98 R129 SL500

[longman]

So , as most of you know I sold the IB..

 After much web surfing and bidding on auctions I ended up with this..

A 98 SL500 5 speed auto with the M119 engine , a panoramic hard top and 55k miles on the clock with a full service history.

After some negotiations it was delivered and I could have a good gander over it.

I all looks good , no dings or dents , only stonechips  ,poked about underneath and there are no horrors , the steering damper is fubar but this is common and cheap , car is booked in for a B service and to have suspension bushes etc checked over ..

 The Mrs and I managed to get the hard top off and stored so I could check the hood etc , the pano roof is mucho heavy.. thankfully the hood is perfect  , top down motoring is great 😎

A set of  3 and 3 Northern Ireland private plates arrived today , waiting for some black Mercedes surrounds to replace the gash chrome ones and I'm picking up a set of AMG monoblocks the weekend.. New Blaupunkt Bremen in the post as well ... 

Not my sofa ...😄

[reddevil]

On the steering damper... won’t be the same part but on my G, Mercedes wanted about £200+ from memory, I managed to source a Bilstein one for about £60, so worth seeing what is available from reputable aftermarket suppliers.

[SP72]

Looks a great buy tall bloke

Word of warning, I remember fitting 17” AMGs to my SEC, the increase in weight over the standard forged 15” 15-hole wheels was noticeable immediately - I took them off and sold them after a round journey of about 0.5 miles (not kidding)

 

[longman]

6 hours ago, reddevil said:

On the steering damper... won’t be the same part but on my G, Mercedes wanted about £200+ from memory, I managed to source a Bilstein one for about £60, so worth seeing what is available from reputable aftermarket suppliers.

already on it 👍🏼

6 hours ago, SP72 said:

Looks a great buy tall bloke

Word of warning, I remember fitting 17” AMGs to my SEC, the increase in weight over the standard forged 15” 15-hole wheels was noticeable immediately - I took them off and sold them after a round journey of about 0.5 miles (not kidding)

 

They were an optional fitment in this size, plus the wider 8.5/10.5 , got these £200 under asking so I’ve no doubt I could move them on if needed 

[johndglynn]

59 minutes ago, longman said:

They were an optional fitment in this size, plus the wider 8.5/10.5 , got these £200 under asking so I’ve no doubt I could move them on if needed 

Also have no doubt but they will look mega and I love @SP72's story - excellent

[GimmeShelter]

Looks like a really tidy car, and a great find.

[longman]

The wheels are here ..

A Bremen arrived in the post , cant get any DAB reception with supplied aerial , anyone else have this? I know Les cant either , otherwise its great..

And today some new number plate surrounds arrived , the ones on the car were chrome metal jobbies , the rear one has been rubbing on the bodywork causing 2 small rust marks , nothing terrible though.

 I've moved  the surround up a bit since this pic but to my eye it looks loads better , you can see the damage the old surround did in the pic , only rust I've found so far..

 

[Nige]

Its going to look loads better on those wheels.

 Hole in one chap.

Edited May 7, 2020 by Nige

[mean in green]

Did the radio and antenna come from Europe? I seem to recall UK DAB station frequencies or encoding being shifted slightly in some way, I had issues with my Pioneer and learnt from them that a new antenna model became available soon afterwards. I fitted that and it was fine for a few years.  This was quite some time ago though so it would be surprising if it did turn out to be the cause.

Edit: after a quick read up I think this was to do with either DAB MP2 or DAB+ codecs prevailing in different countries. 

[longman]

So its now had its 55k miles major  service, nothing untoward found and just general stuff to sort before the next one..new steering damper and gearbox oil /filter have made a  lot of difference

A new set of  40mm wheel bolts have arrived , cheap as compared to IB nuts ..

 Asked the local tyre fitter to try 245/275 on my 8j and 9 j  refurbed AMG wheels, looked wrong to my eye so went 235/265 in Pirelli P0 rosso which are mo rated (for Merc like N for Pork) ,not fitted yet as new centre caps haven't arrived.

