Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 9]

[0a]

jonclancy said:

Fellow Bargistas,

Some advice please, if I may?

In a month or so, I've a lease car coming. Yes, I know, I know.....

I'll be parting with my thread purchase 300E-24. It's due a service, MOT, and I have a pair of new front struts that need fitting. Although just inside top thread budget on purchase, and having spent a couple of grand on it over the past three years and 34K miles, it's not going to fetch too much. Too good to scrap, by far, but with faults. Do I get the work done, or sell as is for a commensurate discount?

Your thoughts, please!

VMT!

Keep it and spend £10k replacing everything and getting it repainted to be as good as new, of course!

[cat220]

V12 AMG said:

cat220 said:

V12 AMG said:

cat220 said:

Been looking a lot over the past few weeks at w220's especially in 500 form. I really have no need for another v8 however I'm convincing myself this would be a practical solution in consolidating the fleet. I need to cut back from six cars (no I really do). Anyway, I was drawn to this...



High miles, looks well cared for and the MOT history looks decent.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/2004-MERCEDES-S500-...

It has a few cosmetic flaws but not bad at all. Looks similar condition to mine overall.
170,000 miles isn't excessively high for one of these.
I love my Cubanite Silver W220. Can look properly silver, or gold, or grey depending on light.
54 plate facelift, good colours, Probably the best compromise of drive-train for very little money.

Are they galvanised from 04?

All cars were galvanised from mid 2003. All 53 plates are usually in the safe zone so no worries on a 54 plate.
Also gets thousands of little upgrades everywhere besides the big cosmetic changes and the newer 7 speed auto. Lots of behind the scenes electronic revisions were phased in from 52 plate onwards. 54 plate will have every revised part.

Excellent, thanks!

[cat220]

cat220 said:

V12 AMG said:

cat220 said:

V12 AMG said:

cat220 said:

Been looking a lot over the past few weeks at w220's especially in 500 form. I really have no need for another v8 however I'm convincing myself this would be a practical solution in consolidating the fleet. I need to cut back from six cars (no I really do). Anyway, I was drawn to this...



High miles, looks well cared for and the MOT history looks decent.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/2004-MERCEDES-S500-...

It has a few cosmetic flaws but not bad at all. Looks similar condition to mine overall.
170,000 miles isn't excessively high for one of these.
I love my Cubanite Silver W220. Can look properly silver, or gold, or grey depending on light.
54 plate facelift, good colours, Probably the best compromise of drive-train for very little money.

Are they galvanised from 04?

All cars were galvanised from mid 2003. All 53 plates are usually in the safe zone so no worries on a 54 plate.
Also gets thousands of little upgrades everywhere besides the big cosmetic changes and the newer 7 speed auto. Lots of behind the scenes electronic revisions were phased in from 52 plate onwards. 54 plate will have every revised part.

Excellent, thanks!

Sold for £2,600, annoyed I never stuck in a bid now!

[anonymous-user]

cat220 said:

Sold for £2,600, annoyed I never stuck in a bid now!

That's criminal!

Looked like a fantastic car for the money (if you can see pass the miles).

[harrykul]

As one of the final bits of my s124 bodywork refurb, I'm looking to replace the headlights, indicator lensed and grille insert. Has anyone got a good source for them?

Car is going in for a 2 day detail on Tuesday, looking forward to the results...

[BigShow]

Bought this 1999 Audi A8 4.2 for $5,200 - it had 97k miles on it and one owner since new with full Audi service history including a recent cambelt change at Audi. Owner kept it garaged all it's life but liked to bump into things so numerous little bumps and scratches around the place including some missing trim but the paint when clean looked great. Needed new brakes and another service but overall looked good.

A couple of years have gone by since buying it and it's now on 123k miles and I have spent circa $5k on bits going wrong and it's still not 100% fixed but decided now to let it run till it doesn't and enjoy its silky ride and effortless V8. Right now no ABS, split boot on the drive shaft and an intermittent misfire but on she trundles. I want to get her to at least 150k so I feel like I got some value, treated to an oil change yesterday, 10 quarts of Mobil 1 fully synthetic from Walmart for $50, $6 for the filter and $29.50 for a drive-thru oil change at Valvoline using my oil/filter. At that price I will keep doing that every 5k to help things along.



Copes with a fat-bike on it's rear too.

[r129sl]

harrykul said:

As one of the final bits of my s124 bodywork refurb, I'm looking to replace the headlights, indicator lensed and grille insert. Has anyone got a good source for them?

Car is going in for a 2 day detail on Tuesday, looking forward to the results...

You can usually do well looking at Bosch/Hella/Magneti Morelli on the European motor factors' websites. Just make sure you buy the ones of left hand traffic. These look like a good deal:
left: http://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/magneti-marelli-77...
right: http://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/magneti-marelli-77...

Grille insert you probably have to get from Merc. Part number is A1248880323. According to the Inchcape website, it's less than £25 inc VAT. http://www.mercedes-benz-parts.co.uk/index.php?opt...

(I have assumed yours is a facelift—I can't remember for sure, though).

