1999 G500 Pur edition

otiswesty

Regular guy
I have a 1999 G500 that I have been modifying with an eye towards the image of the Pur edition and the Canadian military Gwagen.

It was purchased by me in 2012 as a fixer, and soon thereafter I sold my trusty tectite grey 2002 G500 that I had put 60K miles on in the previous 4 years. Adios Baja adventurewagen, hello big blue.

Here I will document the project that has evolved over the last 3 years and before...:sombrero:
 

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cols110

Observer
Here is a 98' G500 in Dubai made to look Entdeckerish, I have seen it & some bits are nice but a bit over the top with accessories which spoil it, he is also asking far to much for it & it has been on the market for a while. If he cut the bling a little it would be far nicer.

http://dubai.dubizzle.com/motors/used-cars/mercedes-benz/g-class/2015/2/11/mercedes-g500-1998-120000-klms-biege-with--2/?back=ZHViYWkuZHViaXp6bGUuY29tL21vdG9ycy91c2VkLWNhcnMvbWVyY2VkZXMtYmVuei9nLWNsYXNzLz9wYWdlPTM%3D&pos=65
 

otiswesty

Regular guy
Yes, I have seen that one and agree it is a little over the top. I use mine as a DD as well, so it needs to look some what "normal. "
 

ILIAN

Adventurer
LOL, 99.999% of the people that see your truck will not think it looks normal no matter how normal you try to make it.
 

otiswesty

Regular guy
I bought my first G in 2000, I had been looking for a year or so. I had test driven a couple of D110's. I loved the styling, but the quality of the interior seemed not quite up to the $30K asking price. That would have been a bargain compared to the NAS values now. I happened to stumble across this 300GD locally which had been imported by a Portland resident back in 1985. I think it took him about two years to get it street legal by the look of the voluminous paperwork that came with it. There had been a 2 year second owner that bought a brand new green LR Disco2 when they sold it to me. That green rig looked pretty nice and I wondered if I was doing the right thing. Thankfully, I never really looked back.

The 300GD was fully loaded with Recaro seats, 4 speed auto trans, electric door locks, jump seats in the back, and a cool tropical "sun roof."
Not many pics of this one in my eight years of ownership. I loved the truck, but wasn't real active with any enthusiast groups.
 

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otiswesty

Regular guy
In 2008, there was a fuel crisis with oil going to $140 per barrel and gas to over $4 per gallon. They say that one man's suffering is another man's opportunity. I happily picked up a 2002 G500 with 57K miles on it in Tectite Grey for only a few dollar more than the old diesel truck fetched. I was sorry to see the old girl go, the simplicity of some aspects of its design was the perfect compromise between comfort and utility. However, driving on the interstate and up to the mountain with the 5 banger screaming along at 4000 RPM was not the answer, and I decided it was not best suited to my needs.

The G500 was a big change with lots of power, super comfy, great A/C, and a ready platform for building it into something more consistent with my needs. While the tropical roof on the 300GD was super cool, it prevented mounting of any kind of sturdy roof rack, unlike the G500. I started just by driving it as is for a few months and getting used to it. There were a few cosmetic issues that were easy to fix and new tires were in order as I developed the so called "death wobble" at 50 MPH. Tony at Motorsports here in Portland slapped on some nice 275/70/18 General Grabbers. 33" and no noticeable change in power or braking distance. Wow, what a change from my experience with the old underpowered diesel. The Grabbers are winter rated and studdable. I ended up getting a second studded set on a spare set of inexpensive 18" Ashtaroths for driving to the mountain in the winter.

I rolled it down to Death Valley in October 2009 for my first real outing with the boys. It did great and was really dialed in so to speak. Everything from here on out was just fluff as the only thing the truck needed for overlanding was a better set of tires. I did put on a tow pin bumper on it right off the bat too. It was sourced from Vlad at Fourbyfourclub. I had one of them on the 460 and really liked the added utility for pulling logs on our forestry property. The spare tire cover had a small dent when I purchased it, so I picked up the new Gwagenaccessories locking spare tire compartment, a real nifty item. I also got a decent deal on Karl's new Rock-Meister rock slider rocker protection that complemented the look and improved functionality. Adios stainless side steps...
 

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otiswesty

Regular guy
Just before my Death Valley trip in 2009, I had an opportunity to go to the Mercedes celebration for the 30 year anniversary of the G-class. Lots and lots and lots of cool stuff there. A real treat with the G-class assembly line factory tour and driving on Mt Schockle, the test track for the Magna Steyr cross country vehicles. I had the opportunity to drive a brand new G550 in Europe for 3 weeks. It had 500 km on the odometer when we picked it up and 10 times that when we dropped it back off in Stuttgart at the end of the trip. The remarkable thing was that the G550 was pretty much exactly the same vehicle I had bought a year earlier for $80,000 less. Same power, handling, braking and so on. The COMAND system had a screen that showed wheel angle and altitude, but other than that I saw no real advantage to the newer truck.

Long live the low budget 2002 edition!
 

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otiswesty

Regular guy
The most amazing thing for me of the Graz trip was to see the recently introduced Pur edition. Not only vehicles on display, but under construction, the fully built vehicle, as well new Edition Pur models being driven by G-class owners that were also attending the event.
 

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otiswesty

Regular guy
The Pur Edition is essentially 463 G-class running gear with electronic center rear and front locking differentials. Direct injection, high tech, high efficiency diesel engine. Substitute a 460 series style dash board, front grill, and interior trim and you start to get the picture. Many came supplied with double rear doors as well.

The interior lacked insulation and those I know who have spent some time driving them complain about the level of noise compared to the quiet sophisticated ride of the 463 G-class. The rear wheel wells were uncovered. Even my 1985 300GD had nice dense rubber matting over this area. While the Edition Pur was a beautiful vehicle, it still involved some compromises I saw as unnecessary. Here are some more pics of some Pur edition G280cdi on the assembly line.

Yup, those are rear drum brakes. Awesome!
 

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otiswesty

Regular guy
And just a few more from the assembly line
 

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