Thursday 7th April 2016

Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG DR520: Spotted

Rare groove, Brooklands built special offers biggest bang for your normally aspirated AMG C-Class buck

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You may recall we ran a C63 wagon on the PH Fleet a little while back and rather fell for it. Rather as in 'completely', the combination of a socking great 6.2-litre V8 with uprated SLS internals and family estate car body ticking all the lifestyle boxes you could ever wish for. What could be better than the matt grey Edition 507 we ran? How about a matt black DR520 instead?

In case there was any doubt...

The various permutations of the mighty M156 V8 in the C63 were covered when we drove the Edition 507 Coupe but began with 457hp in the 'entry' version; from there you could have a revvier Performance Pack with 487hp and aforementioned lightweight SLS pistons, crank and con-rods, both packing 442lb ft. As a run-out the Performance Pack based Edition 507 upped power a tad more to - yup - 507hp and torque to 457lb ft. And then there was the Black Series with 517hp (and the same 457lb ft).

Black Series included then this is the most powerful W204 C63 ever sold by Mercedes, the cars built by the Specialist Products division at M-B World and, seemingly with a little help from a Brabus B63 kit, packing 520hp and 479lb ft of torque. Quite an upgrade in itself. Sold in matt black or matt white wrap and garnished with dark finished grille and wheels, an Alcantara interior with contrast stitching and DR520 branding they were quite the machines, commanding a £9,995 premium over the regular C63 saloons and estates. Just 20 were sold, of which five were apparently estates, one bought at the time by Jenson Button. Yet another reason he probably rues McLaren and Mercedes going their separate ways...

Big capacity, big power, big noise

So, basically, it's like our old 507 Edition wagon. But more so. And super rare. For lovers of over-engined German mega estates this has to be one of the most desirable cars in the PH classifieds right now, the vendor's slightly vague description perhaps explaining why it hasn't attracted more attention. That and the £59,999 asking price. £10K less than that will score you this possibly dubious/secretly rather appealing titanium-exhausted 'Black Series' wagon conversion, £45K being enough to get you a Edition 507 wagon and 'standard' equivalents available from as little as £25K. A chunky premium for a few more horsepower and bragging rights from owning a super-rare car, but it's got the power upgrade to back it up. Pays your money and all that.

And just in case you need a reminder of why we're such fans of the C63 wagon in all its forms, here's a valedictory lap around Brands GP in our Edition 507 on the very day Mercedes came to take it back from us. Best of days and worst of days, all in one.

Brands Hatch GP lap

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MERCEDES-BENZ C63 AMG DR520
Engine: 6,208cc V8
Transmission: 7-speed auto, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 520@6,800rpm
Torque (lb ft): 479@5,000rpm
MPG: 23.5 (standard car)
CO2: 285g/km (standard car)
First registered: 2010
Recorded mileage: 25,000
Price new: £63,680
Yours for: £59,999

See the original ad here

[Source: Brabus]

[sidesauce]

Get rid of the matte-black wrap (that's sooo 2008) but otherwise, oh yes - what a rumbler of an engine.

Edited by sidesauce on Thursday 7th April 11:59

[SirSquidalot]

Mmmmm i love how mad this is, agree about the nasty wrap though.

[X5TUU]

Is it just a wrap though as its in the door shuts and with the factory stickering over top of it?!?

Not much depreciation though or overpriced ... Not sure!

[Atmospheric]

Goodness. the ultimate V8 Wagon.

[sidesauce]

X5TUU said:

Is it just a wrap though as its in the door shuts and with the factory stickering over top of it?!?

Not much depreciation though or overpriced ... Not sure!

Pretty much all wrapping involves taking the badges off. Given the rarity of the machine, I don't think it's particularly overpriced.

[Goatboy]

I get the rarity factor but it wouldn't make sense for me to take this over a performance pack plus estate for 30k. Probably have it fiddled with a little within that price to be making the same power. I like it (without the wrap) but not 60k like it if you know what I mean.

[Bencolem]

I'm sure I've seen that red 'F1' estate for sale a few year ago... for less than the asking price now!

[SuperHangOn]

The matt black is nasty. It looked st ten years ago and is cringeworthy now. I would go full circle - regular paint, lose the badges, proper slatted grill and gunsight.

Edited by SuperHangOn on Thursday 7th April 13:52

[epom]

The matte black isn't so bad, it does however give the game away slightly. Ie a 520hp estate Merc should be in plain silver with a roof rack for ultimate effect :-) oh and a tow hitch.

[X5TUU]

sidesauce said:

X5TUU said:

Is it just a wrap though as its in the door shuts and with the factory stickering over top of it?!?

Not much depreciation though or overpriced ... Not sure!

Pretty much all wrapping involves taking the badges off. Given the rarity of the machine, I don't think it's particularly overpriced.

Ive had a couple of cars wrapped and external body badges yeah fair enough but not the likes of the tyre pressures stickers ive never had removed and refitted - or heard of that happening

[Wills2]

I think that's a silly price in comparison to the 507 wagon, which to me looks better with the black series bonnet has a better interior and is only 13hp down and they're not exactly common either.

[jamespink]

sidesauce said:

Get rid of the matte-black wrap (that's sooo 2008) but otherwise, oh yes - what a rumbler of an engine.

Edited by sidesauce on Thursday 7th April 11:59

Wraps OK with me, love the similarity between the rumble strip noise and the motor under power... :-)

[Tin Hat]

So this has the 2 vein front grille and the older steering wheel, that would leave it with the 5 speed box, not the edition 125 7 speed version?

£60k is going to be challenging, as others have said, the black wrap is a bit Max Power and if it has the older 'box, it's going to have a stiff time selling alongside Edition 125 C63's for half the money.....

[JohnGoodridge]

Lovely car. Strong money against a vanilla c63 with a bit of budget for a chip and Quaife diff, but about half the price of e90 M3 CRT, which I think makes a reasonable comparison.

I'd need both the money to buy it, and the money not to worry about ruining its value because I'd put way too many miles on it...

[405dogvan]

Nice car but the price is hilariously optimistic...

[Bladedancer]

I don't get this whole matt wrap/paint fashion.
It just makes your car look like it's been cheaply tuned or poorly painted.

And 60k for a 6 year old Merc? Good luck with the sale.

[Frrair]

Think my dog would get sick in the back of that.

[UltimaCH]

Shed a couple of hundred kilos and you would have a bomb of a car

[loudlashadjuster]

Awesome powerplant, but after running a facelifted S204 for a while the pre-facelight interiors seem like a joke, horrible throwback, so if it wasn't for the hilariously optimistic price that alone would mean I'd plump for a later 507 over this every day.

I seriously doubt you'd notice the extra 2.5% hp in use.

[jb86459]

Tin Hat said:

So this has the 2 vein front grille and the older steering wheel, that would leave it with the 5 speed box, not the edition 125 7 speed version?

£60k is going to be challenging, as others have said, the black wrap is a bit Max Power and if it has the older 'box, it's going to have a stiff time selling alongside Edition 125 C63's for half the money.....

• *I have one.... they have the 7 speed gearbox