vdubpower

Ill post some with its child (98 s500) and grandchild (01 s500) later, tell me what u think

more pics here at Benzworld

500sel

kaneman

BEAUTIFUL car. I have an '86 Euro 500SEL that's in amazing condition as well... the only thing I strongly dislike about the cars is the utter lack of provision for putting a decent stereo in. 4x6s do not an audiophile system make. How many miles?

vdubpower

in the front i switched in some 4 inch eclipse speakers, and in the back i put in 6 by 9s eclipses, i put them in the storage boxes, never used them and i need my sound, looks silly but oh well, no money for crazy custom job
12 inch JL in a sealed box does the trick, the car hits hard,

braverichard

Sharper than a razor blade! Your car looks perfect Faiz.

kaneman

Oh yeah, the bundt rims rock too... are they 14" or 15"?

braverichard

Those have to be 14" rims. They actually look good - if you can manage to keep them clean!!

vdubpower

yep lovely 14 inchers, i had them refinished, i thought the classic original look would do for this car, though when i look at blue420sel's car i drool. I am very tempted to go for 18 monos, or maybe 17s. Wondering how much that willl destroy the ride tho?
how do u like the front plate and frame, wasnt cheap lol

thanks for the comments fellas,

kaneman

Front plate and frame looks sweet, a bit bling bling for my taste but then again I'm very much a no chrome person. Do you have pics of the interior and the speaker installation? I forgot about the damn rear deck emergency pods... they're PERFECT for a set of 6x9s. Oh well, the Euro 500 sounds passable with new 4x6s on deck power and an Infinity basslink. It's for my parents and Norah Jones doesn't really call for huge bass and/or big power anyway. :p For that matter I don't know if they'll notice a difference between the new deck/speakers and the old POS Becker anyway!

I just got a '90 560SEL that I'm going to do a system in... BRAX amps and speakers with a Becker 7945 Traffic Pro head unit and Adire Brahma subs. I cannot WAIT to see how it comes out. The freakin' head unit was a pain in the *** to import but I've never seen anything like it. All voice controlled, bluetooth telephone AND navigation... and doesn't look like Tokyo by night.

vdubpower

yeah the plate is quite blingy, but that car has alot of chrome so i though it was fitting.

i never heard of brax amps, sho me a pic of the becker. ill get some pics of my install,but its nothin fancy, u just see the 6by 9 grills centered in the storage bins lids, the actual bottom of the bins has been taken out and the doors have been locked shut. i was thinking about puting the speakers in the bins but the installed advised not to. Im just using a 4 way amp to speakers, and a single amp to the sub. nothing fancy,but hits hard and very clean

interior mods to come, are just floor mats, hopefully a cool sterring wheel and a wood gear *** change, but that seems like a pain in the ***

HotRodGuy

wow, looks good in the light


I posted some pics of the 01 in the detailing section

kaneman

This isn't where I got it but this is one of the few pages I can find in English :

http://www.caraudiodiscount.com/acat...affic_pro.html

Here's the info on Brax, you can find the stuff on Ebay currently for about 50% of what list is or even less...

http://www.theautophile.com/products/BraxNavFrame.html

w123_w126

Great looking w126.037 - good job...

vdubpower

whats 037 mean

w123_w126

The last three numbers indicate the specific model of a given chassis. 037 is an 85 500 SEL. 126.024, for example, is a 300 SE.

g4hacker

beautiful car

vdubpower

it doesnt seem like my car was purchased with an exciting list of options. Does anyone have a full list of options available for the 85 500sel. thanks

