Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 21]
Discussion
Bonefish Blues said:
21st Century Man said:
280 quoted, about 330 actual.
I'm thinking somewhere there's specialists strapping a turbo on each bank?21st Century Man said:
Bonefish Blues said:
21st Century Man said:
280 quoted, about 330 actual.
I'm thinking somewhere there's specialists strapping a turbo on each bank?21st Century Man said:
That's certainly the case for the older V8, nothing is available, but that's not the case for the V12, everything is available. I've had no problems obtaining parts, as long as I can provide the part number my local Toyota dealer can order in and is usually cheaper than Amayama/Megazip from Japan. Used parts are also fairly easy to source too, though there are shipping/duty/vat costs on top.
Available and abundant are two different things though 
Most parts for an S600 or AMG whatever are available within an hour in this country. I don't have the luxury of waiting for international courier.
That's why I'm on my fourth Merc offer here.
Autobantz said:
21st Century Man said:
That's certainly the case for the older V8, nothing is available, but that's not the case for the V12, everything is available. I've had no problems obtaining parts, as long as I can provide the part number my local Toyota dealer can order in and is usually cheaper than Amayama/Megazip from Japan. Used parts are also fairly easy to source too, though there are shipping/duty/vat costs on top.
Available and abundant are two different things though Most parts for an S600 or AMG whatever are available within an hour in this country. I don't have the luxury of waiting for international courier.
That's why I'm on my fourth Merc offer here.
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 
Come on TLex that’s not the attitude! What joy in being an old chap and thinking back fondly to getting the mortgage paid off a few years early as opposed to owning a gonad-busting V12. These opportunities will not be realistic for very many more years Autobantz said:
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.
It’s absolutely mega. Thanks for the update. 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.
Not too scary in the niggles to be fixed hopefully. As above, kudos for just getting the epitome of f-off barge - love it!
Out of curiosity what is the cost of fuel per litre for you? Guessing like mine, this only drinks super-unleaded?
Autobantz - Do the inflation settings work on the seats at all or are they totally dead?
Unfortunately they are known to be a bit of an issue with some of the active seat functions, MB remedy is to simply fit a new seat carrier... at the cost of around £2,000 for the part plus stripping down and rebuilding of the seat on top
Might be worth checking the health of the main battery in the boot though, I did have it on mine where when the battery was dickie it would knock out the seat inflation even when running and operating fine. It would be a shame if you can't fix, the active bolsters are quite nice.
The 600s are pretty good for parts availability generally, and somewhat vitally compared to some of the JDM Toyotas I'm possibly considering as a spiritual successor to my 600s, you can actually get loads of pattern/reboxed OE parts for a significant saving over going main dealer, while it seems at least for the likes of Centueries and Crown Majestas its Toyota OE or nothing.
Some things that should be available next day just aren't though: When my voltage transformer died Mercedes Europe had precisely zero available, on back order and no availability date. I did manage to twist a dealer's arm and get a "special order" request to get a batch of them made up, but from start to finish it must have taken 2/3 months of waiting, while the car was effectively a paperweight.
I do implore anyone that wants one to have a serious look into the costs and realities of owning them as I honestly, honestly still do not think they are unreasonable for the amount of car you get. Yes, being prepared ~£1,000 bills become the norm, but then if you're into any barge of this era you expect bills, right? What does a steering rack replacement cost on a LS460 for example? And do they have 520hp? I rest my case... chop chop mr TyrannosauRoss
Unfortunately they are known to be a bit of an issue with some of the active seat functions, MB remedy is to simply fit a new seat carrier... at the cost of around £2,000 for the part plus stripping down and rebuilding of the seat on top
Might be worth checking the health of the main battery in the boot though, I did have it on mine where when the battery was dickie it would knock out the seat inflation even when running and operating fine. It would be a shame if you can't fix, the active bolsters are quite nice.
The 600s are pretty good for parts availability generally, and somewhat vitally compared to some of the JDM Toyotas I'm possibly considering as a spiritual successor to my 600s, you can actually get loads of pattern/reboxed OE parts for a significant saving over going main dealer, while it seems at least for the likes of Centueries and Crown Majestas its Toyota OE or nothing.
Some things that should be available next day just aren't though: When my voltage transformer died Mercedes Europe had precisely zero available, on back order and no availability date. I did manage to twist a dealer's arm and get a "special order" request to get a batch of them made up, but from start to finish it must have taken 2/3 months of waiting, while the car was effectively a paperweight.
