89 Mecedes-Benz 300SE

Description for Mercedes-Benz 300-Series 1989

1989 Mercedes 300SE, 202,000 miles.
I hate to sell it but all proceeds will be going to the IRS…
For a 30 year old car it’s pretty amazing. It’s not perfect but it’s not a project, it’s a really nice driver. Best part; no rust, ZERO cancer or rust. It Starts, runs, shifts & drives excellently.
I bought it in 2014 from the second owner at 189k miles. They are friends of mine & they bought it in 1990 with 11k miles, they took really good care of it but at 189K some of the original stuff had reached it’s life expectancy & I like tight reliable daily driver. (I can email the CarFax report.) Never smoked in.
My first job at 16 (1980) was at an exclusive German auto shop in Philly. Four years of training from two great old German guys, I’ve been driving & working on MB’s ever since. I’ve also been an aircraft A&P.

I’m all about full disclosure with every vehicle I’ve ever sold.

All the new stuff since I’ve owned it, all high quality OEM parts:
Water pump, Fan belt, Fan belt tensioner, Radiator, Thermostat, GO-5 coolant, thermostatic fan clutch, Power steering fluid and filter, Transmission fluid, filter and cooler flex hoses.
Front calipers, rotors & pads. (I had to make a crazy emergency stop at 75 recently, it has a little front rotor bounce now. ) Rear pads, all 4 shocks, rear sway bar linkages. OEM flex discs, carrier bearing & differential pinion yoke. (More about that later.)
Injector o-rings, Idle control valve, EHA, updated OVP, Fuel pressure regulator, Bosch fuel pump & filter, Distributer cap, rotor, correct non-resistor plugs, air filter, oil pressure sender, battery & voltage regulator. New German one piece glass headlights, no headlight wipers.

Engine mounts, Engine Shock absorbers, Rear transmission mount, Exhaust hanger bushings. AC condenser, filter dryer, 134A expansion valve, 134A Freon & compressor clutch adjust. It has the original compressor & it’s weak.
The factory spare tire has never been used, the only time it has ever been out of the trunk was when I checked the pressure. The original jack is there, the lug wrench is MIA, no clue why.
New Blaupunkt with Bluetooth, cell hands free & remote controller. Original non working Becker included. Cute little 8” sub in trunk, it helps. Door speakers are not hooked up. The power antenna doesn’t work, FM reception is good.

Within the past 200 miles:
Lower ball joints, upper ball joints/control arms/sway bar mounts, steering damper, Oil, Filter & wiper blades.
Ordinary things that work:
Windows, door locks, sunroof, seat motors, seat belts, cigarette lighters in every door, (Not 1 cup holder from the factory?!) Factory rear fog lights have been converted to LED brake lights. No dash cracks even though it has spent the majority of it’s life in the Alabama heat & sun. Four speed auto transmission shifts great but it’s from the MB era that always feels like it kind of needs another gear on the hiway. They built them that way for the best performance/economy of the M103 engines.

Stuff that doesn’t work:
Dome light via drivers door, It’s a mystery to me, I’ve replaced the door switch & the whole module above the mirror, all other doors activate the correct lights. Electric passenger mirror adjustment. Cruise control. High beam headlights. (It’s a failure inside the turn signal stalk.) The AC is ok until full engine operating temp, the heat is great all the time. Yes, I know why & I’m not going to fix it again, it’s only 3.6 miles each way to work so I quit worrying about it, sorry.
It has a minor drive shaft vibration between 38 & 48 mph. New OEM flex discs, carrier bearing, diff pinion yoke, rear trans mount & exhaust hanger bushings. The drive shaft assembly has been sent out for balancing. Multiple attempts at adjusting the transmission alignment angle have been helpful but not completely successful. I resigned myself to live with it, sorry. The abs sensor in the rear axel is bad & the windshield washer fluid tank slowly leaks out.
The body is amazing but about 65% of the clear coat is missing on the upper sections. See photos. I wish I had the time & money to remedy that. It has 2 small dents in the driver’s door & a scuff on the rear bumper. It has 1 ¼” spot of rust on the roof, otherwise it has ZERO rust. Again, see the photos. The Falken tires are pretty good on original rims. The interior is quite nice too.
As is, where is, no warranty. Arrange your own shipping or delivery.