1993 Mercedes-Benz 500e, $20k in recent expenses, fully sorted

1993 Mercedes-Benz 500-Series Additional Info:

1993 MERCEDES-BENZ E500

VIN: WDB1240361B891449

Mileage: 192,700 (June 12, 2017) / 119,474MILES

Date of Manufacture: 11/1992

Engine #: 119974 12 007007

Transmission #: 722370 03 799886

Colour 199 – Black Pearl on Black Leather – Grey Fabric Interior

4973cc DOHC 32V V8, 322hp @ 5,700rpm, 354 lb/ft torque @ 3,900 rpm

0-60mph 5.5sec, 155mph top speed (electronically limited) *from Car and Driver April 1992.

Options: Power Seats with heating, Passenger Airbag, Adjustable Steering Column, closing system with infra-red remote control

Flickr Album with over 100 Photographs:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsm2fkcUh

YouTube Videos

https://youtu.be/29BiZ61ANuE

https://youtu.be/UPUjpty21I8

https://youtu.be/_Q51DDSdrhk

https://youtu.be/S07Gb1w_7RY

https://youtu.be/kkfm7-zl0kI

History:

This 500e was sold new into Japan, and we only have records for the car since it has been in Canada. In Canada, the car passed between 3 guys, including myself, who are well acquainted, and then the car was traded in to Porsche Centre Calgary, who currently owns the car. That makes me, one of the former owners, the same guy who is selling it, only this time on behalf of the company that I work for – Porsche Centre Calgary. Hopefully this doesn’t confuse everybody…

- Lawrence Romanosky, General Sales Manager, Porsche Centre Calgary.

This 500e was imported from Japan, by the owner of one of Calgary’s best known Tuning shops. RL bought it in 2014 and went through the car. New AMG 18” wheels were sourced along with Michelin Supersport Tires. The front head and sidelights were replaced. Various suspension pieces were freshened and the car was given a complete service. A new headliner was installed. RL claimed $14,000 worth of expenditure, not including the car-we don’t have the records for this, though it is easy to identify the parts that were replaced by looking at the car.

The car was then offered for sale after that and was displayed at Calgary’s annual Collector Car show in Stanley Park in the fall of 2014… That is where I first saw it, and it was subsequently sold locally to the owner of an Italian Restaurant who was heavily involved in heavily modified performance cars (1,500 hp Ford GT’s etc.). DT owned the car for about a year and used it regularly adding about 5,000km. DT then placed and order for a Porsche GT3 RS, and had no space, so agreed to sell me the 500e, which I wanted to buy the year before but didn’t.

When I got the car there was some rough running issues, thought to be the engine wiring harness, and the previous owner agreed to pay for the repair as part of the purchase contract. The car was given to Alpine Automotive, where they diagnosed the problem to be the E-Gas control unit (throttle-by-wire). This was sent out to be rebuilt at a cost of $1,300, and the total bill with diagnostics came to $2,661.28.

I then kept the car at Alpine, and told them to go through the rest of the car, and we gave the car an oil service, wiper blades, replaced the A/C Compressor, replaced the corroded cooling fan, replaced the leaking Cam Position Sensor and did a brake fluid flush. The bill was $2,667.64 and the work completed May 5, 2016 with 192,270km on the odometer.

The car went back to Alpine later that month with climate control issues. The cabin temperature sensor and blower motor were replaced. The coolant temp sensor was also replaced and the odometer was repaired with an internal gear replaced. The bill was $993.13, completed on May 26, 2016 with 192,276km.

On June 30th, for a number of reasons that included the announcement from my wife that we were expecting another child, I sold myself a Porsche Cayenne from inventory, with the 500e as a trade in, and now the car was owned by Porsche Centre Calgary, with 192,628km. If it were practical for me and my family I would still own the car.

Porsche Centre Calgary did an inspection of the car and found some minor oil leaks and a left rear brake flex hose that was cracked as well as a couple of loose interior trim pieces. Inspection bill was $369.60

The car went back to Alpine Feb 28, 2017 to repair the leaks, and repair the passenger door lock cylinder. A power steering hose was replaced and several hose clamps were tightened. The bill was $918.81 with mileage at 192,632km.

