Sensible unicorn 2008 W251 R500L Sport
Discussion
These don't come up for sale very often -- the last time one did, I went to have a look at it and left a little unconvinced at the rear space and the lack of adjustability of the 'seventh' seat in the second row.
However, since then I was returning on the Eurotunnel in the summer and a facelift W251 was parked behind me so I chatted to the occupants and the teenagers in the rear were very happy with the comfort and space -- the parents up front were equally pleased, so I considered them a viable option once again.
The issue is, that the seven seat option was only really available, to the best of my knowledge, in the latter years of the pre-facelift model and for the couple of years that the facelift was sold - 2007-2009. However, the facelift wasn't sold in the UK with a petrol engine which meant that to find a seven seater with the 5461cc M273 engine (which replaced the 4266cc M113 in the earlier six seat versions) is not very common.
Therefore, when this one popped up in my AT saved searches on Friday, it didn't take long to ping the seller an email... after an couple of exchanges he sent me the VIN so that I could look up the build sheet and I liked what I saw. I'm not going to quote it here, as it's not an official build sheet and so there are some discrepancies, but there's:
- HK audio
- pano sunroof
- sports kit exterior and interior (with 21" AMG alloys)
- rear entertainment
- rear air-con
- pop out third row windows (as I had in the E30 325i Sport and my classic Mini).
- rear blinds
- towing hitch and tow bar (in a bag in the boot)
- individual option Chromite Black bodywork
I'll confirm later once I get the list, but needless to say that it's a decent spec and also comes with the 7G-Tronic gearbox and Airmatic with adaptive suspension.
However, since then I was returning on the Eurotunnel in the summer and a facelift W251 was parked behind me so I chatted to the occupants and the teenagers in the rear were very happy with the comfort and space -- the parents up front were equally pleased, so I considered them a viable option once again.
The issue is, that the seven seat option was only really available, to the best of my knowledge, in the latter years of the pre-facelift model and for the couple of years that the facelift was sold - 2007-2009. However, the facelift wasn't sold in the UK with a petrol engine which meant that to find a seven seater with the 5461cc M273 engine (which replaced the 4266cc M113 in the earlier six seat versions) is not very common.
Therefore, when this one popped up in my AT saved searches on Friday, it didn't take long to ping the seller an email... after an couple of exchanges he sent me the VIN so that I could look up the build sheet and I liked what I saw. I'm not going to quote it here, as it's not an official build sheet and so there are some discrepancies, but there's:
- HK audio
- pano sunroof
- sports kit exterior and interior (with 21" AMG alloys)
- rear entertainment
- rear air-con
- pop out third row windows (as I had in the E30 325i Sport and my classic Mini).
- rear blinds
- towing hitch and tow bar (in a bag in the boot)
- individual option Chromite Black bodywork
I'll confirm later once I get the list, but needless to say that it's a decent spec and also comes with the 7G-Tronic gearbox and Airmatic with adaptive suspension.
Edited by bolidemichael on Monday 16th October 22:40
Ofc, it's not perfect and there are some things that are to be noted:
- The airmatic compressor seems to take an awfully long time to raise the suspension and it keep running for a good while, too -- around two and a half minutes
- Despite having two air con services in recent years, it isn't very cold which suggests a small leak somewhere (perhaps)
- The paddles on the steering wheel don't seem to do anything. I expect that, being a 7G-Tronic box, they should over-ride the auto shift and enable manual shift, as per my S211 E500
- There is a vibration that occurs at around 80mph, I suspect that it might be the aged 2018 Pirelli tyres, a couple of which have gashes in the sidewall. The wheels were refurbished recently by the most recent owner, so it doesn't seem likely that they out of round, but it'll be worth checking
- The alloys aren't the original 'Titanium Silver', as supplied
- The rear bumper has been resprayed, along with the n/s rear quarter
- The two, twin tailpipes seem to be OEM AMG units from the R63, but it isn't raucous nor is there a drone in the interior. My suspicion is that the originals were damaged along with the bumper and that the backboxes were probably NLA, so they fitted available units from the R63
- There is a google android X-trons PX5 headunit fitted
- The silver trim on the boot trim n/s has been ripped off, glued on with industrial strength glue and ripped off again.
I'll probably fit new all-season tyres immediately and get an alignment check done. The tyres are a whopping 265/40/21 105Y!