I do implore anyone that wants one to have a serious look into the costs and realities of owning them as I honestly, honestly still do not think they are unreasonable for the amount of car you get. Yes, being prepared ~£1,000 bills become the norm, but then if you're into any barge of this era you expect bills, right? What does a steering rack replacement cost on a LS460 for example? And do they have 520hp? I rest my case... chop chop mr TyrannosauRoss
dscam said:
It’s absolutely mega. Thanks for the update.
Not too scary in the niggles to be fixed hopefully. As above, kudos for just getting the epitome of f-off barge - love it!
Out of curiosity what is the cost of fuel per litre for you? Guessing like mine, this only drinks super-unleaded?
Duncan?! Is it you? I think we met in a previous life Vis a Vis E34 M5s via the M5 Board. Hope you're well ol' bean.Not too scary in the niggles to be fixed hopefully. As above, kudos for just getting the epitome of f-off barge - love it!
Out of curiosity what is the cost of fuel per litre for you? Guessing like mine, this only drinks super-unleaded?
Fuel is about 90p a litre here this month. It's been pretty volatile of late. When I came here 8 years ago it was 20p
We'll soon find out if my "Just F--king Do It" approach will bear fruit or ruin me. I'm prepared to spend some money keeping on top of it, but let's see if me and the Benzo are aligned on what "some" means!
WorldBoss said:
Autobantz - Do the inflation settings work on the seats at all or are they totally dead?
Unfortunately they are known to be a bit of an issue with some of the active seat functions, MB remedy is to simply fit a new seat carrier... at the cost of around £2,000 for the part plus stripping down and rebuilding of the seat on top
Might be worth checking the health of the main battery in the boot though, I did have it on mine where when the battery was dickie it would knock out the seat inflation even when running and operating fine. It would be a shame if you can't fix, the active bolsters are quite nice.
The 600s are pretty good for parts availability generally, and somewhat vitally compared to some of the JDM Toyotas I'm possibly considering as a spiritual successor to my 600s, you can actually get loads of pattern/reboxed OE parts for a significant saving over going main dealer, while it seems at least for the likes of Centueries and Crown Majestas its Toyota OE or nothing.
Some things that should be available next day just aren't though: When my voltage transformer died Mercedes Europe had precisely zero available, on back order and no availability date. I did manage to twist a dealer's arm and get a "special order" request to get a batch of them made up, but from start to finish it must have taken 2/3 months of waiting, while the car was effectively a paperweight.
I do implore anyone that wants one to have a serious look into the costs and realities of owning them as I honestly, honestly still do not think they are unreasonable for the amount of car you get. Yes, being prepared ~£1,000 bills become the norm, but then if you're into any barge of this era you expect bills, right? What does a steering rack replacement cost on a LS460 for example? And do they have 520hp? I rest my case... chop chop mr TyrannosauRoss
Thank you, good tips.Unfortunately they are known to be a bit of an issue with some of the active seat functions, MB remedy is to simply fit a new seat carrier... at the cost of around £2,000 for the part plus stripping down and rebuilding of the seat on top
Might be worth checking the health of the main battery in the boot though, I did have it on mine where when the battery was dickie it would knock out the seat inflation even when running and operating fine. It would be a shame if you can't fix, the active bolsters are quite nice.
The 600s are pretty good for parts availability generally, and somewhat vitally compared to some of the JDM Toyotas I'm possibly considering as a spiritual successor to my 600s, you can actually get loads of pattern/reboxed OE parts for a significant saving over going main dealer, while it seems at least for the likes of Centueries and Crown Majestas its Toyota OE or nothing.
Some things that should be available next day just aren't though: When my voltage transformer died Mercedes Europe had precisely zero available, on back order and no availability date. I did manage to twist a dealer's arm and get a "special order" request to get a batch of them made up, but from start to finish it must have taken 2/3 months of waiting, while the car was effectively a paperweight.
I do implore anyone that wants one to have a serious look into the costs and realities of owning them as I honestly, honestly still do not think they are unreasonable for the amount of car you get. Yes, being prepared ~£1,000 bills become the norm, but then if you're into any barge of this era you expect bills, right? What does a steering rack replacement cost on a LS460 for example? And do they have 520hp? I rest my case... chop chop mr TyrannosauRoss
Regards the seats, both fronts are totally dead in the 'active' department. No side bolsters, lumbar, massage. Nada. So I'm hoping it's either a module (it's never a fuse these days) or battery. I noticed that the AC blower (max speed) seemed to dip in output with revs (i.e. as the revs dipped backed to idle). My old GL (similar architecture to W221) did this as well. The seats in that we're also knackered, but they would hiss instead. The seats in the S600 do not. Instead, the adjustment on the centre screen reverts to "zero" within a second. Sounds voltage related to me (let's hope it's not the water cooled alternator
)I owned a couple of E63 W212s. The earlier one (6.2 NA) looked after me pretty well, whilst the latter E63S did not. Point being, I know what AMG tax feels like, so I'm prepared for bills. I am encouraged that the S600 has at least been looked after and serviced apparently at the main dealer and I have a reasonable indy who seems to do every Merc here in AD, such is the size of his workshop.
