Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 17]

[KillerHERTZ]

SpeckledJim said:

Mercedes has abandoned the standing star emblem, in-step with the world (and the factory) coming to the realisation that Mercedes product no longer merits the superlative 'statement' of the star.

So, very sad, but sadder would probably be them continuing to fit the star to the head-to-head-with-Hyundai, neck-and-neck-with-Nissan meh-mobiles that they're now extruding from their sausage machine.

No they havent. in the UK market yes, rest of the world no. - In the UK some 90% of sales were for the Sport/AMG line so they stopped selling it here.

In Europe for example you can get a C and E class with the 'Classic' specification. These have a completely different front end.

I have done the conversion for my Fathers 2017 W205 C200 by importing all the components from Europe.

Check my full video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJElkg_R1Po&t=...

Before:





After:

[dscam]

BlueMR2 said:

Dapster said:

meb90 said:

https://www.midlandmodernclassics.co.uk/cars/merce...

I spotted this car at a garage just around the corner from me, and thought 2 things. 1, looks like a nice example and 2, have I misread the price? I've found the garage's website to see if I was going crazy. Turns out I wasn't! It is ex Rowan Atkinson though.

Apologies for being way out of thread!

Also, apologies for not getting a big picture for the thread, I'm not yet sure how to do that!

Edited by meb90 on Thursday 10th September 07:22

Definitely one for the "buy on condition not mileage" price - not many performance saloons would still look that good after 200k miles.

Silverstone Auctions sold this for nearly £70k in pre C19 2020 with a handful of miles on the clock so you can see good ones aren't cheap.

https://silverstoneauctions.com/events/2020-auctio...

Such awesome cars.


Makes you wonder why people don't take a normal one in good condition, then transplant the engine with new suspension and brakes. I take it the engine bay of the 6cyl is not set up for the V8 engines.

However surely the 190E 2.6 cars would be able to handle a 300-24 engine swap easily. That high revving, smooth V6 would be a beast in such a light chassis.

Just been catching up on c. 20 pages so apologies for the slight throwback here.

I adore the 500E and it is firmly on my dream garage list. I agree that the ex RA car actually represents great value compared with a lot of imports with questionable provenance. Genuine UK cars are incredibly rare.

There are a couple of gripes though; the boot badge is horribly misplaced - probably after re-paint. Likewise the fitment of both front and rear bumpers is just slightly off looking at the photos. Unless it’s had a shunt these are minor points I guess. It looks to have had the alloys polished which is not a factory finish of this era and looks a bit naff imho.

Ref doing the 5L transplant on a regular W124 - not a simple job and there are many engineering changes under the skin of the 500E to make it possible which includes the engine bay and transmission tunnel from memory. Then you have the wider track, larger brakes etc. This was a lot of the work carried out by Porsche when building the cars for Mercedes as the body could not be accommodated on the regular W124 line.

I like the idea of the 3.0 in a 190E though!

Edited by dscam on Thursday 17th September 17:04

Spelling

Edited by dscam on Thursday 17th September 17:08

[dscam]

Northbrook said:

I'm secretly hoping that Doctor Ross, rather than being a chiropractor, is actually a vet.

This made me laugh in a way that I awkwardly inhaled a half-eaten M&M.

[LayZ]

KillerHERTZ said:

No they havent. in the UK market yes, rest of the world no. - In the UK some 90% of sales were for the Sport/AMG line so they stopped selling it here.

In Europe for example you can get a C and E class with the 'Classic' specification. These have a completely different front end.

I have done the conversion for my Fathers 2017 W205 C200 by importing all the components from Europe.

Check my full video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJElkg_R1Po&t=...

Before:





After:

This looks miles better. I am ashamed despite my many trips to Berlin I had never noticed this. I should hand in my MB-nerd card.

