I own a shop specializing in these older Mercedes and I disagree with you. This is one of the most poorly made Mercedes they ever came out with. We actually have started refusing to work on them there’s just so poorly made.
@@MichaelBrown-ho5wc I can second that... Bought one this summer with 45000 Miles and man was that thing ever a nightmare. Luckily got rid of it for what I paid for it but will never go near old Mercedes especially that m119 again
@@manucks2025 I wish people would stop promoting the R129 as there’s not much good about the car. They are extreme money pits compared to other old Mercedes. You’ll be much better off with the 123, 126 or 201 chassis. Heck, even a 109 is better than this car, but not much. One of the biggest issues is the hydraulic top the seals they used were a very poor quality and if you’re lucky you’ll get 10 years out of them. It’s an eight to $10,000 job to pull the entire car apart and replace those seals. Also the plastics in that car regardless of whether or not they see the sun are so brittle they will literally disintegrate in your hand I’m not sure how many plastic pieces we’ve had to replace these cars and Parts are now becoming harder to find. Many of the engine variants have issues with head gaskets another thing that we see all all the time with these cars it’s best to just stay away from them. I suppose if you had to have one get one with a hardtop and just leave the hardtop on and drive it as a coupe.
@@MichaelBrown-ho5wc I owned several of these and they were nightmares to keep on the road... people make statements like "This car deserves a complete refresh" not knowing that would cost over 100k dollars to do, when a pristine one of these can be purchased for between 20-25k. Makes no sense. I would not touch one of these ever again with an 80 foot pole.
@@dantheman070 just had another one with a blown head gasket come in the shop this week. I don’t know why these cars are so prone to blowing head gaskets, but they sure are. Owner says he doesn’t want to get it fixed. I don’t blame him. I don’t know what he’s gonna do with his car because it’s super clean low miles but I’m sure he’ll figure it out.
"17:19 Ride height sensors" Actually these are linked to the roll-bar and when the micro-switch is tripped (control arm goes beyond a certain angle), the automatic roll-bar deploys to save from (permanent) headache. My 1993 300CE Cabriolet was equipped with this feature.
The switch at 17:17 is to trigger the automatic rollbar. Basically if you have any road speed and a wheel lifts off the road, the lower suspension arm droops on that side and trips the microswitch, and the spring-loaded roll bar is activated. You can accidentally trip it during "exuberant" driving. It then needs to be reset.
Hilarious how often people say "older technology" as though it is inferior to things made now. Point of fact, many times older things are far more robust than things automotive now.
Because the older cars/trucks were much more mechanical and less electronic technology. Hence being more robust and reliable. The 5.9 12v Cummins for example, way more reliable than the new 6.7's. Less to go wrong with them...
I remember these early 90's 500SLs vividly. They were everywhere in Orange County, CA back in the day. I lusted over them and never really thought that the subsequent models were quite as appealing. I sure hope the owner of this one invests in maintaining it and brings it back to its former glory. Loved the video Wizard and Grimes!
I had one, I mean the 500SL with those yellow blinkers, also the V12 SL 600 and later a SL320 before I went ahead for R230. It had a quite good fuel economy even in germany. The drive train and the automatic suffered over time if not well maintained especially motor mounts. The R129 was the last robust SL that can last for ages cause there is no fancy colour screen no one can fix anymore. It is reliable at least when the renaming had happened, the SL500 sheme took place around summer 1994 or so for all lines back then. I had ordered one and delivery took over 1 year and mine had been upgraded to the new model year and the price in that period had even been lowered, also the A124 which was the E320 convertible, a 4 seater. That had gotten 20.000 DM of extras for free.
These cars had a sticker price starting at $100,200 in 1993. (Taking inflation into account, that would be $219,000 in today's dollars.) It always astonishes me that people can tie up that much money in a car and then use it so little. 45,000 miles is nothing. All of these failures are just due to the rubber deteriorating I guess.
I bought a 1993 500SL with 78k miles in 1999; we spent about $500 a month fixing things for 5 months. Had to be towed twice. Traded it for a 1998 BMW 328i convertible even at the MB dealership. Had that BMW for 9 years.
I’ve seen some weird problems caused by a faulty brake switch. Seen a ford f250 have a weird shifting issue because of a faulty brake switch. The mystery started to solve itself when I noticed the cruise control wouldn’t stay engaged or even engage most of the time. As you can imagine the brake lights continued to work but other systems had problems. Ironically the ford f250 didn’t trigger any codes or lights for this particular problem but boy did it have us pondering the problem most of the day. Oddly enough I rebuilt the faulty switch which fixed all the issues it had caused but by no means was it done as permanent fix as the fix I did I had next to zero confidence in it for longevity. However it was nice to confirm that a new switch would solve the weird transmission problem that had us scratching our heads all day. Until that day I never would have thought that the brake switch would be part of the control for the transmission.
