This 1991 Mercedes-Benz 500SL is finished in Ice Blue Metallic (348) over Blue leather (272) and is powered by a 5.0-liter M119 V8 paired with a four-speed automatic transmission. Sold new by Wagner Motor Sales out of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts the car was a single owner for 31 years before it moved to the Southeast and currently resides in Longmont, Colorado. Equipment includes optional ADS (Adaptive Damping System), a body-color removable hardtop, a hydraulic-folding dark blue soft top, power-adjustable seats with memory, headlight wipers, cruise control, and automatic climate control. Maintenance items addressed include all new top hydraulic cylinders, new battery, valve cover gaskets, transmission fluid flush w/ filter, brake fluid flush, a complete dry ice blasting on the underside, serpentine belt, and a full paint correction with a ceramic coating. This R129 500SL now shows 13,481 miles and is offered on behalf of the current owner with one key fob, first aid kit, window sticker, indoor car cover, hard top stand, original hard top cover, complete tool kit, recent service records, VMI report, a clean Carfax report, and a clean Colorado title.
The exterior is finished in Ice Blue Metallic (348) and features a matching removable hardtop, an electric-folding dark blue convertible soft top, headlight wipers, fog lights, fender vents, and a power antenna. The seller has added paint meter readings in the gallery. Both tops present in excellent condition with no headliner sag on the hardtop. New top hydraulic cylinders were replaced by the previous owner in November of 2024 with a new A pillar ram done by the current owner in May of 2025 including new fluid and a proper bleeding procedure. There is one minor scratch on the front bumper while the rest of the body presents as new. Detailed pictures are provided in the gallery showing straight body lines, no dents, excellent clear coat, and clear lights with no UV damage. The paint is all original other than the hood which was believed to have been flagged by Mercedes-Benz QC at the factory and repainted. A detailed video filmed by the seller from the previous listing is provided going over the hood. The body of the car underwent a full paint correction and ceramic coating.
Factory 16″ Gulideckel wheels wear its original Astral Silver finish and are mounted with 225/55 Michelin Premier A/S tires with 2016 date codes. The car is equipped with anti-lock braking system (ABS), automatic slip control (ASR), and active damping system (ADS). The seller states there’s no issues with the suspension or braking with the provided underside inspection and driving video. Original plating, QC marks, plastics, and rubber appear to be in excellent condition on the suspension components. Flex discs, brakes, and suspension are checked in the video provided below. A brake fluid flush was done by the seller in preparation for the sale.
The cabin features power-adjustable seats with memory upholstered in Blue leather (272) along with matching floor mats, carpets, and door panels. The upper dash is finished in blue soft-touch plastic along with a blue leather steering wheel. The center console and door cards are accented with burl wood trim that show zero damage. Equipment includes power windows, automatic climate control, cruise control, and a Becker 1432 head unit. The air conditioning has been converted to R134 and operates as designed. The blue dashboard exhibits no cracks or damage. A cassette magazine is centered in front of the arm rest and the door cards have hidden flip up pockets for interior storage. The cigarette lighter shows zero use and the cabin is reported to be free of smoke, animal, food, or mildew smells. Original painted door check straps are still intact and a OEM wind buffer is included on the power leather wrapped rollbar.
The blue leather wrapped steering wheel frames instrumentation including a 160-mph speedometer, a 7k-rpm tachometer, an analog clock, and a digital thermometer along with auxiliary gauges for fuel level, oil pressure, instant economy, and coolant temperature. The six-digit odometer shows only 13,481 miles. The power tilt and telescoping steering wheel is in proper working order and the rare blue steering wheel shows zero wear or UV damage.
The 5.0-liter M119 V8 was factory rated at 322 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque. Early R129s were fueled using Bosch CIS fuel injection which was carried over from the M117. Power is sent to the rear wheels through a four-speed 722.3 automatic transmission. Early R129s are the fastest examples with 1991 cars sporting a 0-60 of 5.9 seconds and an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph with reports of owners defeating the limiter and hitting speeds of 170-mph in early cars. Maintenance performed since November of 2024 is said to include all new top hydraulic cylinders, transmission fluid/filter service, A/C service, new battery, and valve cover gaskets. In 2009 at 10k miles, this 500SL received spark plugs, fuel filter, air filter, and an A/C refrigerant service.
