so suprised

[bryon617]

i just bought a 85 380 se, and ive never really been into mercedes, but the divorce got me looking at older vehicals. i sell cars and we took one in on trade, and i bought it for 800 bucks. great car, great ride, decent gas, what a pleasure. only thing that concerns me at all, both passenger side windows dont roll down ( i think its the switch personally) and the power head rest on the passenger side doesnt work. oh oops, theres a half dollar size rust bubble on the passenger door. the car has 188,000 on it, and it drives like it has 50,000. whats a vehical like this normally go for? no way id sell it, just wondering. neway later

[uberwgn]

Hard to say. You just don't see many gas-engine Benzes around like that in much of the country due to rust. It seems that folks do keep the diesels going for as long as they can afford to; the gassers fade away. Perhaps they're exported.

I wouldn't look back if you're getting good service from it ;) it's likely worth close to what you've paid for it. It's entirely possible it will be a good ride.

[sbiggers]

Sounds like you got a good buy. On the low end they might go for $1000 to $2500. On ebay the price is all over the board.

[marlinspike]

On the windows, I'll send you a passenger side switch for the cost of shipping if you want (but...if it is the switch using the switch in the back should work for the back window). The window symbol has worn off (reason I replaced it), but it works fine.

[wbain]

Welcome to the forum and MB ownership. Firstly, check for the sound of the electric motor running when you operate the switch. If it runs, the slider has to be fixed. Otherwise the switch needs to be replaced.

[bryon617]

yea im so excited! ill pm you about the switch, thanks for the help. got about 300 miles on it in a week.

[marlinspike]

In case your wondering why I haven't sent the switch, I never got the PM lol.

[cbbemce]

It is a simple job to take the PW switches out and check them with a continuity meter. If they are faulty, most of the time you can take the switch apart and clean the contacts and they will work.
Be careful when taking them apart. I suggest you do it over a tray with a cloth on it to avoid losing any of the ball bearings or springs. I clean mine with a pencil eraser, steel wool and contact cleaner.
When putting them back together, use a little dab of grease on top of the springs to hold the ball bearings until you can get the cover back on. Then just snap the cover in place and retest.
This is the first thing I would do, before I got into taking the door panel off and checking the motors, wiring and window slides.

[bobkay]

have you checked to see if the child protection device for the rear windows is engaged?? It's a small switch near the window switches that will disable the rear windows. Try throwing it in the opposite direction. I doubt both window switches are bad. Worth a try.

Bob
89 300SE daily driver 198,000 miles
68 280SE hangar queen 78,000 miles

[cool]

Bob, very wise observation, that could be it.

[BENZ4LIFE]

also try them with the doors open, a relay could cause this....