Sensible family daily wagon - Mercedes Benz S211 E500
Discussion
The next morning I awoke pretty early and keen for breakfast. They weren't up yet so I have a little wander around on a beautiful fresh sunny morning - one in which the sun makes a promise that it'll hang around all day.
There was a nice selection of stickers in the window - we all love stickers, don't we?
I was intrigued and titillated to see this too, as the A272 is my favourite motorcycling road in my part of the world - google as I might, however, I cannot find any meaningful reference to this 'club' for motorists.
It's a very clean light in the morning here and a characterful little centre ville; unfortunately, that left Magnus in the shade, but a shot for posterity:
I didn't wait for breakfast at the hotel in the end - a boulangerie opened up and the aromas caught my attention, how could I not? After a stop to refill the tank after the previous day's drive, I hit the autoroute and the air was dense; the roads were clear and inviting and it was my final stretch on the continent after a good couple of weeks away. How could one not capitalise on this inviting situation?
Calais was reached in good time
Chunnel disembarked and back to the relative incarceration of endless avg speed camera zones on the M20 (feeling chuffed that the car stretched its legs in the morning), I eventually arrived home.
The stats for the complete trip, door to door.
To recap -
SW20 to Portsmouth
Ferry to Caen
Caen to San Sebastian
San Sebastian to Segovia
Segovia to Madrid
Madrid to Cuenca
Cuenca to Logrono
Logrono to Madrid
Madrid to Barcelona
Barcelona to La Chartre sur Le Loir
LCsLL to Calais
Calais to SW20
Magnus really stretched his legs, didn't skip a beat, had lots of miles of clean revving and motorway running; performed every duty asked of him. Okay, so he stretches my wallet, but rewards the investment in spades, every time.
There was a nice selection of stickers in the window - we all love stickers, don't we?
I was intrigued and titillated to see this too, as the A272 is my favourite motorcycling road in my part of the world - google as I might, however, I cannot find any meaningful reference to this 'club' for motorists.
It's a very clean light in the morning here and a characterful little centre ville; unfortunately, that left Magnus in the shade, but a shot for posterity:
I didn't wait for breakfast at the hotel in the end - a boulangerie opened up and the aromas caught my attention, how could I not? After a stop to refill the tank after the previous day's drive, I hit the autoroute and the air was dense; the roads were clear and inviting and it was my final stretch on the continent after a good couple of weeks away. How could one not capitalise on this inviting situation?
Calais was reached in good time
Chunnel disembarked and back to the relative incarceration of endless avg speed camera zones on the M20 (feeling chuffed that the car stretched its legs in the morning), I eventually arrived home.
The stats for the complete trip, door to door.
To recap -
SW20 to Portsmouth
Ferry to Caen
Caen to San Sebastian
San Sebastian to Segovia
Segovia to Madrid
Madrid to Cuenca
Cuenca to Logrono
Logrono to Madrid
Madrid to Barcelona
Barcelona to La Chartre sur Le Loir
LCsLL to Calais
Calais to SW20
Magnus really stretched his legs, didn't skip a beat, had lots of miles of clean revving and motorway running; performed every duty asked of him. Okay, so he stretches my wallet, but rewards the investment in spades, every time.
Six weeks later and I had another trip coming up, this time to Northern Europe; prior to departing, there were a couple of things to address to ensure a tip top vehicle.
Firstly, the rear subframe bushes which were noted as requiring replacement, so I booked it in despite not feeling any deterioration in handling or ride comfort; nevertheless, prevention rather than cure is the order of the day with this car and the miles that I demand of it and my view is that perishing items needing replacement can only perish further.
Off to my 'man' we went:
At the same time, we replaced the rear brake pads, too. The parts for the job were only £130odd, but the labour for this is at five and a half hours - £735.28. BOSH!
Next on the list was to replace the seat foam on the driver's seat, which I'd figured was a little tired after 144,000 miles. A serendipitous search result had brought the exact product code, A2119100450, which I snared for £60 - as new and unused. I had been quoted £125 from MB, with the 10% MB owners club discount.
To replace this, I had been in contact with the establishment of high repute - d:class of Chobham, Surrey. They had quoted me £120, which I think is entirely reasonable.
This was the original seat foam:
and voila! If you notice, the seat is quite shiny - it transpires that it has previously been repaired and blended. In order to get the seat back to OEM, I'll need a new skin - £1,560!
The car was sorted and ready for a trip then next day, in the height of a very hot summer.
Firstly, the rear subframe bushes which were noted as requiring replacement, so I booked it in despite not feeling any deterioration in handling or ride comfort; nevertheless, prevention rather than cure is the order of the day with this car and the miles that I demand of it and my view is that perishing items needing replacement can only perish further.
