RE: Mercedes S-Class (W220) | Shed of the Week

[Sandpit Steve]

Wow, is this the point where Brave Pill and Shed of the Week columns come together?

That’s an awful lot of car for old Mondeo money, and seems like a good’un. I’d definitely go armed with a diagnostic computer though, and make sure all the important electrical bits work.

Fantastic shedding.

[DaveyBoyWonder]

Eazy71 said:

Can’t go wrong at that money.

[anonymous-user]

A 55 plate will be one of the very last, which can only be a good thing. Still a no from me though; these do a superb job of looking like a tired old shed, particularly in Silver, and it's now very rare to see one that doesn't look like a heap. In fact I remember seeing plenty around looking very dog eared and scabby while the model was still in production, with visible rust, corroding wheels, peeling rubber trim.

I also can't actually remember the last time I saw one "in the wild" that wasn't resting on it's bump stops.



When I think W220 this is how it looks in my mind's eye.

[BenjiA]

Here's (some of the) the rust on the one I had for a week, had so many MOT failures it had to go .....

[Drakey52]

Sandpit Steve said:

Wow, is this the point where Brave Pill and Shed of the Week columns come together?

That’s an awful lot of car for old Mondeo money, and seems like a good’un. I’d definitely go armed with a diagnostic computer though, and make sure all the important electrical bits work.

Fantastic shedding.

I can't believe there will be a better SOTY contender. If it starts and has an MoT and the dash doesn't light up like the proverbial, bang on.

[Numeric]

For me the most terribly annoying period for Mercedes. The 140 was so gloriously overengineered but not to my eyes a great looker, so when these came along I thought gosh Merc quality with real good looks - terrific.

Sigh - thanks to the shrimp these seemed to be out of warranty nightmare rust buckets to those of us who liked a big decent barge at the £15-25k level

But as a shed - as others have said if it has a long ticket and starts - oh heck man maths creeping in...

[alec.e]

Great shed, I think undoubtedly the worst S Class generation, but fantastic value at £1.5k.

dvs_dave said:

aaron_2000 said:

My black S320CDI….

V8 biturbo badges on an S320CDI….meme badging or just being lame?

Edited by dvs_dave on Friday 11th June 06:25

Hoping that was the ‘before’ picture, before the badges were removed.

[Alex_225]

For £1,500 it's a hell of a car for the money. The 320 diesel would be the 3.2 inline six that was in my old E Class. Yes it's a bit of a chugger but it's an excellent engine and seemingly better on fuel than the V6 diesel that followed.

If you're prepared for a few rough edges and knowing there'll be features that at some point may cease to work but it keeps going it could be a great car for a few years.

The bulk of my driving is spent up and down the M25, M3 and M4 and I opted for the next generation S Class. Still in my eyes a total bargain but it hasn't been the cheapest to run. Thank goodness for the warranty!

[Augustus Windsock]

Numeric said:

For me the most terribly annoying period for Mercedes. The 140 was so gloriously overengineered but not to my eyes a great looker, so when these came along I thought gosh Merc quality with real good looks - terrific.

Sigh - thanks to the shrimp these seemed to be out of warranty nightmare rust buckets to those of us who liked a big decent barge at the £15-25k level

But as a shed - as others have said if it has a long ticket and starts - oh heck man maths creeping in...

Shrimp? What have crustaceans got to do with Sheds?

[TyrannosauRoss Lex]

aaron_2000 said:

For me you don't get any better as a shed. The S320 is pretty much bulletproof, the gearbox is a strong unit too. Air suspension is cheap to fix and easy to work on yourself, the only issue being the need for the STAR computer to calibrate it which is what ended up killing mine. Rust is the big killer on them, arches and sills go pretty badly especially on earlier cars. My black S320CDI was a facelift with 212k on it when I sold it, I paid £850 for it and never had an issue with it until I botched a repair and ended up selling it to a breaker for £1000. They're even pretty fun to drive, especially in the wet although the steering is very light and ship like. Can't rate them high enough, they're absolutely brilliant. Mine was better when it had the smaller 19" CLS alloys fitted. The engine has some pretty serious grunt for what it is and sounds nice being a straight 6, mine was mapped too which made it pull really well but still managed 50mpg on a motorway run.

Edited by aaron_2000 on Friday 11th June 01:59

You put V8 badges on a 6 cylinder diesel? May I ask why?

[Fresh Prince]

Interesting. In the last few days I've just bought a similar priced, same age W220 S320 CDI. My previous shed got stolen whilst I was out of town, so I decided on this as I'm now doing a lot of motorway miles and also crossing regularly into France.

Thought about going to see this one, but decided on a better-specced example, albeit with higher miles. Fingers-crossed it'll be good.

[Low Pro]

"And it does say 'full Mercedes dealer' in the sparse ad copy. If the missing words there are 'service history' then we could be laughing. If they are 'prison record' then we might not be so happy."

This is why I love SOFW

[anonymous-user]

bitofayank said:

It’s an S class for probably what a dealer charges for a minor service on the latest generation.

You'll be surprised to hear that the W222 costs £430 on a service plan for minor/major service.

[anonymous-user]

Alex_225 said:

The bulk of my driving is spent up and down the M25, M3 and M4 and I opted for the next generation S Class

In life before COVID mine was the A12/A14, M25 & M4 and I opted for the next, next generation. I've had no warranty issues at all in 5+ years. Now it just sits on the driveway and is worth so little, it isn't worth getting rid of.

[dinkel]

I drove an E50 AMG ans SL60 the other day: after all these years these jewels offer so much. Love it.

[Fresh Prince]

milesr3 said:

In life before COVID mine was the A12/A14, M25 & M4 and I opted for the next, next generation. I've had no warranty issues at all in 5+ years. Now it just sits on the driveway and is worth so little, it isn't worth getting rid of.

If my time with the W220 goes well, I may very well get a late W221 or early W222 next.

[Sandpit Steve]

Low Pro said:

"And it does say 'full Mercedes dealer' in the sparse ad copy. If the missing words there are 'service history' then we could be laughing. If they are 'prison record' then we might not be so happy."

This is why I love SOFW

Thursdays must be good fun at PH towers, as they pick out the Shed and put the more imaginative parts of their brains to work...

[Sheepshanks]

DaveyBoyWonder said:

Eazy71 said:

Can’t go wrong at that money.

I have a different model 2005 Merc. It could go very, very wrong! It's an almost constant battle of what's OK to leave and what needs to be done, and, as with any car, the tricky bit is knowing when to walk away. Ideally that doesn't happen after you've just shelled out for a costly repair.

[Sheepshanks]

milesr3 said:

bitofayank said:

It’s an S class for probably what a dealer charges for a minor service on the latest generation.

You'll be surprised to hear that the W222 costs £430 on a service plan for minor/major service.

As a Merc owner I doubted that, so looked on ServiceCare - it's £936 form new or £1128 if over 12mths old, for two sevices.

Of course, the main idea is for the dealer to get their claws into you.

[aaron_2000]

dvs_dave said:

V8 biturbo badges on an S320CDI….meme badging or just being lame?

Edited by dvs_dave on Friday 11th June 06:25

Previous owner being lame, me keeping it on because the glue he used pulled up the lacquer. Previous owner also put Brembo stickers on the callipers, kept them on because it was £850 and I didn't remotely care what it looked like

Edited by aaron_2000 on Friday 11th June 13:23