Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 10]

[anonymous-user]

lostkiwi said:

Those BMW powered Range Rovers are as slow as a wet week and very prone to head gasket issues on top of all the usual electrical gremlins the P38 is known for.
I'd avoid that like the plague.
.

Until the quite recent TDV8 all diesel Range Rovers were dreadfully slow. The early TD6 L322 is a pretty dismal thing too. In both cases I've suspected the mechanical fragility is due to the engine having to work so hard to move the car. The P38 isn't exactly a ball of fire even with that crappy Rover V8 wheezing it along.

[jonnydm]

jonnydm said:

BlueMR2 said:

jonnydm said:

Sitting at work, nursing a sore head. Think I might have just bought a W140. Thoughts on this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-W140-S500-Silve...

Have you picked this up yet? Any more info?

Plenty of small touches, like the boot handle that pops out so your hand doesn't get dirty when you open and close it, then retracts when you shut the boot.

Going to pick this up tomorrow evening hopefully. Will make sure to give an update - looking forward to this.

Barge Update:
Went to pick this up yesterday evening, pleasant enough train ride from Waterloo to Liphook then a short cab ride to the vendor.

The car is as expected a nice enough example, with a few small dings / marks around.

The inside is lovely, the seats are huge(!) and the aircon works very well as do all of the various lights and switches that I've tried.

The drive - my first was getting into it to take it home - is best described as smooth. I had country lanes, along with the A3, M25, M4 and A406 to get to grips with it - all in torrential rain. The steering is light and the pedals with a reassuring weight that take a bit of learning how best to use.

As far as tidying up a few things, I'll look into sorting the soft close and the CD changer (neither of which are drastic fixes / essential).

A final thought for now is on size and usability, whilst it feels spacious inside, it fits very well inside a parking bay and the parking 'guidelines' are actually pretty useful. Though, I have been spoilt for years by the BMW passenger mirror dropping to help with avoiding kerbs. A full tank was just over £100 (I had to put my card in twice as I was using 'Pay at Pump').

With a classic policy costing relative peanuts, this could be the start of the fleet that I've long wanted!

[rm163603]

279 said:

rm163603 said:

The difference in values between W220 and W221 S600s is one of the things that bothers me although the W221 does look a lot more modern and less awkward.

Having said that the post facelift W220s seem to make much stronger money as you'd expect.

This one for example: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-Benz-S600-5-5-a...

Mind you 8K for a 12 year old version vs a 10 year old version does still seem a big difference.

Does anyone know if a later W220 or early W221 would be the more 'reliable' option.

I'm guessing coil packs and ABC would still be the two big things to watch out for.

That purple one has been on sale for a good 16 months since I started looking. I actually remember it being £8k back then! First time I've seen it at that dealer, but given the name of the place and the reg on the car, I suspect its the same vendor.

All S600 BI Turbos are facelift cars (generally 52 onwards, although check for a widescreen command), there was a final model revision in mid 03 (53/04) that changed the command, some electrical bits and apparently changed to a galvanized shell (although I'm yet to see anything 'official' to back this claim up). It doesn't generally affect values too much.

W220 and W221 model specific faults are relatively minor and easy to put right in comparison to the drivetrain, which as I mentioned is pretty similar so both are as reliable as each other. ABC faults and coil pack faults still apply (incidental parts in many cases), and this money I'd highly recommend you get any potential purchase plugged into a STAR before handing over any money.

Thanks for the useful post.

I'm pretty much set on getting one of these V12 biturbo beasts.

A lot of the cars currently for sale seem pretty much rooted to the forecourt. Does that mean they are over priced?

Did you end up buying one in the end?

[rm163603]

dme123 said:

lostkiwi said:

Those BMW powered Range Rovers are as slow as a wet week and very prone to head gasket issues on top of all the usual electrical gremlins the P38 is known for.
I'd avoid that like the plague.
.

