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Some of you may have seen or followed my "potential purchase" thread. Most of the diagnostic help was given to me in that thread. This thread is more about the car itself and the process of going through it and also making it presentable again. The car is a 1997 SL600 with 60k miles. It's Black Opal exterior with 2 tone gray interior. I think the colors work really well together. The car has 17" AMG wheels and come to find out, Lorinser parts on it. So far I've found the front and rear bumpers and sill plates are Lorinser parts. I also suspect the "stand off" V12 badges on the fenders were a Lorinser thing as well. The badges aren't applied directly to the fender but rather have black spacers first, then the emblems. Unfortunately one spacer piece is missing, so I've ordered new badges to install back to the original setting. The car has aftermarket corner lights and sound system as well. I'm not a big sound system guy but I think I'll leave it in place as it works fine. It looks to be professionally installed and although I do have the stock headunit, I don't want to figure out what else might be changed or missing trying to put it back to normal.
The main reason the car was bought for cheap is that the rear suspension was "broken". It wouldn't even lift up with the engine running. The battery light was on and the top cylinders starting leaking. The car had been sitting for 4 years! Long story short, I negotiated down from the asking price and was able to get it home the same day. I diagnosed and repaired the ADS suspension (new hydraulic control unit) and battery light (alternator was corroded) but also did all of the following maintenance and repair items:
Oil/filter change
Air filters
Spark plugs
ADS hydraulic control unit
Complete ADS system fluid flush
All 4 nitrogen spheres replaced
Alternator
Coolant flush
Planned work for this winter:
Transmission fluid/filter
top hydraulics rebuild
2 stage paint correction
fabricate muffler delete (the muffler is already off and it sounds great. Not even loud) The reason for the delete is that the rear bumper has a cut out for a tip but the car still had the stock muffler with turn down exits.
The previous owner installed a brand new battery for the sale and prior to parking the car for 4 years, he had recently replaced the front and rear brakes and all 4 tires! Also in the service history was a bunch of engine gaskets he had replaced at MB.
I got the car registered and insured a couple weeks after purchase and major repairs. I've since put 350 miles or so on the car without any issue! Once I knew it was safe to drive and no new problems crept up, I gave it an "Italian tune up". The M120 runs very strong and sounds healthy, as you would expect for a 60k mile engine.
The night I got it home.
"Stand off" or "spaced out" badges
Excited about a 600! Desperate need of paint correction
Mileage at purchase
She's dirty but now in mechanically fine shape!
Finally washed. Still in need of a detail!
exhaust cut out...
Last edited by Technician117; 10-10-2019 at 11:23 AM.
Reason: added more
Nice recovery and congratulations on saving a rare car from a certain death.
The Lorinser bodywork is subtly just a bit different from the regular mid-year styling with just a hint of spoiler at the front chin and rear bumper. That's a pretty big exhaust cutout, are you going to try for a Lorinser muffler? This is the first Lorinser bodywork I've seen on a R129. I hope you discover more Lorinser touches.
Can we see some more of the interior?
The ride height of the front or rear axle can be set to whatever height looks good to you by adjusting the height sensor linkages. I set my car's height so that the fender gap to the tire is equal to the sidewall height. I like the open look of the AMG rims.
Are you going to do the SA brake upgrade? It really makes a huge difference in stopping performance and brake feel. I was never really comfortable with the braking on my car until I upgraded the system.
Nice recovery and congratulations on saving a rare car from a certain death.
The Lorinser bodywork is subtly just a bit different from the regular mid-year styling with just a hint of spoiler at the front chin and rear bumper. That's a pretty big exhaust cutout, are you going to try for a Lorinser muffler? This is the first Lorinser bodywork I've seen on a R129. I hope you discover more Lorinser touches.
Can we see some more of the interior?
The ride height of the front or rear axle can be set to whatever height looks good to you by adjusting the height sensor linkages. I set my car's height so that the fender gap to the tire is equal to the sidewall height. I like the open look of the AMG rims.
Are you going to do the SA brake upgrade? It really makes a huge difference in stopping performance and brake feel. I was never really comfortable with the braking on my car until I upgraded the system.
I realized when I was loading photos that I didn't take any good ones of the interior. I have the soft top manually raised right now so I can try to address the REALLY BAD tarnishing on the vinyl windows. All 3 panels have yellowed. For not having a lot of miles on the car and having the hardtop on it the whole time it sat, I was surprised and saddened to find it in that condition. The cloth portion and headliner of the soft top looks brand new at least! I've been reading about how to clean and restore the clear vinyl. Hopefully I can at least make it presentable and semi-transparent again.
Even though I had to disconnect the front level sensor arm, I didn't realize it was adjustable. I was chatting with my best friend who is also a car enthusiast/DIY mechanic about making some adjustable linkages so we could get the ride height looking better. This is definitely on the list of things to do.
