Welcome to movies garage, the dumbest automotive channel in all of youtube - and i am in my 1973 mercedes 280se 4.5 - that nobody wanted except me. I just bought it and it is a beautiful original classic original paint, original interior 4.5 liter v8 engine and in beautiful condition. But despite that, nobody wanted this car and it seems like nobody, wants this generation of mercedes s-class, even though it has so much going for it now. Just the 30 mile or so drive up to the car wizards in this thing has really impressed me because in 1973 all the american competition was kind of built to the u.s 55 mile an hour speed limit.

So when you get up to speeds at modern highways 75, in this case, they feel really really stretched out. With this thing it was built for the autobahn, so 75 felt actually kind of slow. I couldn't tell how fast i was going, though, unless i had my phone app the waze app out, because uh the speedometer in this car doesn't work. The previous owner said he disconnected it because something in there was noisy when it was cold, not sure what that's all about, but one of the reasons why nobody may have wanted this car is because uh well the issues it has.

It does have a few minor issues, but they seem minor to me. They don't seem super major, but that's why i'm heading up to the car wizards and he can be the judge of whether i bought a uh very original nice polished, turd or not. In addition, there's a couple of finished cars up here that i'm very very excited about to animal check in on other projects. But before we visit the wizard, i would like to thank manscape the premium brand for men's grooming and hygiene products for sponsoring this video and, if you've watched my channel for a while.

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We know at least the top of their head wizard. What are you looking at the top of my head? Hello, easy, uh, no reason i just wanted to show the top of your head. I just bought this and it was a car that nobody wanted a 1973 mercedes. 280.

Se 4.5. Nobody wanted this, nobody wanted it. I want it i'll, take it well, you have every opportunity to buy it. It didn't sell for 7 600 on bring a trailer.

So thousands of people saw it and didn't bid, and then it's been on ebay. It's been advertised everywhere. I finally bought it for only nine thousand dollars. You just don't see that color anymore no and it's original paint wizard.

This is all original everything inside and out. It's beautiful, not many issues, though really at least that i've noticed. Okay, we'll see number one speedometer doesn't work. He said he disconnected it because it was noisy.

The inside of the speedometer is probably making ticking noises or something right. Uh air conditioning blows. You set a blue cold, it doesn't blow cold, but it only blows at one fan speed when you try and dial it down, it feels all crunchy. It's a mechanical yeah, yeah, yeah kind of like that.

The horse, hair padding in the seats is gone and other than that i didn't notice any leaks. I didn't notice any problems driving it up here, going 80 miles an hour in a 19 a 50 year old car. This was the pinnacle of mercedes-benz in the 60s and 70s. They were just tanks.

I completely agree - and i just don't understand why nobody wanted this car and there is one special thing with it as well that i'm really excited to look at up on the lift and that's the suspension on this thing. I guess they were experimenting with hydraulic suspension with this at the tail end of the 108, and i looked at it, i can't make any sense of it, but i think before we put it up on the lift, why don't you give me a tour of? What's going on, you said, there's a few things that are finished right, yep, there's one two, three cars that are finished really yeah. Well, it's not apollo 911, that's finished or the mystery project underneath that tarp that i really need to unveil someday yeah. Those aren't that hasn't even been started, but lamborghini.

Yes, we put a new idler pulley on it and it's quiet. So the belt squeak is gone. Yes gone forever, hopefully forever. I don't know what else to replace everything's new on it: the belt the tensioner, the idler, that you know what that means.

Wizard. What's that, for the first time all three lambos are actually working. All three of them are all the coontoss used to come up for the climate control stuff, but it's all three of them they'll run and drive. They could all drive anywhere right now.

Wow! That's that's awesome. Well i'll have to come get this soon, but what else is finished? Your cadillac is done. Really. This is a hooptie rescue mission.

My 1987 cadillac fleetwood broom was completely repainted and had been sitting for over 10 years. So i see it's all back together. All the trim, all the fender fillers or whatever they call them interior back together, yep and fully functional and ac everything's fully functional and we redid the whole ac system. It's nice ice, cold, ac.

Now, wonderful, the third one is van damme. Oh, my 2001 bentley azure, formerly owned by jean-claude van damme. That uh was just up here. Yes, it's always a bentley that is up here and i thought i was coming back for a coolant leak, but it it wasn't a coolant lake.

Was it no mineral oil? It was wet, shiny balls here uh. Oh i see, why is one green and one silver someone's replaced one sometime in the past. It looks like an aftermarket one or something, but we put green oem ones on both of them are green. I see so.

The valve block was leaking and also, if we're going to go that far, we went ahead and did the accumulators only like 70 bucks, a piece for the accumulators i see it makes sense just to put two new ones and be done with it. Okay, so that's the next link in the chain for mineral oil leaks, so i'll drive a little bit and then the next thing will probably start leaking soon right. I see you're getting azures in here. It'll probably be the last one really, except for yours.

Yes, really yeah you're not liking them very much. Well, i like working on them. I have a video out, or at least coming out on that particular car over there, and i mentioned how i like working on them, but nobody wants to pay to get them fixed properly. Yes, well, it makes very little sense unless you have a youtube channel, where you talk about how much cars break, which this is an excellent car for that uh.

