RE: Shed Of The Week: Mercedes S500

[SuperHangOn]

Legendary (or infamous) Russian mob car. They even have images of these things on gravestones!

As long as most of it works and it drives well that's probably not that risky. The M119 engine is indestructible and other mechanicals should be equally tough. The a/c can be ruinous to fix so that's a bonus.

[pSyCoSiS]

J4CKO said:

Wow, if it lived for six months and you weighed it in its a bargain

If the W140 has been looked after correctly, then it will out-live us all, never mind living for 6 months!

Probably the last 'over-engineered' Mercedes and a genuine million-mile car.

[XB70]

Not sure too many other cars have that cult following!

[XB70]

This says it all about the tank-like quality of them:

[anonymous-user]

If the air con was ice cold I'd snap this up without any reservations whatsoever... do you think it's worth emailing the seller and asking?

[Twoshoe]

Rob.043 said:

Very nice. I'll be well up for that if the A.C. is cold.

Yes, he doesn't make it very clear does he?

[DirtyIrish]

abitlikefiennes said:

If the air con was ice cold I'd snap this up without any reservations whatsoever... do you think it's worth emailing the seller and asking?

I'm sure the seller will shout it's Baltic Cold!

Cracking shed and such a luxo barge

[soxboy]

And not forgetting that the car was so big they fitted little prongs that automatically popped up from the corners in those pre parking sensor days.

[PGN]

If the air was cold I'd have and just use it as a sitting room where I can keep cool at the moment!

[V8 FOU]

Brilliant shed.
Best for a long time. Paint those wheels black to give proper stealth look. Double glazed windows? Can you imagine a shiny suit pitching up at home trying to sell "DG" and you could say " Nah, mate. got double glazing all round - even in the car"!
Jeez, that would finish him.....

[XB70]

If the air con is not running, it could be a host of problems. The blower motor could be gone all the way through to the evaporator (scrap the car - it's around 3 times the purchase price to fix it).

My personal opinion after owning a few - buy one privately with a wad of service invoices, spend a good long time having a look over it and you will get many years out of it. An excellent one could be had for 3000 or so.

Make no mistake, the running costs (to do it properly) as a percentage of purchase costs are high. I have driven rubbish ones and they feel like that - rubbish - whereas the properly maintained ones feel like the money-no-object cars they were built as.

[TurboHatchback]

Fantastic stuff. If the engine, gearbox and rear suspension were all functioning properly then this would be an excellent buy (everything else you can live without). A magnificently ridiculous car for the money.

[soad]

EdHall697 said:

I wonder how many bodys you can fit in the boot?

Two, I reckon.

[rallycross]

not my sort of thing but it's great value, look how clean the interior is and only 2 owners and only 100k miles a great SOTW.

[pSyCoSiS]

soxboy said:

And not forgetting that the car was so big they fitted little prongs that automatically popped up from the corners in those pre parking sensor days.

They did indeed, my 600 SEL has them (although they take their time raising up and lowering down!).

[alecescolme]

Very impressive cars, I actually don't mind the wheels too much.
Would love to own one at some point, the good ones seem to be going up in value.

Now how about a s70 AMG

[pSyCoSiS]

XB70 said:

Not sure too many other cars have that cult following!

Epic. Says it all really.

[TurboHatchback]

soad said:

EdHall697 said:

I wonder how many bodys you can fit in the boot?

Two, I reckon.

I'd have thought at least six unless they were proper fatties.

[XB70]

alecescolme said:

Very impressive cars, I actually don't mind the wheels too much.
Would love to own one at some point, the good ones seem to be going up in value.

Now how about a s70 AMG

Go out all and get the S73.

Was just looking at the ad photos in detail. The pretensioners on the seatbelts go so you will sometimes see floppy belts in ads - does not seem to be the case here. Car also seems to be sitting level (SLS was an option on the S500's and better when it does not have it) and they also snap springs.

Take it for a drive - the front suspension gets hammered with the weight + speedbumps so if no knocking or vibration, then that is good. Make sure to take up to motorway speeds.

They rust under the wheelarches - at that price, Hammerite, sandpaper and a can of spraypaint from Halfords.

So far, looks good and a decent detail on the bodywork would make it look great.

I would swap back to the 16inch wheels since the ride is sooooooo much better with them.

[BigBen]

XB70 said:

About time the W140 showed up in the Shed!

I think the reference to India may be in connection with the W124 series E class - AFAIK know, the W140's were only built in Germany.

That was my thinking as well.

The over 2 ton thing is only true of a 600 SEL, the rest are a rather svelte 1900KG or so.

Later cars sadly lack the pop up parking antenna as they have parking sensors instead as well as improvements to the climate control and a restyling making them look a bit less bulky than the early cars.

I have been on the lookout for a late 600 for a few years now, difficult to find.