Sensible family daily wagon - Mercedes Benz S211 E500
Discussion
So the first family outing with the newly tarted up bus was to the lovely Newlands Corner in Surrey.
Of course, as is the way whilst admiring my mutton dressed as lamb a genuine filly came along and turned my eye.
San Marino Blue, what a spectacular colour that really pops in sunlight. No envy here, simply admiration... honest.
Of course, as is the way whilst admiring my mutton dressed as lamb a genuine filly came along and turned my eye.
San Marino Blue, what a spectacular colour that really pops in sunlight. No envy here, simply admiration... honest.
Next up was the wee window that we had in August where holidays on the continent were permissible, so we had a lovely trip planned including a stop over at Tog's recommendation of the Auberge in Chassignoles in the Auvergne.
Off went Magnus to the garage for an MOT and some bits and bobs and a little titivation including a couple of annoying bits that needed replacing, such as the rear wiper motor which had packed up and the duo valve, which is underneath the scuttle on the driver's side. The failure of the duo valve is quite common on the 211 and results in the hottest air being blown into the rear (through the 'four zone' climate control). The effects are only experienced once the rear occupants (children) are feeling queezy and my back is roasting! It can be hacked by cycling up and down through the temp settings, in order to stimulate the flap in the valve to move, but by then the damage is usually done.
Additionally, the n/s mirror needed to be replaced, having returned damaged from the bodyshop (I chose to give them the benefit of the doubt and attribute it to age) and the auxiliary battery for the SBC.
As I had been experiencing a tremor through the steering wheel at high speed under braking, I asked them to look into this and it resulted in new brake pads and discs, unfortunately. I had them replaced previously in Barcelona in June 2018 at 126k and replaced at 158k, so 32k miles covered. I believe that it is the first consumable that I have replaced under my ownership... is 32k a reasonable mileage from front discs on a heavy car? Annoyingly the front pads were only replaced at 149k.
The brake disc must've been warped somehow, as evidenced by the scoring
Off went Magnus to the garage for an MOT and some bits and bobs and a little titivation including a couple of annoying bits that needed replacing, such as the rear wiper motor which had packed up and the duo valve, which is underneath the scuttle on the driver's side. The failure of the duo valve is quite common on the 211 and results in the hottest air being blown into the rear (through the 'four zone' climate control). The effects are only experienced once the rear occupants (children) are feeling queezy and my back is roasting! It can be hacked by cycling up and down through the temp settings, in order to stimulate the flap in the valve to move, but by then the damage is usually done.
Additionally, the n/s mirror needed to be replaced, having returned damaged from the bodyshop (I chose to give them the benefit of the doubt and attribute it to age) and the auxiliary battery for the SBC.
As I had been experiencing a tremor through the steering wheel at high speed under braking, I asked them to look into this and it resulted in new brake pads and discs, unfortunately. I had them replaced previously in Barcelona in June 2018 at 126k and replaced at 158k, so 32k miles covered. I believe that it is the first consumable that I have replaced under my ownership... is 32k a reasonable mileage from front discs on a heavy car? Annoyingly the front pads were only replaced at 149k.
The brake disc must've been warped somehow, as evidenced by the scoring
Of course, having spent the funds on a host of work, BoJo went and announced that anyone returning from France would have to face a two week quarantine. This would mean that 1) we would drive each other mad and undo the benefit of a holiday and 2) the children would miss the start of school.
Thankfully, I'd booked everything with free cancellation, so all was not lost.
In the meantime, another issue had arisen - the sound from the speakers when the phone was plugged in was not playing throughany of the nearside speakers. I access the centre console and lifted the plastic covering to see the mess of wires tucked in below. This is what I was faced with:
and additionally this box:
my mate put me in touch with the chap that he used to use for all MB comand issues and I sent him a whatsapp. He identified it from the photos as being a Dension gateway module.
I contacted Dension and they suggested disconnecting the battery and powering the car down and reconnecting - suggesting that this might kickstart the system, somehow.
I also disconnected the aux battery, but to no avail. I'd have to attend to this when I returned from a planned trip to Glasgow.
In the meantime, I had some gentle titivations demanding attention - the rear plate was letting the car down and it's poor form as the plate was only three years old having been sourced from MB Brooklands when I bought the car in September 2017.