But otherwise it makes no sense with a constant mineral oil and uh looks like the top screwed up on that one. Yes, there's like two top repairs on this car that i think it totals fifteen thousand dollars for two uh top repairs, because all the hydraulics and things is just absolutely insane which basically one top repair and mineral oil repair on this - would pay for the entire. Like engine replacement and uh well, a complete new engine on this corvette, 66 corvette 427 and it looks like the new engine is all the way in we're waiting on an adapter. This engine that they sent is so period.

Correct, in fact, that the boss for the oil filter is actually the old cartridge style really yeah and your engine that was in here was a spin-on style. Mm-Hmm yeah we're talking about the engine block itself the block. I can't change the block. We got an adapter coming it'll, be here, probably tomorrow, okay and hopefully we can fire this thing up.

Well, that's exciting, because that's a big project that is finished and we'll move on to some other big projects, but this mercedes. I don't think it's going to be that big of a deal. I hope i hope why are you crossing your fingers? You want a big bill. I guess so.

Ah yeah one other thing wizard. Actually this uh seal around this quarter window very noisy. It's actually quieter. With it open than closed okay, so one thing to do there, but look at this 4.5 liter.

V8. Look at that thing. I have a 5.6 liter sitting in my shop at home yeah. Let's just do a swap no, but here's kind of the origin of that engine.

I suppose yeah it is but very honest tidy. I mean it's a little dusty, but 50 year old engine everything looks like just came from the factory. It's got age and it's dirty, but it's not been tampered with or messed with yeah. It looks like a five or ten year old used car under the hood.

Not 50. right seems pretty sorted, though, except for this cap i'll, buy you a new cap and put it on it'll be 87. Oh okay! Thank you! Wizard all right. There was the beginning of some engineering snafus when it came to electronics, though, because this is the - i think the electronic fuel injection computer right mounted right in the spot where it can get wet.

I guess these things go out a lot. It looks like it's someone's wrote letters on it. Yeah eminem, i don't know what it says allen, so it's been redone before probably - and actually i think this is before, like the bosch caget, all that weird mechanical stuff, that tended to be a little problematic when the car sat right right, as you can see right Here, the blue little injectors, those are injectors like we would think about today, just standard injectors, so they actually were ahead of their time, then kind of went backwards and then yeah they went backwards back to normal again, yeah and one other weird thing about this car Is like i said earlier, the suspension. I think they were experimenting with hydraulic suspension which came later in the next generation s-class, the mercedes diesels with the wagons, the rear, leveling - and i see it here, but it's unlike anything i've ever seen before in a suspension setup.

So i guess hopefully you can explain it. Let's take a look. Well, you're, looking are you liking, i'm liking? It's got the looks like a fairly new radiators glossy shiny black paint. Oil pan looks dry yeah.

Amazingly it's pretty dry under here. Look over here at the brakes brakes look okay, yeah! So here's where things get confusing for me wizard, because we have a spring. We have a shock yep but then look above the spring there. What is that that looks like just a rubber mount? So that's not hydraulic, it's just all normal in the front.

Yes, so it's normal suspension in the front. Then it's just the rear. That's that's odd, but oh there's some leaks. It's very light seepage.

It's probably just a pan, gasket. Okay! It's not dripping, though. No, this thing's amazing very clean, pretty much a lifelong california car and it definitely shows oh wait. Oh hello, uh-oh! So here's where it gets kind of weird bogey, bogue bogue, and this should be just a spring right - every other car 108.

I've seen - and it has this funky axle where it looks like a solid axle, but you can see it's bent. It kind of has one it pivots right here, pivots in the middle yep and they usually have a spring right here. But this one has this, but i don't see any system that helps it maintain its level like a load, leveling suspension, i don't see an arm, i don't see any lines coming in or out of it or anything, that's a new one. For me, i've not seen that before so it's not active, though yeah, it's not active, i wonder if it can pump itself up or if it's just a damper just by itself, there's nothing else hooked to it.

So that's what's different. What's the leak going on here, this boot is common on these cars for that boot to leak. Oh, it's leaking pretty good yep coming up through the boot. Oh yeah yeah.

They sell a kit to replace this boot without having to take the axle apart. Oh wonderful, so it's not too bad at all. Okay! Well, the electrical issues with the air conditioning and the speedometer that as well so ac speedometer this leak. The quarter windows quarter window there's a list, but there's not a big expensive list.

I don't think no. So, overall, i think yeah, i think it's been well maintained for the age of the car. It's been taken care of yeah. Is this the bit you need for the speedometer yeah this? Is it the speedometer gear and the clamps onto the cable right here very good, and you were right about it being taken care of? I have full service records here.

This is like the very first one 1974. Yes, i have almost 50 years of service records. That's before i was born wow, it smells like 1974.. Well, i'm glad you like the smell you're, going to continue this pile, but it doesn't seem like it'll, be very much.

I'm actually looking forward to this office visit shouldn't be bad. I hope not. It shouldn't be. No wizard the wifey kicked you out of your office she's doing work in there.