Let us see. Fingers and toes crossed!
WorldBoss said:
Autobantz - Do the inflation settings work on the seats at all or are they totally dead?
Unfortunately they are known to be a bit of an issue with some of the active seat functions, MB remedy is to simply fit a new seat carrier... at the cost of around £2,000 for the part plus stripping down and rebuilding of the seat on top
Might be worth checking the health of the main battery in the boot though, I did have it on mine where when the battery was dickie it would knock out the seat inflation even when running and operating fine. It would be a shame if you can't fix, the active bolsters are quite nice.
The 600s are pretty good for parts availability generally, and somewhat vitally compared to some of the JDM Toyotas I'm possibly considering as a spiritual successor to my 600s, you can actually get loads of pattern/reboxed OE parts for a significant saving over going main dealer, while it seems at least for the likes of Centueries and Crown Majestas its Toyota OE or nothing.
Some things that should be available next day just aren't though: When my voltage transformer died Mercedes Europe had precisely zero available, on back order and no availability date. I did manage to twist a dealer's arm and get a "special order" request to get a batch of them made up, but from start to finish it must have taken 2/3 months of waiting, while the car was effectively a paperweight.
I do implore anyone that wants one to have a serious look into the costs and realities of owning them as I honestly, honestly still do not think they are unreasonable for the amount of car you get. Yes, being prepared ~£1,000 bills become the norm, but then if you're into any barge of this era you expect bills, right? What does a steering rack replacement cost on a LS460 for example? And do they have 520hp? I rest my case... chop chop mr TyrannosauRoss
Touche! Unfortunately they are known to be a bit of an issue with some of the active seat functions, MB remedy is to simply fit a new seat carrier... at the cost of around £2,000 for the part plus stripping down and rebuilding of the seat on top
Might be worth checking the health of the main battery in the boot though, I did have it on mine where when the battery was dickie it would knock out the seat inflation even when running and operating fine. It would be a shame if you can't fix, the active bolsters are quite nice.
The 600s are pretty good for parts availability generally, and somewhat vitally compared to some of the JDM Toyotas I'm possibly considering as a spiritual successor to my 600s, you can actually get loads of pattern/reboxed OE parts for a significant saving over going main dealer, while it seems at least for the likes of Centueries and Crown Majestas its Toyota OE or nothing.
Some things that should be available next day just aren't though: When my voltage transformer died Mercedes Europe had precisely zero available, on back order and no availability date. I did manage to twist a dealer's arm and get a "special order" request to get a batch of them made up, but from start to finish it must have taken 2/3 months of waiting, while the car was effectively a paperweight.
I do implore anyone that wants one to have a serious look into the costs and realities of owning them as I honestly, honestly still do not think they are unreasonable for the amount of car you get. Yes, being prepared ~£1,000 bills become the norm, but then if you're into any barge of this era you expect bills, right? What does a steering rack replacement cost on a LS460 for example? And do they have 520hp? I rest my case... chop chop mr TyrannosauRoss
Although in the case of the LS they don't tend to throw up too many big bills, that's just a single horrific one. I would generally bet that a V12 Merc would happily throw more 4 figure bills at you compared to a 460.
Trust me, I would absolutely LOVE a V12 S Class, it is the pinnacle of barges for me (aside a Bentley Mulsanne or Flying Spur, then a Rolls Royce Ghost or Phantom.....) but I don't think I do enough driving to justify the additional expense (I guess that argument can swing either way) that it would inevitably be over the Lexus. Maybe. Probably.
Autobantz - hurry up and get a RR thread up
Autobantz said:
dscam said:
It’s absolutely mega. Thanks for the update.
Not too scary in the niggles to be fixed hopefully. As above, kudos for just getting the epitome of f-off barge - love it!
Out of curiosity what is the cost of fuel per litre for you? Guessing like mine, this only drinks super-unleaded?
Duncan?! Is it you? I think we met in a previous life Vis a Vis E34 M5s via the M5 Board. Hope you're well ol' bean.Not too scary in the niggles to be fixed hopefully. As above, kudos for just getting the epitome of f-off barge - love it!
Out of curiosity what is the cost of fuel per litre for you? Guessing like mine, this only drinks super-unleaded?
Fuel is about 90p a litre here this month. It's been pretty volatile of late. When I came here 8 years ago it was 20p
We'll soon find out if my "Just F--king Do It" approach will bear fruit or ruin me. I'm prepared to spend some money keeping on top of it, but let's see if me and the Benzo are aligned on what "some" means!
