Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 14]

[TeamBigfoot]

The W221s are a massive improvement over the 220 imo.

A couple of years ago, I went to buy a W220 and looked at many until I was in a local dealer who also had a W221 (08 S320 CDI). It was so much nicer inside but much more expensive.

In the end I bought a 2009 W221 pre facelift S320 CDI which ended up being a bit of a dog (injector knock and HVAC issues) which I promptly got rid of. I will buy another one day as its so much car for the money but buying the right one is key. I'm waiting till they enter barge budgets over the next couple of years and will try to pick up a LWB W221 320 CDI.

[jke11y]

I got an Uber in Dublin last weekend and it was an 08 w221 S320 CDI. It had done just shy of 300k miles and was still a nice place to sit. LWB, had the and had electric rear chairs. Driver liked it and said he'd had little mechanical bother, just standard stuff.

[bmthnick1981]

stickleback123 said:

The W220 has about as much appeal as a dose of the clap for me. Not sure even an S600 TT could convince me to part with anything more than £500. They look very cheap and dated now, inside and out, and even the best kept examples were often starting to look scabby before they were ten years old even when they weren't obviously rusting. Curly rubbers, dull paint, oxidized wheels, yellow headlights.

If it was a Korean car we'd all laugh at their pitiful attempt to "do a barge".

Feels like a slightly harsh analysis, the post facelift cars are pretty good. The S320 CDI is a good engine, as is the 5.0 v8. I personally feel the design is ageing well in the right colour and spec. Mine has the AMG kit from new (wheels, bumpers, side skirts) and when the ABC is in sport mode I think it looks great. I'm obviously biased tho! The interior is good, heated and cooled and massaging seats front and back, decent stereo, space and visibility. All of that said I will change mine probably next year simply becuase i'd like to try a W221, maybe the S500 with the later 4.7 v8 TT engine. Or an S63 or S65.

[BigBen]

E65Ross said:

I have never been in a W220, and my only experience of a W221 is a 350cdi about 10 years ago, if not 11. I liked it very much! I've never been a fan of the W220.... But a W221 I would very much be happy with, but I think it'd have to be at least the 500. They rev incredibly low on the motorway, around 2500rpm at 100mph in 7th I think.

I am pretty sure my S-Class timeline (as a passenger) went W126 (560) > W140 (600) > W221 (airport taxi spec). My main observation on going from the 140 to the 221 was it felt much cheaper inside. More kit but cheaper.

I think everyone is being harsh on the 220, a post facelift (so less prone to rot) car is a pretty good reliable choice, when I had an automotive company as a client a few years back it can't have been a coincidence that many of the engineers drove W220 S320s because they were a reliable bargain (the ones that didn't tended to have 996 Porsches as they were also cheap at the time)

[E65Ross]

strangehighways said:

As with many things in life, I think the devil is in the detail a lot of the time when comparing new lease/pcp or newish private purchase vs old interesting car. If I was comparing my costs with someone who bought a vanilla Ford Focus purchased at a year and a half old and keeping the car 3 years, the Focus costs would undoubtedly be cheaper than mine as their depreciation costs would be way way less than a new car.

I agree that running an old tank doesn’t necessarily cost more and can cost less than something new. I would want something interesting and fast if I was going to have a new car and I can imagine I would be having to spend at least 500 a month for that.

Edited by strangehighways on Monday 7th October 11:28

Edited by strangehighways on Monday 7th October 11:30

On the subject of circa £500/month I just asked my old man what his F Type R coupe costs.... It's a PCP over a 3 year deal.

£6k down payment, £780 or so per month with a £26k residual. It was a few months old when he got it and price was a little over £75k but he got them down to £70k. He did a similar deal on his old M6 but the final residual was £9k more than expected so he had more left from that. Doesn't seem too bad to me.

[SpeckledJim]

They're predicting it to fall from £70k to £26k in three years!?

Yeaaaysusssss



That's not dramatically out of line with the rule of thumb, but looks bloody scary written down.

[E65Ross]

SpeckledJim said:

They're predicting it to fall from £70k to £26k in three years!?

Yeaaaysusssss



That's not dramatically out of line with the rule of thumb, but looks bloody scary written down.

4 years, so £11k per year. The list price when new was over £100k, I think it was approx 1 year old, or just shy of, when new.

Yes, that's quite a lot of depreciation but probably no more than any other £100k high performance big V8 2 door.

[21st Century Man]

grudas said:

1jz GTE engine with 280bhp official figure.

