Sensible family daily wagon - Mercedes Benz S211 E500

[Ranger 6]

bolidemichael said:

....Cholmondeley Castle was a great place and the day was in a manageable sized area with plenty of events for children and not too overcrowded. Very well organised and thoroughly recommended:

A friend of mine was Stage Commander - I'll pass on your comments. I'm sure he'll be pleased, it takes him nearly a year to plan and a week to set up.

[Percy.]

Have you got any more updates for us?

[Percy.]

Shame about the price being too much for me but I do like the colour combination.

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

[bolidemichael]

Hi @percy. as the thread to date is retrospective it takes a while to catch up! Once I am up to date I can post more regularly, though the banal photo uploading to the forum makes it a chore from a mobile.

The seller of the E500 is overcharging. What's your budget? It would be interesting to see if he has a detailed list of work done. It is an elegance with a dark interior and an early model; my gut feel is that £4k to £5.5k is the ballpark.

[Percy.]

bolidemichael said:

Hi @percy. as the thread to date is retrospective it takes a while to catch up! Once I am up to date I can post more regularly, though the banal photo uploading to the forum makes it a chore from a mobile.

The seller of the E500 is overcharging. What's your budget? It would be interesting to see if he has a detailed list of work done. It is an elegance with a dark interior and an early model; my gut feel is that £4k to £5.5k is the ballpark.

Look forward to more updates!

Anything around £5k at the top end realistically as a house purchase and holiday to Bali limit my budget.

Still trying to decide whether the low MPG is just too much of a killer on my 55 mile round trip each day to work.

[idiotgap]

Very much enjoyed reading this. There wasn't a 500 around when I was looking so I ended up with a petrol 320, on an 04 plate. In hindsight the fuel consumption doesn't seem that different so I may as well have held on and got the noisy one. Though it's not a 500, mine does have a lot of the options you normally only seem to see on those like full airmatic, 4 zone climate, harman kardon audio. Mine doesn't have a sunroof or seat heating/cooling though.

I had a problem with the clone nav dvd, remedied by spending <>£100 at the main dealer on an up to date disc.

I am impressed by the 211 from a comfort and family practicality perspective, I have 3 sons and we find the extra 2 seats in the boot handy for kids parties, mates coming over etc. I have the easyfix boot option in the load floor but sadly the tensa barrier/seatbelt type retracting strap is missing, just have the lashing eyes and the metal barriers. Day to day I use mine to do half my commute to London so I have the seats all flat and my road bike in the boot.

Yesterday a warning about the brakes popped up so in to the indy tomorrow and see what code is showing.

[Mr E]

Percy. said:

Still trying to decide whether the low MPG is just too much of a killer on my 55 mile round trip each day to work.

I have a ~35mile round trip to work and someone giving petrol money for a lift.
I bought a full electric as the man maths suggested it made sense.

[bolidemichael]

@percy. I took the liberty of texting a chap that showed me his E500 Elegance that was for sale last year in March. It was remarkably similar to this in all respects and he confirmed that it went for £7,500. This is far too much in my opinion, but he thinks that this is the correct value for them. I disagree, but the market speaks. My gut value is £4k, but in this context given the asking price, I think that £5k to £5.5k would clinch it.

[bolidemichael]

idiotgap said:

Very much enjoyed reading this. There wasn't a 500 around when I was looking so I ended up with a petrol 320, on an 04 plate. In hindsight the fuel consumption doesn't seem that different so I may as well have held on and got the noisy one. Though it's not a 500, mine does have a lot of the options you normally only seem to see on those like full airmatic, 4 zone climate, harman kardon audio. Mine doesn't have a sunroof or seat heating/cooling though.

I had a problem with the clone nav dvd, remedied by spending <>£100 at the main dealer on an up to date disc.

I am impressed by the 211 from a comfort and family practicality perspective, I have 3 sons and we find the extra 2 seats in the boot handy for kids parties, mates coming over etc. I have the easyfix boot option in the load floor but sadly the tensa barrier/seatbelt type retracting strap is missing, just have the lashing eyes and the metal barriers. Day to day I use mine to do half my commute to London so I have the seats all flat and my road bike in the boot.