Grimes is definitely the type of guy I would want working on my cars if I couldn't do it myself, not in a horrible rush, knowledgeable and thorough, first time fix
This is when Mercedes Benz was "Engineered like no other Car in the World" and is my favorite SL of all time. I've always (and still do) wanted to own one of these.
Hi! Old Benz guy here. It has been a while but those switches at the rear lower tables were the 22 degree rollover switches. A tilt of 22 degrees sideways would activate the roll bar.
There is a way you can deploy the roll bar but before doing that the hydraulic operation of the roll bar has to be in working order. You certainly know your stuff with Mercedes! Nice to see a great Technician alongside the Wizard.
I daily drove a 1993 500SL for a whole year ( early 2022-2023 ). ( a mad lad for sure ) It was certainly an experience to remember! ASR light and limp mode when i bought it and I emailed wizard for advice on it and he basically told me to cut and run! Thankfully it only needed a $300 E-Gas module replacement to fix it ( as opposed to the multitude of other much more expensive things that could cause it ). I managed to get her into really good running and cosmetic order before I sold. Thankfully i didn't really lose that much money and the journey was well worth it to me
Grimes's tool chest has a German license plate. But the thing is, I thought plates in Deutschland were black and white. The plate he shows has the "D" to the left to denote the country, but the red lettering suggests Belgium. Grimes comes across as the sweetest guy in the world; No wonder he has kids! Great video!
To resolve this particular mystery, red lettering is used for (temporary) dealer tags in Germany (for test drive and after-sales delivery purposes). The less common _green_ letters indicate that the vehicle is tax exempt (typically farming, forestry, circus vehicles, certain trailers, construction equipment or handicapped people's vehicles).
Grimes is awesome! 99% of his weight is in his brain! Brilliant and so young! I can only imagine how he will be when he gets older! Make sure he is happy there! He IS Omega now!
The worst fuel leak I've ever experienced was also a Benz; it was a w109 that'd been sitting for a college class slated for EV conversion, and I was asked to start and try to move it, and as soon as I hit the key a fuel hose burst and everyone told me to pull the key and get the hell out of the car.
Okay, so we are all in agreement that come October 31... The Car Wizard needs to do some Old Greg cosplay.... With Grimes as Howard Moon..... What say you @Carwizard?
The maroon on maroon is nice, but I had a '97 Ford Aerostar [one of the best cars I've ever owned] in "Toreador Red", a very common Ford color that is similar to the paint on this car, and it had a gray fabric interior that in my opinion was the best combination. It had the cool seats with the holes in the headrests. People hate on Aerostars, but they were bulletproof and that thing towed my boat around so easily that I would forget it was back there!
The 96 models onwards had the last revision of the M119 which was the best - abit lighter and coil on plug ignition, made them much easier to run/ own as an older car. I loved my 96 SL500.
I wish I stayed near you guys. I have a 93 500 SEL that needs the power steering pump serviced and little electric gremlins to be fixed…if only I had the money but I keep it parked…the only really nice car I’ve ever had and I refuse to let it go 😅…one day…maybe one day I’ll be able to afford someone great like you guys I can trust with it without parts coming up missing or making it worse 🤞🏾✊🏾🖤
Great video, hope you make another video showing the repairs being made. Wasn’t 1993 a biodegradable wiring harness year? That would certainly explain all the electrical gremlins. Good luck!
Good to see two Uber-Geeks in conversation - pure knowledge being exchanged. Here's to a bright and successful future. Assuming you don't fall out over something petty!!!
My dad owned the same one and bought it for USD 13000, and he got an offer from other people who saw him driving it for $25000, but he didn't sell it to them.
The small switches on the rear axle are not height regulators, no, they are the triggers for the roll bar! If the car overturns, these switches trigger the safety mechanism...
I own one of these r129's. Check your wheel lug bolts if they're overtightened theyre prone to snapping and getting stuck in the wheel. Just had to get about 8 of my lug bolts drilled out by a shop.
Grimes has forgotten more about Mercedes then most of us knew in the first place 🙂 Had a neighbor that had a succession of all the cool Mercedes sedans from about 1985 to about 2008 when he passed away. He had short term leases....he's wheel up in a new one every 6 months.
