Looking into buying....

[JamesL]

Living in the UK and doing some homework with a view to buying a 250/280SL for low mileage commuting. To replace a 230SLK!

I've seen a RightHand Drive "California" car (280) - no soft top. Can soft tops be bought for this car or are there no fixings/storage facilities?

The US cars have air-con, not so sure about the European ones. Can it be retro-fitted - or is that sacrilege?

Sorry to ask a dumb question or two

 :?:

New....

[Klaus]

Hi Tosh:
There were at least two California versions with added softtop at the Pagoda meeting in Speyer earlier this year. I could send you pictures via e-mail, my computer refuses to attach pictures on this site. These tops fold on top of the folded rear seat and do not have a metal cover. They were  professionally installed, but I do not have the name of the company that did them.
The A/C in US cars was dealer-installed. I don't know if the kits are still available new. In my humble opinion they look ugly and take precious knee space away on the passenger side.

Klaus
1969 280 SL

[Cees Klumper]

The California version should be much cheaper than the comparable 'regular' version. Reason being that if you want to add the softtop, it is normally very expensive. The hardware (softtop frame, cloth, metal lid, storage compartment etc etc) plus the installation labor cost add up to several thousand euros. In the US, SL Tech (in Maine, proprietor Gernold Nisius) is an expert in these conversions (and the whole soft-top subject) and you may want to ask him what you will be in for. In my opinion, unless open-top driving happens to not be an added benefit for you, I would make sure I would get the full conversion cost deducted from the purchase price, OR move on to another car. You will face the same problem when you would ever want to turn around and sell this car (this is just hypothetical of course).

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[rwmastel]

quote:....buying a 250/280SL for low mileage commuting.

How short are your commutes?  The Pagoda should be driven far enough on each trip to properly warm up.  If you commute is less than 10 miles then you will always need to let the car warm up to operating temp first before leaving the driveway.  This is because moisture, considered a contaminate, that builds up in the engine oil gets bruned away only at operating temp.

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[n/a]

hi Tosh,

I have a 280 sl in New York with no AC. Indeed, AC was dealer installed option....But honestly, I don't think you need it in the UK. Despite humidity in NY, I culd do without!!!!
Very few cars in Europe had AC...
I would focus your time and money to find  a straight, clean car, with hard + soft top. It is usually better to buy a car with the equipemnt you want rather than try to add it on.
Cees is absolutely right, value wise, anything closer to original will hold its value better!!

What kind of budget do you have, if I may ask?


Fabrice
Silver 1971 280 SL
New York City

[n/a]

Hi Tosh

Just to add my observations on air con in a 230SL. My 1965 model was retrofitted with air a couple of years ago by a previous owner. It has a Sanden rotary compressor and there's little appreciable difference in performance when operating. It works very well especially in the Australian climate. I can put up with the loss of leg room that Klau points out but that's not the reason I'm considering pulling it out. My car has broken down twice in the year that I've owned it. On both occasions it was a very simple problem that I should have been able to fix at the road side. The first time a wire broke off the back of the alternator. Unfortunately the compressor blocks access from above and it's not possible to get to the back of the alternator underneath the car without jacking it up and removing the horns. The car had to be towed and put on a hoist to fix it. Yesterday I broke a fan belt. The correct fan belt is no longer suitable and so my spare didn't fit (my fault, that one). Another tow job. The alternator bracket had to be relocated to accommodate the air con system. It's already broken once and been replaced and I suspect that this is the cause of the belt being shredded. I'm having the belts replaced and the alternator realigned today - a job that is best done on a hoist as space is minimal. All I can say is think very carefully about this option. In my expereince it has been the only source of poor reliability in an otherwise great and trouble free car.

Mark

1965 230 SL

[JamesL]

Thanks folks, advice much appreciated

The wife and I went along this morning to silverarrows in London SW15 (www.silverarrows.co.uk)

And came home with a headache. How do we pay for our new Pagoda?

They had 6 cars, all in need of some work - generally the bodywork better than the interior. Three of them are on their website

One of them is sold.

I guess I will soon be the owner of a Jan 1 1970 metallic blue 280SL with a (refitted) tan leather interior. The numbers inside the (UK) nearside fromt wing seem to support this colour scheme. Blue soft-top, 100,000 miles, all but 23. Loads of history

We were basically told that to get the poor interiors to a state that "our" car was in would cost far more than the current price difference. no doubt we've paid too much but I feel we could have spent years looking for a quality car and not necessarily have found any great saving.

It's stunning, can't wait to receive it. Once I've worked out how to pay for it! No doubt a crazy decision and we'll have to sell our SLK but, hey, you only have debt once!


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