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Author: Andrew

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2008 Mercedes Benz E350 4Matic Estate

 

I am officially dubbing this week “Mercedes Week” for myself. The majority of my recent posts have been BMW’s as that is mostly what I am in the market for but since the universe sadly does not revolve around me, I figured I best mix it up. What spurred this line of thought was a friend who suddenly found himself in the market for a new vehicle and asked for my help finding one. He wanted a wagon, preferably one with AWD as he lives up a particularly nasty dirt road in Vermont and his budget was about $10k. As with most folks in my native state, his first choice was a Subaru Outback and he found a couple solid examples right away. However given that he wasn’t completely married to the idea of having a Subie, he asked me what else he could get in the same price range with similar functionality. A4 wagon prices have stayed strong, particularly on the manual ones but the E-Class wagons, well those have depreciated significantly despite being a rather reliable rig. I found a few of these in his price range and a few that were decidedly not, clearly this one is the later.

At first glance I didn’t much care for this particular example, I’m not a big fan of tan interiors or light woodgrain accents. I much prefer a nice alcantara or perforated leather wheel, subtle dark wood trim if wood at all. However the more I scrolled through the pictures the more I began to appreciate the vibe this car is putting out.  It conjures up images of trucking kids to private school and neighbors in a freshly minted subdivision waving to each other in acknowledgement of their mutual success. While that might not sound all that great I think it perfectly captures why this car is a solid option for the enthusiast with a family, ultra sleeper status. Nobody expects they grey wagon with a beige interior to be a fun drive anymore than they expect the Inquisition. A set of sticky tires, upgraded sway bars, bushings, and CAI would make for an entertaining and very incognito daily driver indeed.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2008 Mercedes Benz E350 4Matic State

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1989 BMW 525i

At first glance this may appear to be nothing more than a very clean E34 525i, but look inside and you find out that this car is quite unique. It’s not the pristine cloth interior that I bet still smells good or the OEM tape deck. No, what makes this ultra low mileage E34 so unique is that it’s a import from the Land Of The Rising Sun. That’s right, this is a LHD BMW Japan E34 525i. I’m not an expert on BMW interior history but from what I’ve been able to find, the steering wheel in this vehicle is also unique to foreign markets as is the leather surrounding the shifter. Someone please correct me if I am wrong but so far as I can tell all the U.S. spec E34 5 series had a hard shifter surround, not padded leather which I think is a very nice touch.

Aside from those things the interior is the same low key environment you’ll find in any E34, simple ergonomic design that is focused on the driver. It’s always such a pleasure to see vehicles of this era with such sharp interiors because it really exemplifies how on point they were. I’ve been in a bunch of E34’s and never really appreciated the cabin as most of them had been well worn, sticky surfaces from spilled coffee, cracked leather, that stale smell of two decades worth of shutting people around. I hope that the person that takes this thing home realizes how special it is to break in 26 year old car and really enjoys the process of doing just that. It’s great that this 525i has such low mileage but I’d say it’s time for it to be somebody’s daily driver.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1989 BMW 525i on eBay

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1986 BMW 535i

There’s so much to like about this E28 5 Series that it’s hard to know where to start. The car itself is an absolute gem, the manner in which the seller has photographed boarders on editorial quality and the bidding sits at at very reasonable $5,200 (though we don’t know the reserve is) with 4 days left to go. However, as with so many things in life, there’s a catch. This bronze Bavarian beauty only has two pedals, which for many people is a deal breaker but not for me. Would I rather have a 5 spd manual in this car? Absolutely but given the pristine condition this vehicle appears to be in, I don’t think I could pass up a chance to be its caretaker for a little while, even though it suffers from PRND syndrome.

The E28 is considered by many to be the original Q-Ship and for those of you out there that would harp on the automatic transmission found on this example, let me remind you what a Q-Ship is all about, stealth. Now I know it would be more fun to row your own in this car but what better way to fly under the radar when having fun than to have an automatic transmission keeping you in check. I honestly believe that just taking away the option to quickly downshift and take off around a corner completely changes the personality of the 535. Where most folks would envision themselves tearing up windy roads in this car I see myself cruising around town with friends or road tripping around the Pacific Northwest. That may seem oddly specific but I’ll attribute it to the Bronze Metallic over Nutria leather color-way and the car being from Vancouver.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1986 BMW 535i on eBay

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2002 Mercedes Benz SL500 Convertible

It’s hot down here in Los Angeles right now, like middle of summer hot and that means a whole lot of cars hitting the road with the top down. There are a number of cars that I associate with LA whose roof’s have been liberated, the Lamborghini Gallardo, Maserati Gran Turismo, Hertz Mustang/Camaro just to name a few. However none of them embody the vibe of the City Of Angels like the Mercedes Benz SL500 convertible does. From a group of gal pals cruising down Sunset Blvd to the media mogul retiree racing to the golf course, this car oozes Los Angeles cool.

The R129 chassis lived a good long life, the object of desire for dentists, producers, athletes and children like myself from 1989 until 2002. Just think about that for a second, this car remained popular and relatively visually unchanged from Bush I to Bush II, that’s damn impressive. Here we have a very clean example with just over 86k on the clock that’s currently located in a place much like Los Angeles, just with humidity and crazier people, you know, Florida.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2002 Mercedes Benz Sl500

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1989 BMW 320i Touring

I promised myself I’d switch it up this week and not write up another BMW but then this rig came across my desk and I couldn’t ignore it. Royal Blue over Tan leather is one of my all time favorite color combos. It looks good on nearly any vehicle and the E30 Touring is no exception, it just works so well with the design and vibe of the vehicle. I have to say the replica BBS wheels are not for me, but the bright silver polish on them does pair nicely with the blue. I look to swap them out for a 5 or 10 spoke wheel if I was going to go with an aftermarket set, otherwise I think some E46 M3 wheels would look excellent here, though I’m sure many of you will disagree.
I think that one of the most attractive things about all E30’s is the variety of ways they can be modified (or not) by their owners. There are so many different paths one can go down, full Euro-spec, engine swaps, “Stanced”, rallye or just restored to stock. Each genre of E30 has its own vibe and I think this one would be best lightly modified but kept visibly simple. Blue/Tan is a pretty classy color combo, one that evokes thoughts of clean European cities and tidy country homes. What I’m trying to say here is this isn’t a model I’d like to see turned into a hotrod with a Thule rack and bunch of stickers on the windows. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t want to replace the sway bars, control arms, end links and all the bushings because I certainly would. The beauty of an E30 is that it’s a relatively slow car that you can drive fast if you know what you’re doing and enhancing the handling capabilities will only enhance that experience.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1989 BMW 320i Touring on eBay

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