RE: Shed of the Week: Mercedes S320
Discussion
I feel I have to defend this era of S class W220.
OK.....I do own one myself as a daily driver......and yes....it is probably the lowest mileages, best example of this car outside of a museum....but they are an absolute brilliant car in context.
Mercedes still went out to build the best car in the world and the technology, the ride, comfort, A/C, special glass, active aero-dynamics, sound system, bullet-proof diesel engine and materials are fantastic....
OK....it is probably not as tank like a the previous generation W140.
BUT....it is an S-class....anyone whoever gets a chance to sample a good one of these, yes I know "good" example, will be impressed.....you cannot ignore this is an S-Class.......
You can whisper to your passengers at fast Autobahn speed, it never ever breaks a sweat...ever.....quicker than you think, for a diesel too!
I love mine!
IceBoy
OK.....I do own one myself as a daily driver......and yes....it is probably the lowest mileages, best example of this car outside of a museum....but they are an absolute brilliant car in context.
Mercedes still went out to build the best car in the world and the technology, the ride, comfort, A/C, special glass, active aero-dynamics, sound system, bullet-proof diesel engine and materials are fantastic....
OK....it is probably not as tank like a the previous generation W140.
BUT....it is an S-class....anyone whoever gets a chance to sample a good one of these, yes I know "good" example, will be impressed.....you cannot ignore this is an S-Class.......
You can whisper to your passengers at fast Autobahn speed, it never ever breaks a sweat...ever.....quicker than you think, for a diesel too!
I love mine!
IceBoy
only1ian said:
Good luck trying to find an auto electrician willing and most importantly able to work on this for you!
My 2009 SL63 had a similar discharge issue that took forever to identify. Turned out to be the door handle sensor in the keyless entry system
I've had a couple of electrical issues with mine that have been sorted out by my local indy, these cars need plugging into the Star diagnostic system, both of which have just been tired connections, sorted with a squirt of switch cleaner. There's no point in chasing faults on these by guess work, the most important requirement is a good specialist who is a ten minute drive away and always has a courtesy car available My 2009 SL63 had a similar discharge issue that took forever to identify. Turned out to be the door handle sensor in the keyless entry system
I think Mr Shed is smashing it at the moment. Only the MX5 has let him down so far in 2018 for me. Maybe we need to remember that with banger-nomics we will have to get our hands dirty, use our own knowledge and yet we still might get our fingers burnt. For those not prepared to take the risks, there is a plethora of used Corsa's at the same money waiting for you.
Myself and three mates bought one for a grand last summer to do a charity run to Monaco in.
S320L 02 plate with 160k miles, and the obligatory rust.
It ran like a dream for the 4 days and 2k miles we did in it, for four 6 foot blokes it was truly palatial and we were the envy of those stuck in other much smaller sheds, least until we reached Monaco and the fan & AC packed up!
A few lights appeared on the dash in the three months we had it, and like the one here it had a drain on the battery, but was very intermittent, probably related to a lack of use at time.
Such a shame most are rust buckets as our long wheelbase one was a superb thing to drive, and so comfortable - even with gaffer tape on the seat! (colour matching though!)
S320L 02 plate with 160k miles, and the obligatory rust.
It ran like a dream for the 4 days and 2k miles we did in it, for four 6 foot blokes it was truly palatial and we were the envy of those stuck in other much smaller sheds, least until we reached Monaco and the fan & AC packed up!
A few lights appeared on the dash in the three months we had it, and like the one here it had a drain on the battery, but was very intermittent, probably related to a lack of use at time.
Such a shame most are rust buckets as our long wheelbase one was a superb thing to drive, and so comfortable - even with gaffer tape on the seat! (colour matching though!)
Flumpo said:
Even if it has the last service print out sheet it doesn’t tell you anything else other than what the service did. Which I’m willing to bet it hasn’t got a merc one, if he’s pulling the sat nav out himself I doubt it’s just been main dealered. So his mate Dave has likely done it, not exactly Stuttgart’s finest.
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On a car that is in Shed budget and £1500, why would you even consider taking it to a Main Dealer for servicing and diagnosis? Would you have taken it to a main dealer and paid their extortionate prices if it was your car and worth this little money?.
That's just daft!
I really don't think at this price point we should be worried about full main dealer history. Yes, being an S Class and the type of car it is, these are generally well-looked after and pampered, but not having dealer history would not put me off buying one (a £5k+ example, AMG models or the Twin Turbo, then that's a different story...).
