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1982 Mercedes 500se AMG, swing low sweet Kampfwagen.

28K views 58 replies 44 participants last post by  izzo 
#1 ·
A couple of months ago a buddy of mine, a home builder, was telling me about this older Mercedes he ended up with. I say "ended up with" because he was given it as partial payment from a customer he built a home addition for. I dismissed it for the most part because I wasnt very well versed in old Benzes, so I never went to check it out and I forgot about it.

Last week I'm at his brothers house for dinner and once again the Benz is brought up. Everyone keeps telling me how cool it is and that I really need to take a look at it. I'm not one to not want to look at a car, so off we went. I knew the first moment I laid eyes on it that I was in trouble. It was sitting low, really low, bathed in Anthracite with matching three-peice OZ AMGs. Everything looked good, not perfect, but you could definitely tell it was taken care of. I learn it's a 1982 500se AMG grey market import that a guy local to me used to own and did most of the work to. The suspension is tight, but rides smoother than a Town car. It shifts firm but not hard, power is.... ample, the steering is tight and heavy, but very slightly dead on center. It needs some things, but they're all small and very normal for a 30yr old 130,000 mile car.

Now it's mine, here it is, just some point and shoots at the moment.








Some of you from the Washington area might have seen the car before, or if you frequent MB forums a lot. There aren't many of these in the states, I've found 3 so far. It's been to a few of the euro meets/shows in the PNW and there's video of it from the 2010 Leavenworth cruise.

It's here at about 2:00.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8UFgN7P1wQ

I've found a little bit about it on the innernet, a build thread on Stanceworks, as well as similar threads on MB, BMW and VW sites:
http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=283

It was owned by a guy I only know of as "Lucky" and I he was a member here on the 'tex as well under the user name Badways.

Anyways, I've got some Easter cleaning/cooking to do, but I thought I'd share my new favorite thing with everyone. If any W126 experts care to chime it it would be greatly appreciated. The car is a 4 speed and currently not going into 4th, I've heard that there is a valve/solenoid that could cause this as well as the bowden cable adjustment. Any ideas?

Thanks for looking.
 
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#47 ·
Yeah guys, I don't know if you noticed, but I had bikes on it. To, you know, ride around Leavenworth. The show took up the whole town and I didnt feel like walking all day. The rack isn't on the car now. I happen to love the way racks look on cars, they also show me who has a common interest in biking, and I got that Yakima rack with 4 bike rails, deflector, and a kayak attachment for $20! I love racks! And I don't see a valid reason not to. Unless we're talking about those kids that throw them on for no reason..... different story.

As for the low, it's not bad at all. There are aome crazy parking lot entrances I have to avoid but it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be.

The interior is a project, it looks better now.... It wasnt too clean in the pics, but with a new steering wheel and seats she'll be just fine.
 
#55 ·
How did I miss this thread the first time around.

That car is amazing! I love it.

Did you get the 4th gear issue resolved?
 
#57 ·
Beautiful car! When I lived in Germany I used to walk by one just like that almost every day. Very droolworthy.
 
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