The Carfax report indicates no accidents or other damage. This R129 500SL now shows 13,481 miles and is offered on behalf of the current owner with one key fob, first aid kit, window sticker, indoor car cover, hard top stand, original hard top cover, complete tool kit, recent service records, VMI report, a clean Carfax report, and a clean Colorado title.
The seller has included the following video performing and underside inspection, driving video, walkaround, cold start, and power top operation:
While early R129s are better built and have nicer interiors than later cars, they’ve been around for about a decade longer than a late car. This makes an ultra clean CIS 500SL a rarity. All it takes is leaving the top down at lunch and a surprise shower on a hot day to ultimately ruin the interior. Early cars are exponentially prone to irreversible damage because of this, so we’re utterly pleased to see this true survivor and concourse condition 500SL back on the site. Bosch CIS was a testbed in the M117/M119 hybrid engines seen in the AMG 6.0-liter W124/W126/C126 and was essentially carried over to the 129.066 cars. These are very special to drive when they are nice and we’ve had a lot of interaction with this particular example. This is how a R129 should drive, feel, and smell. The Blue Leather is in wonderful condition and has that particular scent 272 interiors have when they’re low mileage. It underwent a full fluid refresh along with brand new top hydraulics and the current owner did an expensive paint correction and ceramic coating. The underside is exceptionally fresh with QC marks and plating on all the appropriate bolts. There are no problem areas left untended on this car. It’s turn key and ready for a road trip at this point or poised to be added to a collection as this is one of the nicest early R129s we’ve seen and driven.
Open Transit:
Enclosed Transit:
The winning bidder will receive an email with the quote and option to proceed with shipping.
Get the best of The MB Market directly in your inbox every day. Subscribe for a curated list of our top market listings and articles!
17 Comments
Thanks for the bids and interaction on this one!$31,750 bid placed by @downtownMB
$31,000 bid placed by @Headspace
$30,500 bid placed by @downtownMB
$30,000 bid placed by @Headspace
$29,500 bid placed by @downtownMB
$29,000 bid placed by @Headspace
$28,000 bid placed by @TrevorL
$27,500 bid placed by @downtownMB
$27,000 bid placed by @Headspace
$26,000 bid placed by @TrevorL
$25,000 bid placed by @Headspace
$24,500 bid placed by @TrevorL
$24,000 bid placed by @Headspace
@cartographer You can also see the hydraulic line coming off the strut tower in the engine bay in picture 300. I like ADS so much more than ABC. It really feels like four wheel SLS when driving the car around. It's so unobtrusive, but the car stays flat around turns at speed. It's subtle and lovely.With less than 30 minutes left, I'll be on standby at my laptop. I wish everyone luck in bidding on this car!@cartographer Funny you mention that. As @R129hoarder said this is a strangely common occurrence. I have a ‘94 E500 that is missing an option that it definitely came with and we saw that ADS was missing in the sticker a few years ago when we had it at GAS Motorcars. I checked with a few trusted MB folk and they confirmed what we’re saying. Funny how a company such as Mercedes does something like that.@cartographer Probably a better question for the folks at the classic center, I have a La Costa car that shows a typo on the sticker. Anything is possible! Either way, and I know I'm just a guy who happens to like these cars a lot, I looked at this one when it was at the Amelia Concours and it's stunning in person. It's a time capsule.@R129hoarder: Thanks for noticing the photo. Wouldn't MB have listed the ADS (option code 216) on the window sticker?@cartographer I'm not the seller here but watching closely. You are missing it. Photo 188 shows the button for the suspension control. Option code 216 if you're decoding it. Pretty rare to find on a V8 car!@Stuttgart_Steel: Perhaps I'm missing something, but I see no reference on the window sticker to an option, or standard equipment called Active Damping System (ADS). This appears to be contrary to the info stated on your listing. In fact, the only option listed is ASR-Automatic Slip Control. Please explain. Thanks and GLWTA!$23,000 bid placed by @TrevorL