VIN WDB1260371A141941
Model 500 SEL
Chassis 1260371A141941
Engine 117963 12 070833
Transmission 722311 02 608990
Order 0 5 537 02561
Approx. year 1985
Lights BOSCH
Cab 02263
Dealer Great Britain (537)
Interior leather grey / alpaca gray (278)
Paint
929 nautical blue metallic (с 01.01.1984)
Options
251 Becker Radio Mexico cassette, full stereo, electronic (с 01.04.1980 по 30.11.1990)
490 elimination of windshield heater (с 01.09.1981 по 31.01.1988)
504 outside rear view mirror, right, electrically adjustable (с 01.11.1978 по 29.02.1986)
outside rear view mirror, right, electrically adjustable (l.h.d.)
taxi version, f.r.g, and outside rear view mirror on the right
531 automatic antenna (с 01.01.1963)
543 sun visor with vanity mirror, illuminated, left and right (с 01.11.1978)
570 folding armrest front w202/210 stowage box front with armrest (с 01.04.1970)
front folding armrest w202 - housing at front with armrest
581 automatic climate control (с 01.01.1977)
592 heat-insulating glass, all-around, heated rear window pane (laminated glass), band filter
green heat-insulating glass all round, heated rear window, laminated safety glass - tinted strip (с 01.01.1972)
611 courtesy lamps for front and rear doors, with W124 also for central doors/W202 front doors only (с 01.11.1978)
640 aluminium disc wheels with radial-ply tires (с 01.10.1969 по 31.12.1989)

meowy84

Hey my '84 500SEL looks just like that. Same (although peeling in places) paint color and the same rims. Only external difference that I see is thet your doesn't have the front headlight wipers.

BTW, one thing that really irks me about my Benz is the lack of a cup holder! What's up with that? My 500 has ABS and an airbag which was 6 or 7 years ahead of the auto trend at the time but they couldn't think to stick a cup holder in? For shame....

w123_w126

they don't drink while driving in europe...

braverichard

A major concern of the German automakers was the negative effects of driver distractions such as drinking and eating, both of which will easily be encouraged by the presence of cup holders. Now though, unfortunately, it seems like the same German automakers have embraced cupholders in order to make their ever hungry US customers happy, and they have also largely embraced all sorts of driver distractions by making the most complex driver interface systems ever made for any car.

vdubpower

yours is an 84 and with an airbag? why doesnt my 85 have one.


i found a little plastic adjustable cup holder at some auto store, drilled it into the middle storage space, works well

theyve opened Starbucks in europe havnet they, im sure they will drink in car now, lol

meowy84

They try to avoid distraction and yet they'll stick a road-side billboard with nudie breasts? I wouldn't ***** about cupholders if we got to see some nudie breasts here in the States. LOL Of course we have too many morals and sex is taboo in case it offends the Puritans. *sarcasm* Seems counterproductive. Also, I don't think cupholders would have made any difference seeing the crazy (and fun!) way people in Europe drive. People will always eat in cars....I've seen many a driver in Italy stuffing their face with-a pizza-pie!!

Vdubpower, maybe because mine could be an Euro spec? I'm speculating of course but my title says it's an '83 500SEL not an '84 and yet many here will tell you that there was no '83 500SEL. Who knows.....

braverichard

On that second issue in your post, yes indeed, there was no '83 US 500SEL but there was an '83 Euro 500SEL. I guess you've got your answer. Also, what does the VIN for your car look like?

braverichard

In the Euro Spec 500SELs, airbags were an option until the late '80s when they were made standard. In the US Spec 500SELs airbags were standard. So obviously the original owner of my Euro 500SEL got his with the airbag. Mine also has ABS, heated front seats, power windows all around, rear hydraulic/self-leveling suspension and rear seat head restraints. I believe your car doesn't have any of these features except for the power windows which it has right? They were all options in the European market back then.

vdubpower

mines a euro, bought grey market back then

meowy84

Braverichard, the VIN on mine reads WDB126 followed by all numbers (not alphanumeric). So is it Euro or U.S.?

As for options mine has the ABS, heated front seats, power windows all around, rear seat head restraints, leveling headlamps, etc etc. I think it's pretty much loaded with most if not all options. The only thing it doesn't have is the rear hydraulic/self-leveling suspension (which I'm thankful for).

As for the '83 on the title thing, don't new cars usually come out around April and are titled for the following year....i.e. date of production April '04 and car titled as an '05? At least that's the practice here in the U.S. I think. So maybe mine came out in April '83 and was intended to be titled as an '84 but someone made a mistake and put in the actual date of production (1983). I'm gonna check my doorjamb later to get the skinny on that.