For the exhaust, I plan to fabricate a "muffler delete" pipe. I already bought a "dual square" tip to weld on. It fits perfect in the opening. The bumper hole is 9" across. The tips fit in there with an equal 1" on either side, which looks nice.
Excuse my ignorance, but what is the SA brake upgrade? I noticed that the pedal has a lot of take up before it then stops very nicely. I thought maybe some air in the line or just old fluid, so I was planning to do a fluid flush over winter as well to see if it helps the pedal. Since then I've read that these don't have a great pedal feel.
There's no need to engineer adjustable ride height sensor linkages as the linkages ARE adjustable from the get go. Just loosen the nut and bolt between the two linkage halves and move them a little at a time until you get the height you like. A little adjustment goes a long way. Adjust the front about a 32th of an inch closer (shorter) to drop the front about a half inch. The rear works in reverse, adjust the linkage apart about an 8th of an inch longer for the same drop. After a bit of trial and error you will get the stance you are looking for.
With a lower car, NEVER braille park the car (i.e. roll forward until you hit a parking spot's tire stop). Never. Ever.
Tire stops usually come with 2 ragged height rebar inserts that keep the tire stop located and they will rip right through that irreplaceable Lorinser front bumper in a heartbeat. Always park using your UP/DOWN ADS rocker by the light switch and always park shallow in a parking spot. Our cars aren't very long and there's no harm stopping 2 feet short of the tire stop. Using a tire stop is a lazy bad habit that can have dire consequences. Always be aware of tire stops because all it takes is ONE instance of carelessness to create a bunch of regret.
Silver Arrow brakes.
For our mid-year V12 cars, going to the 99+ MY larger front brake setup (aluminum Brembo caliper, cross-drilled rotor and flex hose) makes a BIG difference in stopping performance. The V12 cars weigh 400 lbs more than the regular R129s and after completing this upgrade, I feel that every V12 car that doesn't come with the bigger front brakes should consider the upgrade. Concerning brake feel, if you go the SA route, you might want to include stainless steel flex lines for the front and rear calipers as well as Akebono pads.
The R129 brake system will never have "touchy" brakes, but it can suffer from other maladies rather than the OEM long brake pedal. Check the condition of the complex brake vacuum assist tubing at the rear of the cross ram intake. Listen for any hiss from inside the car when the brakes are applied while the engine is running. There should just be a muted poof, not a hiss.
Are you driving the car with just the resonator and no muffler?
There's no need to engineer adjustable ride height sensor linkages as the linkages ARE adjustable from the get go. Just loosen the nut and bolt between the two linkage halves and move them a little at a time until you get the height you like. A little adjustment goes a long way. Adjust the front about a 32th of an inch closer (shorter) to drop the front about a half inch. The rear works in reverse, adjust the linkage apart about an 8th of an inch longer for the same drop. After a bit of trial and error you will get the stance you are looking for.
With a lower car, NEVER braille park the car (i.e. roll forward until you hit a parking spot's tire stop). Never. Ever.
Tire stops usually come with 2 ragged height rebar inserts that keep the tire stop located and they will rip right through that irreplaceable Lorinser front bumper in a heartbeat. Always park using your UP/DOWN ADS rocker by the light switch and always park shallow in a parking spot. Our cars aren't very long and there's no harm stopping 2 feet short of the tire stop. Using a tire stop is a lazy bad habit that can have dire consequences. Always be aware of tire stops because all it takes is ONE instance of carelessness to create a bunch of regret.
Silver Arrow brakes.
For our mid-year V12 cars, going to the 99+ MY larger front brake setup (aluminum Brembo caliper, cross-drilled rotor and flex hose) makes a BIG difference in stopping performance. The V12 cars weigh 400 lbs more than the regular R129s and after completing this upgrade, I feel that every V12 car that doesn't come with the bigger front brakes should consider the upgrade. Concerning brake feel, if you go the SA route, you might want to include stainless steel flex lines for the front and rear calipers as well as Akebono pads.
The R129 brake system will never have "touchy" brakes, but it can suffer from other maladies rather than the OEM long brake pedal. Check the condition of the complex brake vacuum assist tubing at the rear of the cross ram intake. Listen for any hiss from inside the car when the brakes are applied while the engine is running. There should just be a muted poof, not a hiss.
Are you driving the car with just the resonator and no muffler?
Thanks for the tips! My 2000 BMW M5 is lowered 1" from stock which already had low hanging curb fruit in the form of plastic under body panels. Parking back several feet from curbs is second nature/SOP for me! There is a plastic piece on each front corner that explodes upon merely touching a curb ;-) and cost over $300 each from BMW now. They used to be $57!!
