Discussion
The more I drive the C140 the more impressed I am with it. It lifts you above the road and transports you in a cocooned cloud above it. It is truly serene and is the only car I have driven that comes anywhere near to the Silver Shadow driving experience I have enjoyed so much in the past.
The engine doesn’t need to be worked; there always seems to be an abundance of power. When you do choose to floor the accelerator though, it really flies - often too fast - and I find myself having to rein things in before I get carried away and end up in a ditch. I found my Arnages much the same - when you really gave it the beans it was often propelling a large car to a speed you didn’t actually want to be travelling at. Speed is all very well and helpful, but if the speed is in the wrong type of car it can be as much a hinderance as a boon. If you don’t have the faith to place a car with exact confidence then making the thing go faster isn’t very helpful.
The C140 isn’t helped here by its steering - it is just too light at all speeds. The R129 was the same and it was one of the key points which made it difficult to feel involved and confident in when driving at high speed. You might well be travelling at a very good pace and cornering at pretty high speeds but you couldn’t get anywhere near to pushing the car towards its limit because you had no idea what was going on at the front end. However there is really no excuse on the steering front. You can make recirculating ball entertaining (my W124 is a perfect case in point) and the S500 has a variable assistance rack, meaning they could have firmed it up more as the speed rose. I know the car isn’t meant to be a sports car, but neither is my E320 and it makes a bloody good stab at being entertaining in comparison.
So if the car is supposed to be nothing but a cosseting cruiser then the ride just isn’t good enough. It might be my car ,which Steve from Three Points Bristol tells me has dampers which are drawing towards the end of their lives, or perhaps it is just a rather massive (in the literal sense of the word) bit of engineering to keep on the straight and narrow considering its lack of pillars. I would very much like to try a W140 and see if the saloon is softer than the coupe. I would also like to try the W140 with the 3.2ltr straight six in - if the model doesn’t encourage spirited driving then why bother with all the power. Added to which the 3.2 is just such a lovely engine all round. It also questions whether there is really a maximum output for a comfort oriented car beyond which you’re not gaining a great deal. I enjoy extending a decent engine as well and you don’t ever get anywhere near to using up the S500’s umph.
So as I said at the beginning, the more I drive the C140, the more impressed I am with it. However I haven’t warmed to it in the same way I did/have my W124 when I bought it. The W124 is one of the few cars I have gotten into and just understood what all the fuss was about immediately. I would say the others were the Silver Shadow, the Beetle and the Pagoda. It’s not that I don’t like the car - it is really very very good. It is just that I am slightly unmoved by it. When I have driven / ridden in another car in between S500 drives, I do come back to the car mightily impressed. It’s just too big, too clumsy and too imprecise to fall in love with.
The engine doesn’t need to be worked; there always seems to be an abundance of power. When you do choose to floor the accelerator though, it really flies - often too fast - and I find myself having to rein things in before I get carried away and end up in a ditch. I found my Arnages much the same - when you really gave it the beans it was often propelling a large car to a speed you didn’t actually want to be travelling at. Speed is all very well and helpful, but if the speed is in the wrong type of car it can be as much a hinderance as a boon. If you don’t have the faith to place a car with exact confidence then making the thing go faster isn’t very helpful.
The C140 isn’t helped here by its steering - it is just too light at all speeds. The R129 was the same and it was one of the key points which made it difficult to feel involved and confident in when driving at high speed. You might well be travelling at a very good pace and cornering at pretty high speeds but you couldn’t get anywhere near to pushing the car towards its limit because you had no idea what was going on at the front end. However there is really no excuse on the steering front. You can make recirculating ball entertaining (my W124 is a perfect case in point) and the S500 has a variable assistance rack, meaning they could have firmed it up more as the speed rose. I know the car isn’t meant to be a sports car, but neither is my E320 and it makes a bloody good stab at being entertaining in comparison.
So if the car is supposed to be nothing but a cosseting cruiser then the ride just isn’t good enough. It might be my car ,which Steve from Three Points Bristol tells me has dampers which are drawing towards the end of their lives, or perhaps it is just a rather massive (in the literal sense of the word) bit of engineering to keep on the straight and narrow considering its lack of pillars. I would very much like to try a W140 and see if the saloon is softer than the coupe. I would also like to try the W140 with the 3.2ltr straight six in - if the model doesn’t encourage spirited driving then why bother with all the power. Added to which the 3.2 is just such a lovely engine all round. It also questions whether there is really a maximum output for a comfort oriented car beyond which you’re not gaining a great deal. I enjoy extending a decent engine as well and you don’t ever get anywhere near to using up the S500’s umph.
So as I said at the beginning, the more I drive the C140, the more impressed I am with it. However I haven’t warmed to it in the same way I did/have my W124 when I bought it. The W124 is one of the few cars I have gotten into and just understood what all the fuss was about immediately. I would say the others were the Silver Shadow, the Beetle and the Pagoda. It’s not that I don’t like the car - it is really very very good. It is just that I am slightly unmoved by it. When I have driven / ridden in another car in between S500 drives, I do come back to the car mightily impressed. It’s just too big, too clumsy and too imprecise to fall in love with.
Thanks for the write-up Edward, it's great to hear a balanced and evidenced-based account of these behemoths.
I'd love one, but suspect they'd be a little clinical for me. The 140 cars appear to be brilliantly built and uber competent, but remembered chiefly for an untimely launch as the excess of the 80's evaporated overnight into the caring, sharing nineties. It missed the zeitgeist owing to a lengthy gestation, but I know of some passionate owners willing to foot bills in order to keep them running.
