This 1991 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL was first owned out of Skokie, Illinois and shows registration in the Midwest until 2014 when it moved to Florida and was then purchased by the current owner in 2021 out of Atlanta, Georgia where it currently resides. Finished in Arctic White (147) over Gray Leather (268), power is provided by a 5.5-liter M117 V8 engine mated to a four-speed automatic transmission driving the rear wheels. Equipment includes heated and memory front seats, rear heated seats with a reclining back, a power sunroof, and the original Becker Mexico Grand Prix head unit. Also noted by the seller is mostly original paint per the paint meter readings with the lower half of the rear passenger door having been repaired before. In preparation for the sale, a service was performed including rear sway bar end links, differential mount, A/C recharge, engine oil service, SLS pump reseal with new fluid, all new drive belts, engine air filter, Mercedes-Benz battery, secondary air filter, transmission oil cooler hoses, and a complete paint correction with a ceramic top coat. The current owner installed H&R lowering springs including an alignment, so the car is set up for the simple installation of pre-merge AMG wheels to complete the look. A top end rebuild was done at 43k miles including timing chain, chain guides, valve guides, and head gasket. The odometer currently reads 92k original miles. This 560SEL is now offered for sale by the seller on behalf of the current owner with recent service records, a clean Carfax showing regular service intervals, tool kit, original jack, first aid kit, stamped Mercedes-Benz service booklet, VMI report, service records going back to the early ‘90s, manufacturer’s literature, one key, and a clean Georgia title.
The exterior is finished in Arctic White (147) with gray lower body cladding and chrome trim on the bumpers, window frames and side mirror covers. Exterior equipment includes a fully operational power tilt/slide glass sunroof, an electrically heated rear window, and a power antenna. The seller shows the car has mostly original paint with only the lower half of the rear passenger door having been repaired at some point and has provided paint meter readings for every panel. Factory heat rejecting glass was optioned on this 560SEL and shows no aftermarket tint on the original glass.
The factory 15” Gullideckel wheels come wrapped in Michelin Premier A/S tires measuring 205/65 on all four corners with 2019 date codes mounted/balanced by Autohaus of Naples at 91k miles. The spare tire is an older Michelin MXV4 Plus that still holds air on a factory Gullideckel. ATE disc brakes are behind all four wheels with factory ABS. The wheels have recently been refinished in original Astral Silver and show no wear with new center caps. Recent drivetrain, suspension, and brake services include:
The interior is upholstered in Gray Leather (268) with matching gray carpets, original Mercedes-Benz floor mats, and a black upper dashboard while Burl Walnut wood trim lines the center console, dashboard and door panels. The wood trim presents well with a new small hairline cracks in the veneer which the seller photographed in the gallery. The front seats are heated with two position memory. Additional interior features include heated rear seats with reclining backs, a power sunroof, factory rear foot rests, automatic climate control, cruise control which is shown to be intermittent, and more. A two-tone town and country horn is fitted on this 560SEL and is shown to work in the provided driving video. An original floor jack and a tool kit are included in the sale with a first aid kit installed in the rear parcel shelf. The original Becker Mexico Grand Prix head unit is shown and functions as intended. A new rear view mirror was replaced with a NOS unit in 2020 along with the in-dash headlight switch and new window regulators. The A/C system underwent a full refresh in 2017 including a new A/C compressor and a recharge.
The leather-wrapped steering wheel frames a 160-mph speedometer along with a 7k-rpm tachometer, an analog clock and gauges for fuel level, economy, coolant temperature and oil pressure. The odometer indicates an original 92k miles.
This W126 is powered by a 5.5-liter M117 V8 engine which outputs 238 horsepower and 287 lb-ft of torque. Power is sent to the rear wheels through a four-speed 722.3 automatic transmission. Recent services performed in preparation for the sale are as follows:
A top end rebuild was done at 43k miles including timing chain, chain guides, valve guides, and head gasket. The provided service records dating back to the early ‘90s shows the car was serviced with an open wallet and had continual fluid changes its entire life.
This 560SEL is now offered for sale by the seller on behalf of the current owner with recent service records, a clean Carfax showing regular service intervals, tool kit, original jack, first aid kit, VMI report, service records going back to the early ‘90s, manufacturer’s literature, and a clean Georgia title.
The seller has included the following video featuring a walkaround, POV driving segment, cold-start, and full pre-purchase inspection.
If you're fortunate enough to be around classic Mercedes-Benzs, we want you to try something: go interact with a W201 and/or a W124. Open the doors, feel the seat leather, and drive them on the highway – then go interact with a late model W126 and prepare to have your mind blown at the solidity of these cars. While the W201 and W124 are excellent, world beating cars, the flagship S-Class is just vibrating on a different playing field. These truly were the best in the world. We’ve had a lot of seat time in Bentley and Rolls-Royce SZ platform cars, which directly compete with the W126, and the S-Class feels like it comes from an entirely different decade. They have the added benefit of tougher interiors, more reliable and robust engines, high interior build quality, and superior engineering. In short, these were the best saloons humanity had to offer in the ‘80s. We’ve had some driving time in this 560SEL and it’s a very tight and original driving example. As W126 aficionados at The MB Market, we were impressed. So many of these cars don’t get the maintenance and cosmetic attention they deserve, so most W126s are rolling around with half of their systems inoperable creating a miserable driving experience. Dialed in examples are a dream to pilot. With original paint, up to date services, and strong original features, this is a car you can buy and daily drive. With the H&R lowering springs and dialed-in alignment, it’s ripe for some AMG Aero 1 wheels that’ll bolt on and give it a sinister, pre-merger look.
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Enclosed Transit:
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1 Comments
Hey everyone! I'm amped about this car. Welcome to the auction of this lovely late model 560SEL. I'm a huge fan of the W126 and it's arguably my favorite platform as I daily drove a 560SEC throughout college for five years and have owned about 7 others since then which included restoring a few. This car comes from a MB collector I'm friends with and he's making room for some more Mercedes he wants to experience, so I helped him get this dialed in for the next owner and find it a new home. I've been living with this for the past month or so and logging some miles on the car to try and find weaknesses I needed to take care of. The car is incredibly solid and very clean underneath. I fixed a few things pointed out in the copy above. I drove it some more and gave it the green light to finally list on here. While these aren't complicated cars, a lot of them have been neglected, so I didn't want to pass any issues to the next owner which is why I included a thorough inspection video above. This car has been in a climate controlled collector car storage facility and driven sparingly for the past four or so years, so I tended to things like the A/C system, some rubber hoses, a new OEM battery, fluids, mounts, etc to get it really happy again. The big thing with this car is the timing chains and top end service that was done at about 50k miles. All of these cars with the M117 need it and I was happy to have discovered that invoice with the manuals. I'm open to show the car and if you need any other pictures or videos, please comment or PM me. I'm also available for phone calls if need be. Thanks everyone!