I've got two of those under my bonnet, without the turbos though, so a pair of 1JZ GE's

[E65Ross]

21st Century Man said:

grudas said:

1jz GTE engine with 280bhp official figure.

I've got two of those under my bonnet, without the turbos though, so a pair of 1JZ GE's

Pretty sure the century doesn't have even 300bhp? Much less 560bhp? May be wrong though!

[21st Century Man]

E65Ross said:

21st Century Man said:

grudas said:

1jz GTE engine with 280bhp official figure.

I've got two of those under my bonnet, without the turbos though, so a pair of 1JZ GE's

Pretty sure the century doesn't have even 300bhp? Much less 560bhp? May be wrong though!

Officially it's 280bhp, unofficially they're actually 312bhp (note I mentioned a turbo deficit), but yes, it's not much for what it is.

[E65Ross]

21st Century Man said:

E65Ross said:

21st Century Man said:

grudas said:

1jz GTE engine with 280bhp official figure.

I've got two of those under my bonnet, without the turbos though, so a pair of 1JZ GE's

Pretty sure the century doesn't have even 300bhp? Much less 560bhp? May be wrong though!

Officially it's 280bhp, unofficially they're actually 312bhp (note I mentioned a turbo deficit), but yes, it's not much for what it is.

Ah, yes, sorry.... Didn't read the turbo bit! No, not very powerful but I guess it's quite an old but low-stress engine... And I bet it's buttery smooth!

[grudas]

E65Ross said:

21st Century Man said:

E65Ross said:

21st Century Man said:

grudas said:

1jz GTE engine with 280bhp official figure.

I've got two of those under my bonnet, without the turbos though, so a pair of 1JZ GE's

Pretty sure the century doesn't have even 300bhp? Much less 560bhp? May be wrong though!

Officially it's 280bhp, unofficially they're actually 312bhp (note I mentioned a turbo deficit), but yes, it's not much for what it is.

Ah, yes, sorry.... Didn't read the turbo bit! No, not very powerful but I guess it's quite an old but low-stress engine... And I bet it's buttery smooth!

Yeah the century was designed to be as smooth and quiet as possible. Whereas my crown Athlete v is the sportier/more powerful version of the crown. Don't get me wrong the 1jz i6 is still very smooth but not like the V12 in the century.

[Macron]

Jeep Overland 4.7 High Output, allegedly, assuming it's more than the badge. Awful alloys, rancid method of selling claiming "buy it now auction", but at half thread...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2019...

[W00DY]

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Change from a grand (once you've told them where to shove their "admin" fee) for a turbocharged V10. Someone buy it and make a thread/youtube series for us to enjoy.

[W00DY]

Over-budget but very lovely.




https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-Benz-CLK55-AMG...

Green on green manages to make a diesel X5 appeal.




https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/INDIVIDUAL-GREEN-2004-B...

[g3org3y]

^^Looks really nice in green. Bargain at 3k. If it had the 3.0 litre petrol six I'd be seriously interested.

[bolidemichael]

W00DY said:

Over-budget but very lovely.




https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-Benz-CLK55-AMG...

Green on green manages to make a diesel X5 appeal.




https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/INDIVIDUAL-GREEN-2004-B...

Two excellent finds.

I'm confused by the X5 seller's claim of being a "BMW Used Approved Car".

The CLK55 is extremely appealing. Perhaps this should be the gentleman's express that @R129SL is after.

[Krikkit]

W00DY said:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Change from a grand (once you've told them where to shove their "admin" fee) for a turbocharged V10. Someone buy it and make a thread/youtube series for us to enjoy.

Crikey, that must be up for an award for cheapest outlay per working cylinder made this century. I assume the suspension is scary, otherwise they'd have fixed it.

[bolidemichael]

Krikkit said:

W00DY said:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Change from a grand (once you've told them where to shove their "admin" fee) for a turbocharged V10. Someone buy it and make a thread/youtube series for us to enjoy.

Crikey, that must be up for an award for cheapest outlay per working cylinder made this century. I assume the suspension is scary, otherwise they'd have fixed it.

There is an excellent 'Reader's Car' thread on one of these. The owner is really handy and went into it with his eyes open.

EDIT: It's Ecsy's "A Reckless V10 Purchase"

Edited by bolidemichael on Monday 7th October 20:50

[Macron]

Passat 3.2 4Motion, saloon and 2007 so big tax, but smart looker at £1495.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2019...