Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 21]
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Cheeky little update on the S600 now that I'm 3 weeks in...
Car was delivered. Drove it very gently home, expecting it to explode. Went on holiday. Came back expecting:
A) a lake of fluids on the garage floor;
B) collapsed suspension;
C) it not to start; or
D) all of the above
I'm happy/confused/terrified to report that it did none of the above. Garage was dry, suspension hadn't dropped a millimetre and it whirred into life on the button (exotic sounding starter motor and higher than expected idle is very money supermarket).
So far so good(ish).
Current Bork list that I have identified (*evident at purchase)
- 50-60mph wheel shimmy (offside front wheel is slightly bent, praying that this is the cause)
- *front active seats don't work
-spare wheel tyre valve is (inexplicably) split
- very minor weep of hydrocarbons from top of engine (suspect rocker gasket)
I could write a book on how it drives, but I'll compare it instead to Autobantz Snr's new 'M' 740d (the one with the MASSIVE GRILLE). That car to me drives like a big 5-series... And that's not a compliment. NVH levels are far higher than you'd expect, the damping feels unsophisticated and the ride is generally busy. Not unpleasant, but not what I expected either.
The old W221 by comparison (admidely a much more expensive car than the equivalent 7er would have been), drives like you'd expect of a big luxo-barge. It's eerily quiet, turbine smooth and delivers earth-stopping reserves of torque from nowhere. It also handles surprisingly well, too. The ABC suspension is remarkable; a marvel even now. If pushed for comparison, I'd say it drives like a Continental GT (never driven the Spur). And yet, the current gen BMW 7er is extremely popular out here. I have no idea why.
Going to stick it into the specialist for a full service and a once over. Wish me luck!
Car was delivered. Drove it very gently home, expecting it to explode. Went on holiday. Came back expecting:
A) a lake of fluids on the garage floor;
B) collapsed suspension;
C) it not to start; or
D) all of the above
I'm happy/confused/terrified to report that it did none of the above. Garage was dry, suspension hadn't dropped a millimetre and it whirred into life on the button (exotic sounding starter motor and higher than expected idle is very money supermarket).
So far so good(ish).
Current Bork list that I have identified (*evident at purchase)
- 50-60mph wheel shimmy (offside front wheel is slightly bent, praying that this is the cause)
- *front active seats don't work
-spare wheel tyre valve is (inexplicably) split
- very minor weep of hydrocarbons from top of engine (suspect rocker gasket)
I could write a book on how it drives, but I'll compare it instead to Autobantz Snr's new 'M' 740d (the one with the MASSIVE GRILLE). That car to me drives like a big 5-series... And that's not a compliment. NVH levels are far higher than you'd expect, the damping feels unsophisticated and the ride is generally busy. Not unpleasant, but not what I expected either.
The old W221 by comparison (admidely a much more expensive car than the equivalent 7er would have been), drives like you'd expect of a big luxo-barge. It's eerily quiet, turbine smooth and delivers earth-stopping reserves of torque from nowhere. It also handles surprisingly well, too. The ABC suspension is remarkable; a marvel even now. If pushed for comparison, I'd say it drives like a Continental GT (never driven the Spur). And yet, the current gen BMW 7er is extremely popular out here. I have no idea why.
Going to stick it into the specialist for a full service and a once over. Wish me luck!
Autobantz said:
Cheeky little update on the S600 now that I'm 3 weeks in...
Car was delivered. Drove it very gently home, expecting it to explode. Went on holiday. Came back expecting:
A) a lake of fluids on the garage floor;
B) collapsed suspension;
C) it not to start; or
D) all of the above
I'm happy/confused/terrified to report that it did none of the above. Garage was dry, suspension hadn't dropped a millimetre and it whirred into life on the button (exotic sounding starter motor and higher than expected idle is very money supermarket).
So far so good(ish).
Current Bork list that I have identified (*evident at purchase)
- 50-60mph wheel shimmy (offside front wheel is slightly bent, praying that this is the cause)
- *front active seats don't work
-spare wheel tyre valve is (inexplicably) split
- very minor weep of hydrocarbons from top of engine (suspect rocker gasket)
I could write a book on how it drives, but I'll compare it instead to Autobantz Snr's new 'M' 740d (the one with the MASSIVE GRILLE). That car to me drives like a big 5-series... And that's not a compliment. NVH levels are far higher than you'd expect, the damping feels unsophisticated and the ride is generally busy. Not unpleasant, but not what I expected either.
