Summary:
Your lady friend will love this car as much as she does you!
Faults:
Speedometer needed to be repaired.
Alternator needed to be replaced.
New voltage regulator required.
New turn signal flasher required.
General Comments:
An absolutely beautiful automobile that causes the heads to turn. It drew attention even when I took it to our large dealership for routine maintenance.
Power unlimited. The car is quick and fast. Plenty of power to meet any normal person's needs. I rarely drive over 80. Speedometer reads to 160. I don't really believe it would go that fast, but then, you never know. I'm not going to try it.
The feel of the car is very masculine; large, thick steering wheel, especially large interior with beautiful instruments which are all readily visible and topped off by a sharp, wood-like dashboard.
As large as the car is at 5100 pounds, it handles like a big, agile cat and stops on a dime.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 4th January, 2003
12th Jun 2005, 14:49
There were people that have driven the "450SEL 6.9" that did 150MPH, I'm not sure about the 4.5L. The usual top speed for that car was 138MPH.
20th Aug 2005, 21:41
In 1998 I owned a 1978 450se (4.5 liter engine) in Germany. Given a flat long stretch of Autobahn, I have ran 242 KPH (150 MPH) hour on several occasions. The owners manual listed top speed of 210 KPH (131 MPH). I have driven the car at 220 KPH (136 MPH) for extended periods of time (100 Miles or so). It is very stable at those speeds and I never had a worry, it felt great, the car was 20 years old at the time. I could only imagine how great the car must have felt to the original owner who had the pleasure of driving it when it was new. I got around 15 MPG at speeds of 160 KPH (100 MPH). The car drove great on winding 2 lane roads. I drove them in excess of the speed limit on many occasions at 100 MPH. Driving when the Autobahn was covered in snow posed no problem. The car handled superb. I drove at a fast clip and it never got hairy.