I am indeed driving it with no muffler. It dumps into the cavity where the muffler was... heats shields all around, so I'm not worried about that. Sound is awesome in my opinion and not loud AT ALL unless you're winding out the tach and at that point you're moving quick enough to disperse the decibels. My M5 is louder with aftermarket exhaust (tubular headers, stock cats, x pipe, resonators and mufflers).
Meguiars, a cloth and some toil will make those plastic windows look brand new.
The time I did mine - at first the cloudy film of the application made me nervous. However you will find it goes on cloudy and rubs off like a polishing powder.
The window to fabric top stiching broke down in spots after a couple of years ... so you might want to not get the liquid on the stitching too much.
It is also good for shining up the brake & turn signal light plastic.
Thanks for the tip. Was your window yellowed or just hazy? Mine has yellowed badly. I fear a more aggressive process will be needed if it can be saved at all.
Originally Posted by ChrisB
Meguiars, a cloth and some toil will make those plastic windows look brand new.
The time I did mine - at first the cloudy film of the application made me nervous. However you will find it goes on cloudy and rubs off like a polishing powder.
The window to fabric top stiching broke down in spots after a couple of years ... so you might want to not get the liquid on the stitching too much.
It is also good for shining up the brake & turn signal light plastic.
As I recall it was hazy and a bit yellow ... could not see through it.
Give it a shot - you might be surprised by the results.
It took a few treatments in the few hours I worked on it - to see real good results.
Tske before and after pics. I wish I had.
Nice car, great find. Turns out I recently bought a '98 SL600 with the same color, 2-tone beige interior, sport options, pano roof and similar staggered sport wheels, but with each spoke divided or slotted along its length. I'm getting a yellow suspension light, and have so far not been able to find a good synopsis on how to diagnose the ADC. I bought the car with dead spheres (the front ones were full of fluid) and have installed new spheres all around, with new fluid before driving, but nothing else so far. Now sometimes the ADC light does not come on and the suspension seems to work properly. But most of the time when using the car the light comes on seconds after starting and the suspension remains in very firm sport mode. I don't see any leaks anywhere so far, and have put a couple of thousand miles on the car after the new spheres, getting it home. The Mercedes dealer here actually said that their recent software updated deleted the ability to diagnose the suspension. But it sounds like you have been able to troubleshoot the ADC. Can you give some pointers?
I'm also very interested in your exhaust mods. It would be good to hear how your muffler delete pipe works out. It would be nice to hear more from that V12.
I have the resonator delete on mine and it is still very quiet with only a hint of exhaust sound while accelerating and a slight snarl on startup. I didn't think about a muffler delete (and keep the resonator), but that sounds like a good idea too.
I haven't had any time to work on the car or really drive it much more either. With the leaky top, I'm relegated to nice days with the top down until I put the hardtop back on. I have been able to master manual operation of the soft top but it's still a PITA. Once I have time and the work bay opened up, I'll remove all of the cylinders to send out for rebuild. At that time I will finish mocking up the muffler delete pieces too. It's a bit tricky because the piping and collector sizes are metric. I bought a new OE gasket where the muffler bolts on. From there I have a modified collector which will have pipe welded to it followed by the tip welded on. I'll add a hanger back there too which will loop into the stock rubber mount. The goal is to keep it as simple as possible. I still need to buy the "mid" piece of pipe to connect the collector and tips that I bought. I'll post pics at some point.
Without hooking up the car to Star Diagnosis and taking a peek at the ADS trouble codes, you would be guessing at the solution. Find an independent mechanic who works on the older cars like ours.
I assume your car responds to the UP/DOWN rocker by the light switch. This eliminates a bunch of ADS items.
Other than that, it sounds possibly like one of the 3 body motion sensors might be failing (intermittent) due to age. There are 2 sensors under the hood (one on each strut tower) and one in the trunk near the battery. If the sensors are good, then take a good look at their connectors and make sure they aren't damaged and make good connections, same for the 2 ride height sensors that are connected to the sway bars.
All these suggestions are just suggestions, get the car diagnosed and then tell us so we can help.
In the mean time, read this to understand the system and locate the sensors that I just mentioned.
Over the winter I did a lot of work to the car. I'm probably not going to remember everything in one post, but we'll see.
One of the biggest winter projects was to tackle the paintwork. It was unbelievably scratched, especially the trunk lid top for some reason. I used Meguiars 105 and 205 with orange and white pads on a Porter Cable XP machine to perform a 2 stage paint correction. It turned out pretty good. World's different and better than it was before. I finished it with Collinite 845 insulator wax. A nice wax for dark colors. Part of the painstaking detail work during this time was scrubbing all of the black plastic to remove old wax from the previous owner. I finished it with a quick wipe of Mother's Back to Black.
