The ‘S’ Is For Sunroof: 1985 Mercedes 500SEL vs 1996 Mercedes S420

Sbsd 8 24 2023
ADVERTISEMENT

Good morning! Today is our fourth and final installment of same-make cars with non-standard roofs. This time, it’s the Germans’ turn as we look at two be-sunroofed examples of Mercedes-Benz’s flagship sedan. But first, let’s take a look at the foregone conclusion from yesterday’s T-top Nissans:

Screen Shot 2023 08 23 At 5.31.10 Pm

Tommy the Cat’s ride runs away with it, and no one is surprised. The Spartan had its fans, and provoked its share of incredibly silly (and awesome) ideas, but let’s be realistic: no one is going to actually buy it unless they’re an eccentric millionaire with a very long garage. Or a hobby farm.

You know what has always puzzled me? A hole in the top of a car with an openable solid panel is called a sunroof, but an otherwise identical feature with a glass panel is called a moonroof. Why is that? They both let in the sun if you open them, and if you’re going to moon someone, it makes a lot more sense to just press ham against a side window than try to get your hindquarters all the way up there. Seems awkward. And dangerous. And nobody will see it anyway, except maybe the truckers.

No matter. Today’s contenders are far too classy for such shenanigans. For many decades, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class has made a statement: it says you’ve arrived. And unlike so many other aspirational vehicles, it’s generally reliable enough that you should actually arrive. These two are a generation apart, and almost two grand different in price, but the cheap one needs some work that might make the more expensive option a better buy. Let’s take a look.

1985 Mercedes-Benz 500SEL – $2,600

00u0u 8abqnfgdp5q 0ci0t2 1200x900

Engine/drivetrain: 5.0 liter overhead cam V8, four-speed automatic, RWD

Location: Port Orchard, WA

Odometer reading: 165,000 miles

Runs/drives? Runs great, but needs brakes

The W126 series S-Class is still, to this day, the car that first comes to my mind when someone says “Mercedes-Benz.” It’s got that classic Bruno Sacco styling, it’s built like Fort Knox, and it has presence. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the cars indirectly responsible for one of the most reviled automotive laws in the US: the 25 year import rule. Early on, US-spec W126s were only available with a sluggish 3.8 liter V8, or the glacial – but stalwart – 3 liter turbodiesel. Gray-market imports of faster, more desirable European-spec W126 models were popular, leading Mercedes and other carmakers to get petty and help Congress close the loophole in 1988.

00o0o K4jfriyji1r 0ci0t2 1200x900

This sad-looking specimen might be such a gray-market car. Honestly, it’s kind of hard to tell sometimes. The speedometer is in miles per hour, but the bumpers look like the svelte European ones instead of the US-spec battering rams, and the headlights look European-spec too. The 500SEL (“L” for long wheelbase) was officially sold in the US in 1985, but gray-market cars were still often cheaper. You’d have to check the stickers on the door jamb and under the hood to know for sure whether this is an actual US-spec model or not.

00v0v H6ycg2yz8as 0ci0t2 1200x900

The seller says it was just tuned up and runs great, but it needs brake work “ASAP.” You’d have to ask them if that means you need to tow it home, or if it can be driven carefully. They also say it “needs interior work,” but don’t get specific. It still looks pretty good in there, a little dirty, but not nearly as beat-up as some I’ve seen in this price range. There are bound to be a few electrical things that don’t work – and this car has a lot of electrical things – but if the core functions are all intact, you can fix little stuff as you go along, once you take care of the brakes.

00j0j 3vvbdb9lw8t 0ci0t2 1200x900

Honestly, I think this car mostly suffers from bad presentation. It would look a lot better if they moved it out of that ditch and cleaned it up a little.

1996 Mercedes-Benz S420 – $4,300

00m0m Cjgotttnrjg 0ci0t2 1200x900

Engine/drivetrain: 4.2 liter dual overhead cam V8, five-speed automatic, RWD

Location: Ladera Ranch, CA

Odometer reading: 188,000 miles

Runs/drives? Yep!

Now this is how you present a used Mercedes-Benz for sale. Of course, location may have something to do with it; this looks like one of those fancy-pants Orange County McMansion neighborhoods, where a twenty-seven-year-old S-Class is equivalent to a scruffy Buick Century most places. It’s a fitting backdrop for a living legend, however; this car looks like it belongs here, or did, in its day. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the W140 S-class is a very photogenic, and timeless, car.