Until the quite recent TDV8 all diesel Range Rovers were dreadfully slow. The early TD6 L322 is a pretty dismal thing too. In both cases I've suspected the mechanical fragility is due to the engine having to work so hard to move the car. The P38 isn't exactly a ball of fire even with that crappy Rover V8 wheezing it along.

That makes sense... whenever I've heard one pulling away while passing on foot or whatever they do seem to have to work very hard to budge the weight of the thing.

[Lowtimer]

rm163603 said:

Thanks for the useful post.

I'm pretty much set on getting one of these V12 biturbo beasts.

A lot of the cars currently for sale seem pretty much rooted to the forecourt. Does that mean they are over priced?

I think it just means that the market is very narrow. The vast majority of people who have the deepness of pocket to run a twin turbo 2-ton V12 saloon of enormous complication, age and thirst tend to want much newer cars and to have lower tolerance of things needing attention. People like us are quite few in number, really.

Meanwhile, previous owners who have actually taken proper care of these cars and have spent the required money on them to keep them nice, don't want to give them away for peanuts to become drift queens or banger racers.

But when the right owner meets the right seller, a deal happens.

[SpeckledJim]

Lowtimer said:

rm163603 said:

Thanks for the useful post.

I'm pretty much set on getting one of these V12 biturbo beasts.

A lot of the cars currently for sale seem pretty much rooted to the forecourt. Does that mean they are over priced?

I think it just means that the market is very narrow. The vast majority of people who have the deepness of pocket to run a twin turbo 2-ton V12 saloon of enormous complication, age and thirst tend to want much newer cars and to have lower tolerance of things needing attention. People like us are quite few in number, really.

Meanwhile, previous owners who have actually taken proper care of these cars and have spent the required money on them to keep them nice, don't want to give them away for peanuts to become drift queens or banger racers.

But when the right owner meets the right seller, a deal happens.

Sounds like a story I remember about my mummy and daddy having a special cuddle and planting a little seed.

[SpeckledJim]

10,000th post! And what a corker it was...

tut.

[bmthnick1981]

^^^ Well done!

[Lowtimer]

boom tish

[SuperHangOn]

jonnydm said:

jonnydm said:

BlueMR2 said:

jonnydm said:

Sitting at work, nursing a sore head. Think I might have just bought a W140. Thoughts on this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-W140-S500-Silve...

Have you picked this up yet? Any more info?

Plenty of small touches, like the boot handle that pops out so your hand doesn't get dirty when you open and close it, then retracts when you shut the boot.

Going to pick this up tomorrow evening hopefully. Will make sure to give an update - looking forward to this.

Barge Update:
Went to pick this up yesterday evening, pleasant enough train ride from Waterloo to Liphook then a short cab ride to the vendor.

The car is as expected a nice enough example, with a few small dings / marks around.

The inside is lovely, the seats are huge(!) and the aircon works very well as do all of the various lights and switches that I've tried.

The drive - my first was getting into it to take it home - is best described as smooth. I had country lanes, along with the A3, M25, M4 and A406 to get to grips with it - all in torrential rain. The steering is light and the pedals with a reassuring weight that take a bit of learning how best to use.

As far as tidying up a few things, I'll look into sorting the soft close and the CD changer (neither of which are drastic fixes / essential).

A final thought for now is on size and usability, whilst it feels spacious inside, it fits very well inside a parking bay and the parking 'guidelines' are actually pretty useful. Though, I have been spoilt for years by the BMW passenger mirror dropping to help with avoiding kerbs. A full tank was just over £100 (I had to put my card in twice as I was using 'Pay at Pump').

With a classic policy costing relative peanuts, this could be the start of the fleet that I've long wanted!

I spotted that car as well, I reckon that's a great buy.

I also bought my old Merc near liphook, schlepped down on the train to collect and drove back the same way around the north circ... queuing for hours up to hanger lane gyratory while glaring at the guages is no fun but a good test of a car! The car turned out to be pretty good so hopefully a good omen for you!

[Sterillium]

This is strangely appealing...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262460119999

Unbreakable Northstar V8 and retro charm?