So I ordered some bits from them - a replacement door lock pin and an 'air con' sticker for the airbox; I told them about the plate and to their credit, it was replaced for free.
annoyingly, went I got home I noticed that the correct dark palm grey is actually an anthracite door pin, having been discontinued.
9B51 is the correct colour code, but had been superceeded by 9O51... a small detail but annoying
9B51:
9O51:
Side by side:
I'd asked Star Tec to fit it to the same door to which they were also re-fitting the loose door handle which hadn't been fitted correctly by the bodyshop. It does the job, but I'll hunt down a replacement eventually.
One for Tog:
Thankfully, I'd booked everything with free cancellation, so all was not lost.
In the meantime, another issue had arisen - the sound from the speakers when the phone was plugged in was not playing throughany of the nearside speakers. I access the centre console and lifted the plastic covering to see the mess of wires tucked in below. This is what I was faced with:
and additionally this box:
my mate put me in touch with the chap that he used to use for all MB comand issues and I sent him a whatsapp. He identified it from the photos as being a Dension gateway module.
I contacted Dension and they suggested disconnecting the battery and powering the car down and reconnecting - suggesting that this might kickstart the system, somehow.
I also disconnected the aux battery, but to no avail. I'd have to attend to this when I returned from a planned trip to Glasgow.
In the meantime, I had some gentle titivations demanding attention - the rear plate was letting the car down and it's poor form as the plate was only three years old having been sourced from MB Brooklands when I bought the car in September 2017.
So I ordered some bits from them - a replacement door lock pin and an 'air con' sticker for the airbox; I told them about the plate and to their credit, it was replaced for free.
annoyingly, went I got home I noticed that the correct dark palm grey is actually an anthracite door pin, having been discontinued.
9B51 is the correct colour code, but had been superceeded by 9O51... a small detail but annoying
9B51:
9O51:
Side by side:
I'd asked Star Tec to fit it to the same door to which they were also re-fitting the loose door handle which hadn't been fitted correctly by the bodyshop. It does the job, but I'll hunt down a replacement eventually.
One for Tog:
Edited by bolidemichael on Saturday 24th April 18:19
Nice 411. I follow the owner of that car on Instagram, and he lives pretty locally to me too, but I've never actually seen it in the metal. It always looks like it sits a little high to me, but my 410 is far too low so I am in no position to judge. In another coincidence, I was at Newlands Corner yesterday for a Bristol club brunch.
Sorry to hear you missed out on the Auberge last year. Definitely worth the trip, I loved it. Excellent food, amazing wine, lovely atmosphere. Sadly I have no idea when or if I'll be back that way, but I will keep trying to engineer another visit.
Sorry to hear you missed out on the Auberge last year. Definitely worth the trip, I loved it. Excellent food, amazing wine, lovely atmosphere. Sadly I have no idea when or if I'll be back that way, but I will keep trying to engineer another visit.
So I hit a funny number
Had the new number plate fitted
and attempted to get the tracking sorted
then soon we were on the road... up the M40, M42, M6 and M74.
This must have been the fastest journey that we had accomplished to date, it seems as though COVID had depleted traffic, possible with so many people grabbing the opportunity to be abroad during the brief window?
the West End of Glasgow is rather well tooo doooo
and it helps to know the rules of where is permissible to park; even then, I was pleasantly surprised to get away with receiving a ticket.
with a cheeky cameo from Mrs Bolide
thanks to a kindly friend minding the children for a twenty four hour period, we managed a wee get away at the Kimpton in Glasgow, where I was rather pleased to park my recently shiny car outside
and it was rather nice inside, too
The next day we went for a wee drive and visited the Whitelee Wind Farm in Eaglesham.
Once again, we encounter the humour that is permissible within Scottish culture
We then visited The Kelpies, which are a rather attractive touristic destination built at the site of a canal junction and named after a couple of well known workhorses that pulled the barges along.
Oh and a friendly reminder to my avid readers... don't grow up too much!
after that, we visited Angelwax in Renfrew, to pick up a few detailing bits and bobs
then we're back on the road to London, with a nice round number awaiting us as Mrs Bolide drive at a speed suitable for the northern M6.