01616 9l1z6loyw0g 0ci0t2 1200x900

The W126 and its twelve-year run was a tough act to follow, but the W140 rose to the occasion. Its styling was a nice conservative evolution, nothing too radical that would scare away the old buyers. All the major advances were where you can’t see them anyway, starting with a host of new quad-cam engines, including a V12. No V12 here; this car has to make do with a mere 4.2 liter V8. This one has had a lot of work done to it recently, and the seller says it runs well. The air conditioning is inoperative, however, and it needs “little things here and there.”

00202 Bfesqnekjng 0ci0t2 1200x900

Cosmetically, it’s in fine shape, and the interior is as clean as a whistle, as far as I can tell. Again, it is an old Mercedes, so some stuff probably doesn’t work; cars like this are a hobby as much as they are transportation. But at least you’ll look good in the meantime, and rides don’t get much comfier or more solid than this.

00y0y 2t7o0dt1tsp 0ci0t2 1200x900

Personally, I’m not crazy about the oversize wheels with their painted-on tires, but that can be changed, I suppose. I could live with them, at least until it was due for new tires. And if I had my choice, I’d look for some other color than silver; this isn’t the right car for something wild, but it doesn’t have to blend quite so completely into the scenery.

Neither of these cars is going to be exactly cheap to live with, but if they really are in decent mechanical condition as claimed, you’re starting from a good place. These are extremely durable cars, if not always completely reliable, and if you take care of them on their own terms, they should last a long time. So which will it be – the last of the old guard, or the first of the technological new world?

(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)

About the Author

View All My Posts

56 thoughts on “The ‘S’ Is For Sunroof: 1985 Mercedes 500SEL vs 1996 Mercedes S420

  1. I prefer the Sacco style. Every car will need brake work at some point, so might as well just do it. Hopefully the interior can be disinfected.

  2. Voted for the W126. Fix the brakes, add a “Roman 1” license plate, and head out to the lake to blow some coin on a kick-ass drag boat.

  3. Besides the older car needing break work, they’re probably comparable maintenance-wise, so I voted for the W126 as the car I’d actually put effort into and keep around. Surprisingly low prices for both of these; thankfully I’m not actually tempted into picking them up for a new hobby. A S123 is more my style if I’m going to punish myself on the weekends.

        1. Famous quote in the UK:
          Definition of an optimist… “A person who thinks he can just afford to run a second-hand Aston Martin”
          Peter Dron, Fast Lane, November 1985

  4. Both are going to need some money to get (and stay) on the road, and both seem fairly presentable as-is, though the W140 has an advantage. But the word that comes to mind is “gravitas” and the W126 just has more of it.

  5. Drove both back in the day, a former boss had a 126 500SEL which they traded for a 140 S420. The newer car was much nicer to drive so gets my vote.

  6. All 1980’s Mercedes are superior to new models in utility, ease of repair, and reliability. There are a few 1990’s Benzs which might lure me away from them. But the W140 is not one of them.

  7. My vote goes to the W140. All it needs is a set of OEM wheels along with the stuff it needs listed in the Ad. It also seems to be in way better condition than the W126 sitting on dirt with evidence of some significant fluid leak.

  8. In the UK we call what you call a sunroof a “sunroof”, and what you call a moonroof a “sunroof”.

    Seems simpler as they do the same thing. Maybe that makes up for the weird shit we pull with boots, biscuits and different spellings of licence.

    I was 30 before I’d heard of a moonroof, and that was when I bought a ‘89 JDM CRX Si with a full fixed glass roof.

    1. I can never forgive the British for aloo-mini-um. Not even my dear father when he forgets what country he is in and says it that way.

  9. I grew up helping to wrench on my dad’s W116, and I have always considered the W126 to have taken all the best styling points of the W116 and made them even better. The W140 isn’t ugly, but I feel like the styling hasn’t aged nearly as well as the W126, especially with those ugly oversized wheels. W126 gets the nod from me.

