1986 Mercedes-Benz 560 SEL

The current owner took this car on around 5 years ago from an automatic gearbox specialist who had refurbished the auto box, and since then he has had it almost completely overhauled and rebuilt. The restoration has been fairly comprehensive and has seen the car stripped to a bare metal rolling shell to take care of any repairs needed and repaint in the original colour, and the running gear worked on as needed to bring it back to as new standard.

As he has a number of other Mercedes this car isn’t getting the use it deserves so has decided to let it move on and concentrate on giving his others the attention this has received.

In 2016 the 560 Paintology Ltd in Nottingham stripped the car to a rolling shell and took care of any welding that was needed. The rear of the sills were repaired and the rear arches and front wings replaced using genuine parts supplied by Mertrux of Derby. The car was then painted in the original shade of Diamond Blue Metallic, the cost of the work coming to around £4500 not including the panels. The paint remains in stunning condition with a beautiful gloss and showing virtually no marks.

When the car came home the original alloy wheels were professionally refurbished, again to a very high standard and fitted with tyres specifically designed to give a smooth ride, and these still have very deep tread remaining.

The windows have been tinted and genuine New Old Stock Clima Air Mercedes wind deflectors were sourced from Germany.

The rear spoiler is included with the car, but it was decided not to refit.

The blue interior looks stunning. It has fully electrically adjustable seats in both the front and back but only the driver’s seat was ever used - the car almost never carrying passengers - so that seat alone has been reupholstered and new springs fitted so it looks as new as the others. The fabric is in great condition as is the carpet, dash top and plastics.

On the dash, the wood trim was removed and sent to a specialist in Turkey who made it as new and returned it along with a custom-made wooden steering wheel at a cost of around £1,000.

All four power windows and the electric sunroof all work correctly, and even the air conditioning blows cold. The original radio is fitted and the factory electric arial is included but not installed.

Having been through Paintology’s bodyshop the car is as good underneath as it is above, and the underbody has been treated to a Lanogaurd rust proofing to help keep it that way.

At the front the shock absorbers have been changed along with the ball joints and the engine has recently been serviced by Mercserve of Nottingham and a new high output alternator fitted along with Bosch 3-point spark plugs before the engine bay was professionally valeted making it show ready if wanted. The auto box had been rebuilt just before the current owner bought the car so shifts cleanly.

Significantly, the air conditioning has been converted to use the new type of refrigerant gas and has a new condenser fitted.

As detailed above, this Mercedes has had a huge amount of refurbishment work over the last five years of ownership, with no expense spared sourcing the correct parts and right people to fit them.

The entire brake system was replaced before restoration, so new brake lines and calipers in 2015/16 and the gearbox was rebuilt by the last owner.

The body is like factory, new paint on top and rust proofed below and the interior superb. Mechanically the car is strong, and the air conditioning converted to the new environmentally safe gas.

The car passed its most recent MoT in April so is ready to drive away.

10.00am 26/07/2021 - We have noticed that the service book that was photographed and added to the gallery is for another 560SEL, and as such we have removed the images from the gallery.

Having had so much time and money lavished on it, this S Class has been brought back to better than new condition, making it among the best you will find. If you are looking for the ultimate classic luxury barge you won’t do better, not only in terms of condition and refinement but also equipment with electric everything and working air conditioning.

We estimate this car will sell for between £9,000 - £14,000.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this car is located at our HQ near Abingdon; we are open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing to make an appointment. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’