Finally back, slower avg speed but a more generous mpg
Had the new number plate fitted
and attempted to get the tracking sorted
then soon we were on the road... up the M40, M42, M6 and M74.
This must have been the fastest journey that we had accomplished to date, it seems as though COVID had depleted traffic, possible with so many people grabbing the opportunity to be abroad during the brief window?
the West End of Glasgow is rather well tooo doooo
and it helps to know the rules of where is permissible to park; even then, I was pleasantly surprised to get away with receiving a ticket.
with a cheeky cameo from Mrs Bolide
thanks to a kindly friend minding the children for a twenty four hour period, we managed a wee get away at the Kimpton in Glasgow, where I was rather pleased to park my recently shiny car outside
and it was rather nice inside, too
The next day we went for a wee drive and visited the Whitelee Wind Farm in Eaglesham.
Once again, we encounter the humour that is permissible within Scottish culture
We then visited The Kelpies, which are a rather attractive touristic destination built at the site of a canal junction and named after a couple of well known workhorses that pulled the barges along.
Oh and a friendly reminder to my avid readers... don't grow up too much!
after that, we visited Angelwax in Renfrew, to pick up a few detailing bits and bobs
then we're back on the road to London, with a nice round number awaiting us as Mrs Bolide drive at a speed suitable for the northern M6.
Finally back, slower avg speed but a more generous mpg
Another good trip, good averages.
bolidemichael said:
I spoke to the owner of Star Tec about the Bristol today, Tog. He bought the Bristol from the chap that you know and then part-exd it against an 911 RS recreation which he recently flipped on Collecting Cars for about £105k.
I forget your updates are not in real time! I recall the 411 being advertised by a dealer last year, though I forget who. The chap who has it now I think only got it in the autumn. I don't know him, just of him. He seems to use it a fair bit, so it may only be a matter of time until I see it about. There's another dark blue 411 near here as well, but the chances of all of us parking on Marlborough High Street at once are slim - Bristols seem to be mutually repellent. 80,000 miles in mine and I've only ever passed another about three times.
tobinen said:
Very good BM.
Thanks tobinen. tog said:
Another good trip, good averages.
The average on the trip North was rather high. It's laughable travelling at three figure speeds and the car being so capacious and sturdy. On the M40 it's definitely a 'pulse and coast' technique, but north of Penrith it's simply 'foot to the floor for as long as I dare', technique. bolidemichael said:
I spoke to the owner of Star Tec about the Bristol today, Tog. He bought the Bristol from the chap that you know and then part-exd it against an 911 RS recreation which he recently flipped on Collecting Cars for about £105k.
I forget your updates are not in real time! I recall the 411 being advertised by a dealer last year, though I forget who. The chap who has it now I think only got it in the autumn. I don't know him, just of him. He seems to use it a fair bit, so it may only be a matter of time until I see it about. There's another dark blue 411 near here as well, but the chances of all of us parking on Marlborough High Street at once are slim - Bristols seem to be mutually repellent. 80,000 miles in mine and I've only ever passed another about three times.There is a red Bristol that I see on occasion in Wimbledon Village. It turns out that it lives in one of the grand houses overlooking the Common. I don't recall the model, but it's the one with four headlights and a grille that is reminiscent of the fifties panavision logo.
I do enjoy seeing them around. For me, they draw parallels with SAAB, most likely for the shared aeronautic heritage.
EDIT: I've checked my screenshots as I tend to capture them when I mot check an interesting vehicle. It's actually green and a 411, so my memory is confused with another red Bristol that I see on Parkside, as described above.
Edited by bolidemichael on Monday 3rd May 00:06
One of the items that I had purchased from Angelwax in Renfrew, was a set of 'Wheel Woolies'.
So I whipped out the Bilt Hamber auto wheel and decided to give the woolies a go.
The winter alloys had been left untouched since their removal in April/May and were filthy.
I kid you not, this was hard work, even with the auto wheel and robust prodders. This was after the first pass and after that, I left the camera alone and got wobbling my sponge.
after that, I re-visited the alignment machine as I wasn't happy with the orientation of the steering wheel and also, the car was pulling left quite a lot.
However, I still wasn't happy with the results.