There aren't many cars that come close to the waftability of these and they are the perfect motorway car. I used my petrol S320 to go up and down to Newcastle every week, as well as my S55K, and they never missed a beat, always got me where I needed to go and I arrived there feeling fresh, not tired with back pains you get in some cars.
PSB1967 said:
I think Mr Shed is smashing it at the moment. Only the MX5 has let him down so far in 2018 for me. Maybe we need to remember that with banger-nomics we will have to get our hands dirty, use our own knowledge and yet we still might get our fingers burnt. For those not prepared to take the risks, there is a plethora of used Corsa's at the same money waiting for you.
I can completely understand the attraction of certain "bangernomics" cars - they're stuff you can fix though, you go down the scrapyard or GSF and get a replacement part or bolt it on.The thing with this particular shed though is that when stuff goes wrong then you are unlikely to be able to fix it. Sure there will be consumables and brake parts etc that you can do, just like any other car. However even in the dark days of MBs quality problems they weren't renowned as being unreliable in a way that would leave you stranded, but stuff just broke or stopped working on the electrical side. Even if you somehow managed to trace the electrical faults on this shed you (or the ones that will (and I do mean WILL) happen in the weeks to come, you still have to get it fixed - you're not going to get these parts anywhere but MB.
My own years of experience tells me that electrical issues are a nightmare and can take forever to solve, and in general I know what I'm doing. Stuff like knackered CV joints - you might get oily and skinned knuckles but at least they're straightforward.
We had a 2002 C Class coupe and a 2002 SL500 with ABC at the same time. Drivetrain-wise both were bombproof. Rust, huge leprous scabs of it spread over the C class (this was a cherished, waxed and detailed car, kept in a garage) and killed it, the SL was just ABC and electrical issues. £18K in 3 years. Yes, I have loads of SL owners who say "oooh mine's been fine" etc. However theirs could develop a fault in a £1000 black box any time. Do you want to take that gamble? Do you feel lucky? Well, do you punk?
I'd be prepared to take a punt on it and hope that my local grease monkey's diagnostic skills would solve most of the everyday problems. Where there's a will, etc. Even if you're hit with a £1000 problem, fixing it would still result in a car 'worth' more than £2500. Whatever 'worth' means at this end of the market. To me, a fettled and reasonably solid S320 of this age is definitely worth £2500 and more.
I wouldn’t take a £1500 car to a main dealer no, my point was that to wax lyrical about the engineering quality and provinence then maintain it on the cheap are in conflict. That and my main point being a service history doesn’t tell you if a cars knackered. You could need numerous parts replaced that would t be picked up by a service print out, let alone a stamp in a book.
I think if the owner had been taking it to a merc specialist it would be mentioned as that would seriously increase the value. So, for me a car like this with electrical problems the owner has had a go on himself and not been able to fix sets alarm bells.
A decent shed should at least have a working radio in my book. For £1500 I’ve seen better s class examples. It’s a great car, but I wouldn’t pick this particular one.
I think if the owner had been taking it to a merc specialist it would be mentioned as that would seriously increase the value. So, for me a car like this with electrical problems the owner has had a go on himself and not been able to fix sets alarm bells.
A decent shed should at least have a working radio in my book. For £1500 I’ve seen better s class examples. It’s a great car, but I wouldn’t pick this particular one.
This must be one of the most polarising sheds ever.
On the left, owners or Mercs of that period that have borked very badly and that have fizzed continuously in wet weather. And other people joining in.
On the right owners of Mercs of that period with low to medium borkage and maybe some more minor fizzing.
I'm in the latter category. Yes, one of the four looked fine from a distance but close up appeared to be trying to shed its paint but it was getting on for 11 years old at that point and in the big scheme of things it didn't matter that much. I just chopped it in at the normal trade price.
I'm now 15 years into Mercs and on my second E class stuffed with tech and despite the Man On The Internet telling me that the last (pre-facelift) 211 was going to detonate every day and twice on Sunday due to shonky electrics it never did. It's now with another owner and working fine at 13 years old and with 160k+ on the clock.
By memory the sum total of non-service items I've had to fix over a decade and half is one engine mount, one Airmatic pump, one electric boot lock and one seat cooler.
Have I been lucky? Dunno. The 202's were stuffed with all the toys but I guess relatively simple by today's standards. The 211 and 212 are far far more complex but have worked like clockwork.
(Cue massive borkage).
On the left, owners or Mercs of that period that have borked very badly and that have fizzed continuously in wet weather. And other people joining in.
On the right owners of Mercs of that period with low to medium borkage and maybe some more minor fizzing.