  10. It’s hard to vote against a W126 if you want an older Mercedes, but this one just looks bad. I can’t tell if it’s poor lighting in the overgrown yard that made that dark shape under the driver side front wheel or if the car has pissed out all of its brake fluid. That would definitely qualify as needing brake work ASAP! I’ll go with the cleaner W140 that will be more worth repairing.

  11. Finally a shitbox showdown I’m not going to just shit post on! The w126 is unfortunately about one year older than the one you want. As they updated the model in 86. Highly likely this a HPF 2 car, and this car being old enough to be into golf. Likely either barely works or will stop working shortly. The M117 is fine, but they found another half liter in that update as well. If this is a USDM, that would make it fairly rare to the right MBZ nerd. Though I think it is in fact a Euro spec. People love the 126, so parts availability is pretty good. Which helps for that brake fluid leak.

    W140 looks likely a lower optioned car. Which is ages better. A lot of opportunities for a nightmare electrical issues on these. This doesn’t look like a ESP/ SLS car. If it is, I wouldn’t. The 140 is when the S-Class started to ignore MSRP and truly become an S-Class we think of today. So when it works, it’s kinda challenging not to fall asleep while driving.

    Personally I would go 126. Could be a real headache in the long run. But when clean, incredible looking car. If you can put in the work to get in top shape, there is quite a bit of money to be made there as well.

  12. W126 for me. Though I’ll admit, this was one of the tougher fake decisions I’ve had to make for Shitbox Showdown. You could easily argue for either.

    Neither is a practical daily really, so I’m judging solely based on styling, condition, and price. If the W126 ends up being a nightmare, I can walk away from it far more easily.

  13. I was going to vote for the W126 anyway, but the W140’s ad was already deleted by the time I got here … so it’s the older “young-timer” by default.

  14. This is a special Shitbox Showdown for me. My grandfather owned one of each of these. A forest-green-over-tan W126 350SD that was replaced a decade later with a sand-gold-over-tan W140 S320.

  15. *looks at these two S classes*

    *looks at what Mercedes is currently selling*

    Feelsbadman

    Honestly either of these would make for a great beater daily if you’re mechanically inclined. I suppose I’d go W140 but I’d be happy with either.

  16. The Baymax seats and hip hop wheels really turns me off that W140, so I’ll go for the W126.
    A brake job can’t be that hard on such a quality vehicle, though it probably has some early ABS system you should be careful not to break.

    1. Agreed that 140 is a one owner too many. Daddy bought a new car handed the 140 down to young Richard III who proceeded to Pimp his ride and now it Ekzsima outside with gonoreah interior.

  17. A W140 in good shape without A/C probably has a bad evaporator. And, that W140 will probably never have working A/C again, because, during assembly the evaporator is installed, then everything is installed around it. I guess not as big of a deal in SoCal, but, a car without A/C, is a deal-breaker in a lot of the country, and adding 50-100% of the price of the car again to get it is a no-go.

    If the paint on that 500SEL is in good shape, that’s easily the one to have.

    1. It’s a 8 to 12 hour job to pull the dash and swap it out. I’ve heard of pros doing it in 5-6 hours, and it’s Not Fun. I’ve seen pictures of the carnage in-progress. <shudder>

    1. Hopefully. A problem you can can easily spot and diagnose is a lot easier to solve than some hidden/rare issue that is solved by “well, lets try replacing the whole brake system piece-by-piece until it works.”

  18. The S420 is more appealing to me, although I’m not sure if it suffers from the biodegrable wiring issues from earlier in that generation.

    Moonroof gets it’s name because the tinted panel makes the sun look like the moon. (Dunno if that’s true but it sounds good)

  19. W140 All day every day first and foremost because it doesn’t have the abysmal vacuum line spaghetti system of the W126. Currently fighting leaks and check valves in my W123 and I’ve got half a mind to gut most of it. Combine that with the W140’s $1 Billion development budget and better parts availability, and I’m sold.

    1. I dont get why people buying vintage collectibles talk about fixing brakes, wiring, vacuum hoses. You got a leak or short? That whole system is the same age and will keep reoccuring. If you want to keep it replace the whole system with a custom repair kit. My JH lucas electronics. I bought a custom electrical wiring loom for $200 and had it installed during ground up restoration for $125. You cant diagnose british electrics that cheap let alone permanent repair.

Leave a Reply