This 1970 Mercedes 300SEL 6.3 has been part of the seller’s private “museum” for the last ten years, remaining in nicely preserved condition with mostly original paint. The listing describes this powerful sedan as having seen limited use while in the seller’s possession, which is a shame considering how awesome they are to operate on wide open highways. The listing is short on any maintenance details but the condition certainly appears to be impressive, with the seller noting only minor defects. Find it here on eBay with a suggested opening bid of $25K and a Buy-It-Now of $42,000.
The seller has listed several other vintage Mercedes along with components that seem to reflect a downsizing museum. The other cars all have similarly lofty opening bids, which is not to say this example isn’t worth the opening price of $25K, but the reserve makes it harder to see where the seller’s expectations are price-wise. Paint is described as being original, with a casual observation that one of the two fenders was repainted due to being a shade off from the rest of the car. Not exactly a professional opinion, and it’d be helpful to at least know which fender is suspected of not being original paint. The chrome looks excellent and all badges appear to be in the correct locations.
The interior reveals that this example has a floor-mounted shifter, worth noting as some models came equipped with old-school column-mounted shifters. The seats are in great shape, as are the door panels. It’s hard to tell for sure based on photos, but the dash doesn’t appear to show any unsightly cracks, as you’d expect for a car that hasn’t regularly been exposed to the sun. The wood trim looks fine from here, but the seller acknowledges in the listing that the wood by the windshield will need “….a new finish”, but that is otherwise completely original and surviving nicely. No word on whether the original air conditioning or Becker radio still work.
The backseat looks even better than the front, showing little evidence of regular use. The 6.3 engine is one of the major selling points of this car, as it is a vintage vehicle that can easily keep pace with modern traffic and look incredibly good doing so. The seller notes he cannot locate the title and will offer a $500 discount off of the selling price if it is not found before the car sells. Overall, the details could be stronger on what looks like an excellent specimen, especially considering how maintenance-hungry these big sedans are – and how they don’t like to sit for extended periods. Will this 300SEL find a home at the current asking price?
A really nice ’71 300 SEL just sold on ebay for $18,500. It was black/black with sunroof. Granted, it only had 3.5L V8, but it did have a title.
Nice try on the title discount, you know it’s in there back pocket.
Yes, and trying get the car in your name in Calif. 500.00 isn’t enough.
The fact that he stuck an “AMG” emblem on the trunk lid tells me all I need to know about this “curator”.
6.3s never had column shifters or tex interiors. Always full leather, always floor shift. Plenty else to fault as well. Mid teens car as a sort of unknown with no title. Nexxxt….
Certainly a good start on the opening bid, but the buy it now price becomes a non-starter when considering the complexity and astronomical expense of the often problematic air suspension, many parts of which are hard to procure in the repair today. A serious consideration in buying the car. Otherwise, it appears to be a nice survivor and with a little cosmetic TLC (wood garnish @ windshield etc) could be a nice driver. Wonderful touring cars. I suspect the final selling price will cap at the low thirties, but of course, if two determined buyers are on it….” it will be worth what someone is willing to pay for it.” Best to the seller. Maintained nicely.
Repair of the air suspension is neither overly complicated or outlandishly expensive.
Airbags seem to be okay on this car, otherwise it would be down.
The culprit are usually the leveling valves. It has three. Two for the front, one in the rear. Buying them at MBZ is very expensive, but these can be bought re-manufactured in Germany for reasonable money.
The compressor usually doesn’t go bad.
It cost me less than $2k on my 1967 300 SEL which I owned for 20 years to have the suspension in perfect shape. The car stayed up for months.
So much for the “complexity and astronomical expense of the often problematic air
suspension”.
Now getting to the M100 engine in the 6.3s……
Contrary to the suspension, possible repairs can be expensive.
Museum car! Buyer beware, museum cars are not usually driven or maintained other than keeping the pretty. If you have very deep pockets than you might be able to afford to fix this pretty car. If not, run. It will be the smartest thing you will ever do.
No title? No thanks too much work to solve. 6.3’s are amazing cars though.
No work at all.
VT DMV will gladly help.
No paperwork needed.
The only turn-off for me in this car is the light color interior.