I’m the original owner of a 2000 SL500 with about 50,000 miles on the odometer. Recently, the alarm began activating on its own which would drain the battery. So, had the alarm deactivated. Other than that, just normal maintenance items. It’s pretty obvious to me that the MPG gauge is just a manifold vacuum gauge that has been calibrated to give appropriate miles per gallon readout. This was a build-to-order car where I specified interior/exterior colors and options. Several months later when I came to purchase the car it came with dark walnut wood trim instead of the light chestnut I had specified. The dealer knocked $1,000 off the price because of the screwup. I considered having the wood trim replaced but was quoted $3,000 for this. I wrote a letter to Mercedes USA describing what had happened and my displeasure with the mixup and that I’d gladly return the $1,000 if I could get the car I ordered. About a month later I got a call from the dealer saying corporate Mercedes would chip in $1,000, the dealer would chip in $1,000 and if I paid $1,000 the dealer would install the proper would trim. I took them up on their offer and am still glad I did.
@@GrimesGarage The mechanic who disabled the alarm told me there as a backup battery that had gone bad and was prohibitively expensive to replace, if a replacement could be found. The car mostly lives in the garage and I’m not concerned about a non-functional alarm.
That fuel pump setup looks very much like the setup on a Porsche 928. Only, it was mounted at the rear end of the car, you could get at it by jacking up the rear end and releasing the protective "harness" plate; Right there was the fuel pump and filter.
DD a low-mileage, 1993 280E in Germany & after 5yrs still absolutely love it! MB of this era can be/are amazing, but they're not magical. There's obviously been decades of opportunity for maintenance neglect & these cars are so well built they can hide it well. The only way forward is to buy one in the best condition possible & then continue to care for it appropriately. Even here in DE where NOS/OEM, OE & good aftermarket parts are readily & cheaply available, you'd have to be either really clueless &/or a sadist to buy a 90's MB "fixer-upper". Hoovie? 500E? 🤣
You don't need a Star Diagnosis for accessing all the modules. A cheapo DS150 mostly also works fine if you're willing to build a manual switch box for switching the separate K-Lines of the round Mercedes diagnostic plug - that's what I did for my old 1998 W202. In my opinion, the DS150 diagnostic box thing is a bit clunky to use, but it gets the job done too.
I remember seeing these when they were brand new, at a Advertising Company, silver private plate. In 91, I think and who remembers that they wrecked a few in the Charlie Sheen Clint Eastwood car movie.
Nice looking Mercedes! I see that CDI is still in the background. Are they planning to fix it? I have a similar W211 CDI with 154k on it and I think they are definitely worth keeping on the road!
I know these are hard to find in good shape, and not fun to keep well maintained. but when I was a kid in the 80s and 90s I just love these cars in silver or white whatever to this day if I won the lottery I would get one of these well sorted and drive it around like I was Scarface. People can have their 80s 90s Corvettes I just thought this is a classic looking car and to this day I still think it looks great on all angles
I own a 1995 W140 S320 which has quite a lot in common with the SL. I was wondering if you could recommend (or test) any generic diagnostic boxes that could substitute for the Mercedes Star from an owner's point of view (at a cheaper price, obviously). I know there are 38 pin diagnostic - OBD II adapters available cheaply, and that my S320 is actually meant to be OBD-II compliant however it's a bit of a gamble as most of these (especially the V8 models) were made before OBD-II was introduced.
Had tintermittent trouble with ASR, it was a small amount of soot in throttle body, i just needed to clean and lube the throttle flap. (-93 E280T) went into "limp mode" and needed restart to run right 🙂
my first car! the absolute worst car for a 16 year old haha. got it for $1000 from a palm springs old lady. azurite blue pearl with blue interior and top. she ragged that thing, smoked in it, AND it was actually an SL320 despite having SL500 badges lmao. Transmission was slippier than a greased weasel. The top did work, but one day it spewed hydraulic fluid all over the driveway, interior, and me. It did teach me a good lesson in never buying a cheap german car again. I am a proud Camry and Lexus LS400 owner now :)
Interesting that they say that this car is not in too bad a shape for 46,000 miles, while some modern Toyota and Honda models drive like new at 46,000 miles. Mercedes reliability.........
@@mbkomfort Super old Toyota 4 Runners, when taken care of, tend to run for a half a million miles and more. These are 4 Runners of the same era as the pile of junk in this video. That's one example. There are others. This, coming from a person who has never owned a Toyota, so I am not a Toyota nut hugger. Most Mercedes of EVERY era have been/are lacking in longevity and are extremely expensive to fix. Going into the "way back machine", I owned a Mercedes 280 SL. As a daily driver, it was one of the best cars I've ever owned, but it was expensive to fix and maintain.
I have a question for Grimes ! I would his STAR diagnostic tool work on a 1996 mercedes-benz 250 D that came from Belgium work on it? The car is basic, 5 cylinder diesel engine with stick transmission. The owners manual is all in German. I think it's the fuel pump, but I can't get any information in the United States or find the right repair manuals to buy.Please any information would help. I'm 65 years old and have worked on my own cars all my life, as I had 2 years auto mechanics in high school. My hands are tied as I haven't found detailed information on this car. P.S. How about a update on the Bus to Camper conversation.
