good deal? Merc 380se for $450

[.jrmyrmx]

a friend and i went to the junk yard yesterday and saw a pretty much mint condition Mercedes 380SE that they were selling for $450. the paint is in pretty good condition, the interior is spotless and the engine is in great condition except a chain came loose and cracked what im guessing is a valve cover. heres a picture of a 380 engine, not the one im looking at, i put an arrow pointing to where the crack is.

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/341/enginedm8.jpg

this seems like a great deal to me but i dont any knowledge of Mercedes. anyone know anything about these cars?

[ALTRNTV]

Ask Hypertek.

[98s14inaz]

If it's diesel, which I think they were, I'd say go for it.

[IdriveaNissan]

start making friends with local fast food resturants so they'll give you their used oil. then just filter the crap of it and make ur benz smell like fries.

[180sx Fan]

i see sparkplug wires so im gunna guess it aint diesel.

[drift freaq]

First off Mercedes did not make a 380 Diesel. If it was a diesel it would be a 300D or TD for turbo diesel.
With that said, what year 380 is it? If its not a 380SL aka two door coupe then its value is not much beyond being a decent running 6 cylinder car.
Now a 380SL if its like a 84 (last year made) has a street value of about 13k. Earlier ones were not worth as much as they made a lot of them and it was the bastard child SL.
The sought after SL's were the 560's. To a lesser extent 450's. Both of which were V8's.

My father used to be a big Mercedes fan, he had one of each of the line as well as a 450 4 door and a 300D. The only one he still owns is a 97 320S the big long 4 door though he no longer drives it. Mercedes has gone downhill in quality in the last ten years or so. I have seen signs of it in the 320.

[SexPanda]

You know... 450 for an old merc. I'd do it. I love those old german cars. Worse comes to worse, you have to get a new timing chain, redo the timing, hopefully the valves and timing gear are fine. Get some JB Weld for the valve cover, make it look decent...

I'd do it.

[boro otaku]

If the chain cracked the valve cover, then plan for a complete rebuild. I had a 380SL once, and the chain guide broke... causing total engine failure.

[SexPanda]

drop in a carb'd 350 with a turbo 350 tranny and call it a day then lol.