The next biggest project was removing and reinstalling the soft top hydraulics. It's not hard work, just technical in some areas. Slow and steady wins the race - no lost clips, etc. I sent mine to Tophydraulics. Great service and quick turn around as everyone says. Now the top works great! Flushed all the fluid and refilled with the proper top fluid. The only thing remaining is to have the plastic windows replaced. They were really yellowed like previously mentioned. I tried to clean them with little luck. Then one of them cracked. Over winter while it was cold out, I intentionally broke out the main window to force me to get them replaced.
I'm not a sound system guy, but since this car was already setup, I decided to get it working properly. The original JL Audio 10" subs that the original owner installed back in the late 90's were shot. In talking to audiophile friends, I came to find out that the installation in this car is high end. The Rockford Fosgate components are also from the mid-to-late 90's and still desirable. Anyway, with their help, I purchased 2 new 10" subs and reinstalled everything. The sound is incredible! And I'm not really talking about "thump". All of the front speakers were upgraded and wired to amps as well. The sound quality rivals or beats the Bang and Olufson in my 2013 BMW M5.
While tackling the underhood detail, I knew I needed to replace the hood insulation. I scraped it clean, purchased good 3M spray adhesive and new insulation. Pretty straight forward.
Next up was fabricating the muffler delete pipe and tips. I had a flange laying around but I had to buy some pieces of pipe. I found some square tips on eBay that fit the style of the car and the size of the opening in the Lorinser bumper. I'm no professional, but I was able to cut everything up and weld it together in my garage. I'm happy with the result.
Now that it's spring, I've been able to drive the car a little. Turns out the thermostat is sticking open a little. The warmth of last fall must have hid this! I bought a thermostat from RockAuto but it is not correct. Don't make the same mistake I did! I ended up having to order the complete housing like many others have done. At least it's a really easy R&R job. After cleaning everything up and getting it dried out, I replaced the serpentine belt as well. I figure it's good PM, especially on a 23 year old car. I'm not sure if it was ever done before.
I'm pretty sure the only thing I last left to do is have the soft top windows replaced. I know there is a DIY kit for sale, but I'd rather pay a trim shop. The actual top is in perfect shape, so I don't want to replace the whole top.
I'm looking forward to driving the car a bunch in early summer. We have 2 day trips planned already!
You guys probably don't want to hear this, but I'll probably list it for sale in a month or so. This was a bucket list car for me and I'm also a restoration type guy, so this was a fun project for me. Hopefully I don't get too smitten and hold on to it longer! There are a lot more bucket list cars to get to!
I had no idea the subwoofers were that big.
Drive the car for a while TOP down - I would bet you will keep it.
Haha. Yeah I've driven it a bunch with the top down already! It's an awesome car, no doubt. I will be daily driving it to make sure it doesn't need anything else and to really enjoy it for a bit before selling.
Originally Posted by kamskeez
Great exhaust work - would love to hear this thing on video.
Originally Posted by Fabio D
Some sound video on this exhaust set-up? Any other pics? Looks so good!
Fabio D.
Thanks guys. I'll have to take some videos! More pics coming in the next post!
Memory Day weekend weather in Buffalo was excellent. Low humidity and high 70's - low 80's all weekend. It was a good opportunity to cruise around Niagara Falls and the city of Buffalo. Enjoy!
You don’t have a wind breaker? I see your roll bar has the dents in the leather where it has been mounted.
Could be in the trunk in the front cover. Makes a big difference - side windows up & wind breaker up ... almost no turbulence in the cabin at highway speeds.
You don’t have a wind breaker? I see your roll bar has the dents in the leather where it has been mounted.
Could be in the trunk in the front cover. Makes a big difference - side windows up & wind breaker up ... almost no turbulence in the cabin at highway speeds.
I do have it, just didn't have it back on yet. Good eye!
Took the car on an all day excursion this past Saturday. We cruised out of the Buffalo area to the Finger Lakes region (wine country!) to tour around the tops of a few lakes before heading to a wildlife refuge. From there we circled back west and north to the north side of Rochester for a brewery stop and picnic lunch stop before taking a cruise along Lake Ontario from Rochester all the way to the other end at Fort Niagara, stopping a few times along the way at different state parks on the water. Then we started curving south and following the Niagara river to Niagara Falls. We didn't stop though, as we live about 15 minutes away from the Falls. We continued cruising along the Niagara river and through the City of Buffalo to get to a brewery on the south end of the city. Then a short drive back home for dinner. All in all, it was just over 330 miles of driving over roughly 10 hours. The gas light turned on about a mile from home. The car ran flawlessly all day. I don't think there is a better way to spend a tank of gas in an R129!
10-10-2019, 11:19 AM