I'm not a mechanic, but my understanding is that that tool works on all MB cars from the day. It probably has settings for USA/Canada, Australia, Switzerland, and ROW or Rest Of World. My spouse is from Brussels.
Not in bad shape but as a 46k mile Mercedes it should be in brand new condition. People need to take care of these vintage R129's -they're not throw away cars.
This car looks like it’s had a very hard life. I have a 1993 600SL that I’ve owned for 20 years. It has 160,000 kilometres on it and it’s in immaculate shape. I can’t believe how rough that one looks.
I suspect that it will, aesthetically anyway. I was just surprised at how rough it seemed mechanically for a relatively low mileage car. I look forward to seeing the finished product.
I have a 92 Lexus LS400 and it has a special round OBD I port. I don’t have the Lexus code reader so I’ve learned to jumper the port connections to get code readouts on the dash. I wonder if you can do the same with the Benz.
Wizard seems like a great guy to work for. Good humored and he clearly respects the expertise of the other mechanics in his shop.
He is selective on who he hires.
@@bernardgoetz655 It shows
He sux. I used to work for him.
Jk !! Sorry Mr Wizard 😅
@@VIRALLYSPEAKINGTVNo you didnt.
Grimes is such a great addition. Such a talented mechanic and a genuine guy. Good work Wizz. Giving him more screen time is a solid move
Can tell he is nervous in front or the camera, but he knows his stuff
The 80s called, they didn’t license that much maroon to be used in the 90s
This car deserves a complete refresh. It’s a beautiful piece of machinery.
I own a shop specializing in these older Mercedes and I disagree with you. This is one of the most poorly made Mercedes they ever came out with. We actually have started refusing to work on them there’s just so poorly made.
@@MichaelBrown-ho5wc I can second that... Bought one this summer with 45000 Miles and man was that thing ever a nightmare. Luckily got rid of it for what I paid for it but will never go near old Mercedes especially that m119 again
@@manucks2025 I wish people would stop promoting the R129 as there’s not much good about the car. They are extreme money pits compared to other old Mercedes. You’ll be much better off with the 123, 126 or 201 chassis. Heck, even a 109 is better than this car, but not much. One of the biggest issues is the hydraulic top the seals they used were a very poor quality and if you’re lucky you’ll get 10 years out of them. It’s an eight to $10,000 job to pull the entire car apart and replace those seals. Also the plastics in that car regardless of whether or not they see the sun are so brittle they will literally disintegrate in your hand I’m not sure how many plastic pieces we’ve had to replace these cars and Parts are now becoming harder to find. Many of the engine variants have issues with head gaskets another thing that we see all all the time with these cars it’s best to just stay away from them. I suppose if you had to have one get one with a hardtop and just leave the hardtop on and drive it as a coupe.
@@MichaelBrown-ho5wc I owned several of these and they were nightmares to keep on the road... people make statements like "This car deserves a complete refresh" not knowing that would cost over 100k dollars to do, when a pristine one of these can be purchased for between 20-25k. Makes no sense. I would not touch one of these ever again with an 80 foot pole.
@@dantheman070 just had another one with a blown head gasket come in the shop this week. I don’t know why these cars are so prone to blowing head gaskets, but they sure are. Owner says he doesn’t want to get it fixed. I don’t blame him. I don’t know what he’s gonna do with his car because it’s super clean low miles but I’m sure he’ll figure it out.
Grimes is my new favorite!! Love the channel, but LOVE the addition of Grimes. He's GREAT! Thanks all!
"17:19 Ride height sensors" Actually these are linked to the roll-bar and when the micro-switch is tripped (control arm goes beyond a certain angle), the automatic roll-bar deploys to save from (permanent) headache. My 1993 300CE Cabriolet was equipped with this feature.
The switch at 17:17 is to trigger the automatic rollbar. Basically if you have any road speed and a wheel lifts off the road, the lower suspension arm droops on that side and trips the microswitch, and the spring-loaded roll bar is activated. You can accidentally trip it during "exuberant" driving. It then needs to be reset.
Wizard might have been the one to set of the light for it playing with the he did. Hahah😂🤣
Hilarious how often people say "older technology" as though it is inferior to things made now. Point of fact, many times older things are far more robust than things automotive now.
Because the older cars/trucks were much more mechanical and less electronic technology. Hence being more robust and reliable. The 5.9 12v Cummins for example, way more reliable than the new 6.7's. Less to go wrong with them...
@@GMCJay_lly Yes, exactly. Reliable is best. Explains why the B-52 will be flying for a century. And the older B-2's are already being decommissioned.
So how do we refer to older technology in a way that doesn’t offend you, but is objectively accurate?BOT. NPC. Cry harder.