Nevermind; for now, we'd give the car a little wash, using some of the Angelwax 'Fast Foam' snow foam that I'd purchased
Looking good under the lights, after a little drive to work in order to shake off some trapped water from the nooks and crannies.
So I whipped out the Bilt Hamber auto wheel and decided to give the woolies a go.
The winter alloys had been left untouched since their removal in April/May and were filthy.
I kid you not, this was hard work, even with the auto wheel and robust prodders. This was after the first pass and after that, I left the camera alone and got wobbling my sponge.
after that, I re-visited the alignment machine as I wasn't happy with the orientation of the steering wheel and also, the car was pulling left quite a lot.
However, I still wasn't happy with the results.
Nevermind; for now, we'd give the car a little wash, using some of the Angelwax 'Fast Foam' snow foam that I'd purchased
Looking good under the lights, after a little drive to work in order to shake off some trapped water from the nooks and crannies.
Edited by bolidemichael on Monday 3rd May 22:51
September 11th was an ominous date for me. After having sat outside for five days, I was presented with a lamentable sight...
So I started to gather quotations; all three recommended replacing both rear air bellows at the same time, as the labour involved in dropping the rear subframe would only have to be duplicated in order to replace the nearside when it would inevitably fail and likely, soon.
PCS Horndean quoted £1,461 inc. I had never used them before, but they're highly recommended by owners on the MB Club forum. However, they're about an hour to ninety minutes away from me.
Star-Tec, my indy, quoted about £1,900 inc.
I also gathered a quotation from MB Guildford, operated by Sandown. Why? They offer 40% off labour rates and 25% off parts for members of the official MB owners' club. Unsurprisingly, they were by far the dearest and offered me a rate of £1.700inc.
EDIT: To anyone with a brain that clearly isn't the case - I just didn't interpret their pro-forma correctly as it also included a quote for the rear bearings. DOH!
A little while later, I received a parcel from the bodyshop.
I was quite surprised that he offered to replace it for me; perhaps it was a goodwill gesture. It was because a observed that it was missing after a valet in their care - however, it had always been broken throughout my ownership and stuck on with sticky 'gum. They aren't cheap either, over £100.
Before:
After:
As for the rear spring... I procrastinated and hoped that I wouldn't kill the air compressor in the meantime.
So I started to gather quotations; all three recommended replacing both rear air bellows at the same time, as the labour involved in dropping the rear subframe would only have to be duplicated in order to replace the nearside when it would inevitably fail and likely, soon.
PCS Horndean quoted £1,461 inc. I had never used them before, but they're highly recommended by owners on the MB Club forum. However, they're about an hour to ninety minutes away from me.
Star-Tec, my indy, quoted about £1,900 inc.
I also gathered a quotation from MB Guildford, operated by Sandown. Why? They offer 40% off labour rates and 25% off parts for members of the official MB owners' club. Unsurprisingly, they were by far the dearest and offered me a rate of £1.700inc.
EDIT: To anyone with a brain that clearly isn't the case - I just didn't interpret their pro-forma correctly as it also included a quote for the rear bearings. DOH!
A little while later, I received a parcel from the bodyshop.
I was quite surprised that he offered to replace it for me; perhaps it was a goodwill gesture. It was because a observed that it was missing after a valet in their care - however, it had always been broken throughout my ownership and stuck on with sticky 'gum. They aren't cheap either, over £100.
Before:
After:
As for the rear spring... I procrastinated and hoped that I wouldn't kill the air compressor in the meantime.
Edited by bolidemichael on Wednesday 5th May 09:17
My birthday came about and there was a car event at Denbies Wine Estate in Mickleham.
It was great to attend an event again and there were a good range of vehicles, being a Jap v German theme.
This Alpina B6 was one that I had spotted in March 2018 at the 'Fast Estates' breakfast morning at Goodwood and here it was again with a different plate. It turns out that it was purchased by a PHer, Jules Sunley. Unfortunately I didn't meet him, but I do like the car, a lot.
I was particularly taken by this Nismo 370Z; the owner raves about it and justifiably so, it has been really fettled by Nismo and is a real driver's car
and how about one for the girls out there (I know that you're lurking
)
It was great to attend an event again and there were a good range of vehicles, being a Jap v German theme.