[twizellb]

Sterillium said:

This is strangely appealing...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262460119999

Unbreakable Northstar V8 and retro charm?

Yep,I'm with you.
It would be a fantastic work car, if you can stand the fuel consumption.

[Sterillium]

twizellb said:

Yep,I'm with you.
It would be a fantastic work car, if you can stand the fuel consumption.

I'd feel compelled to wear a light grey suit all the time.

[E30M3SE]

Some thread candidates in this little lot.

http://www.brightwells.com/ClassicCarsMotorcyclesA...

[Max M4X WW]

SuperHangOn said:

jonnydm said:

jonnydm said:

BlueMR2 said:

jonnydm said:

Sitting at work, nursing a sore head. Think I might have just bought a W140. Thoughts on this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-W140-S500-Silve...

Have you picked this up yet? Any more info?

Plenty of small touches, like the boot handle that pops out so your hand doesn't get dirty when you open and close it, then retracts when you shut the boot.

Going to pick this up tomorrow evening hopefully. Will make sure to give an update - looking forward to this.

Barge Update:
Went to pick this up yesterday evening, pleasant enough train ride from Waterloo to Liphook then a short cab ride to the vendor.

The car is as expected a nice enough example, with a few small dings / marks around.

The inside is lovely, the seats are huge(!) and the aircon works very well as do all of the various lights and switches that I've tried.

The drive - my first was getting into it to take it home - is best described as smooth. I had country lanes, along with the A3, M25, M4 and A406 to get to grips with it - all in torrential rain. The steering is light and the pedals with a reassuring weight that take a bit of learning how best to use.

As far as tidying up a few things, I'll look into sorting the soft close and the CD changer (neither of which are drastic fixes / essential).

A final thought for now is on size and usability, whilst it feels spacious inside, it fits very well inside a parking bay and the parking 'guidelines' are actually pretty useful. Though, I have been spoilt for years by the BMW passenger mirror dropping to help with avoiding kerbs. A full tank was just over £100 (I had to put my card in twice as I was using 'Pay at Pump').

With a classic policy costing relative peanuts, this could be the start of the fleet that I've long wanted!

I spotted that car as well, I reckon that's a great buy.

I also bought my old Merc near liphook, schlepped down on the train to collect and drove back the same way around the north circ... queuing for hours up to hanger lane gyratory while glaring at the guages is no fun but a good test of a car! The car turned out to be pretty good so hopefully a good omen for you!

Totally missed this, I could have been your taxi Could you PM me exactly where the came from? Interested!

[phil_cardiff]

Sterillium said:

twizellb said:

Yep,I'm with you.
It would be a fantastic work car, if you can stand the fuel consumption.

I'd feel compelled to wear a light grey suit all the time.

And hang out at the Badda Bing with your friends Paulie and Joey.

[Sterillium]

phil_cardiff said:

And hang out at the Badda Bing with your friends Paulie and Joey.

I so want this.

[bob-lad]

Sterillium said:

This is strangely appealing...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262460119999

Unbreakable Northstar V8 and retro charm?

Hmnn. Didn't Stuart Hall drive one of these. It even has a bucket in the footwell for sweets. Or something.


Ah yes. http://classiccars.brightwells.com/viewdetails.php...

[Lungwun]

Gentlemen,

Re: the W140, is it best to purchase Pre or Post facelift?

I6, V6 or V8?

Reading up on these internets, there was apparently a reduction in interior quality between the pre and post facelift cars.

Just thought i'd put my questions in here as Mercedes Models seem to be winning the best smoker barges by a wide margin.

[bob-lad]

Lungwun said:

Gentlemen,

Re: the W140, is it best to purchase Pre or Post facelift?

I6, V6 or V8?

Reading up on these internets, there was apparently a reduction in interior quality between the pre and post facelift cars.

Just thought i'd put my questions in here as Mercedes Models seem to be winning the best smoker barges by a wide margin.

Only in volume