As we enter the final hours of this auction, I'll be around to answer any last minutes on this incredibly low mileage R129! A few key important notes: -Full paint correction and quality ceramic coating has just been applied in preparation for the sale. -All top hydraulics have been fixed within this year. -The soft top is in excellent condition with no issues on any of the three plastic windows -Window sticker and recent service records are included. Thousands have been spent on this example to bring it ready for market. -Rare color combination with arguably the best version of the M119. -Turn key mechanically and an undercarriage showing true originality - 13K miles with a complete interior lacking damage. This is such a clean, nice example and I'm proud to represent it. Please let me know if I can help with anything else. Thanks!Thanks for the bids so far! One thing to note, CIS cars do NOT have biodegradable wiring harness issues like the LH cars do. I know some people are turned off from early cars because of that misinformation. Just a heads up to everyone eyeing the auction. Thanks and let me know if you have anymore questions!$22,000 bid placed by @downtownMB
Evening everyone! Loved chatting to everyone behind the scenes on this SL so far. Just checking in and seeing if anyone needs any help of guidance with anything else. Thanks for the interaction so far! I'm here if anyone needs helps. Thanks!The Carfax report fills a lot of the gaps in the physical service invoices. Luckily we have a lot of recent work documented which is the important part on a R129. New top hydraulics most importantly and fluid changes to get the car up to snuff. The Carfax goes back years, so that’s the good part.@Karlwho Yeah looks like you’re totally right. Books must’ve been bought after the fact to have factory literature with the car. It’s common for those to go missing during decades of ownership.Just a heads up, unless I’m missing something, those service booklet images are not for this car.Jason Cammisa just released this Revelations episode on the R129. It's a good followup to this auction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0wr0pdXjy0$21,500 bid placed by @Cshabahang
Hey everyone, welcome to the auction of this CIS M119 early R129 sporting an incredibly low 13K miles! I'm super familiar with this very car and have known it for a few years now. Funny story: the owner and I kept in contact after helping sell it the last time and he reached out to see if I could help him create a listing for it. This was about a week before I took a month off to drive out to California for Car Week with a couple of close friends in a group of old Mercedes/Porsches. This 500SL was basically on my way home, so I stopped by and spent the day with my favorite R129 that now lives in Colorado. The car is nicer than the last time I saw it. The owner did a full paint correction and ceramic coated it and it lives on a four post list next to a beautiful Porsche 928 along with some more modern German sports cars. It was fun spending some more time with this example as it's my benchmark for how a R129 should drive, smell, sound, and feel. I'm just more of a fan of the early cars as they had some W126 carry over in the interior. I love the blue steering wheel and the doors just feel nicer and heavier than a late model car. Plus the CIS M119 is an absolute monster of an engine. It's so close to the 6.0 liter hybrid engines that came on the W124/W126 pre-merger AMGs that had M117 bottom ends and quad-cam M119 heads, minus a liter of displacement. I like to call them "AMG Lights." The ADS is fantastic and mitigates body roll, so the car feels lighter on its feet. This is an R129 you can hustle and it likes it. This is a true concourse example with some great recent services and an underside that is super clean with hardware that has all of the original QC marks from the factory in Stuttgart. If you're a MBCA member and you buy this, you will win trophies at a judged concourse. I got to judge at Legends of the Autobahn in Monterey this year and if this car was on the green, it damn well might've won best in preservation class. I don't have enough good things to say about the car, so please look through the gallery and watch my video. Everything is in there. If you have questions, PM me or comment. I'm also available for phone calls. Thank you and good luck!Love it. I have the same year and color combination with 48k miles. What's striking, despite the low mileage, great condition, and service history, is how many times this car sold in the past 3 years. BaT in 2022, Amelia in 2024, and MB Market in January of this year. Someone keep and drive it!