This Alpina B6 was one that I had spotted in March 2018 at the 'Fast Estates' breakfast morning at Goodwood and here it was again with a different plate. It turns out that it was purchased by a PHer, Jules Sunley. Unfortunately I didn't meet him, but I do like the car, a lot.
I was particularly taken by this Nismo 370Z; the owner raves about it and justifiably so, it has been really fettled by Nismo and is a real driver's car
and how about one for the girls out there (I know that you're lurking
)For a while, I had been hearing what I recognised to be the faint whirring of a bearing emitting from the rear. They had driven it and evaluated it, but couldn't confirm that it was. Eventually, the symptoms became more acute and the diagnosis was a new pair of rear bearings. They're not too dear at about £120 for the pair, but the labour is the stinger at 6.2 hours labour...
As is always the case, I bundled a little titivation and with summer coming to a definite end (this was the start of October 2020) and long-standing issue of a buckled osr wheel arch was to have been addressed. This originated from when I very first bought the car and I had revered into a knee height metal 'arch' in the waitrose car park. The sickening crunch is still with me. Having rectified the bodywork, it was finally time to remove the final evidence of this unfortunate incident.
However, the new item with which it was replaced was very flimsy to the touch, in contrast to the original moulded and robust item. I would have to revisit this later with them to remedy and to secure further.
As is always the case, I bundled a little titivation and with summer coming to a definite end (this was the start of October 2020) and long-standing issue of a buckled osr wheel arch was to have been addressed. This originated from when I very first bought the car and I had revered into a knee height metal 'arch' in the waitrose car park. The sickening crunch is still with me. Having rectified the bodywork, it was finally time to remove the final evidence of this unfortunate incident.
However, the new item with which it was replaced was very flimsy to the touch, in contrast to the original moulded and robust item. I would have to revisit this later with them to remedy and to secure further.
There's a pretty pic heavy update here, but it was for quite an exciting development to cap off the exterior titivation of the bodywork. I had originally booked in to detail Magnus in August, but with the late developments of the problems with the paint finish, I lost my slot.
Ed, who is Divine Detailing came highly recommended from a number of owners on the MB Club forum. With all of the coming and going and communication over the many months that had passed since I first communicated with him, we had built up a good rapport and it felt as though he was part of the journey. Why does that comment make me sound like Meghan? Cock.
We dropped it off at his place one Sunday with the intention of leaving it with him for a week and I took to opportunity to check out the bike that I had recently purchased for a cycle back along the Wandle Trail with the boy.
and soon the photos began to pepper through by email, which was a very pleasant and exciting thing to view every evening.
It was an awesome job and the paintwork was protected with two Japanese products - Zipang Kamikaze and Zipang Miyabe, for maximum longevity. Some of the other owners had this treatment a few years back and was still beading, so tried and tested. What was really impressive was how prominent the shimmer of the obsidian appeared in the right conditions.
Click the image for a brief video.
.
The appeal for me was not only starting with a nice base from which to work, but also the promise to having to complete maintenance washes in order to bring up a good result when I had time, rather than a full detail.
Ed, who is Divine Detailing came highly recommended from a number of owners on the MB Club forum. With all of the coming and going and communication over the many months that had passed since I first communicated with him, we had built up a good rapport and it felt as though he was part of the journey. Why does that comment make me sound like Meghan? Cock.
We dropped it off at his place one Sunday with the intention of leaving it with him for a week and I took to opportunity to check out the bike that I had recently purchased for a cycle back along the Wandle Trail with the boy.
and soon the photos began to pepper through by email, which was a very pleasant and exciting thing to view every evening.
It was an awesome job and the paintwork was protected with two Japanese products - Zipang Kamikaze and Zipang Miyabe, for maximum longevity. Some of the other owners had this treatment a few years back and was still beading, so tried and tested. What was really impressive was how prominent the shimmer of the obsidian appeared in the right conditions.
Click the image for a brief video.
The appeal for me was not only starting with a nice base from which to work, but also the promise to having to complete maintenance washes in order to bring up a good result when I had time, rather than a full detail.
Edited by bolidemichael on Tuesday 4th May 23:09
Edited by bolidemichael on Wednesday 5th May 10:48
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