@@darklordsauron3415 LOL. Thanks for making me laugh. Your post was entertaining.
I like that Car Wizard showcases the talents of his mechanics.
Man, Grimes kicks this channel up another notch!
I remember these early 90's 500SLs vividly. They were everywhere in Orange County, CA back in the day. I lusted over them and never really thought that the subsequent models were quite as appealing. I sure hope the owner of this one invests in maintaining it and brings it back to its former glory. Loved the video Wizard and Grimes!
Im sorry to hear that you’re from California. I hope you’ve escaped since then.
I'm riding a 98 SL500 right here in SoCal. I'm also a fan of Rammstein. ;)
@@cps900 nice
This generation of SL was always a head turner especially back in the day.
@@cps900 I hope you’re able to escape as well. California, especially LA, is basically like a third world country.
It's a lovely colour. I hope it gets sorted and back out on the road.
What great timing. The base control module (n16/1) checked out okay, but found a mouse nest in the cowl!
Squirrels made a nest in my dad's W210 a few years ago, fluffy stuff included. They were nice, no damage to the car.
yep, mice cost me $1000
Is this THE Grimes?
@@samholdsworth420 aye
I had one, I mean the 500SL with those yellow blinkers, also the V12 SL 600 and later a SL320 before I went ahead for R230.
It had a quite good fuel economy even in germany. The drive train and the automatic suffered over time if not well maintained especially motor mounts.
The R129 was the last robust SL that can last for ages cause there is no fancy colour screen no one can fix anymore. It is reliable at least when the renaming had happened, the SL500 sheme took place around summer 1994 or so for all lines back then. I had ordered one and delivery took over 1 year and mine had been upgraded to the new model year and the price in that period had even been lowered, also the A124 which was the E320 convertible, a 4 seater. That had gotten 20.000 DM of extras for free.
SL600 would be a dream.
What do you drive now ?
@@lordthorpe2642 04 330i ZHP and a 92 thunderbird SC!
@@GrimesGarageDoes the Super Coupe have the 3.8 S/C V6, or the 5.0?
@@dth2brny121 3.8, we did a video on it recently
These cars had a sticker price starting at $100,200 in 1993. (Taking inflation into account, that would be $219,000 in today's dollars.) It always astonishes me that people can tie up that much money in a car and then use it so little. 45,000 miles is nothing. All of these failures are just due to the rubber deteriorating I guess.
I did the math and he basically spent almost $4.90 per mile (in today's dollars).
I'm really liking Grimes a whole lot. He does very well on camera and is very informative. Looks like you got another great one Wizard
Old Greg! OMG wizard you are the best. Thank you for making my day with that bit .
I bought a 1993 500SL with 78k miles in 1999; we spent about $500 a month fixing things for 5 months. Had to be towed twice. Traded it for a 1998 BMW 328i convertible even at the MB dealership. Had that BMW for 9 years.
I’ve seen some weird problems caused by a faulty brake switch. Seen a ford f250 have a weird shifting issue because of a faulty brake switch. The mystery started to solve itself when I noticed the cruise control wouldn’t stay engaged or even engage most of the time. As you can imagine the brake lights continued to work but other systems had problems. Ironically the ford f250 didn’t trigger any codes or lights for this particular problem but boy did it have us pondering the problem most of the day. Oddly enough I rebuilt the faulty switch which fixed all the issues it had caused but by no means was it done as permanent fix as the fix I did I had next to zero confidence in it for longevity. However it was nice to confirm that a new switch would solve the weird transmission problem that had us scratching our heads all day. Until that day I never would have thought that the brake switch would be part of the control for the transmission.
Love the fact that it maintains the original Becker 1432 two-piece (yes, the actual tuner is in the trunk for 91-93's) cd changer capable radio.
Grimes is definitely the type of guy I would want working on my cars if I couldn't do it myself, not in a horrible rush, knowledgeable and thorough, first time fix
This is when Mercedes Benz was "Engineered like no other Car in the World" and is my favorite SL of all time. I've always (and still do) wanted to own one of these.
Excellent video. Grimes is a great addition.
Love these videos, Grimes seems like a great mechanic!
I enjoy seeing the diagnostics, but would also like to see the actual fixing of the items on these cars. Javi G.
the marks on the R tie rod sleeve is from them trying to rotate it to adjust the toe during the FEA, after the L tie rod was replaced .
Grimes is an articulate dude 😅👍
Hi! Old Benz guy here. It has been a while but those switches at the rear lower tables were the 22 degree rollover switches. A tilt of 22 degrees sideways would activate the roll bar.
Ahhhhh excellent tip! Thank you!
There is a way you can deploy the roll bar but before doing that the hydraulic operation of the roll bar has to be in working order. You certainly know your stuff with Mercedes! Nice to see a great Technician alongside the Wizard.