The seats were v dirty and the speaker covers/door trims were badly stained , went local with DodoJuice for cleaning stuff , (next village over) TBH I am amazed with the results , the leather cleaner has removed loads of dirt and the seats look great ,the general cleaner has worked wonders with the grilles and interior trim which look like new , have now ordered a shed load of stuff from them..

[Phill]

I have never been a Merc man, not my cup of tea but you look like you have a winner there Paul. Looks really tidy and original, very nice! 

[johndglynn]

10 hours ago, longman said:

The seats were v dirty and the speaker covers/door trims were badly stained , went local with DodoJuice for cleaning stuff , (next village over) TBH I am amazed with the results , the leather cleaner has removed loads of dirt and the seats look great ,the general cleaner has worked wonders with the grilles and interior trim which look like new , have now ordered a shed load of stuff from them..

Thanks for update on this cool machine. I have some Dodo Juice blue wax and that is good stuff. Will take a look for their leather cleaner. I normally use Dettol multisurface wipes on all trim stuff and they are pretty good - hard to get at the minute however

[Busybee]

Dodo juice is good stuff. Recommend their “basics of bling” quick detailer. Spray over a car whilst still wet, panel at a time, and dry with microfibre towel. Then I put a coat of Polished Pigs Spray Wax over the top. Amazing.
For the leather, Renapur leather kit. Warm up the balsam in warm water before putting it on but leather comes up like new after cleaning with their solution. It feeds the leather really well. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320425028069
Saw a bit of detailing in a thread and couldn’t resist. Car looks a great buy 👍

[longman]

Should have taken some before pics ... someone had tried to paint the drivers bolster to cover some minor scratches 🙄 cleaned all that off with the dodo stuff ..The lower speaker grill was so nasty I thought it would need replacing, well happy with the result 👍🏼

[Beaky]

That's scrubbed up lovely, can't wait to see it in the flesh,

Did you use the Dodo interior detailer to clean the speaker covers?

[longman]

1 hour ago, Beaky said:

That's scrubbed up lovely, can't wait to see it in the flesh,

Did you use the Dodo interior detailer to clean the speaker covers?

This

[Beaky]

Thanks, I'll give it a go

[longman]

31 minutes ago, Beaky said:

Thanks, I'll give it a go

I used quite a bit on the car and then on Mel’s when I cleaned that Xris , might be better off getting 500ml of undiluted and mix when needed , I’ve now bought some in undiluted ....

[Beaky]

2 minutes ago, longman said:

I used quite a bit on the car and then on Mel’s when I cleaned that Xris , might be better off getting 500ml of undiluted and mix when needed , I’ve now bought some in undiluted ....

ops to late already ordered, I'll remember for next time.

[Chris_911]

Always worth having some G101 in the garage - it is simply amazing stuff!

[World Citizen]

Longman, the interior looks great, almost like it's just rolled off the factory line

Now show us a pic with it's new wheels on 😛

[longman]

6 minutes ago, World Citizen said:

Longman, the interior looks great, almost like it's just rolled off the factory line

Now show us a pic with it's new wheels on 😛

Ha! Went for a social distance beer with Lesmonde earlier which was great , he also said interior looked like new .. new centre caps should be here this week so wheel pics to follow ...might need some shims/spacers as the arches are huge .. it’s a great car though as is , suns out roof down .... bald spot burnt 🥵 

[johndglynn]

11 hours ago, longman said:

it’s a great car though as is , suns out roof down .... bald spot burnt 🥵 

Bucket hat in every glovebox - rule 1 for soft tops

[Busybee]

2 minutes ago, johndglynn said:

Bucket hat in every glovebox - rule 1 for soft tops

Or a toupee if you wanna be one of the cool kids 

[pstarkey]

Looks really smart Paul, perfect for summer roof off driving.