2004 Mercedes E500

[crosseyedlion]

scarble said:

Ouch, unlucky.
On the bright side it looks like you've got away with it, engine isn't seized! Perhaps helped by the cold weather. Bear in mind the oil may have got hotter than usual.

When I saw the thread pop up I was thinking "I wonder how he's getting on with that Merc, he's not had any trouble with it, maybe they're less bork than I thought, I wouldn't mind an E500.." hmm.

Pig of a job? 'spensive?
Do the aux belt while you were there?

Edited by scarble on Thursday 13th November 08:47

The engine never actually got hotter than usual and barely lost coolant, it was just the pump telling me it was dead.

£70 for the pump and coolant, it was a pretty easy job - good access and all the bolts easy to undo. MUCH easier than when I had to do it on a 3 series. Also much easier than on a 'sensible' front wheel drive car, where they're usually driven off the cambelt.

The belt is in good shape so I've left it for now.

So, to surmise - pumps wear out and fail eventually, luckily on a v8 merc its a relatively inexpensive walk in the park to sort

[crosseyedlion]

scarble said:

Ah doesn't sound too bad, I was feeling bad for you having to do that in the cold and dark. It's off an aux belt on my Clio too and it's never gone wrong
I'd guess whoever had the car last neglected to do the pump with the timing belt, seems daft for the sake of £70.

Here's hoping for many miles more relatively trouble free high speed wafting :cheers:

Hope you're enjoying the new job.

Cheers!

It wouldn't be a case of neglect, there's no timing belt to change :P

Preventative maintenance maybe, but its not in the service schedule at all and showed no signs of failure before.

Rest assured, drive the clio for long enough and the water pump will fail - I've had it on a few cars, of varying styles and brands...this isn't because its a 5.0 merc at all.

[crosseyedlion]

scarble said:

...most good garages...

You see there lies the problem, its been serviced my Merc main dealers all its life. I always swear independent specialists are far better.

[crosseyedlion]

In case anyone is looking at man-mathsing one of these, I've updated the running costs. Due to my love of driving the thing, with no major costs and a service due soon at 2k miles a month its cost me almost £900 a month (with approximate depreciation) - if I remove the depreciation element and the tax & repairs it would come to £288 per month I could have leased a car at. Thats before considering most leased cars will be more efficient. Overall it's cost me 45p a mile.

Although at whats looking like 20k miles in 12 months that'd mean running around in something that isn't a patch on this :P

[crosseyedlion]

Merry Christmas everyone, have taken the opportunity of the Christmas break to get some jobs done.

Since Tuesday-
-Full service, including 16 spark plugs and 7.5l of millers nanodrive 0w30 (£130 just on engine oil!)
-Front lower ball joints
-got all my winter kit in (4x snow socks, snow chains, shovel etc...)

To do in the next 3 days-
-transmission filter and fluid change
-2x Michelin ps3's on the front to match the rears.
-check alignment
-tighten the roof bolts that have worked slightly loose (very common issue with the pan roof)

Driving down to the alps in january, so getting it perfect for then.
If I ever sold this car it would be one extremely well maintained w211! It doesn't make economic sense to go overboard with some bits like I have, but I love driving it

Currently considering lpg, has anyone have any thoughts on the merc v8?

[crosseyedlion]

Atmospheric said:

There's something about these cars. I was looking at a 500 on around a 52 plate before I bought my S6 (V8 was the requirement).

I liked the idea of discretion and the big spec some of these cars came with.

I still want one - it has 360 lb/ft doesn't it? That must make for a muscular 80 mph "roll on"

Whilst it's no e55 kompressor, it certainly gets a move on, particularly from motorway speeds, gets frustrating with the 'sporty' 2.0 diesels getting in my way exiting onto dual carriageways.

First car I've owned where I've not wanted for more power, and I've had bigger engines along with driven many miles in cars with twice the power. The entire driveline is superb, not to mention the fact it weighs in around the same as a v6 ftype.

Gearbox oil and filter change is done now, had a drain plug but no filler, you have to pump the new fluid up vertically through the drain plug, ended up modifying a 1950s pump action oil can, worked a treat. Has made a huge difference to shifting, I didn't think it was bad before, but feels very fresh now.

[crosseyedlion]

Yesterday was a pretty solid day in the saddle driving back from the alps (via a friends in belgium) - the most I've driven in a day.

No aches at all but many delays (driving in heavy uncleared snowfall coming down the mountain for the first 2 hours, channel tunnel fire putting the calais into chaos and customs took an interest in me for some reason). The mpg took a hit thanks to the ferries but filling up for 1 euro a litre was nice in Luxembourg.

Loved every minute though, wouldn't hesitate to do 1000 miles in a day in this car. Faultless and effortless.

Edited by crosseyedlion on Sunday 18th January 19:16

[crosseyedlion]

Update:

MOT Failed on a front control arm. Picked the car up from the MOT centre on Friday at 5pm, drove straight to eurocarparts and got a replacement. All done by 7pm.

The look of disbelief when I turned up for a retest at 9am the next day was priceless.

Now has an MOT with no advisories. Excellent.

[crosseyedlion]

scarble said:

Outside, in the dark?
Fair play.

Well I had a headtorch...

My ball joint splitter broke under full compression too, was jammed onto the car.

A motorsport attitude to car maintenance and repairs proves really useful.

Positivity and energy is key.

Deeply satisfying.

[crosseyedlion]

722Adam said:

This might sound extremely weird but I think I recognise that driveway... Was the villa called Casa Nitike? If so I stayed there around 4 years ago, nice area

I can't remember the name (was part of a big group and didn't book it) but was it a very big place Near Cala la Fustera between Calpe and Bennisa?

If so, turn right at Benidorm and I found the best 2 hours of driving roads I've ever experienced, sublime.