I had a look at your ‘garage’ (impressive) but not sure I can ID you from your car history. 3 x E34 M5 though is fantastic! Drop me a PM if you wish.
Looking forward to seeing how you get on with this S600 and very best of luck with it!
Autobantz said:
Thank you, good tips.
Regards the seats, both fronts are totally dead in the 'active' department. No side bolsters, lumbar, massage. Nada. So I'm hoping it's either a module (it's never a fuse these days) or battery. I noticed that the AC blower (max speed) seemed to dip in output with revs (i.e. as the revs dipped backed to idle). My old GL (similar architecture to W221) did this as well. The seats in that we're also knackered, but they would hiss instead. The seats in the S600 do not. Instead, the adjustment on the centre screen reverts to "zero" within a second. Sounds voltage related to me (let's hope it's not the water cooled alternator)
I owned a couple of E63 W212s. The earlier one (6.2 NA) looked after me pretty well, whilst the latter E63S did not. Point being, I know what AMG tax feels like, so I'm prepared for bills. I am encouraged that the S600 has at least been looked after and serviced apparently at the main dealer and I have a reasonable indy who seems to do every Merc here in AD, such is the size of his workshop.
Let us see. Fingers and toes crossed!
My S600 did that for all four seats when there was an air leak - it runs the little compressor for a while and if it can't get up to pressure it just shuts down and logs a code the MB computer should read.Regards the seats, both fronts are totally dead in the 'active' department. No side bolsters, lumbar, massage. Nada. So I'm hoping it's either a module (it's never a fuse these days) or battery. I noticed that the AC blower (max speed) seemed to dip in output with revs (i.e. as the revs dipped backed to idle). My old GL (similar architecture to W221) did this as well. The seats in that we're also knackered, but they would hiss instead. The seats in the S600 do not. Instead, the adjustment on the centre screen reverts to "zero" within a second. Sounds voltage related to me (let's hope it's not the water cooled alternator
)I owned a couple of E63 W212s. The earlier one (6.2 NA) looked after me pretty well, whilst the latter E63S did not. Point being, I know what AMG tax feels like, so I'm prepared for bills. I am encouraged that the S600 has at least been looked after and serviced apparently at the main dealer and I have a reasonable indy who seems to do every Merc here in AD, such is the size of his workshop.
Let us see. Fingers and toes crossed!
For my passenger seat the massage would work once or twice then some weird internal fault would occur and then it'd do that "reset back to zero" thing but only for that seat.
Ironically the car logged loads of useful codes for the fancy seats but almost none when it turned it's gearbox to swarf
As to your point about the 7 series being inexplicably popular, over here they are really quite popular too but they sell them at deep discounts to the point it's only a few grand to go from a 530d to a 730d according to the prices on Broadspeed. You'd find that £4k wouldn't you.
Used prices are far lower on the 7 series too though, an early E65 745i is a car you have to basically give away while there are always buyers willing to pay real money for even a turn of the century W220 S500.
Despite the best efforts of BMW (and MB!) I don't think it's ever really been up to scratch against the S Class, although as a new buyer between 2002 and 2006 I'd probably have had an E65 745i over a s
tty W220 S500, but that's like winning a race against a one legged donkey, and used I wouldn't touch any 7 series with a stty stick in case my stty stick got something unpleasant on it.Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 7th August 16:01
£3750 230TE looks very genuine
https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1458715
More gravel than, well, I’ve ever seen.
https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1458715
More gravel than, well, I’ve ever seen.
nobrakes said:
£3750 230TE looks very genuine
https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1458715
More gravel than, well, I’ve ever seen.
I'm assuming that his actual home address has rather less gravel and grounds than his photo-shoot location. https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1458715
More gravel than, well, I’ve ever seen.
Why stick a D sticker on it?
CharlesdeGaulle said:
nobrakes said:
£3750 230TE looks very genuine
https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1458715
More gravel than, well, I’ve ever seen.
I'm assuming that his actual home address has rather less gravel and grounds than his photo-shoot location. https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1458715
More gravel than, well, I’ve ever seen.
Why stick a D sticker on it?
Still, it’s not the car’s fault. Stil looks ok.
nobrakes said:
CharlesdeGaulle said:
nobrakes said:
£3750 230TE looks very genuine
https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1458715
More gravel than, well, I’ve ever seen.
I'm assuming that his actual home address has rather less gravel and grounds than his photo-shoot location. https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1458715
More gravel than, well, I’ve ever seen.
Why stick a D sticker on it?
Still, it’s not the car’s fault. Stil looks ok.
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