Yesterday a warning about the brakes popped up so in to the indy tomorrow and see what code is showing.

There's lots of interesting stuff on your post and thank you for the kind words. I feel as though I have my very own piece of Pistonheads! I don't have HK audio, I think that would be great. I have noticed that the sound on DVD is superior to that on the CDs which is better still than the streaming from the iphone. I do like sunroofs in cars - the large one in my E63 was great, though it didn't retract. Seat cooling would be fun but I'd really like a heated steering wheel!

Did you get your clone DVD from Rusty? I'm going to have to get the OEM copy too and hopefully get a refund from him as he doubted that his DVDs were the cause.

Funnily enough, I have an S124 as a loan car at the moment (such as @r129sl 's) and my mother-in-law has said that the seating comfort of the rear bench is not as comfortable on the drive from London to Glasgow. We all find it very comfortable too and the rear bench handy for transporting seven!

My easypack came with the car, but I bought the bar from ebay (quite luckily as they rarely come up in isolation) and I think that the bar is very handy.

[bolidemichael]

So, Christmas came and went and having been better for the substitution of a turkey for a three rib roast of beef, we embarked on a planned counterclockwise circular of the British Isles and Eire.



We have been invited to a NYE party in Dublin at a friend's house, so our planned itinerary was:

Day 1: London to Lancaster to visit a recently relocated friend's new pile
Day 2: Glasgow to visit in-laws
Day 3: Stranraer to wake up early for the ferry to NI
Day 4: Giant's Causeway then drive down to Dublin
Day 5/6/7: Dublin
Day 8: Dublin to Holyhead then to a holiday home near Leominster
A few days later back to London.

Okay, so the weather would be stty, but I felt that this would be a very nice roadtrip away with the family.

First night, we stopped in Burton in Kendal:



A nice bottle of wine and a wee catch up was a welcome opportunity. However, the next day my wife received a phone call advising her that her father had suffered a stroke and that we should make the leg up to Glasgow pronto.

With a big Vee and the motivation of being pursued by a rapid Range Rover SVR, especially between jncts 15 and 14 of the A74(M), we made some very very rapid progress at times, losing sight of the SVR on the bends (bends take balls) and being ramrodded on the straights until I eventually moved over and then pursued him instead.





We made it in good time to visit the hospital and see the old man. However, things took a dramatic turn for the worse when he was struck by a more severe stroke that evening and rendered all but deceased. Things were about to take a dramatic turn and the S211 was to play its part in ensuring logistical and time critical fulfilment...tbc

[spoiler] Being used as a hearse was not one of them!

Edited by bolidemichael on Wednesday 18th April 17:16

[Mr Tidy]

So sorry to read that OP - wishing you and Mrs Bolide all the best.

Edited by Mr Tidy on Wednesday 18th April 02:02

[idiotgap]

bolidemichael said:

Did you get your clone DVD from Rusty? I'm going to have to get the OEM copy too and hopefully get a refund from him as he doubted that his DVDs were the cause.

The clone DVD came with the car so I don't know where it came from originally. My car came coded to allow DVD viewing on the move, but I lost that when I ran an upgrade CD to update comand to the latest firmware. This gave me the ETA time shown on the satnav at all times which to me was more useful than DVD on the move which I found distracting.

bolidemichael said:

Funnily enough, I have an S124 as a loan car at the moment (such as @r129sl 's) and my mother-in-law has said that the seating comfort of the rear bench is not as comfortable on the drive from London to Glasgow. We all find it very comfortable too and the rear bench handy for transporting seven!