I'm in the latter category. Yes, one of the four looked fine from a distance but close up appeared to be trying to shed its paint but it was getting on for 11 years old at that point and in the big scheme of things it didn't matter that much. I just chopped it in at the normal trade price.
I'm now 15 years into Mercs and on my second E class stuffed with tech and despite the Man On The Internet telling me that the last (pre-facelift) 211 was going to detonate every day and twice on Sunday due to shonky electrics it never did. It's now with another owner and working fine at 13 years old and with 160k+ on the clock.
By memory the sum total of non-service items I've had to fix over a decade and half is one engine mount, one Airmatic pump, one electric boot lock and one seat cooler.
Have I been lucky? Dunno. The 202's were stuffed with all the toys but I guess relatively simple by today's standards. The 211 and 212 are far far more complex but have worked like clockwork.
(Cue massive borkage).
It's not put me off Mercs - but it has put me off owning one out of warranty completely - I simply wouldn't do it.
My SL500 cost me ~18K over 3 years in repairs. I was traumatised by this and since then I've leased brand new ones. That SL totally broke my confidence. It costs me around 4500 a year to lease one and on that basis I've managed 4 years in brand spanking new ones for the same cost as 3 years of repairs to the SL (which I also endured horrific depreciation on). Otherwise all I've had to do is insure them and stick fuel in. Bloody marvelous!
On the other hand the other car we run is a 2004 Volvo V70 AWD with the five cylinder 2.5 petrol turbo. This has kept my shed credentials going - great thing, has every conceivable extra - even a proper built in phone and pop up satnav/tv. Everything but everything still works. I have no faith that a Merc of the same vintage would lend me the same confidence, and I'm a Merc fan above all.
My point in the above waffle is that this shed is not a good idea on any level - it's too electronically complex. OK that can be said of a lot of cars these days, but they aren't so loaded with the stuff and not so delicate in this regard either.
My SL500 cost me ~18K over 3 years in repairs. I was traumatised by this and since then I've leased brand new ones. That SL totally broke my confidence. It costs me around 4500 a year to lease one and on that basis I've managed 4 years in brand spanking new ones for the same cost as 3 years of repairs to the SL (which I also endured horrific depreciation on). Otherwise all I've had to do is insure them and stick fuel in. Bloody marvelous!
THE ABOVE IS NOT AN INVITATION TO START A SHED Vs LEASE DEBATE
On the other hand the other car we run is a 2004 Volvo V70 AWD with the five cylinder 2.5 petrol turbo. This has kept my shed credentials going - great thing, has every conceivable extra - even a proper built in phone and pop up satnav/tv. Everything but everything still works. I have no faith that a Merc of the same vintage would lend me the same confidence, and I'm a Merc fan above all.
My point in the above waffle is that this shed is not a good idea on any level - it's too electronically complex. OK that can be said of a lot of cars these days, but they aren't so loaded with the stuff and not so delicate in this regard either.
It's been touched upon here, but I'd suggest it's like the IMS/RMS issues on a similar age Porsche, you just don't expect it. Their reputations were built on quality
I've been reading the Merc club gazette monthly magazine since the early 90's and they were up in arms when the dealerships were taken in house along with quality nose diving.
At the end of the day they wouldn't be this cheap if the reputation and quality isn't where it is, it's a huge amount of metal (literally) for the money. Enjoy
I've been reading the Merc club gazette monthly magazine since the early 90's and they were up in arms when the dealerships were taken in house along with quality nose diving.
At the end of the day they wouldn't be this cheap if the reputation and quality isn't where it is, it's a huge amount of metal (literally) for the money. Enjoy
Flumpo said:
I think if the owner had been taking it to a merc specialist it would be mentioned as that would seriously increase the value. So, for me a car like this with electrical problems the owner has had a go on himself and not been able to fix sets alarm bells.
A decent shed should at least have a working radio in my book. For £1500 I’ve seen better s class examples. It’s a great car, but I wouldn’t pick this particular one.
It did go to a specialist. It's my car.A decent shed should at least have a working radio in my book. For £1500 I’ve seen better s class examples. It’s a great car, but I wouldn’t pick this particular one.
The car went to a garage to look at the electrical discharge, and it now has a new battery.
It's always had the issue with the sensors.
i'm in the country a 2-3 days a week. I'm happy to sell the car as is, I just don't have the time for it.
It sailed through it's MOT with no advisories, I have had some recent mechanical work done. It's comfy, quiet, smooth, economical and under £1,500. What more could you want?
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