1965 Mercedes Benz 220SEb W111 Sunroof Coupe

1965 Mercedes-Benz 220SEb -- Description

The Mercedes is currently located in Burr Ridge, Illinois which is 20 minutes southwest of Chicago.
Additional Photos and a Descriptive Video including walk-around, start-up and drive can be viewed at 1965MercedesCoupe.com
Any Questions, or to schedule a test drive, call Frank at 630 891 9502

I present to you a truly honest 1965 Mercedes Benz 220SEb Sunroof Coupe in its original Tunis Beige Metallic color (repainted at least once) and supple Black leather interior. I say this because it was previously owned by 2 men who had a deep affection for the car evidenced by the extensive documentation from both owners that comes with the vehicle. The documentation begins with a letter from Mercedes in Germany acknowledging the original order placed from the factory and continues with all service work done since the car was delivered new.
Nothing was done to this vehicle to make it look better than it really is. No tire shine. No stop-leak in the engine or transmission. No Paint touch-ups. The body has its share of bubbles some repairable rust spots, and chips. But it is a solid automobile. The paint surface to metal surface was measured and found to be consistent over the entire car in the .78 mm range indicating no body filler present under the paint.
The vast majority of the vehicles 104,000 total miles were driven in it’s first 8 years of ownership, with only 8,000 miles put on the coupe since it was acquired by its 2nd and most recent owner from Motor Works of Barrington, Illinois in April of 1973.
Documentation shows the original owner was Dr. Nystul, a dental surgeon from Park Ridge, Illinois. However, the original order for the coupe was initiated in Paris, France by a female who resided at the same US address as Dr. Nystul. US delivery of the 220SE Coupe was arranged through the Chicago based Mercedes Benz dealer Loeber Motors and the vehicle was serviced exclusively by Loeber.
Upon delivery to Dr. Nystul on August 23, 1965, Loeber installed front seat belts, chrome wheel arch trim, bumper guards and tuned the engine to USA requirements. All done at the time for $210.35 labor and parts.
2 weeks after delivery, the coupe returned to Loeber to have the head bolts retorqued, an oil change, rear axle lube change, a front end alignment check, recentered the steering wheel and had rear seat belts and an emergency flasher switch installed. While installed by the Mercedes dealership, the seat belts and emergency flasher are probably the only non-factory parts on the vehicle.
During the entire duration of Dr. Nystul’s ownership, the 220SE Coupe received recommended mileage based services “C”, “D” and “E” at Loeber in addition to other required maintenance work.
In May of 1968, at 26,000 miles, a new muffler was installed and Loeber checked for blue smoke coming from the exhaust and rattles in the dash. No engine repairs were reported at that time. In August of 1968, continued dash rattles and performance issues were reported to Loeber. A transmission modulator was rebuilt. 3 months later, oil consumption was a concern. By June of 1970, oil consumption remained a concern. Oil leaks were reported and the engine oil and transmission pans were retightened. On November 6, 1970 the receipts show the engine was burning 1 quart of oil per tank of gas. An engine short block and related parts were indicated on the parts list but crossed out. Another repair bill with the same Paid date and vehicle mileage of 51,546, blames the oil loss on a drain plug left off during an oil change and deems replacement of the short block necessary. The original cylinder head got a valve job and along with other engine components was installed on the new short block. Short block cost in 1970 - - $609. Total repair bill on Nov 6, 1970 was $1,224.91. 2 weeks later, the head bolts were retorqued at N/C. In January of 1971, a 3,000 mile service was done.
In January of 1972, the coupe has been driven over 76,000 miles and was brought in to Loeber because it was not running. The fuel pump was replaced. Pump cost was $87.34. Today, a new pump is over $1,500 from Mercedes although remanufactured pumps with superior electric motor armatures can be acquired for less than half that amount with exchange of old pump. In April of ’72 the cylinder head received another valve job.
The final repair bill in the file from the 1st owner was dated March 7, 1973. The receipt indicates the coupe had 95,767 miles.
The 2nd owner acquired the 220SE Coupe from Motor Werks of Barrington (another Chicago area Mercedes Dealer) on April 14, 1973. His 1st major repair bill was to replace the automatic transmission in October of 1974. The reported mileage on the receipt was 100,176.