So, yes, i stole crazy dee's death. Oh man, you are shopping well for a hatteras long-range cruiser 303. 000. Well, that's cheaper than most things you shop for so that means this isn't very bad.

No, it's not too bad yeah. Sometimes these old mercedes can surprise you on parts prices, but uh. I'm not that worried. Really, it's not really that bad um, the rear differential boot moves like that 350 bucks.

Really the boot kit's really cheap. I thought it'd be more than that. That's impressive! Okay! It's actually split and just like a c-shape, it fits around. It's got a little staple.

Oh, so you don't have to like, take it all apart, all right, so it's pretty cheap fit nice. You cut the old one off yeah, you just cut the old one off and throw it away perfect on the ac. It could be anywhere from 100 bucks to 1400. Bucks just depends on once we get it charged to see if the compressor works.

Is it locked up or we won't know until we get it apart, speedo cable, couple hundred bucks, that's just the labor to make sure the cable works. We might have to pull the gauge out and check it out. I don't know if it's making noises like you mentioned parts provided so yeah: okay, yes, expensive, all right quarter window we can replace both of them for 550 bucks. It's a hula girl, yeah, five 550.

Wait that little see there's where the gotcha is with the mercedes. So that little piece of rubber going around the triangle is quite expensive, then huh, yeah, 150 bucks per window, wow. Okay, all right! Well put you back! Hula girl, you're, bad luck! What is next? Oil change, a hundred bucks with the filter and we'll put synthetic oil in it. Wonderful blower switch it's used as 140 150 bucks yeah wow 250 dollars, but to pull it all apart and yeah.

You switch in it. Okay, we'll remove the front seats and send them to low on upholstery here in town and get them reupholster. This probably about 500 bucks, yeah, we'll not reupholster the new seat pads. Yes at least we're dealing with the newton people and no mufflers yeah.

It's an it's. A new multi-company right, okay, so 500 bucks, or so that sounds about right upholstery shop. But it's really nice vinyl seating. It's just the horse hair.

They actually use real horse hair in the padding and it just disintegrates yeah kind of gross anyway kind of gross. The best case scenario two grand 22.50 somewhere around in there worst case - 3. 500 bucks. That's that's not bad.

No, it's not bad. So obviously the car is not a complete disaster. No, it's actually in very nice shape, it is, and yet nobody wanted it and you work on these all the time, not necessarily 4.5, but different 280ses. The 250s you've worked on them all and they haven't been nightmares for you.

Have they no they're, not nightmares at all, so why does nobody want them? I don't know, maybe they're just there's a stigma there that they're just afraid that it's going to be a nightmare yeah, but people buy the newer mercedes and deal with all that crap. Even even the ones that are now 30 years old, there's so much more to deal with. Yet these are great cars and nobody wants them. It's a great big mystery.

I no idea people buy bentley azures, but they won't buy one of those right. Okay. Well, you can have your desk back crazy. Thank you very much appreciate it.

So i guess i'll uh take the cadillac home and leave the mercedes. If that's all right with you uh, where we are right after you take care of the bill. First yeah. That was only up here for months and a lot of work remove all the trim.

Bumpers emblems, put it back on 360 bucks i'll, take it, but what's adding up the ac system? Oh headline, oh whoa, oh right, 2500, bucks and i had to pay the upholstery. Guy out of that, so, ah, 540. Okay, so that's that's more than what i paid for the car. I made two thousand dollars for the car three thousand for the paint job twenty five hundred dollars here thousand dollars for shipping.

Oh, i guess that's a lot of math. What is that all right? So this two thousand dollar car has become a nearly ten thousand dollar car very quickly. Oh yeah wow. I rarely get away clean.

Do a lot nope! No all right! Well, thanks! Wizard! All right make sure to never forget that part. I got my tires for it too jeez. Oh yeah wizard. It is a purple luxury land yacht beautiful.

Thank you so much! Yes, no problem! Look at that white interior! Oh this! Thing's gorgeous! Oh these seats! Oh man, a little bit of a different luxury experience in the mercedes wizard yeah. I love the dashes. Oh amazing, adios wow, as i float down the road in this thing. It is so so nice.

It is so sad how far away cadillac has gotten from its core luxury brand. They were chasing the europeans to try and be more sporty when they needed to be like this more cadillac, at least the mercedes s-class sort of stayed to its dna back in 1973. A new s-class still a very cushy comfortable car, whereas what cadillac sedans are nowadays there are sport sedans. It makes no sense, they need to go back to making this, but i guess people buy escalades anyway, because that's what this is.

Ten thousand dollars is a lot to have invested into this old hoopty cadillac, admittedly, but it's probably worth that these things have gone way up in value like everything else. That's collectible and people want other than the old mercedes, the 108, for whatever reason, but this car fresh coat of paint completely mechanically sorted will have new tires, which it needs, because these tires are ancient and mismatched, and you can't buy a cadillac like this new anymore. So this is the next best thing. I don't think i'm gon na.

Let it go any time soon though it is, it is very, very nice. I'm super happy! Thank you so much for watching you.