The old W221 by comparison (admidely a much more expensive car than the equivalent 7er would have been), drives like you'd expect of a big luxo-barge. It's eerily quiet, turbine smooth and delivers earth-stopping reserves of torque from nowhere. It also handles surprisingly well, too. The ABC suspension is remarkable; a marvel even now. If pushed for comparison, I'd say it drives like a Continental GT (never driven the Spur). And yet, the current gen BMW 7er is extremely popular out here. I have no idea why.
Going to stick it into the specialist for a full service and a once over. Wish me luck!
That's fantastic! Could it be that the new 7er is on basic suspension, and a higher spec example on air would be better? Car was delivered. Drove it very gently home, expecting it to explode. Went on holiday. Came back expecting:
A) a lake of fluids on the garage floor;
B) collapsed suspension;
C) it not to start; or
D) all of the above
I'm happy/confused/terrified to report that it did none of the above. Garage was dry, suspension hadn't dropped a millimetre and it whirred into life on the button (exotic sounding starter motor and higher than expected idle is very money supermarket).
So far so good(ish).
Current Bork list that I have identified (*evident at purchase)
- 50-60mph wheel shimmy (offside front wheel is slightly bent, praying that this is the cause)
- *front active seats don't work
-spare wheel tyre valve is (inexplicably) split
- very minor weep of hydrocarbons from top of engine (suspect rocker gasket)
I could write a book on how it drives, but I'll compare it instead to Autobantz Snr's new 'M' 740d (the one with the MASSIVE GRILLE). That car to me drives like a big 5-series... And that's not a compliment. NVH levels are far higher than you'd expect, the damping feels unsophisticated and the ride is generally busy. Not unpleasant, but not what I expected either.
The old W221 by comparison (admidely a much more expensive car than the equivalent 7er would have been), drives like you'd expect of a big luxo-barge. It's eerily quiet, turbine smooth and delivers earth-stopping reserves of torque from nowhere. It also handles surprisingly well, too. The ABC suspension is remarkable; a marvel even now. If pushed for comparison, I'd say it drives like a Continental GT (never driven the Spur). And yet, the current gen BMW 7er is extremely popular out here. I have no idea why.
Going to stick it into the specialist for a full service and a once over. Wish me luck!
Have you got a reader's ride thread going?
TyrannosauRoss Lex said:
That's fantastic! Could it be that the new 7er is on basic suspension, and a higher spec example on air would be better?
Have you got a reader's ride thread going?
Cheers!Have you got a reader's ride thread going?
Haven't done a reader's wives thing yet, but I'll stick something up. If anything, it'll be a cathartic means of articulating my spreadsheet of doom.
Autobantz said:
TyrannosauRoss Lex said:
That's fantastic! Could it be that the new 7er is on basic suspension, and a higher spec example on air would be better?
Have you got a reader's ride thread going?
Cheers!Have you got a reader's ride thread going?
Haven't done a reader's wives thing yet, but I'll stick something up. If anything, it'll be a cathartic means of articulating my spreadsheet of doom.
I'd adore an S600, but my plums aren't big enough.
Bonefish Blues said:
It does. Not flashy, just the epitome of 'Get out of my way peasant, I've got another 400km of tarmac to crush before dinner' chic 
I've always wanted one in black.This one's so black, it's got black leather roof lining.
Despite their commonality out here, a big black Merc Sonderklasse still carries an air of authority in the outside lane. Only my Land Cruiser matches it for rear view mirror dominance. And sadly, it's needed out here; lane discipline is otherwise nonexistent.
Autobantz said:
Bonefish Blues said:
It does. Not flashy, just the epitome of 'Get out of my way peasant, I've got another 400km of tarmac to crush before dinner' chic
I've always wanted one in black.This one's so black, it's got black leather roof lining.
Despite their commonality out here, a big black Merc Sonderklasse still carries an air of authority in the outside lane. Only my Land Cruiser matches it for rear view mirror dominance. And sadly, it's needed out here; lane discipline is otherwise nonexistent.
