1990 300SE with 65K on it FS locally...
 

I have a line on what looks like to be a pristine lite green one with a tan interior.

I have yet to get the VIN but what would the weak points on this car at this age (besides the obvious). No idea if wiring harness is bad (like the W124s) or anything that will grenade on me(?) Your expertise is much appreciated ! Would be a DD for me as I'd imagine the gas mileage is better than my twin turbo chipped Audi allroad which gets 22 mpg highway.

Some 17" monoblocks, euro-lites and slight drop is what I have in mind.

And the stereo? Are they easy to replace in this vintage? My 500E is not...

Regularly serviced at the selling indy, which is not a euro-car friendly type of place IMO....prolly just means oil changes.

They are asking 8500$...thinking of more like 6500$, cash. The indy said they are going to bring it Barrett-Jackson which has an auction at the casino here in CT every spring. I can't imagine it getting 8500$ at an auction, even as nice as it is...

Do you think buying a car at auction is cheaper?

Depends on the car....this one I doubt would sell for very much at auction as its the cheaper model of the line and around here, the old benzes like this vintage just don't command that much money.

Go for it! It is worth all of $6,500. Assuming this is a clean example of course.

I'd say go for it. The market for these cars is kind of silly right now and you can easily make a profit.

In general, car auctions are very risky if you don't have the necessary knowledge. You could be lucky and the a good car, but for most it's a lottery.
I have a local business and buy cars from auctions and then sell them for bigger price, but it is a very messy business.