Discussion
Put me off it...
A friend has called asking if I want his 2000 S600L. It will be sub £4k and needs nothing. I've got an SL500 R129 which I run most of the time, and am used to running a thirsty beast having had a BMW 760. I don't need it but can't stop thinking about getting it. Why should I get it, or not get it, and any experiences welcome. Thoughts?
A friend has called asking if I want his 2000 S600L. It will be sub £4k and needs nothing. I've got an SL500 R129 which I run most of the time, and am used to running a thirsty beast having had a BMW 760. I don't need it but can't stop thinking about getting it. Why should I get it, or not get it, and any experiences welcome. Thoughts?
Small Car said:
Put me off it...
A friend has called asking if I want his 2000 S600L. It will be sub £4k and needs nothing. I've got an SL500 R129 which I run most of the time, and am used to running a thirsty beast having had a BMW 760. I don't need it but can't stop thinking about getting it. Why should I get it, or not get it, and any experiences welcome. Thoughts?
I have owned a 2001 model. Fuel consumption is the least of your worries with this car.A friend has called asking if I want his 2000 S600L. It will be sub £4k and needs nothing. I've got an SL500 R129 which I run most of the time, and am used to running a thirsty beast having had a BMW 760. I don't need it but can't stop thinking about getting it. Why should I get it, or not get it, and any experiences welcome. Thoughts?
The two things that WILL fail on the car and which cost the most are:
ABC pump and struts
oil cooler failure
Google both and see the results.
If the oil cooler has not been attended to, then you are living on borrowed time and it is a multi-thousand £ job to fix.
Unless it has a full history with all of these issues (and more) attended to, then figure on the purchase price again in work within the next 12 months.
And if you don't believe me, call a few specialists.
They are, in essence, utter junk and which can only be remedied by throwing huge amounts of money at them (as the previous owner of mine did) to bring up to the standard they should have left Stuttgart in (and eventually did by 2004).
Edited by XB70 on Thursday 13th January 13:47
r129sl said:
Make sure the cylinder shut off function has been disabled otherwise you get trouble with coil packs. They rust as well. And the suspension componentry is expensive to replace. Otherwise, if you want it, get it: lot of car for the money.
A wee word of caution here r129.I have worked on a few of these, but there was one in particular that stands out; I remember posting about this some time ago, so excuse the repeat.
It was a much older car, a '92 C600 coupe. It had full Merc service history, but the customer reported a hot, burning smell and a top speed of 45MPH! He also revealed that the car had gone on fire fairly recently but he had been fortunate that there was someone in the immediate vicinity with a fire extinguisher!! He hadn't a clue about the workings of a car, but pointed to the right hand air filter and said that was the cause of the fire.
A road test revealed that the car would get slower as it got warmer and eventually the right hand bank would shut down completely and the left go into limp mode. When this happened the temperature on the right hand bank was collosal and this is why the filter element had ignited. Had the cylinder shut off function been disabled the car would undoubtedly have been destroyed. The shut off function also controls the sequential part of the injection system, which makes a significant difference to your fuel consumption, particularly in town driving, the best reason for ensuring it works! The only cause of these symptoms is an exhaust blockage causing huge heat build up.
Now for the best bit. In the service history was a recent invoice from the Glasgow Merc dealers for 2 new cats. It was for £1800; remember this was around the mid 90s!!! These are the largest cats I have ever seen on a private car. As some of you may know, most Merc components have the part number and date stamp on them, and a quick inspection on the ramp revealed a new left hand cat, but the original right hand was still on the vehicle. A call to the Merc dealer with our findings resulted in the service manager threatening me with slander as he was most indignant at being accused of charging for 2 cats and only fitting one.
To prove my point we photographed the original cat on the vehicle, removed it and pressure tested it with an air line to confirm that it was blocked solid, removed the core of the cat and refitted the box. I will never forget that road test; the car was an animal, brutally quick and endless torque. An absolutely gorgeous engine with an addictive scream at high revs.
The interesting thing about this is that the car was also due an MOT and we discovered that the emissions at idle on both exhausts were exactly the same, even with the missing cat. This is probably due to the fact that the management system deploys no less than 5 ECUs in a row under the bonnet!
I would however agree that if you want a 600, it is best to avoid the newer models, the rust problems are just awful.
Very interesting read.
The V12 in the W140 is a revvy beast and certainly 'howls' as it goes for the redline before shifting up. The W220 n/a V12 had a different feel to it, certainly more rev hungry than the V8's which felt like a wave of torque. I did not disable the cyl shut down on my W220.
All that being said, the W140 V12 is silly quick for such a gigantic car and very responsive
The V12 in the W140 is a revvy beast and certainly 'howls' as it goes for the redline before shifting up. The W220 n/a V12 had a different feel to it, certainly more rev hungry than the V8's which felt like a wave of torque. I did not disable the cyl shut down on my W220.
All that being said, the W140 V12 is silly quick for such a gigantic car and very responsive
schmalex said:
Equally, whilst browsing A/T over the past week or so, I have seen an 04 (I think) CL600 up for what seems like reasonable money (mid £20's IIRC). Are these also potentially disasterous to run, or should one be tempted........?
2004 is the biturbo.They will give most exotics a run for their money and mid-range acceleration is nothing short of gobsmacking.
But, hugely expensive to fix when they go wrong.
To be honest, a very decent CL500 can be had for %50 that price and, in real world driving, give you 90% of the experience and with 100% of the comfort as the CL600.
schmalex said:
Thought as much. I currently run a CLK500, whcih has the same engine as the CL500, but sometimes I'm still left wanting for a little more...........!
Hence the thought of a 6.0 V12, bi turbo. But I don't fancy the idea of bankrupcy!!
Overall, the cars are still a viable option(I would still buy one) provided that you accept up front that if anything major goes, it will be a very very expensive exercise.Hence the thought of a 6.0 V12, bi turbo. But I don't fancy the idea of bankrupcy!!
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