[tobinen]

Güten abends alles

I managed to max out my H rated all-season tyres today at 130MPH on the A4 somewhere around Gotha. The best part was a derestricted stretch where I didn't drop below 100MPH for half an hour. Didn't last as the traffic was chokka but it was good fun while it lasted (in other words a normal run out for r129sl)

Wroclaw to the 'Ring in 8 hours with a 45 minute pitstop

I wafted a lap of the 'Ring but sadly saw a nasty bike crash about halfway round and it was red-flagged but I finished my lap in sub 20 minutes.

It's so much twistier and hillier than on the YouTubes

Where next? Belgium is favourite so any beardage welcome! danke

(Still no 140s spotted)

Edited by tobinen on Thursday 17th September 18:50

[alec.e]

LayZ said:

KillerHERTZ said:

No they havent. in the UK market yes, rest of the world no. - In the UK some 90% of sales were for the Sport/AMG line so they stopped selling it here.

In Europe for example you can get a C and E class with the 'Classic' specification. These have a completely different front end.

I have done the conversion for my Fathers 2017 W205 C200 by importing all the components from Europe.

Check my full video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJElkg_R1Po&t=...

Before:





After:

This looks miles better. I am ashamed despite my many trips to Berlin I had never noticed this. I should hand in my MB-nerd card.

Agreed, the bonnet star looks much better. That is one thing I prefered about the S Class over my CL.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

tobinen said:

Güten abends alles



Where next? Belgium is favourite so any beardage welcome! danke

(Still no 140s spotted)

Glad you made the Ring.

Ref Belgium, Antwerp is nice. Ypres too, especially if you fancy some wartime stuff. If you do, go to Tyne Cot as well.

[SpeckledJim]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

tobinen said:

Güten abends alles



Where next? Belgium is favourite so any beardage welcome! danke

(Still no 140s spotted)

Glad you made the Ring.

Ref Belgium, Antwerp is nice. Ypres too, especially if you fancy some wartime stuff. If you do, go to Tyne Cot as well.

I went to Ypres and Tyne Cot last year. Ypres is a lovely town, aside from and as well as all the history things to see and do.

[SpeckledJim]

KillerHERTZ said:

SpeckledJim said:

Mercedes has abandoned the standing star emblem, in-step with the world (and the factory) coming to the realisation that Mercedes product no longer merits the superlative 'statement' of the star.

So, very sad, but sadder would probably be them continuing to fit the star to the head-to-head-with-Hyundai, neck-and-neck-with-Nissan meh-mobiles that they're now extruding from their sausage machine.

No they havent. in the UK market yes, rest of the world no. - In the UK some 90% of sales were for the Sport/AMG line so they stopped selling it here.

In Europe for example you can get a C and E class with the 'Classic' specification. These have a completely different front end.

I have done the conversion for my Fathers 2017 W205 C200 by importing all the components from Europe.

Check my full video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJElkg_R1Po&t=...

Before:





After:

Fair point, I mustn't be so parochial.

Personally I think the star on a modern 'C' is stretching credibility a bit. What is the message its sending, and is the actual car backing it up?

[anonymous-user]

SpeckledJim said:

Fair point, I mustn't be so parochial.

Personally I think the star on a modern 'C' is stretching credibility a bit. What is the message its sending, and is the actual car backing it up?

As tastelessly and ineptly styled as it may be the current C class appears to be objectively as well engineered and assembled as a 190E, and considerably better than many of the other frankly rather dismal small saloons they have turned out since.

I know some on the thread can be rather hair shirt about their cars, but If a bonnet mascot was appropriate on an ashmatic 90 horsepower carb fed 4 cylinder car with an interior that makes a prison cell look comfortable and fitted with all the amenities of a two man dome tent then I would argue that it's just as appropriate on a modern C class.

[cornershop]

stickleback123 said:

If you retain SLS in yours it'll be a real unicorn.

Edited by stickleback123 on Saturday 12th September 09:17

Today I nearly caved in

The unicorn comment is appropriate as nowhere sells slightly lowered springs for a SLS equipped car that isn’t a M5 or a touring. H&R germany advise against Touring springs as the weight difference and hence spring rating could raise the rear height instead of lowering it.