In all, more than $7,000 has been spent on the car this year, and a further $14,000 in the previous 5 years, making this car fully sorted out, and ready to enjoy. The only items mentioned in any of the service visits or inspections, or obvious looking at the car, that can be considered faults are a couple of interior trim pieces that are loose – easy fixes, but we just haven’t got to them. That and the aftermarket head unit is crappy (I have a Blaupunkt Berlin that I had completely rebuilt, that I was going to install, and can sell for $1,500 separately-the IQR83 was made from 1983-1987 so it does pre-date the car though).

This isn’t an exceptional amount on a 25 year old, 200,000km German car, and it goes some way to explaining wildly different asking prices for 500e’s and similar high-performance machinery of the era. We are selling concurrently a 1987 BMW M6 and a 1993 Porsche 928 GTS, both with very low km, and with no cosmetic needs, and the bill for both of those cars was over $15,000 each. The point that I am making is that there is a big difference between a deferred maintenance example, and a car that has been completely sorted. And this is why we have politely refused low offers on the car – it can’t be compared to a car that hasn’t had anything done to it for 10 years and needs everything.

Cosmetically, the car shows as one with half the mileage. The car has no evidence of accident damage, and the paint meter readings (shown on our photo album in Flickr), show minimal variation of paint thickness between 124 and 448 micrometers – a variance of less than 1/3 of a millimeter. The paint retains a deep luster with almost no chips or imperfections. The front headlamps and sidelights are new. The windscreen has only the a few very minor pits. The rubber seals are uncracked and still supple. The bumpers are straight and properly aligned.

The interior of the car has held up well considering the mileage. The dash is not warped and uncracked. There is a loose trim piece on the base of the drivers side door window at the base of the A pillar. The speaker grill on the drivers side dash has an imperfection (looks like a bit of glue). Although there is no cigarette odour whatsoever, but there are several places in the interior that look like burn marks from cigarettes. None are distracting, but they are there - they are documented in the Flickr album. Also, the cloth in the drivers seat base shows some slight evidence of wear. The alcantara headliner fits well and looks good, but is non original. There are no books or tool roll, though the jack and spare are present. There is one mechanical key for the ignition, and one electronic key fob for the locks. One of the plastic covers for one jacking point has paint peeling off of it. There is some very slight gravel rash on the lower sills.

Summary

This car is a great driver. Mid-mileage (for a 500e), lack of service records for its Japanese ownership, and some wear to the interior keep it from the top condition levels – but those cars are getting very expensive now. This car offers an entry-level purchase price for a fully serviced and cosmetically refurbished classic car capable of terrific performance, reasonable servicing costs and day to day practicality.

FAQ:

Who are we?:Porsche Centre Calgary is a franchised Porsche Dealer serving Southern Alberta Canada. We happen to like old cars of all types, and a small but fun portion of our business is dealing with collector cars. You can contact Lawrence Romanosky (who buys most of the cars and writes the adsthrough eBay or phone at 403-607-8625.)

Taxes and fees:There are no dealer fees. Canadian residents need to pay 5% GST. You don’t pay Canadian Taxes if the vehicle is shipped out of the country.

Payment: Wire transfer is easiest, within 7 days of the auction close is the expectation.

Shipping to the US: This car does not have a DOT/Emissions stamp on it because it is a Japanese market vehicle. It can't be imported to the US, without great effort, until it is 25 years old. The date of manufacture is Nov, 1992, meaning that it can't be imported into the US until Nov 2017. We can hold the vehicle in Calgary until then for US buyers. We can handle the logistics shipping to US addresses. The cost is usually between $2,500 and $3,500. There will be brokerage fees and duty on the car which are approx. $500 + 3% of the value of the car. Budget $4,500 for most US addresses to have the car delivered to your door via enclosed truck transport. You can send us the payment for the car plus $4,500 and we will take care of the rest and you can expect to receive the car between 3 and 6 weeks from the time of payment.

Shipping to Europe: We can handle this too. Generally the car would travel by container, and the cost would be about $5,000 to any of the major ports in Europe.

What if I want to have a running/driving car delivered to me?We can do that and charge you for the additional work we do, depending on what you want us to do. You would need to pay for the car first though.

Warranty: Sorry, no.