The Mercedes-Benz W140 Coupe is growing on me. Especially when they are done as well as today’s car. This 1997 S500 Coupe up for sale in Costa Mesa is painted in the ultra-bright Imperial Red and most importantly, the 18″ three-piece AMG wheels. The interior is take it or leave it beige leather, but it does make up for it having just a little over 25,000 miles. Time to buy in on the C140? Probably not this example given the asking price. Let me explain.
Last week I took a modest dive into cars that have been produced in the past 20 years or so and how they are in a bit of strange spot. Too new and insignificant to be collectible, and generally not worth the trouble. That in turn, with a few exceptions, sends prices to floor. Today, we have another example of that.
This 2001 Mercedes-Benz S430 is a perfect storm of a car that seemingly no one wants. A pre-facelift W220, it is finished in tan over tan with the less-powerful 4.3 liter V8. I don’t need to rehash my thoughts on how the pre-facelift W220 was a massive disappointment compared to the end-of-production W220, but it seems I’m not alone on this one. The good news is that this car is in really nice shape for having over 100,000 miles. The even better news is that is cheap. Really cheap.
Last week, I took a look at one of the nicest examples of a W140 Mercedes-Benz S-Class that I’ve seen in quite some time. In addition to it being extremely clean, it was also optioned with the cloth/velour interior. Like mentioned, that interior choice was actually a more expensive option, which in terms of the American market, seems counter-intuitive. As luck would have it, another top of the range S-Class popped up with a velour interior and this time its on US soil.
This 1988 560SEC up for sale in Portland, Oregon is a left-hand drive car built for the Japanese market which means it has all the European-spec goodies. Shorter bumpers, the proper headlights, and the wonderful patterned blue velour interior. Wait until you see it.
Don’t look now, but it seems like the Mercedes-Benz W140 chassis is finally getting its due. Does that mean go out and buy every Craigslist W140 you can find like people do with the 2.3-16v and W124 500Es? No. Please don’t do that. What I’m trying to say is that the very best of the best W140s are finally selling for prices that I would consider “premium”. Just as an example, a 1996 S600 Coupe with 36,000 sold for $32,500 last week and it looked every bit the part of a new car. The sedan is no different either, although the V12 cars and Grand Edition certainly seem to be the most desirable, and rightfully so. Today, I came across a 1991 600SEL up for sale in Germany with just 15,000 miles. Naturally the car perfect, but this one has a little surprise once you open the doors.
I’d never thought I’d type this, but maybe it isn’t such a bad idea to buy a W220 Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG. Okay, maybe that was a little too broad. What I mean is maybe it isn’t such a bad idea to buy a W220 Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG if you really want a crazy powerful sedan and have lots of discretionary income to support such a purchase or you were seriously considering last week’s mess of a S600. I think that statement gets a little closer to my point, or maybe it is just one of those situations where it isn’t nearly as bad as it could be.
In the shock of the century, the W220 SL/CL/S65 AMG cars seem to be holding up fairly well considering what could actually go wrong with them. After all, this is what happened when the engineers at AMG turn the dial up to 9, with a 10 only being the SL65 AMG Black Series. Just encase I didn’t make this clear, I’m not saying these are cheap or inexpensive to keep running, but rather the same situation as living in Siberia and saying “Hmm. -8°F today, not that cold at all”. On the price end of the equation, it seems that these have hit rock bottom and dare I even say are actually being sought after by enthusiasts. So when a really sorted example pops up like today’s S65 in Los Angeles, should you actually give it consideration?
As we are now into a new decade, I figured now is a good a time as any to remind you to never buy the car I’m looking at today. What is it? The 2001 Mercedes-Benz S600. Not just the 2001, but any vehicle that comes with one of the worst engines ever made, the M137. This engine was so bad, that it only lasted three model years the US spanning from 2000-2002 in the S600 and CL600. Mercedes quickly admitted their errors and switched to the M275 in 2003, and that was so durable that iterations of it are still in production today. Why exactly was this thing so bad? Lets refresh our memory.
Color is everything. Kind of a broad statement, I know, but when it comes to classic Mercedes-Benz, it is pretty important. Light Ivory, Astral Silver, or Pastel Beige? Okay colors, but no one is clamoring over them. Henna Red, Mimosa Yellow, or today’s car, China Blue? Now people are excited. In all seriousness, I do see a fair amount of price different between two comparable cars with one painted something bright, with the other a little more drab. It just so happens that this 1981 300SD up for sale in Atlanta is one of the few to be painted in the aforementioned China Blue. So that begs the question, how much of a premium will this bring?
I think it is going to be a long time before we see a car depreciate like a Maybach 57. Way back in the early-2000s, Mercedes-Benz decided to wanted to play in the same league as Rolls-Royce and Bentley. Not an outrageous idea, so they revived the storied Maybach name and launched two models, the 57 and the 62. They shared a general platform with the then-already replaced W140 S-Class, and kind of looked like a W220 S-Class on the outside. On the inside, you could see this was a W220. The steering wheel was a straight rebadge job along with the gauge cluster, and everything felt like a W220 which is not a good thing at all. Under the hood, you’d think they would have stuck with the twin-turbo M275 from the S600, but they changed it slightly to make an entirely new engine unique to the Maybach called the M285. All these one-off changes that had to be made and extremely low production resulted in the base model 57 carrying a sticker price of $320,000. That is $435,000 in today’s money. You’ll be shocked at what this 2004 57 can be had for today.
Mercedes-Benz turner Brabus is never one to pull any punches. When they go “all in” on a build, they don’t hold back and usually produce something that has so much power that it is almost useless in any kind of normal driving situation. Impressive outputs aren’t the end of the spec sheet, as they’ll usually throw some bumpers, wheels, and most importantly, brakes on the car as well. Most of the time you get a fairly conservative design in terms of tuner companies, but sometimes you get some stuff that really went off the deep end.
Today, as luck would have it, a 2004 S600 popped up for sale in Philadelphia with the Brabus T12 package on it. The W220 S600 was already a pretty powerful car with the M275 twin-turbo V12, but if you give Brabus a check for nearly $60,000, they’ll make it even better. How much better?
Last week I took at one of the better deals I’ve come across of late with a 1984 Mercedes-Benz 280SE that could be had for a mere $3,700. It was far from a perfect example, but all things considered, a nice car for the little amount of money. No surprise – it sold quickly. It was an interesting example because when it comes to the W126, the two models that pop into your head are usually the top of the range 560SEL or tried and true 300SD. Both fine engines, but if given the choice, I am taking the OM617. Of course that leads me to today’s car, a 1984 300SD up for sale in Maryland with just 44,000 miles. Unlike the 280SE from last week, this car is much nicer and to me is quite the looker. However, are you ready to pony up for it?
