Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 12]

[BIRMA]

SimonConnell said:

I am sure it will go for well above thread budget, but that Brightwells auction also has a CL63 in a rather lovely colour combination:

Sold for £20,600 today, someone got themselves a very rare right hand drive car. Bit out of budget for this thread but it did appear a while ago.

[Krikkit]

Bargain indeed! I think the summary we had was that it was a genuine AMG-fettled machine, in lovely colours. As someone previously noted, you could turn up at a Mercedes club meet anywhere in that and be adored for rarity.

CharlesdeGaulle said:

We're in danger of getting a little up ourselves here chaps if we're getting picky about lumbar adjustment lever materials. It's a 4 grand car that is a vegan's nightmare everywhere that's important; I think we can forgive a bit of plastic near one's kidneys can't we?

The plastic fixtures don't bother me that much, it's the fact that you've got to "make do" with manual seat adjustments on such a well-specced car. Dynamic seats in these with little air bladders and massage function are really rather spiffing.

[r129sl]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

Blown2CV said:

The Don of Croy said:

SpeckledJim said:

Emeye said:

I bet that paint looks awesome in person in the sunlight.

I love leather dashboards. Shame it is so far away.

It's a weird one. Lovely car, and an absolute fortune spent from the options list.

But no Comand. Odd.

Tempting car are the tel code is Maidstone (so only an hour away...) but in amongst the sybaritic overdose I spy those 'lumbar' adjusters, and I'm thinking they cannot be cheap 'n nasty plastic injection moulded item, can they? I'm hoping a beard will come along and assure us all they are tooled from aircraft grade alloy and then carefully embossed to look like a cheap crap moulding, as a measure of Teutonic humour. Like not putting a cover over the rear of the seat rail channel (which even my Volvo has).

well Merc was just coming out of their 'st era' then weren't they. I vaguely remember something like that when i had a new E class in 2005.

We're in danger of getting a little up ourselves here chaps if we're getting picky about lumbar adjustment lever materials. It's a 4 grand car that is a vegan's nightmare everywhere that's important; I think we can forgive a bit of plastic near one's kidneys can't we?

I internet-stalked the vendor to death last month when I was frothing at the mouth to buy this E500. Her used to work at MB Maidstone which is just across the road from where the pictures are taken (which appears to be his home). He runs a business renting out Segways at Leeds Castle (FFS). That car stuck a while as a private sale in Kent back in the summer, asking was £3,600. It was a bit shabbier-looking then. I suspect the vendor's doing a bit of trading still. But so what?

The Squall Grey Citroen CX safari at Brightwells sold at £2,600 today. I feel a bit heart broken about that.

[JF87]

Krikkit said:

The plastic fixtures don't bother me that much, it's the fact that you've got to "make do" with manual seat adjustments on such a well-specced car. Dynamic seats in these with little air bladders and massage function are really rather spiffing.

They so are! Only feature on mine that impresses my wife and other front-seat passengers. Regrettably I think I've got a leak or a dicky pump as the squeezy-back action is starting to fade away...

[SpeckledJim]

JF87 said:

Regrettably I think I've got a leak or a dicky pump as the squeezy-back action is starting to fade away...

Fear not. I think most marriages end up that way.

[Krikkit]

JF87 said:

They so are! Only feature on mine that impresses my wife and other front-seat passengers. Regrettably I think I've got a leak or a dicky pump as the squeezy-back action is starting to fade away...

Mine lasted about a week after I bought the car, then expired having melted the pump distribution manifold inside.

Sadly replacements are few and far between, and costly when they do pop up.

[tobinen]

I thought the red CL was a 600 with a factory body kit and wheels, or was something more established?

[Integroo]

Now that's what you call an advert - https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2... Anyone fancy an import 530i that used to be a Cypriot embassy car somewhere in the Mediterranean?

It even has a link to his mechanics Wikipedia page...

Edited by Integroo on Wednesday 21st March 19:32

[JF87]

SpeckledJim said:

JF87 said:

Regrettably I think I've got a leak or a dicky pump as the squeezy-back action is starting to fade away...