Instead I turned to H&R M5 rear springs - for some reason SLS compatible H&R springs are only available to the US market, even though they are made in Germany (??). No one else makes lowered (-10mm) springs.

So roughly a grand on rear springs and refurbed struts.... madness to some but genuinely, I’m ok with it as I like the car so much. I’m even thinking of selling the V12 Vantage and buying an E34 M5....

[CharlesdeGaulle]

cornershop said:

I’m even thinking of selling the V12 Vantage and buying an E34 M5....

Very thread, I'm sure, but not a comment one hears often!

[tobinen]

Ypres booked for two nights and calling in to Spa along the way. Thanks SJ & CdG

[LetsTryAgain]

Modern Mercedes leave me cold.
They've not made a car which in any way appeals to me for a decade.

[r129sl]

KillerHERTZ said:

SpeckledJim said:

Mercedes has abandoned the standing star emblem, in-step with the world (and the factory) coming to the realisation that Mercedes product no longer merits the superlative 'statement' of the star.

So, very sad, but sadder would probably be them continuing to fit the star to the head-to-head-with-Hyundai, neck-and-neck-with-Nissan meh-mobiles that they're now extruding from their sausage machine.

No they havent. in the UK market yes, rest of the world no. - In the UK some 90% of sales were for the Sport/AMG line so they stopped selling it here.

In Europe for example you can get a C and E class with the 'Classic' specification. These have a completely different front end.

I have done the conversion for my Fathers 2017 W205 C200 by importing all the components from Europe.

Check my full video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJElkg_R1Po&t=...

Before:





After:

This man wins the prize. Honorary life vice president of the barge club.

[cornershop]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

cornershop said:

I’m even thinking of selling the V12 Vantage and buying an E34 M5....

Very thread, I'm sure, but not a comment one hears often!

And based solely on one quality...induction noise

The V12 has plenty of exhaust but no induction noise to speak of. After the old 911 on ITBs, i realised how important induction noise is to me

Would you believe the e34 has a better induction noise than the Aston?

[r129sl]

cornershop said:

And based solely on one quality...induction noise

The V12 has plenty of exhaust but no induction noise to speak of. After the old 911 on ITBs, i realised how important induction noise is to me

Would you believe the e34 has a better induction noise than the Aston?

I wouldn't really know how to tell the difference. However, it seems to me that post-2000 super sports cars have a rather synthetic and mono-chromatic noise devoid of real character. This just sort of blare all the time. Must really piss of the neighbours.

[KillerHERTZ]

SpeckledJim said:

Fair point, I mustn't be so parochial.

Personally I think the star on a modern 'C' is stretching credibility a bit. What is the message its sending, and is the actual car backing it up?

Absolutely no different than any C Class variant. from the 190e upwards.

The 190e was slated at the time for cheapening the brand and wasnt 'a real Mercedes', now its considered a classic, as are the early mint W202s...

[olly755]

tobinen said:

Ypres booked for two nights and calling in to Spa along the way. Thanks SJ & CdG

Ypres is well worth the visit, we did the rally a couple of times. A couple of minutes to yourself under the Menin Gate followed by the Last Post puts modern life into perspective.

[cornershop]

r129sl said:

cornershop said:

And based solely on one quality...induction noise

The V12 has plenty of exhaust but no induction noise to speak of. After the old 911 on ITBs, i realised how important induction noise is to me

Would you believe the e34 has a better induction noise than the Aston?

I wouldn't really know how to tell the difference. However, it seems to me that post-2000 super sports cars have a rather synthetic and mono-chromatic noise devoid of real character. This just sort of blare all the time. Must really piss of the neighbours.

Yes, on the 911 it’s a bit tricky being Rear engined. But the ‘height’ of the noise from the backend helps decipher.

The Aston sounds great from the outside, it’s just a shame so little filters into the cabin. I get to store mine at home from this weekend so will give me a better chance to decide my next move.