I ran a 1995 7 seat S124 E280 from 2010 to 2015. I loved it and spent a fair bit getting it really nice. In the end my family didn't like it so much, felt to them, like an old car. Also the lack of centre 3-point seat belt in the rear didn't help with us having 3 little ones. I sold it for roughly double what I paid for it. The 211 is a more comfortable car for the family. I like the air ride, the slightly better fuel consumption, the stereo etc. it hasn't got under my skin like the 124 did though. It's not been massively cheap to run, it's had and needs some more of the suspension replacing now, it's needed a new airmatic compressor (I did this myself so only £120 for a pattern pump) and now the brakes. I fitted a removable towbar for a bike-rack but have ended buying a caravan which it tows easily.

bolidemichael said:

My easypack came with the car, but I bought the bar from ebay (quite luckily as they rarely come up in isolation) and I think that the bar is very handy.

I'm not sure it would be easy to retro-fit. If you didn't have the option from factory you'd need to fit the rails to the boot floor. Shame mine has lost the single accessory, but has everything else in the black zip case. I saw a zip case with all the bits on ebay for £35 so I could fix that.

Are you missing the centre rear headrest? Mine was missing when I got the car, but I got lucky finding one in the right colour on ebay.

I liked the the picture of your de rosa, I ride a colnago.

We missed a flight to Geneva in 2016 so went in the car instead, they do high speed cruising so well.

You and your family have my sympathy over recent events. The story is becoming a bit of a page turner with the teasing of the next installment!

[SlackBladder]

Probably shouldn't have started reading this thread, but after losing stupid amounts of money on a Range Rover PCP I've been looking round for an alternative.
Cut a long boring story short, I'll be picking up a 2005 E500 with full MB history, 76,000 miles and one owner from new next week.

[bolidemichael]

SlackBladder said:

Probably shouldn't have started reading this thread, but after losing stupid amounts of money on a Range Rover PCP I've been looking round for an alternative.
Cut a long boring story short, I'll be picking up a 2005 E500 with full MB history, 76,000 miles and one owner from new next week.

Aha Slackbladder, now let's see this amazing bird, the one that stops my old pal Eddie doing exactly what he wants, ten times a night

Back on topic, where did you find it? Do share more info and what attracted you to it? You're in the correct forum for long and boring!

Edited by bolidemichael on Wednesday 18th April 15:02

[SlackBladder]

bolidemichael said:

SlackBladder said:

Probably shouldn't have started reading this thread, but after losing stupid amounts of money on a Range Rover PCP I've been looking round for an alternative.
Cut a long boring story short, I'll be picking up a 2005 E500 with full MB history, 76,000 miles and one owner from new next week.

Aha Slackbladder, now let's see this amazing bird, the one that stops my old pal Eddie doing exactly what he wants, ten times a night

Back in topic, where did you find it? Do share more info and what attracted you to it?

Will post pics when I pick it up next week.

I was out of the country for 3 months over winter and came home to find a letter saying my PCP was almost up (completely slipped my mind), so started looking through the lease deals thread and then started reading this one. Coincidentally a friend of mine in the motor trade said he was off to West Oxfordshire Auctions and for me to have a look to see if there was anything I fancied on their web site. 3 hours later it was bought.
Sold on behalf of Hughes Group, so I can only assume that the one owner had traded it in against a new one.

[bolidemichael]

Mr Tidy said:

So sorry to read that OP - wishing you and Mrs Bolide all the best.

Appreciated; it was incredible that we were there instead of elsewhere!

[bolidemichael]

idiotgap said:

The clone DVD came with the car so I don't know where it came from originally. My car came coded to allow DVD viewing on the move, but I lost that when I ran an upgrade CD to update comand to the latest firmware. This gave me the ETA time shown on the satnav at all times which to me was more useful than DVD on the move which I found distracting.

I tried to revert to the OEM disc that came to that car but unfortunately there is no reverting once the system is updated, so I am bound to a new one from MB; the discount from the MB Owners Club softens the blow.

idiotgap said:

I'm not sure it would be easy to retro-fit. If you didn't have the option from factory you'd need to fit the rails to the boot floor. Shame mine has lost the single accessory, but has everything else in the black zip case. I saw a zip case with all the bits on ebay for £35 so I could fix that.