Edited by r129sl on Friday 5th February 20:17

[Eski1991]

Dear Barge Agony Aunt

I've been looking at all sorts of barges and big estates, getting tired of seeing the same tired 728/735 with vibrating steering, gold lexus with parking dings and kerb marks from doddery old men 6 months from giving up their licence, pimped out Japanese saloons with diagonal wheels and rusty old Mercs.

Put me out of my misery and help me find something worth smoking around in for a year or two and get me out of my poverty spec Mondeo!

Even considering a Vectra http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-Vauxhall-Vectra-3-0...

Could this even be considered a barge?

[EskimoArapaho]

Eski1991 said:

Dear Barge Agony Aunt

I've been looking at all sorts of barges and big estates, getting tired of seeing the same tired 728/735 with vibrating steering, gold lexus with parking dings and kerb marks from doddery old men 6 months from giving up their licence, pimped out Japanese saloons with diagonal wheels and rusty old Mercs.

Put me out of my misery and help me find something worth smoking around in for a year or two and get me out of my poverty spec Mondeo!

Even considering a Vectra http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-Vauxhall-Vectra-3-0...

Could this even be considered a barge?

Not really (IMHO), so you should get the Omega, which is.

[0a]

I rather like this a8 4.2 http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...





The W124 has been put in for a service with a list of annoying things to fix. The driver's side window isn't working again - the regulator was replaced last time. Is there some "trick" to get it to work well over a long period? Also it has been 2 years/40k since I did the shocks - worth doing again?

[bob-lad]

Eski1991 said:

Dear Barge Agony Aunt

I've been looking at all sorts of barges and big estates, getting tired of seeing the same tired 728/735 with vibrating steering, gold lexus with parking dings and kerb marks from doddery old men 6 months from giving up their licence, pimped out Japanese saloons with diagonal wheels and rusty old Mercs.

Put me out of my misery and help me find something worth smoking around in for a year or two and get me out of my poverty spec Mondeo!

Even considering a Vectra http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-Vauxhall-Vectra-3-0...

Could this even be considered a barge?

In a word. No.

Point your wallet in this sort of direction and you'll wonder why you ever thought a Vectra could be a barge.

rejn said:

I'm really liking this style of XJR these days:


This one is within haggling distance of thread budget.

Unless, of course, you do 40,000 miles a year and need diesel estate, in which case just wait 5 more minutes and someone'll be along to point you at an E-Class estate with a AGA.


Welcome aboard.

[0a]

I think a 6 cylinder vectra or mondeo can be considered a barge. Non-new, larger engined comfy cars is what bargism is all about. And any old Merc

Consider them an antidote to 2.0 4 cylinder diesels on finance!

[E65Ross]

Vectra, a barge....

Have you ever driven one? They're fking hateful cars!! Sorry, I have nothing more productive to say about them.

[0a]

My dad had a diesel one that he rapidly sold... It was okay and I think that the 3.0 litre deserves some appreciation purely for not being a 4 pot diesel!

[Eski1991]

bob-lad said:

Unless, of course, you do 40,000 miles a year and need diesel estate, in which case just wait 5 more minutes and someone'll be along to point you at an E-Class estate with a AGA.


Welcome aboard.

It's only about 20k a year so I can stomach high 20s average, looked at the E classes test driven a couple, got fed up with rusty wings, ridiculous asking prices for estates and the surprisingly high bork factor. That XJ looks the ticket bar the mid teens MPG and the fact I can't afford to buy it.

ETA http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-JAGUAR-XJ8-3-2-AUTO...

Cat D and strange advert but could do the trick.

Edited by Eski1991 on Friday 5th February 21:01

[Eski1991]

E65Ross said:

Vectra, a barge....

Have you ever driven one? They're fking hateful cars!! Sorry, I have nothing more productive to say about them.

I had a 9-5 Aero for a stint, are they not much the same?

[Patrick Bateman]

I had a Vectra B, the C is a lot better inside but, even knowing it's built on a budget, it's still the sort of car you get and just think Really? Is that honestly the best you can manage?

[Stegel]

r129sl said:

You can usually do well looking at Bosch/Hella/Magneti Morelli on the European motor factors' websites. Just make sure you buy the ones of left hand traffic. These look like a good deal:
left: http://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/magneti-marelli-77...
right: http://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/magneti-marelli-77...

May be a one-off but I've been di&&ed about by a sister company with the same address in Germany and UK phone number. Ordered a named manufacturer part, without warning they send a generic poor copy and offer a minuscule discount making it twice the price of buying the copy elsewhere. Currently arm wrestling over postage refund - it's a few quid but they pi&&ed me off!

[deadslow]

0a said:

I think a 6 cylinder vectra or mondeo can be considered a barge. Non-new, larger engined comfy cars is what bargism is all about. And any old Merc

Consider them an antidote to 2.0 4 cylinder diesels on finance!

No. I had a million Mondeos as snotters. A barge needs a sense of ocassion.

In a proper barge you can turn up anywhere and park out front.

[0a]

deadslow said:

No. I had a million Mondeos as snotters. A barge needs a sense of ocassion.

In a proper barge you can turn up anywhere and park out front.

Nowadays any car which isn't a diesel has a sense of occasion unfortunately! I get the point though, hence why I stick to mercs myself.

The trouble with the likes of the 3.0 vectra and the like is that 'proper' barges are so cheap and do the job better, and the later ones attract silly tax.