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Old 04-23-2020, 10:08 PM   #11
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The thing is that - if/when - you get tired of it, a BMW converted to manual will allow some recouping of investment. A Benz with a BMW transmission? Maybe, but a bit more chancy.
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Old 04-24-2020, 01:21 PM   #12
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The thing is that - if/when - you get tired of it, a BMW converted to manual will allow some recouping of investment. A Benz with a BMW transmission? Maybe, but a bit more chancy.
Going to disagree a little bit here. For the most part, manual BMWs are a thing that exists. So a converted car's value is held down by the fact that almost every car that people want in manual is already available from the factory that way. Like, in terms of older BMWs, about the only one that I can think of that people really cared about and wasn't sold here with a manual is the E38.

A manual benz? Very much a unicorn. Are you going to get back all of that conversion cost? Probably not. But remember that FC's user name used to be "mbr129." This is a car he wants. Bad. And you know what? I love the R129. It's so perfect for what it was designed to be. Just get one from the right year range before they value engineered the price down like $50k, and after they got rid of the biodegradable chassis harness.

Edit: Also, "600SL" reads so much better than "SL600." I understand why they did that, but it was a mistake.
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Old 04-24-2020, 01:35 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by Nick M3 View Post
Going to disagree a little bit here. For the most part, manual BMWs are a thing that exists. So a converted car's value is held down by the fact that almost every car that people want in manual is already available from the factory that way. Like, in terms of older BMWs, about the only one that I can think of that people really cared about and wasn't sold here with a manual is the E38.

A manual benz? Very much a unicorn. Are you going to get back all of that conversion cost? Probably not. But remember that FC's user name used to be "mbr129." This is a car he wants. Bad. And you know what? I love the R129. It's so perfect for what it was designed to be. Just get one from the right year range before they value engineered the price down like $50k, and after they got rid of the biodegradable chassis harness.

Edit: Also, "600SL" reads so much better than "SL600." I understand why they did that, but it was a mistake.
Yeah, I gotta agree. A 600SL with a manual and that exhaust would find a home without much of a problem.
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Old 04-24-2020, 02:30 PM   #14
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Edit: Also, "600SL" reads so much better than "SL600." I understand why they did that, but it was a mistake.
I really wish MB would go back to the old naming scheme. Numbers followed by letters just looks better.

And its not like people thought a 300SL, 500SL and 600SL were 3 different body styles. They may not haven known that the numbers were approx engine displacement, but it did read as 3 trim levels of the same car.
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Old 04-24-2020, 02:55 PM   #15
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I get that it will be unique, but it will be a mongrel. Secondly, the Benz market was never into manuals much. So yeah, I think it's risky. If you think it's a great idea, find a similar project to invest in...
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Old 04-24-2020, 05:14 PM   #16
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hmmm

https://mbworld.org/forums/market/773609
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Old 04-24-2020, 07:18 PM   #17
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Yeah that looks like a nice one for this purpose.
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Old 04-25-2020, 05:23 PM   #18
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Engine and exhaust sound are very hard to capture in a video ... I bet that car sounds a lot better in person ..

Those big S class cars are not fun driver's, yes they are very fast (at lest for theme they were built) but they are boats. I think you are better off finding a C class with the big engine ... those have got to be fun !!

I remember back in the day driving my dad's 500 SEC's, both were very fast coupes but they weren't drivers cars ... his CLK550 was a bit better but still not quite a drivers car, maybe due to the heavy feel in the front due to the heavy engine ... actually thinking about it his CLK 350 was more fun ...

There are a lot of cool smaller Mercedes models for really reasonable prices out there you could have fun with.
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Old 04-25-2020, 08:50 PM   #19
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Engine and exhaust sound are very hard to capture in a video ... I bet that car sounds a lot better in person ..

Those big S class cars are not fun driver's, yes they are very fast (at lest for theme they were built) but they are boats. I think you are better off finding a C class with the big engine ... those have got to be fun !!

I remember back in the day driving my dad's 500 SEC's, both were very fast coupes but they weren't drivers cars ... his CLK550 was a bit better but still not quite a drivers car, maybe due to the heavy feel in the front due to the heavy engine ... actually thinking about it his CLK 350 was more fun ...

There are a lot of cool smaller Mercedes models for really reasonable prices out there you could have fun with.
He's talking about doing that to an SL. Which, granted, still not a sports car, but a lot more interesting to drive than the S class.

Edit: Fun fact! I took my driver's test in a W140.
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Old 04-25-2020, 11:08 PM   #20
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He's talking about doing that to an SL. Which, granted, still not a sports car, but a lot more interesting to drive than the S class.

Edit: Fun fact! I took my driver's test in a W140.
Not a fan of the SL either, I’ve driven quite a bit of them going back to the 80’s ... maybe a bit better than the s class coupes but still not a drivers car.
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