Off to my 'man' we went:
At the same time, we replaced the rear brake pads, too. The parts for the job were only £130odd, but the labour for this is at five and a half hours - £735.28. BOSH!
Next on the list was to replace the seat foam on the driver's seat, which I'd figured was a little tired after 144,000 miles. A serendipitous search result had brought the exact product code, A2119100450, which I snared for £60 - as new and unused. I had been quoted £125 from MB, with the 10% MB owners club discount.
To replace this, I had been in contact with the establishment of high repute - d:class of Chobham, Surrey. They had quoted me £120, which I think is entirely reasonable.
This was the original seat foam:
and voila! If you notice, the seat is quite shiny - it transpires that it has previously been repaired and blended. In order to get the seat back to OEM, I'll need a new skin - £1,560!
The car was sorted and ready for a trip then next day, in the height of a very hot summer.
The rear subframe bushes on mine were shot at 97K. All sorted now, was going to do the job myself but wisely left it to a local indy.
Biggest regret on mine is not keeping the airmatic and converting to Arnott coils and buying a saloon and not the S211...
Great cars eh?, performance seems on par with a colleagues Golf R
Biggest regret on mine is not keeping the airmatic and converting to Arnott coils and buying a saloon and not the S211...
Great cars eh?, performance seems on par with a colleagues Golf R
bolidemichael said:
and voila! If you notice, the seat is quite shiny - it transpires that it has previously been repaired and blended. In order to get the seat back to OEM, I'll need a new skin - £1,560!
I'd be really surprised if you couldn't use a really good leather cleaner to bet the leather a lot less shiny, a lot of that shine will be the oils built up on it. All the moisturising type products won't help but a straight up cleaner would. Alternatively, you could get the leather repainted. Technically the leather is just painted and lacquered anyway so they'd come up like new.
Stegel said:
It’s a very enjoyable thread under normal circumstances but the current situation gives it an almost fantasy quality - oh for the return of normality (without trivialising the struggles of so many people).
Stay tuned! This was one of three European tours in 2019 I'll get caught up by the end of the third lockdown...
Fattyfat said:
The rear subframe bushes on mine were shot at 97K. All sorted now, was going to do the job myself but wisely left it to a local indy.
Biggest regret on mine is not keeping the airmatic and converting to Arnott coils and buying a saloon and not the S211...
Great cars eh?, performance seems on par with a colleagues Golf R
Nice... do you have a thread on it?Biggest regret on mine is not keeping the airmatic and converting to Arnott coils and buying a saloon and not the S211...
Great cars eh?, performance seems on par with a colleagues Golf R
I don't know if they were done before, my insight into the provenance starts at around 97k. I have hunted down all of the stamps and had the service book completed, though.
What's the effect of the arnott coils on the ride? I must say that the air suspenders make the ride into a luxury one.
As for performance - perhaps that's the case with the Golf R, but it's the V8 as you well know, that makes the experience so pleasant on long journeys. I love the low revving engine and the engine braking; it makes the journey very relaxing indeed...
Edited by bolidemichael on Wednesday 8th April 22:04
Alex_225 said:
bolidemichael said:
and voila! If you notice, the seat is quite shiny - it transpires that it has previously been repaired and blended. In order to get the seat back to OEM, I'll need a new skin - £1,560!
I'd be really surprised if you couldn't use a really good leather cleaner to bet the leather a lot less shiny, a lot of that shine will be the oils built up on it. All the moisturising type products won't help but a straight up cleaner would. Alternatively, you could get the leather repainted. Technically the leather is just painted and lacquered anyway so they'd come up like new.
Here are the 944 seats that they re-upholstered for one of my Dad's customers. They use the leather supplied by the OEM tannery - it's called Cashmere Pink and actually has speckles of pink, very faint, but present. It is extremely soft to the touch, also - much like your S class, I imagine, though this is obviously box fresh.
I would quite like a new seat cover, as the front passenger seat feels lovely and I'm envious.
Edited by bolidemichael on Wednesday 8th April 22:01
Edited by bolidemichael on Wednesday 8th April 22:02
Edited by bolidemichael on Wednesday 8th April 22:06
bolidemichael said:
Great thread, lots of useful travel tips and places to go, thank you!The Garabit Viaduct was amazing, though it was pissing with rain when I went too, in July 2018. Got a wave in the rain from a BMW CSL Batmobile too. I loved the Auvergne, though it did take ages to get anywhere as all the roads are tiny and wiggly.