Fear not. I think most marriages end up that way.

Indeed. Thank heaven for those other front-seat passengers.

[K12beano]

Integroo said:

Now that's what you call an advert - https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2... Anyone fancy an import 530i that used to be a Cypriot embassy car somewhere in the Mediterranean?

It even has a link to his mechanics Wikipedia page...

Surely worth it just to boast "Scuffs to passenger seat (where the embassy security guard’s holster rubbed upholstery)"

[0a]

Emeye said:

Krikkit said:

louiebaby said:

Krikkit said:

But at the end of the day a V12 should be noted by the hoi polloi

Surely it should be conspicuous only in the way it effortlessly disappears towards the horizon with nothing but a deep, muted wuffle?

Today I feel like you should brandish it, tomorrow I might say something different.


Back to reality, I notice that lovely interior'd 211 E500 is still around, reduced as well I think?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...



Shame it looks a little bit like a woodlouse in grey:

I bet that paint looks awesome in person in the sunlight.

I love leather dashboards. Shame it is so far away.

I love that. A great looking car. It's 364 miles away from me, which is good. I find barges are better the further away they are.

[BrabusMog]

Milemuncher said:

The M760Li I’m driving tomorrow retails at about £130K if you believe manufacturer pricing. I’d expect to pay sub 100 for a factory order and significantly less for a demo / pre-reg / ‘management’ vehicle...which they all are since no-one actually buys them new...

On which subject I obviously wouldn’t be buying it. I’m talking lease or pcp...

I know someone who bought one new, it was the second in the country I think, and it is spectacular (and they didn't pay list). I actually had to stifle a laugh when we pulled up next to a lovely looking 750i, imagine driving a brand new 750i and still being shown up in traffic by a better car. Even the key to the car is an event!

[olly755]

0a said:

It's 364 miles away from me, which is good. I find barges are better the further away they are.

Wholeheartedly agree. The further away the barge, the less likelihood I’ll end up single, alone and living in a bedsit.

Like the archetypal LS400 owner, come to think of it.

[TVR Sagaris]

Integroo said:

Now that's what you call an advert - https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2... Anyone fancy an import 530i that used to be a Cypriot embassy car somewhere in the Mediterranean?

It even has a link to his mechanics Wikipedia page...

Edited by Integroo on Wednesday 21st March 19:32

That's tempting.

[layercake]

That's a nice e500 I'm foaming at the mouth

[BrabusMog]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

We're in danger of getting a little up ourselves here chaps

For a thread that has 12 volumes worth of people moaning about how people specced the cars they bought new, I think that ship has long since sailed

[dscam]

I do like an E34 and even more so in 540i form:



https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2...

[Milemuncher]

I test drove the M760Li today.

I think history will regard it - as BMTHNick suggested - as the high water mark for barges. The ride quality and general levels of quietness and refinement are as good as you would hope and the interior is a lovely place to sit.

The engine, as you would expect, is the star of the show. Its acceleration has redefined my concept of the word 'effortless'. I was also surprised by how much smaller and more agile it felt from the driving seat than it looks.

The most satisfying element of all though in my mind was the weighting of the controls, which to my mind strike a perfect balance between ease of use and engagement.

Deals are not too shabby either.

I just need to persuade Mrs Milemuncher that I deserve one!

In other news, I visited three dealers today (different manufacturers) and received truly excellent service in each one. Which surprised me.

[BrabusMog]

dscam said:

I do like an E34 and even more so in 540i form:



https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2...

Liking that!

[Zonergem]

tobinen said:

I thought the red CL was a 600 with a factory body kit and wheels, or was something more established?

The ultra-beards over on the MB Club forum went into conclave, consulted the oracles, cast the runes and deciphered the meaning of chicken guts, before pronouncing that it was a proper AMG conversion and that all was as it should be, aside from the replacement cluster.

Apparently the bodywork was "typical C215" according to someone at the auction so probably no great loss.

Spitting feathers about the CX Familale though. If the buyer wants to flip I'm all ears.