Hey all,

You may remember me or not, I sold my second 928- a low mile 90GT about 4 months ago.

I'm now driving a 92 Mercedes 500E which semi-replaced the 928. I'll give some specs & pics on that.

I'm writing this because I made an acquaintance with a guy not far from me (Nick) who purchased an 89 5sp & heard that I had some 928 knowledge. He brought his car by about a year ago for me to check out & it seemed pretty nice- white/black 5sp no rub strips, bilstein/eibachs, drilled rotors, nice exhaust & supposedly well maintained at 160K miles.

Well, I get a call today from Nick & turns out his car has not been running correctly for at least 6 months & it's been at some mechanic that is using Nick's money to learn about 928's. Nick is fed up with the money he's spending & the fact that he hasn't driven his car in 6 months. He describes the problem to me & it sounds like the car is going in to limp mode for some reason.

Anyway, he has offered the car to me for $4500. I wasn't really planning on buying another 928, but at this price I'm thinking I might have to. He is having the car flat bedded back to his house & will call me when it arrives.

I'm very well-versed in 928's having done alot of work on my former 86 5sp & 90GT . I'm fairly certain I can solve most any problem with this car.

Assuming this 89 doesn't have any major issues, would I be crazy not to buy it at $4500?

Brian

X- 865sp, X- 90GT

1992 Mercedes-Benz 500E W124, Here's some quick info:

Mercedes included a sport version of the W124, the 500E, created in close cooperation with Porsche. Each 500E was hand-built by Porsche, being transported back and forth between the Mercedes plant and Porsche's Rossle-Bau plant in Zuffenhausen during assembly---taking a full 18 days to complete each model. Between 1991 and 1995, Mercedes/Porsche built a total of 10479 500E's. Of these, 1505 of the "super" sports sedans were imported into the USA between 1992-1994, or roughly 500 cars per year of importation. Called the 500E through model year 1993, in 1994 the 500E was face-lifted and re-badged the E500.

The 500E had a 32-valve V8 engine delivering 322 hp (240 kW) and 354 ft·lbf (480 N·m), with the engine being derived from the R129 500SL roadster. Sports car braking performance also came SL components: Front SL500 300mm disks with 4-piston calipers came installed on the 1992 and early 1993 cars. The later 1993, and all 1994 cars came with the upgraded 320mm set taken from the 600SL. Rear brakes on all years were 277mm brakes from the 500SL. In the USA, the 500E came fully-loaded, with the only options available to the buyer being a dealer-installed CD changer and an integrated telephone. The 500E was only available as a four-seater, with the four leather seats supplied by Recaro (the fronts heated).

Called the "Velvet Hammer" by Mercedes, and a "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" by the press, performance tests of the day yielded impressive results: 0-60 mph (97 km/h) times of 5.5 seconds and accelerateration through the quarter-mile (0.4 km) in 14.1 seconds at 101 mph (163 km/h). Top speed was electronically limited to 155 mph (251 km/h). It was rated at 14 mpg (16.8 L/100 km) in the city and 17 mpg (13.8 L/100 km) on the highway.

With its aggressive stance: 1.5 inches wider track, 0.9 inch lower profile, flared fenders, side skirts, front air-dam and wide tires, the 500E is easily distinguished from its lesser brethren. Because of its look, limited numbers, hand-built construction, and unique pedigree, the 500E is already considered a "classic," even within Mercedes-Benz.

 

no buy it!

what is the 500E worth these days? also im curious to hear YOUR thoughts on the 500E, not something from a magazine or website.

 

That would be a good buy ! odds are it has a simple basic problem which has been overlooked !

 

Can't go wrong with an 89 5spd under $5k. You could part it and break even. But it sounds like a candidate worth saving. So save it!

 

I would offer him help fixing it, which you probably did.

And then I wouldn't pass it up without calling suicide prevention first.....

I don't think anyone would!

Congrats!

 

Buy it! I have a suspicion I know what the problem is as well...

 

The 500E is one of my favorite cars. Built by the same assembly line as the 959 since they had nothing else to do once production ended on the Porsche.

At some point (I thought it was when the E500 was introduced) Porsche was no longer involved, Mercedes built those in house.

Friend of mine has a 1992 E500 with a charging issue. Once started it runs fun, except it will not charge the battery. He has spent a small fortune at various dealerships / small shops trying to solve the problem. It's parked now since he's not sure what else to do. If he lived closer I would take a stab at it.

 

I thought the E55 was the velvet hammer..

 

If its cosmetically in decent condition, buy it.

You know 928's well enough to wrench, have support from Rennlist, and hence mechanicals are the easy part to fix.

Manual means no Thrust Bearing issue (well.. highly unlikely), and that doesn't leave much that could cost more than $2k parts at the high side to fix and bring maintenance up to date to make it reliable (i.e. not including your labor).

Of course, as an 89 5-spd S4 owner, I'm biased..

 

Proliferation of shark references..
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=200278926463

 

I would buy it, sounds like a great deal. Nice Benz, I was looking at 560 SEC's before getting into 928's.
Glenn

 

From $8k-$25k.

 

After pondering this and giving it some thought, followed by a bit o' rum...

DON'T BUY IT - YOU REALLY DON"T WANT ANOTHER 928 - You are done with 928's! - NOW, how do I get ahold of the owner.....

 

[QUOTE=bgibby;6034644] He describes the problem to me & it sounds like the car is going in to limp mode for some reason.QUOTE]

I just went thru this nightmare!!!...With help from this board you can trouble shoot it in no time. Check passenger footwell for green or red led light. Green for driver side problem/ red for passenger side. Start with the ignition modules located up front under black plastic cap. Check for corrosion, poor connection or failed module. Next check coil wire on that circut. Then go to cap/rotors, ignition wire. If those are good. Temp sensors, then MAF.

 

Hmm... lesse, not far from Bandon, OR... *looks at map*

Dan
'91 928GT S/C 475hp/460lb.ft