TyrannosauRoss Lex said:
That's fantastic! Could it be that the new 7er is on basic suspension, and a higher spec example on air would be better?
Missed this bit, sorry.I'm not au fait with the inner gubbins of obscure German cars any more (kids have dulled my brain), so I'm not sure if G11 7er is air sprung throughout, or whether this is reserved for the top models only.
Certainly, every S-class since 2006 has been air sprung or hydraulically so for the big bad versions.
But as a comparison, I once borrowed a steel sprung E65 730i with 265,000 KMs on it. By most metrics it was knackered (most of the toys didn't work / one door didn't open etc). And yet, it drove nicer than the G11....
Proposterous! I hear you shout. Well sure, a G11 steers sharper and actually has some damping (I'd wager the shocks in that old E65 were also shagged), but the E65 was quieter, smother and rode far, far better. All the things you want in a motorway muncher. And the seats with those split backrests... They were fabulous.
Make of that what you will. I find the latest 7er quite IKEA feeling. You can tell it's a big BMW with lots of bells and whistles (inc. ghastly key fob) and plenty of leather. But shut your eyes, and you'd struggle to tell it was the most expensive range of cars BMW makes.
And just in the interests of absolute fairness, I did drive an S350 W221 and that felt like a considerable step down in terms of cabin opulence (plastic dash etc) and engine NVH. But to ride in, it was almost every bit as plush as my big twelver as to make no difference.
Our friends in Munich need to dig their E32/38/65 7ers out of the museum and learn out to make a proper big BMW again (and incidentally i'm no stranger to the marque).
Autobantz said:
TyrannosauRoss Lex said:
That's fantastic! Could it be that the new 7er is on basic suspension, and a higher spec example on air would be better?
Missed this bit, sorry.I'm not au fait with the inner gubbins of obscure German cars any more (kids have dulled my brain), so I'm not sure if G11 7er is air sprung throughout, or whether this is reserved for the top models only.
Certainly, every S-class since 2006 has been air sprung or hydraulically so for the big bad versions.
But as a comparison, I once borrowed a steel sprung E65 730i with 265,000 KMs on it. By most metrics it was knackered (most of the toys didn't work / one door didn't open etc). And yet, it drove nicer than the G11....
Proposterous! I hear you shout. Well sure, a G11 steers sharper and actually has some damping (I'd wager the shocks in that old E65 were also shagged), but the E65 was quieter, smother and rode far, far better. All the things you want in a motorway muncher. And the seats with those split backrests... They were fabulous.
Make of that what you will. I find the latest 7er quite IKEA feeling. You can tell it's a big BMW with lots of bells and whistles (inc. ghastly key fob) and plenty of leather. But shut your eyes, and you'd struggle to tell it was the most expensive range of cars BMW makes.
And just in the interests of absolute fairness, I did drive an S350 W221 and that felt like a considerable step down in terms of cabin opulence (plastic dash etc) and engine NVH. But to ride in, it was almost every bit as plush as my big twelver as to make no difference.
Our friends in Munich need to dig their E32/38/65 7ers out of the museum and learn out to make a proper big BMW again (and incidentally i'm no stranger to the marque).
TyrannosauRoss Lex said:
I'd absolutely love a V12 barge. I just worry that it'd financially ruin me when I should be paying off my mortgage
Stuck record:Get a Century, cheap as chips to run, nicely appreciating in value too now.
/Stuck record.
4:30
https://youtu.be/9DDWCSE84MM
21st Century Man said:
TyrannosauRoss Lex said:
I'd absolutely love a V12 barge. I just worry that it'd financially ruin me when I should be paying off my mortgage
Stuck record:Get a Century, cheap as chips to run, nicely appreciating in value too now.
/Stuck record.
4:30
https://youtu.be/9DDWCSE84MM
Autobantz said:
21st Century Man said:
Stuck record:
Get a Century, cheap as chips to run, nicely appreciating in value too now.
/Stuck record.
Thought about one of these but parts are not quite as abundant as they are for a Corolla.Get a Century, cheap as chips to run, nicely appreciating in value too now.
/Stuck record.
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