1971 Mercedes Benz 300SEL 3.5, their competitor to Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

The paint color is black. The interior color is also black.

1971 Mercedes Benz 300 SEL restoration and service work notes:

The Mercedes Benz 3.5 300sel is a much more reliable and less complex car to maintain than the 6.3 300sel while providing plenty of speed with the electronic Bosch fuel injection on a Mercedes Benz 3.5 V8 engine that was also fitted to the 350SL. The 3.5 engine was not de-tuned for the American market. In 1972, Mercedes released the 4.5model witha de-tuned 4.5 engine with largerengine displacementto make up for the loss of power. The 3.5 is a much more desirable engine. This car is very quick and as it has four wheel power disc brakes, it also stops well. This particular 3.5 engine is in very good condition and starts and runs smoothly. The automatic transmission shifts smoothly. The air suspension and power steering is in good condition. I purchased this car from the elderly German gentleman that owned the first Mercedes Benz dealership in Houston in the 1950’s. Over the years I have owned the car it has always been reliable and has never broken down. A lot of general renovating and restoringhas beendone such as:

Replace front and rear seat upholstery with as per original new leather reupholstery- There are no cracks.

Replace carpets and insulation

Replace headliner with new original material headliner

Replace dash A/C slide controls

Replace front and rear suspension air bags

Replace LHF door power window regulator

Replace RHF window power regulator

Service transmission

Replace front brake rotors and brake pads, repack front wheel bearings rebuild front brake calipers with new stainless steel pistons, replace brake hoses

Rebuild rear brake calipers with stainless steel pistons, Replace rear brake rotors, replace rear brake hoses, replace rear axle bearings

Replace front and rear shocks,

Replace handbrake pads Replace differential fluid

Rebuild power steering box,

Remove fuel tank and have internally cleaned and treated. Replace fuel filter

Replace engine mounts

Replace spark plugs, cap and cables-fit E ignition and new coil. Yes, the plug wires are orange as we had a set in stock and might as well use them, For those that want black wires, they are available. Orange is the new black.

Replace shifter bushes

Replace front suspension subframe mounts

Replace front suspension rebounds

Replace front three point retracting seat belts

Replace a/c compressor and hoses

Clean radiator and replace water pump, replace radiator hoses and heater hoses. replace coolant

Replace fan belts

About 10 years ago the car was disassembled with the light, bumpers, chrome and front and rear glass removed, door panels removed, repainted the original color and reassembled with new front and rear windshield seals, a new front windshield, all four rubber door seals and the trunk seal replaced and a new original trunk mat was fitted

The radio is original and not working. These can be rebuilt by the original maker. The odometer has never worked since I owned the car and shows around 34K miles. I reckon the car has around 140K miles. The speedometer and all other gauges work fine. The odometer can be rebuilt but I never got around to it. This car is 45 years old and was built to last. The 300sel was a W109 model and were the last to be hand built by German craftsmen in a special factory Mercedes Benz used for their top of the line models such as the 600 Pullman.