R129 = built to last !
And the genuine Becker Radio which is really rare and even here far more expensive then back in the days.
That was a beeper not a phone! A pager! In the modern vernacular it would be referred to as Baller.
Grimes just brings his tool cart because he knows what’s coming. 😁
yeah, nothing rehearsed here
+1 for the Old Greeeeeeeg reference.
Grimes has been a tremendous addition to the shop and the channel.
You could almost call Grimes “Car Wizard Lite” if he grew a long beard. Couple of super intelligent mechanic dudes!
"Car Wizard Lite" that's pretty funny!
Car Wizard superleggera
I daily drove a 1993 500SL for a whole year ( early 2022-2023 ). ( a mad lad for sure ) It was certainly an experience to remember! ASR light and limp mode when i bought it and I emailed wizard for advice on it and he basically told me to cut and run! Thankfully it only needed a $300 E-Gas module replacement to fix it ( as opposed to the multitude of other much more expensive things that could cause it ). I managed to get her into really good running and cosmetic order before I sold. Thankfully i didn't really lose that much money and the journey was well worth it to me
Grimes's tool chest has a German license plate. But the thing is, I thought plates in Deutschland were black and white. The plate he shows has the "D" to the left to denote the country, but the red lettering suggests Belgium.
Grimes comes across as the sweetest guy in the world; No wonder he has kids!
Great video!
To resolve this particular mystery, red lettering is used for (temporary) dealer tags in Germany (for test drive and after-sales delivery purposes). The less common _green_ letters indicate that the vehicle is tax exempt (typically farming, forestry, circus vehicles, certain trailers, construction equipment or handicapped people's vehicles).
Was that a Mighty Boosh quote from the Car Wizard?!
Grimes is awesome! 99% of his weight is in his brain! Brilliant and so young! I can only imagine how he will be when he gets older! Make sure he is happy there! He IS Omega now!
The worst fuel leak I've ever experienced was also a Benz; it was a w109 that'd been sitting for a college class slated for EV conversion, and I was asked to start and try to move it, and as soon as I hit the key a fuel hose burst and everyone told me to pull the key and get the hell out of the car.
Old gregg reference from the wizard? Nice.
I'd like to see an update on the Beetle soon Wizard, poor thing seems to have been there for weeks now!
Loving the 'Old Greg' reference. Mighty Boosh rocked 😅
Okay, so we are all in agreement that come October 31... The Car Wizard needs to do some Old Greg cosplay.... With Grimes as Howard Moon..... What say you @Carwizard?
This is my favorite generation of SL the R129.
The maroon on maroon is nice, but I had a '97 Ford Aerostar [one of the best cars I've ever owned] in "Toreador Red", a very common Ford color that is similar to the paint on this car, and it had a gray fabric interior that in my opinion was the best combination. It had the cool seats with the holes in the headrests.
People hate on Aerostars, but they were bulletproof and that thing towed my boat around so easily that I would forget it was back there!
Love hearing Grimes, guy is a wealth of detailed car knowledge
Hi there.I'm Old Greg.Nice to meet cha.
The 96 models onwards had the last revision of the M119 which was the best - abit lighter and coil on plug ignition, made them much easier to run/ own as an older car. I loved my 96 SL500.
I don’t think they were significantly lighter than the previous variants.
the lapels sound great there Ol' Gregg
I wish I stayed near you guys. I have a 93 500 SEL that needs the power steering pump serviced and little electric gremlins to be fixed…if only I had the money but I keep it parked…the only really nice car I’ve ever had and I refuse to let it go 😅…one day…maybe one day I’ll be able to afford someone great like you guys I can trust with it without parts coming up missing or making it worse 🤞🏾✊🏾🖤
Great video, hope you make another video showing the repairs being made. Wasn’t 1993 a biodegradable wiring harness year? That would certainly explain all the electrical gremlins. Good luck!
Unfortunately critters looking for a cozy spot seem to be the culprit here
Yes, 1991-1996 were the years of the biodegradable wiring harnesses.
German engineering strikes hard with “BIODEGRADABLE” fucking “ELECTRICAL WIRING” here.
Good to see two Uber-Geeks in conversation - pure knowledge being exchanged. Here's to a bright and successful future. Assuming you don't fall out over something petty!!!
The color reminds me of my 93 40th anniversary Corvrette, with the maroon/Ruby red exterior and interior
My dad owned the same one and bought it for USD 13000, and he got an offer from other people who saw him driving it for $25000, but he didn't sell it to them.
IM OL WIZARD! Lmao! Didn't expect an Ol Greg reference here.
The small switches on the rear axle are not height regulators, no, they are the triggers for the roll bar! If the car overturns, these switches trigger the safety mechanism...
Interesting! Thanks for that.
