can add that hasn't already been said. Advertising this as a 500E would be like advertising a kit car as an original. I would show it as a 400E with "upgraded" engine. If it really is a 500E motor, somebody might buy the car just for the engine. Otherwise, as long as the conversion was done right, you've got a solid daily driver that should go 200k miles no problem for somebody who wants a whole lot of car for the money. Good luck and sorry to hear about your friend.

manzie49

Ok the puzzle is slowly going together..It appears that the engine is truly a 500E motor.USED at the time of purchase $8700 from Active Foreign Auto Parts in Tenn. It was shipped to Autowerkes in Florida where it was then rebulit at the tune of $4500. Then it was installed in the car (400E) for $1800 and at that time there was suspension work done also utilizing 500E parts. Im adding this info cause there is some interest in this car. Also if you are interested you can email me at manzie49@aol.com and then i will give my phone # out and we can talk then..Thanks much again guys for all your help in this.