Oh I didn't get that bit. It's a good option - are you saying that you have retro-fitted the rails to yours?

idiotgap said:

Are you missing the centre rear headrest? Mine was missing when I got the car, but I got lucky finding one in the right colour on ebay.

No, I removed it as it didn't fold down - the button doesn't work for some reason.

idiotgap said:

I liked the the picture of your de rosa, I ride a colnago.

A C60 perchance?

idiotgap said:

We missed a flight to Geneva in 2016 so went in the car instead, they do high speed cruising so well.

Indeed. Where is your car happiest in the rev range when cruising?

idiotgap said:

You and your family have my sympathy over recent events. The story is becoming a bit of a page turner with the teasing of the next installment!

I though that it would be a shame to launch into a relatively short ownership without tracking the tale to date.

[bolidemichael]

SlackBladder said:

Will post pics when I pick it up next week.

I was out of the country for 3 months over winter and came home to find a letter saying my PCP was almost up (completely slipped my mind), so started looking through the lease deals thread and then started reading this one. Coincidentally a friend of mine in the motor trade said he was off to West Oxfordshire Auctions and for me to have a look to see if there was anything I fancied on their web site. 3 hours later it was bought.
Sold on behalf of Hughes Group, so I can only assume that the one owner had traded it in against a new one.

That is unbelievable luck. At 76,000 miles you may be looking at the big items popping up in a while - SBC, airmatic compressor (as described by idiotgap above, the air struts (particularly the front as the engine is a heavy lump) and the odd leak here and there.

Do you know whether auctions cars typically advertised elsewhere or does one have to track the websites/newsletters of each one?

[bolidemichael]

So, having been the unfortunate recipients of some tragic circumstances, we woke up on Friday 29th December to a snowed in Glasgow:



Evidently, the planned road trip was now off and we now had to make alternative arrangements, rapidly. Luckily I have an excellent younger brother, who offered to fly up to Glasgow and bring the children back to London to be cared for by our parents, whilst we dealt with the situation.

The plan was to collect my brother from Glasgow for 5.30pm and drive him to Edinburgh for an 8pm flight back. There were two immediate obstacles; firstly, the levels of snow made it uncertain that I would get up the steep hill at the end of the driveway in a large rear wheel drive, where many other cars had been floundering and even abandoned. However, my as-of-yet-untested winter tyres were a cause of optimism.

The most immediate concern, however, was that someone had abandoned their car with a very questionable gap at the end of the driveway. I opted for calling the police to assist me in the three of so hours that I had to prepare everything.



What a bloody palaver; I don't often have my feathers ruffled by unforeseen events, but the situation threatened to test my patience, particularly when the police arrived and enquired as to whether the kerb had been dropped with planning consent from the council - because this would mean that they could legally authorise removal of the abandoned vehicle! Even more annoying is that the workmen hanging by their van told me that the owner had come and gone in the meantime in order to retrieve something from their car... if only I had written a note beforehand!

As time crept forward and 5 o'clock arrived, I had to make the first tentative steps in Magnus for what would be a crucial journey, and down the driveway we crept...

[idiotgap]

bolidemichael said:

I tried to revert to the OEM disc that came to that car but unfortunately there is no reverting once the system is updated, so I am bound to a new one from MB; the discount from the MB Owners Club softens the blow.

Not much discount on that particular item as I recall, they said something about low margin. It was certainly a lot cheaper from MB than comandonline anyway.

bolidemichael said:

are you saying that you have retro-fitted the rails to yours?

No mine came with the rails and most of the accessories, just missing the flexible barrier.

bolidemichael said:

No, I removed it as it didn't fold down - the button doesn't work for some reason.

I just went out and had a play with mine. It's funny how the middle one doesn't have it's own manual override button on the side. The dash button only works on the middle headrest when it's correctly located. Seems to have only one position really, not height adjustable like the others.

Sadly I don't have a C60, but a lesser model, still lovely to ride. I'm not sure what the rev range is when cruising, I'm afraid I have it on cruise control and enjoy the ride!