Wizard what is that red car in the back with triangle headlights almost looks like a Camaro? Idk what it is but I know it’s something specialty.
Tyler Hoover's Callaway Camaro
That’s a Calloway supernatural it is actually a Camaro
@@MrsJustinWilkerson Ahhh okay Callaway thats cool I know of them
@@GrimesGarage Sweet
I own one of these r129's. Check your wheel lug bolts if they're overtightened theyre prone to snapping and getting stuck in the wheel. Just had to get about 8 of my lug bolts drilled out by a shop.
Nice old Mercedes and really clean underneath, definitely kept in a good garage when not doing it 1,500 miles every year
Grimes has forgotten more about Mercedes then most of us knew in the first place 🙂
Had a neighbor that had a succession of all the cool Mercedes sedans from about 1985 to about 2008 when he passed away. He had short term leases....he's wheel up in a new one every 6 months.
Love the R129. Great color combo and quite unusual to see.
I’m the original owner of a 2000 SL500 with about 50,000 miles on the odometer. Recently, the alarm began activating on its own which would drain the battery. So, had the alarm deactivated. Other than that, just normal maintenance items. It’s pretty obvious to me that the MPG gauge is just a manifold vacuum gauge that has been calibrated to give appropriate miles per gallon readout.
This was a build-to-order car where I specified interior/exterior colors and options. Several months later when I came to purchase the car it came with dark walnut wood trim instead of the light chestnut I had specified. The dealer knocked $1,000 off the price because of the screwup. I considered having the wood trim replaced but was quoted $3,000 for this. I wrote a letter to Mercedes USA describing what had happened and my displeasure with the mixup and that I’d gladly return the $1,000 if I could get the car I ordered. About a month later I got a call from the dealer saying corporate Mercedes would chip in $1,000, the dealer would chip in $1,000 and if I paid $1,000 the dealer would install the proper would trim. I took them up on their offer and am still glad I did.
Check your alarm siren. There should be a battery inside of it that’s died.
@@GrimesGarage The mechanic who disabled the alarm told me there as a backup battery that had gone bad and was prohibitively expensive to replace, if a replacement could be found. The car mostly lives in the garage and I’m not concerned about a non-functional alarm.
That fuel pump setup looks very much like the setup on a Porsche 928. Only, it was mounted at the rear end of the car, you could get at it by jacking up the rear end and releasing the protective "harness" plate; Right there was the fuel pump and filter.
DD a low-mileage, 1993 280E in Germany & after 5yrs still absolutely love it! MB of this era can be/are amazing, but they're not magical. There's obviously been decades of opportunity for maintenance neglect & these cars are so well built they can hide it well. The only way forward is to buy one in the best condition possible & then continue to care for it appropriately. Even here in DE where NOS/OEM, OE & good aftermarket parts are readily & cheaply available, you'd have to be either really clueless &/or a sadist to buy a 90's MB "fixer-upper". Hoovie? 500E? 🤣
You don't need a Star Diagnosis for accessing all the modules. A cheapo DS150 mostly also works fine if you're willing to build a manual switch box for switching the separate K-Lines of the round Mercedes diagnostic plug - that's what I did for my old 1998 W202. In my opinion, the DS150 diagnostic box thing is a bit clunky to use, but it gets the job done too.
Car wizard quoting Old Gregg is peak!!
I remember seeing these when they were brand new, at a Advertising Company, silver private plate.
In 91, I think and who remembers that they wrecked a few in the Charlie Sheen Clint Eastwood car movie.
"The Rookie"👍
"It's time for me to stop being scared, and for others to start." 😉
@13:09...
"SO It wasn't U?
😮😅
Nice looking Mercedes! I see that CDI is still in the background. Are they planning to fix it? I have a similar W211 CDI with 154k on it and I think they are definitely worth keeping on the road!
Looks like former Dallas Cowboy Emmett Smith's Mercedes Benz as seen on Gas Monkey Garage.
Hey Car Wizard could you update us on yojr vehicals that you have in the shop like the motorhome a nd the deisel swap truck
Another interesting diagnostics video...with most of the team participating.
I know these are hard to find in good shape, and not fun to keep well maintained. but when I was a kid in the 80s and 90s I just love these cars in silver or white whatever to this day if I won the lottery I would get one of these well sorted and drive it around like I was Scarface. People can have their 80s 90s Corvettes I just thought this is a classic looking car and to this day I still think it looks great on all angles
Did I just hear an old Greg reference from the mighty boosh. “Ever drink baileys from a shoe”
I own a 1995 W140 S320 which has quite a lot in common with the SL. I was wondering if you could recommend (or test) any generic diagnostic boxes that could substitute for the Mercedes Star from an owner's point of view (at a cheaper price, obviously). I know there are 38 pin diagnostic - OBD II adapters available cheaply, and that my S320 is actually meant to be OBD-II compliant however it's a bit of a gamble as most of these (especially the V8 models) were made before OBD-II was introduced.