- The airmatic compressor seems to take an awfully long time to raise the suspension and it keep running for a good while, too -- around two and a half minutes
- Despite having two air con services in recent years, it isn't very cold which suggests a small leak somewhere (perhaps)
- The paddles on the steering wheel don't seem to do anything. I expect that, being a 7G-Tronic box, they should over-ride the auto shift and enable manual shift, as per my S211 E500
- There is a vibration that occurs at around 80mph, I suspect that it might be the aged 2018 Pirelli tyres, a couple of which have gashes in the sidewall. The wheels were refurbished recently by the most recent owner, so it doesn't seem likely that they out of round, but it'll be worth checking
- The alloys aren't the original 'Titanium Silver', as supplied
- The rear bumper has been resprayed, along with the n/s rear quarter
- The two, twin tailpipes seem to be OEM AMG units from the R63, but it isn't raucous nor is there a drone in the interior. My suspicion is that the originals were damaged along with the bumper and that the backboxes were probably NLA, so they fitted available units from the R63
- There is a google android X-trons PX5 headunit fitted
- The silver trim on the boot trim n/s has been ripped off, glued on with industrial strength glue and ripped off again.
I'll probably fit new all-season tyres immediately and get an alignment check done. The tyres are a whopping 265/40/21 105Y!
Edited by bolidemichael on Monday 16th October 23:12
With a little bit of ebay reverse engineering, I can see that there are actually two part numbers for the alloys, due to the offset differential between front and rear.
This'll be one of the checks that I ask of the garage (which I'll ensure that I eyeball myself) when they're servicing the wheels.
Another bit of ebay-fu has revealed the part number for the boot trim with damaged metal fascia.
A possible issue is that the previous owner went so gung ho with the glue, that it seems to have run into the groove which joins the boot rubber... I'm not yet sure how I'll get around that.
This'll be one of the checks that I ask of the garage (which I'll ensure that I eyeball myself) when they're servicing the wheels.
Another bit of ebay-fu has revealed the part number for the boot trim with damaged metal fascia.
A possible issue is that the previous owner went so gung ho with the glue, that it seems to have run into the groove which joins the boot rubber... I'm not yet sure how I'll get around that.
I've just created another rod for my back, as I haven't meaningfully updated either of the car threads since before their respective summer roadtrips!
I should take a step back and add more to the 'buying' process.
Once the seller sent me over the VIN, I looked up both a spec sheet off t'interweb and also the brochure. I then spent over half an our reading through the brochure and matching up what spec this vehicle actually had -- from what I could make out, it didn't have rear heated seats, front ventilated seats nor distronic cruise control. Intruiguingly, it did indicate lights (bi-xenons) that illuminate curves and a tow bar -- the latter is interesting as I've wanted a vehicle with one for a while, as the FFRR wasn't supplied with a kit (a positive, as it implies that it had never had the additional strain on the drivetrain of regularly towing).
It also threatens to have 'keyless go', which I noticed on the door handles but haven't noticed on the dash, so I'll be having a look for the 'Start' button in a little while to verify.
I found myself with a clear window on Saturday morning and having pinged a message to my PH chum, Fresh Prince, who was located in the relatively nearby vicinity of Buckinhamshire, where the car was located. The photos in the ad ( above) were of either a petrol head's drive or a driveway trader and I wanted a second pair of eyes/sounding board.
As both my cars are temporarily housed elsewhere, at present, and the i3 in possession of Mrs BoMi on a Saturday coupled with the nightmare of having inadequate range for the round trip without having to stop and fathom the myriad requirements to purchase a charge for the car -- and with a 4pm deadline of the first RWC 1/4 final to meet, I jumped onto the VFR1200F and thanked the weather gods that, whilst it was a little brisk, it was dry and bright outside.
I arrived at the stated time and the chap was decent enough and not a trader; nice stone house, driveway, a Turbo R, a W12 Continental, a Series 1 Land Rover with a 3.5L Rover V8... he had procured this car in April 2022 for the purpose of carting around five Ukranians to him he had offered refuge -- they had moved on, so the R was surplus to requirements. It had eleven service stamps from a farrago of garages over the years, none that looked bad and even a couple of times with a local Ferrari/Maserati indy! The spark plugs have been replaced around 5,000 miles ago, but I can't see evidence of sunroof lube, fuel filter or coolant reaplcement.
We chatted for a while, observed and agreed on the foibles that I've noted above, agreed a price (though I forgot to account for the temporarily misplaced key!) subject to feedback from a couple of friendly tech with respect to the issues and motioned to leave... all good, until I went to start the bike and realised that I'd left the ignition/lights on for the duration.
Thankfully with a couple of petrolheads to hand, the drama was avoided and a pair of jump leads was prpduced and attached to the battery of a Boxster -- sorted in a jiffy.
As for the rugby, I listened to the first ten minutes on R5L on my helmet bluetooth system and spent an enjoyable remainder of the evening watching two scintillating matches.
One thing to note -- as the car hadn't seen much usage, I noticed that it was slow to start -- so I have had it sat on the trickle charger overnight which I hope will make it a little livelier.
I should take a step back and add more to the 'buying' process.
Once the seller sent me over the VIN, I looked up both a spec sheet off t'interweb and also the brochure. I then spent over half an our reading through the brochure and matching up what spec this vehicle actually had -- from what I could make out, it didn't have rear heated seats, front ventilated seats nor distronic cruise control. Intruiguingly, it did indicate lights (bi-xenons) that illuminate curves and a tow bar -- the latter is interesting as I've wanted a vehicle with one for a while, as the FFRR wasn't supplied with a kit (a positive, as it implies that it had never had the additional strain on the drivetrain of regularly towing).
It also threatens to have 'keyless go', which I noticed on the door handles but haven't noticed on the dash, so I'll be having a look for the 'Start' button in a little while to verify.
I found myself with a clear window on Saturday morning and having pinged a message to my PH chum, Fresh Prince, who was located in the relatively nearby vicinity of Buckinhamshire, where the car was located. The photos in the ad ( above) were of either a petrol head's drive or a driveway trader and I wanted a second pair of eyes/sounding board.
As both my cars are temporarily housed elsewhere, at present, and the i3 in possession of Mrs BoMi on a Saturday coupled with the nightmare of having inadequate range for the round trip without having to stop and fathom the myriad requirements to purchase a charge for the car -- and with a 4pm deadline of the first RWC 1/4 final to meet, I jumped onto the VFR1200F and thanked the weather gods that, whilst it was a little brisk, it was dry and bright outside.
I arrived at the stated time and the chap was decent enough and not a trader; nice stone house, driveway, a Turbo R, a W12 Continental, a Series 1 Land Rover with a 3.5L Rover V8... he had procured this car in April 2022 for the purpose of carting around five Ukranians to him he had offered refuge -- they had moved on, so the R was surplus to requirements. It had eleven service stamps from a farrago of garages over the years, none that looked bad and even a couple of times with a local Ferrari/Maserati indy! The spark plugs have been replaced around 5,000 miles ago, but I can't see evidence of sunroof lube, fuel filter or coolant reaplcement.
We chatted for a while, observed and agreed on the foibles that I've noted above, agreed a price (though I forgot to account for the temporarily misplaced key!) subject to feedback from a couple of friendly tech with respect to the issues and motioned to leave... all good, until I went to start the bike and realised that I'd left the ignition/lights on for the duration.
Thankfully with a couple of petrolheads to hand, the drama was avoided and a pair of jump leads was prpduced and attached to the battery of a Boxster -- sorted in a jiffy.
As for the rugby, I listened to the first ten minutes on R5L on my helmet bluetooth system and spent an enjoyable remainder of the evening watching two scintillating matches.
One thing to note -- as the car hadn't seen much usage, I noticed that it was slow to start -- so I have had it sat on the trickle charger overnight which I hope will make it a little livelier.
andy43 said:
I shouldn’t, but I like these, and with that engine it’d be the ultimate minibus/DIY van. No Distronic is probably a plus, I’ve used 2006 Distronic and it left ridiculous gaps even on the M25 setting. It’ll be ULEZ compliant too I’d guess, another plus.
That's nice to know, I don't really like the radar cruise on the i3 on the motorway, but it's useful in traffic. I suppose that it would be more suited to continental driving.As for not liking it... the front end is a very poor exercise in styling, that's for sure!
Some more bits:
The seal on the o/s sidelight seems to have blown
The finish on the headlight switch panel has gunked up — I resolved this issue in the E500 using ‘Sticky Stuff remover’. Also, this car has keyless go — I think that it’s a cover that goes over the key slot?
The front mat is aftermarket and NLA. The lugs don’t locate onto the carpet.
The third row mat is original
Second row mat absent and NLA
The third row offside seat belt clip is snapped
Contrasted to the near side
There are also these curious lugs/rivets on either rear window
The seal on the o/s sidelight seems to have blown
The finish on the headlight switch panel has gunked up — I resolved this issue in the E500 using ‘Sticky Stuff remover’. Also, this car has keyless go — I think that it’s a cover that goes over the key slot?
The front mat is aftermarket and NLA. The lugs don’t locate onto the carpet.
The third row mat is original
Second row mat absent and NLA
The third row offside seat belt clip is snapped
Contrasted to the near side
There are also these curious lugs/rivets on either rear window
Awesome. The R is one of my inexplicable soft-spot cars, which I'd love to have an excuse to buy but really can't see how that could happen, so I'm in for the vicarious ownership experience. Plus who doesn't love a chunky V8.
Was the seller a PHer? The story about the Ukrainians seems familiar and I'm sure someone on here did something very similar.
Was the seller a PHer? The story about the Ukrainians seems familiar and I'm sure someone on here did something very similar.
CKY said:
Cool old bus OP, looking forward to updates on your ownership! I still hold out hope that one day a RHD R63 might come on to the market... 
https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/2006-mercedes-...
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