The 2nd owner included additional receipts for service work done by local Mercedes repair shops. He last registered the cars license plates in 1981 (sticker included in documentation) and after 26 years of minimal use and sitting still, in 2007 he decided it was time to take the car out of hibernation. Documents show he spent $8,941 and had the car transported to a local Mercedes shop who did the following work:
Installed new tires.
Replaced the entire brake system including the brake lines, new master cylinder, new booster ($916 in 2007), remanufactured calipers, rotors and drums.
Repacked the wheel bearings.
Replaced the spark plugs.
Performed a compression test.
Replaced a faulty ignition coil.
Replaced the alternator.
Outsourced the fuel injectors to be “Rebuilt”. This should have been represented as being cleaned and serviced since the injectors cannot be disassembled but can be restored to give their proper spray patterns.
Paper work indicated that the fuel tank was “sent out” to be reconditioned however based on our inspection the inside of the tank was not epoxy coated as the documents state.
Serviced the 4 Speed automatic transmission.
Replaced leaking Transmission hoses
Disassembled and rebuilt the now crazy expensive fuel pump (It has the short pump)
Removed and cleaned the fuel injectors.
Flushed the cooling system and recored the radiator
Reconditioned the beautiful black leather interior.
Installed new “muffler parts”.
After doing all this work, the owner let the car sit again in his garage as evidenced but the virtually new condition and date code of the tires. The tires had no wear and were deflated when we discovered the vehicle this past April. Perhaps a broken spring on the overhead garage door made taking the car out to drive too much effort the 2nd owners son told me while sharing what he knew about his fathers “pride and joy”.
A year after the 2nd owner passed away in 2018, the vehicle was made available as part of an estate sale which is how I acquired it. Since the engine of the 220Se had already been started by people involved in liquidating the estate, I got help to open the garage door and drove the Benz from the garage to the front of the house to make loading on the flatbed easier. While we waited for the flatbed tow truck, one the many onlookers, a neighbor of more that 20 years, was astonished to learn the car existed in the garage of someone he thought he knew fairly well.
After transporting to our facility, we did a thorough inspection and performed the following work:
Removed and cleaned the gas tank.
Cleaned filters in the fuel tank and fuel pump and replaced the fuel filter at the engine.
Replaced the left front caliper with a proper remanufactured caliper (previous work had installed a right side caliper on the left side).
Cleared blockage in the left front brake hose.
Replaced 2 metallic fuel line sections with new nickel copper fuel pipes.
Replaced the fuel sending unit.
Replaced the cracked and disintegrating trunk matt.
Installed 4 new Kumho tires.
Washed and lightly buffed and polished the paint and chrome.
Treated the leather interior with Lexol
Masked the wood dash trim and re-amalgamated the clear shellac on the wood with denatured alcohol to give a smoother finish.
Repaired small holes in exhaust system.
Replaced the shocks with new KYB gas units.
We debated about giving the car a new paint job but decided to leave that decision to the next owner. The reason is, this vehicle is an excellent candidate for a restoration but does not require one if the owner chooses to enjoy it as is. Since restorations can be performed at different quality levels, a restoration depends on how deep one wishes to get into the preparation work involving the removal of components, seals and trim. Yet the car looks stunning as is and would serve well as an excellent driver.
Everything works on this 220SE Coupe. Even the original Becker Radio plays through the original center mono dash speaker. The foot operated windshield washer pump still delivers a spray to help clear the vision through the front glass. All dash instrumentation and interior lights function as they should.
The engine starts right up without pumping the gas and sounds great with the high rev sewing machine like sound common of 60’s era Mercedes engines.
The 220 SE sunroof coupe is a joy to drive and gets admired everywhere you take it. It has the unique vintage Mercedes leather aroma and sound. It holds straight when driving at any speed including the freeway. If you have read this far, you know the Mercedes W111 series has become a desirable find for many vintage Mercedes collectors. You will not be disappointed if you choose to add this example to your collection.