1982 Mercedes 380SL

1982 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class Additional Info:

Im selling my 1982 Mercedes 380SL that Ive owned for 8 years. When I bought the car I had it stripped to bare metal and repainted the same color red as my Ferrari 348 I had at that time. Very close to the factory color but this shade of red really makes the car look great. The paint looks great and very shiney. Many of the body seals were replaced such as the door seals and the conv top hatch seal. The body side moldings were all bought new from Benz. The tail light lenes and new seals were also purchased new from Mercedes. The head light surounds are new. The body is in very good condition no rust or holes anywhere. The floor pans are solid, rockers are good. The trunk is solid and the wheel wells are all clean. The area under the rear package tray is good also....no holes and the paint is good. I can find a few very small dings if I look hard...nothing thats real bad more like low spots than dings. I count like a total 5 places on the car but you really have to look hard to find them. They are such small blems that I cant photograph them but I want to mention that MY eye can find them if I look hard for them IE be in nit pick mode and know where they are to see them. The bumper chrome is very nice but has some scratches and a few small imperfections. Still very presentable though. All the lights work...I just had an issue with one of the fog lights and had one of the wires taped in the pic...rest assured it wont be delivered that way. So if you see the tape in the pic thats all it is just tape....it wont be there when you get the car.
The car starts as soon as you turn the key and idles at 800 RPM. The engine runs smooth no noises and does not smoke. The engine has 108,774K actual miles and I have verified the car is fitted with the double roller timing chain. It got new valve cover gaskets about 6 months ago they werent leaking or anything just thought it was time to cange them. The car leaks nothing on the garage floor....nothing! I have owned the car for 8 years and it has always been very dependable. Battery stays up when sitting ect always starts. However I have 5 classics and am wanting to thin things down some. I like the car a lot and dont really want to sell it as it is hard to find them this nice but I have too many cars.
When I got the car it was running very rich. The fuel distributor was replaced and the fuel level was properly set. Additonally the warm up regulator was adjusted and cleaned. These are very tricky to get set correctly and most people do not know how to set them up and service them. However, the warm up regulator has a great deal to do with controling the fuel mixture and if the screens inside are clogged or the 2 adjusters are not set correctly the car will not run right. The adjustment is not accomplished by turning a screw...you have to drive the plates into the body of the assembly in 1/2mm taps until the correct fuel pressures are obtained....if you drive em in too far...the warm up regulator comes off again...you drive the plates back out and start over...mine has painstakingly been setup LOL and the car runs very well.The idle control module was also replaced and like I said it idles low and smooth.The cruise control was not working when I got the car and I never messed with it...but more than likely the cruise control module connector needs resoldered...the solder joints go bad over time on them. It a pretty easy fix I just never had time to get to it. If you cant solder...you can buy a used one on EB for $75 bucks but I never missed not having it.
The wheels were painted when the car was redone and they look really nice still. The tires are Michelins that I had put on when I got the car. Ive put maybe 1000 miles on the car since I have owned it...only drove it on nice days..they all hold air and still drive nice but like I said I've owned the car for 8 years.They have virtually no wear on them but they are older tires. Id drive anywhere on them...there's a good spare if I ever had an issue so I figured when they showed signs they were no longer servicable...Id get new ones but they are still fine how they are.
The interior looks nice. I didnt replace any of it as it was in good condition but it is original and 34 years old. It still looks very nice but it's not new. The seats look good and they both adjust properly. The car had a new soft top installed a few years back and is in great shape. Some of the soft top seals were replaced when then the top was done. The car also has a nice hard top that goes with it. A new windsield was recently installed due to a rock chip and I didnt want to sell the car like that. The stickers are still on the glass showing it was just replaced. It has a Nardi wood steering wheel and horn button....the factory horns both work.
The climate control systems in these cars leave a bit to be desired. When I got the car I could not get cold air...cool but not cold. So I replaced the monovalve as that controls how much hot water from the engine is allowed to the heater core....that was $500 however it did not fix the issue. The climate control dash module was then replaced but still no change. The blower motor does come on so it is good and working and the flaps are changing the air flow. The PO had installed a switch on the console to allow the AC compressor to be turned on and off manually....I made sure that was going to a relay and not wired direct to the compressor...and a relay was installed. When you flip the switch on...the compressor comes on...no noise...and there are bubbles in the sight glass but I still could not get cold AC. I then decided to bypass the known problematic mono valve and installed a better heater control valve. It is a Benz part and what I did can easily be put back if you prefer to have the mono valve setup...but why would you LOL. . Everything seems to be working so I think it just needs evacuated and recharged. There is great debate to change these cars over to 134 when you have to service the AC...however the 134 does not seem to as do good of a job cooling though. My next move to fix it was to take it to a shop and take a new dryer with me....tell em I want the system sucked out and the new drier put on...THEN Id buy R12 on Ebay and put in 4-6 cans until I showed good pressure levels...and Im pretty sure the AC would work. Most people say put the top down and dont worry about it and thats pretty much what I did but if it's important to you...the shop fee to have that done is probably $150 and the R12 is $25 a can...the fill hose if you dont have one is like 10 bucks. I cant say for sure that doing this would get the air cold...but all the components seem to be working and there are no leaks so the fix should not be difficult. OR you can spend 1500 and have the 134 conversion done....no shops can mess with R12 these days...except to recover it...but they wont/cant fill your car with R12 so they push the 134 conversion hard to get the business...but R12 works better IMO an much cheaper to go that route than replace a good compressor and the labor to have all new Orings installed...and the fill up on the 134 when it's all done...the bill is 1500 and the air isnt as cold as it would be with R12. Isnt it great when government regulations makes us all suffer with inferior solutions while other countries release R12 and dont think a thing about it...but anyway thats got nothing to do with the car LOL...have a shop evac it...put the R12 in yourself...its not hard to do....and you are likely good to go for a few $100 bucks.
The car comes with the factory jack and a complete tool kit. I have the owners manual also but some of the pages have come loose.
The car starts, runs, drives and stops as it should. IMO the car is a very nice driver towards the top of the scale. I never drove it snow or on bad days and if something acted up I fixed it. The car got a recent tune up plugs and wires, distributor cap and rotor and an oil change and new filter. It is very shiney and looks fantastic however as with anything one can nit pick however you have to look pretty hard to see anything on this car. Very nice for 34 years old. The car is being sold as is and I have done my best to disclose every thing I know about the car. Although I have gone over the car and dont feel the new buyer will have any issues with the car I cant offer a warranty on a 34 year old classic car but I feel confident you wont have any issues with the car and will be very pleased when you see it. If you desire to come see the car let me know and we can set up a time to do that.
I will assist your carrier if you desire to ship the car.