One of the factors in keeping my C36 so long is that it's rude and shouty; I don't want perfection all the time.
I'd love one, but suspect they'd be a little clinical for me. The 140 cars appear to be brilliantly built and uber competent, but remembered chiefly for an untimely launch as the excess of the 80's evaporated overnight into the caring, sharing nineties. It missed the zeitgeist owing to a lengthy gestation, but I know of some passionate owners willing to foot bills in order to keep them running.
One of the factors in keeping my C36 so long is that it's rude and shouty; I don't want perfection all the time.
[quote=EdwardC].......
So if the car is supposed to be nothing but a cosseting cruiser then the ride just isn’t good enough. It might be my car ,which Steve from Three Points Bristol tells me has dampers which are drawing towards the end of their lives, or perhaps it is just a rather massive (in the literal sense of the word) bit of engineering to keep on the straight and narrow considering its lack of pillars. I would very much like to try a W140 and see if the saloon is softer than the coupe. I would also like to try the W140 with the 3.2ltr straight six in - if the model doesn’t encourage spirited driving then why bother with all the power. Added to which the 3.2 is just such a lovely engine all round. It also questions whether there is really a maximum output for a comfort oriented car beyond which you’re not gaining a great deal. I enjoy extending a decent engine as well and you don’t ever get anywhere near to using up the S500’s umph.
EdwardC
I came to the W124 or more precisely the C124 the other way round having previously owned three W140s; a S320L, S280 and a S500L in that order.
The S320's M104 3.2 litre was more than adequate for the car and although the 2.8 litre had to be worked it loved revving and did an amazing job of propelling a heavy car. Without doubt however the M119 5.0 litre V8 suited the car to a tee and I suspect that in saloon guise, without pretensions of overt sportiness, delivered a ride the like of which I have only ever encountered in one car. The C124. What struck me about the W140 was that, at two-tonnes and seventeen plus feet long, it shrank around you as you drove it and was easy to place and manoeuvre.
When the last W140 rolled of the production line a eulogy from its design team appeared in the Stuttgart press lamenting its passing, pointing out that the car had always been far better than its initial press reception and that it was "an elephant that had been taught to dance on its toes".
Perhaps the C140 is an example of where less is not more.
So if the car is supposed to be nothing but a cosseting cruiser then the ride just isn’t good enough. It might be my car ,which Steve from Three Points Bristol tells me has dampers which are drawing towards the end of their lives, or perhaps it is just a rather massive (in the literal sense of the word) bit of engineering to keep on the straight and narrow considering its lack of pillars. I would very much like to try a W140 and see if the saloon is softer than the coupe. I would also like to try the W140 with the 3.2ltr straight six in - if the model doesn’t encourage spirited driving then why bother with all the power. Added to which the 3.2 is just such a lovely engine all round. It also questions whether there is really a maximum output for a comfort oriented car beyond which you’re not gaining a great deal. I enjoy extending a decent engine as well and you don’t ever get anywhere near to using up the S500’s umph.
EdwardC
I came to the W124 or more precisely the C124 the other way round having previously owned three W140s; a S320L, S280 and a S500L in that order.
The S320's M104 3.2 litre was more than adequate for the car and although the 2.8 litre had to be worked it loved revving and did an amazing job of propelling a heavy car. Without doubt however the M119 5.0 litre V8 suited the car to a tee and I suspect that in saloon guise, without pretensions of overt sportiness, delivered a ride the like of which I have only ever encountered in one car. The C124. What struck me about the W140 was that, at two-tonnes and seventeen plus feet long, it shrank around you as you drove it and was easy to place and manoeuvre.
When the last W140 rolled of the production line a eulogy from its design team appeared in the Stuttgart press lamenting its passing, pointing out that the car had always been far better than its initial press reception and that it was "an elephant that had been taught to dance on its toes".
Perhaps the C140 is an example of where less is not more.
Edited by SSL on Tuesday 7th June 07:54
Edited by SSL on Friday 10th June 17:34
I had a W140 S500L and after a W140 less few years I recently acquired a C140 600 which I have not really driven enough yet to form an opinion.
The LWB car handled very well for such a behemoth and I found the ride seriously impressive. The overall speed of the 500 and 600 are probably quite similar but the way they deliver that speed is massively different, the V8 would drop a few gears and make a fantastic noise whilst propelling you ever faster whereas the V12 makes a tiny bit more noise (more would be nice) and similarly throws you down the road.
The more silent nature of the V12 seems pretty cool so far but not sure if I will miss the more 'sporting' nature of the V8
Ben
The LWB car handled very well for such a behemoth and I found the ride seriously impressive. The overall speed of the 500 and 600 are probably quite similar but the way they deliver that speed is massively different, the V8 would drop a few gears and make a fantastic noise whilst propelling you ever faster whereas the V12 makes a tiny bit more noise (more would be nice) and similarly throws you down the road.
The more silent nature of the V12 seems pretty cool so far but not sure if I will miss the more 'sporting' nature of the V8
Ben
Schermerhorn said:
In my eyes they are the most regal looking Mercedes ever built. Every time I see one I give them a double take and appreciative nod. Utterly magnificent looking cars.
They have surely come of age, at launch they looked rather bloated the mid life face-lift and time has softened this and now they look fantastic, the saloon more so than the coupe in my eyes but both look fantastic.Gassing Station | Mercedes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff