RE: Shed Of The Week: Mercedes S500

[va1o]

Does the air con work?

[Dr G]

monthefish said:

Am I the only one that thinks the wheels aren't that bad?

Not offensive but not as nice as standard wheels either.

[monthefish]

Dr G said:

monthefish said:

Am I the only one that thinks the wheels aren't that bad?

Not offensive but not as nice as standard wheels either.

[trj88888]

Bit of w140 soft porn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3swfmKj1pk

[gumsie]

daveco said:

Great shed!

I remember the autocar group review which pitted it against the BMW 750 and Jag XJ. I think it battered them into submission. Not a patch on the W126 design wise imo, but a better car in every other way.

Yep, me too. I think I still have the issue somewhere and remember the quote from the road tester;

'With but a single numbing blow, the S Class has shut down the opposition'.

[AdeV]

Never mind Shed of the Week (although it's a great shed.... very tempted, but I already have 2 sub-25mpg cars, I think a third would just be asking for trouble) - I think this one's also a contender for Aspergers of the Week!

[ZesPak]

gumsie said:

Yep, me too. I think I still have the issue somewhere and remember the quote from the road tester;

'With but a single numbing blow, the S Class has shut down the opposition'.

Tbh, has bmw ever recovered since then? I thought the s class was definitive for its class and not even the 7 can touch it.

[Strawman]

ZesPak said:

Tbh, has bmw ever recovered since then? I thought the s class was definitive for its class and not even the 7 can touch it.

BMW were always a slightly cheaper slightly more sporting orientated brand than Mercedes, they've continued on in this way to the present day. I don't think BMW have suffered much from not making the best large saloon car in the world.

[chris333]

andyps said:

chris333 said:

allanwhoops said:

I think it was Garel Rhys' paper comparing Lexus (Toyota) and Mercedes W140 manufacturing that put MB into a right tizz. According to the FT, MB's car division consistently had in excess of $1bn of annual warranty claims. Rhys' paper showed that Toyota could build a perfect Lexus LS400 in the same time as it took MB to sort out the faults as these came off the production line.

Is that paper available online anywhere? Sounds like an interesting read.

It was a combination of the rise of competitors such as Lexus, together with the huge development costs and lukewarm reception for the W140 which led to the complete change in Mercedes culture of the 90s. The change that produced rust-buckets such as the W210 E-class and the ML, but also enabled the company to survive!

It was in the book "The Machine that Changed the World" - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Machine-That-Changed-World... - it didn't actually name Mercedes, it said it was a well known German producer of luxury cars. The follow up book, Lean Thinking, named Mercedes as by then they were putting cars together properly.

Belated Thanks Andy!

[paulg390]

Was just getting tempted by this as a great luxo barge/shedding opportunity but looks like it is sold. Anyone on here ?

[ZesPak]

Strawman said:

BMW were always a slightly cheaper slightly more sporting orientated brand than Mercedes, they've continued on in this way to the present day. I don't think BMW have suffered much from not making the best large saloon car in the world.

Hey, I never said they'd suffer from it, just like Toyota or Porsche don't suffer not making the best small exec saloons.
I was just saying that, since this car, every comparison I see of the 7 versus the S, the S seems to come out on top easily.

[andyps]

chris333 said:

Belated Thanks Andy!

Happy to help, it is a fascinating book. although out of date now in may areas.

[Richard Zurich]

After we sadly had shortened our '95 S320 - after "only"50 K kms in it - (boy were we glad to sit in this and no other car)


we switched to this '97 S420

For the past 8 years and well more than 120K kms it has served without a glitch apart from a leaking steering box and the regular services at MB. It was one of the best investments in a daily car I have ever made with all the depreciation taken by the first owner of 10 years who put only 45K kms on it. We run it on less than 11 litres of fuel per 100kms - hardly a glass or two more than the S320 - in mixed Swiss (limited at 120km/h) and German (open) highways - no city driving. It is much more comfortable than a 2015 E-Class that I recently took from Hamburg to Zurich.

And for the special trips there is this '98 S 600L:

Yes, it needs more fuel and rides harsher on the original 18" wheels. But the space - the lavish interior - the grump on kick-down - take it out early on a Sunday morning and hit the Autobahn in style: It is worth the few extra Swiss Francs for the petrol. So far 20K kms out of a total of 65K kms and services only.

I expect these two to serve me well into retirement age in style.
If you cherry pick the right one - you will be enjoying it for a song. And the 500 definitely is the best compromise.
Cheers from Zurich

Richard

[ZesPak]

Some great machinery, I feel like I need one in my life once I stop doing 30k miles a year or a space opens up for a second car (the 159 needs replacement?).

Good thing I've built my new garage to be 6m, the current one is only 5 so probably won't fit these .