The Wizard and the Warlock. Grimes rocks
I had a run in with one of these, my 86' Corvette at 164mph ... the SL just kept on going and vanished into the distance.
Your number is getting really close to a million!
Had tintermittent trouble with ASR, it was a small amount of soot in throttle body, i just needed to clean and lube the throttle flap.
(-93 E280T) went into "limp mode" and needed restart to run right 🙂
Could you please do an update video on the break system repair ? 🙏🏻 I have the same problem with my, probably seized brushes… Best Regards 😉
Really enjoying Grimmes and his calm demeanour.
The tie rods look all chewed up from a pipe wrench that was put on it to do an alignment..ask me how I know.
I love the old MB fuel gauges with fractions. You'd never see that on an American car.
500SL is one of the few Mercs I covet. That Parrot BT unit is OLD! But 46k is delivery mileage. This is a unicorn!
my first car! the absolute worst car for a 16 year old haha. got it for $1000 from a palm springs old lady. azurite blue pearl with blue interior and top. she ragged that thing, smoked in it, AND it was actually an SL320 despite having SL500 badges lmao. Transmission was slippier than a greased weasel. The top did work, but one day it spewed hydraulic fluid all over the driveway, interior, and me. It did teach me a good lesson in never buying a cheap german car again. I am a proud Camry and Lexus LS400 owner now :)
I'm Ol' Gregg!
Thats a beautiful color combo, wish new cars brought back these color palettes
Interesting that they say that this car is not in too bad a shape for 46,000 miles, while some modern Toyota and Honda models drive like new at 46,000 miles. Mercedes reliability.........
Please compare it with cars of the same age and era 🙂
@@mbkomfort Super old Toyota 4 Runners, when taken care of, tend to run for a half a million miles and more. These are 4 Runners of the same era as the pile of junk in this video. That's one example. There are others. This, coming from a person who has never owned a Toyota, so I am not a Toyota nut hugger. Most Mercedes of EVERY era have been/are lacking in longevity and are extremely expensive to fix. Going into the "way back machine", I owned a Mercedes 280 SL. As a daily driver, it was one of the best cars I've ever owned, but it was expensive to fix and maintain.
I have a question for Grimes ! I would his STAR diagnostic tool work on a 1996 mercedes-benz 250 D that came from Belgium work on it? The car is basic, 5 cylinder diesel engine with stick transmission. The owners manual is all in German. I think it's the fuel pump, but I can't get any information in the United States or find the right repair manuals to buy.Please any information would help. I'm 65 years old and have worked on my own cars all my life, as I had 2 years auto mechanics in high school. My hands are tied as I haven't found detailed information on this car. P.S. How about a update on the Bus to Camper conversation.
I'm not a mechanic, but my understanding is that that tool works on all MB cars from the day. It probably has settings for USA/Canada, Australia, Switzerland, and ROW or Rest Of World.
My spouse is from Brussels.
Yes, the STAR diag setup will work on a 96
Not in bad shape but as a 46k mile Mercedes it should be in brand new condition. People need to take care of these vintage R129's -they're not throw away cars.
This car looks like it’s had a very hard life. I have a 1993 600SL that I’ve owned for 20 years. It has 160,000 kilometres on it and it’s in immaculate shape. I can’t believe how rough that one looks.
Now, now....couple hours on it and it will look as beautiful as yours.
I suspect that it will, aesthetically anyway. I was just surprised at how rough it seemed mechanically for a relatively low mileage car. I look forward to seeing the finished product.
@@rhoever Understood. Love to see a pic of your beauty. Take care and Happy New Year!
@@patrickphippspa584 Thanks, happy new year to you as well. I’d send a pic but I don’t think I can attach a picture here.
What a great tech Grimes is! Super cool guy too!
Would love to see that car all cleaned up and detailed!
I have a 92 Lexus LS400 and it has a special round OBD I port. I don’t have the Lexus code reader so I’ve learned to jumper the port connections to get code readouts on the dash. I wonder if you can do the same with the Benz.
You can by pinning an led between different pins for different module scans
Old Greg reference @0:57. Nice.
One of my dream cars from that era.
That is still a superb car, off course needs some TLC. By the way, Grimes is a natural in front of the camera.
I love your and your wifes videos,very good education on different cars,keep up the good work,
Used to work for a fella who drove a 450 SL Benz I believe it was a 74 model this was 78 tru 82 when I worked at his company.
Good description of an older diagnostic tool.What's a good diagnostic tool for a 2008 Bentley GT?
Keep it coming with the MBZ videos 👍🏼