Would you look at that - the man tog compliments me and then thumps his phallic Bristol on the proverbial table with a splendid shot in the same location; would you look at the length of that bonnet!
I've just had a look at your garage and this piece on your Bristol is excellent, what an awesome ownership history, full of cost and drama too. Your kind of ownership make mine feel all the more normal, thank goodness loons have somewhere to congregate.
It was remiss of me to not have credited r129sl for the inspiration for this leg - both the Garabit and the Hotel de France feature on his excellent 124 Titivation thread.
I've just had a look at your garage and this piece on your Bristol is excellent, what an awesome ownership history, full of cost and drama too. Your kind of ownership make mine feel all the more normal, thank goodness loons have somewhere to congregate.
It was remiss of me to not have credited r129sl for the inspiration for this leg - both the Garabit and the Hotel de France feature on his excellent 124 Titivation thread.
Edited by bolidemichael on Wednesday 8th April 23:57
The hottest day of 2019 in Northern Europe was the 26th of July. It was on this day that I was to begin my next trip into Europe, proudly wearing the flag of the EU and wondering whether this was to remain as a period correct feature, or whether the climate post-Teresa May's pig's ear of a Brexit would see me rushing to replace it with the image of a bulldog or similar.
Nevertheless, I had actually packed the car the previous evening, which was a tremendous result for someone that has evolved procrastination in such trivial matters into an art form. On arrival at Folkestone (via the nearest BP in town to get a last minute brimful of English fuel - hooray!), I spotted a rather different V8 motor:
You might recall how warm it felt. Fortunately, I was the first in line, having arrived early and sprinted for the lane when my letter was announced. There were delays as the tracks were warping - I was waiting for around an hour and not only was the open car park roasting, with the sun's heat reflecting off the tarmac, but was made warmer still by everyone sitting in their cars with their engines running for the respite offered by the air con!
Anyway, my plan for the day had been to arrive at my friend's house in Ghent nice and early for a catch up; as it transpires, I would be arriving late, rather than early afternoon. When I arrived in Coquelles, the temperature had risen further:
and as I travelled, it rose further still!
Once I had arrived, I was fortunate to find a parking spot - it always seems that I grab the same one whenever I visit.
Ghent has a ten day festival every year, De Gentse Feesten, where the town essentially comes to a standstill and people can admire the gorgeous attendees of this historic University town; the centre of town is converted into a fair with street vendors, pop up bars/restaurants and open air concerts. We had a very nice experience due to the heat - it was far less crowded than usually, I was assured by my mate. It's on occasions such as these that it occurs to me that I just happen to be in the right place at the right time... the warmest day on record in Ghent since 1962 and home to some of the world's finest beer. But first... some insights.
Ghent was once one of Europe's greatest cities whose wealth was built on the wool industry; at the emergence of Ghent, there was once an abbey in Ghent named after St Bavo (and another after St Pieter, adjacent, though let's leave them aside); when the citizens of Ghent refused the taxes imposed, Charles V had the abbey torn down and a fortress built in its stead. The fortress no longer stands, but in remembrance of the great heritage of the abbey, which dated back to the 7th century, there are now trees and shrubs laid to form the monastery, the entrance, walls and pillars all represented.
as you can imagine, it's a beautiful and historic city and I could waffle on (groan!), but the most important feature of that moment in time:
Nevertheless, I had actually packed the car the previous evening, which was a tremendous result for someone that has evolved procrastination in such trivial matters into an art form. On arrival at Folkestone (via the nearest BP in town to get a last minute brimful of English fuel - hooray!), I spotted a rather different V8 motor:
You might recall how warm it felt. Fortunately, I was the first in line, having arrived early and sprinted for the lane when my letter was announced. There were delays as the tracks were warping - I was waiting for around an hour and not only was the open car park roasting, with the sun's heat reflecting off the tarmac, but was made warmer still by everyone sitting in their cars with their engines running for the respite offered by the air con!
Anyway, my plan for the day had been to arrive at my friend's house in Ghent nice and early for a catch up; as it transpires, I would be arriving late, rather than early afternoon. When I arrived in Coquelles, the temperature had risen further:
and as I travelled, it rose further still!
Once I had arrived, I was fortunate to find a parking spot - it always seems that I grab the same one whenever I visit.
Ghent has a ten day festival every year, De Gentse Feesten, where the town essentially comes to a standstill and people can admire the gorgeous attendees of this historic University town; the centre of town is converted into a fair with street vendors, pop up bars/restaurants and open air concerts. We had a very nice experience due to the heat - it was far less crowded than usually, I was assured by my mate. It's on occasions such as these that it occurs to me that I just happen to be in the right place at the right time... the warmest day on record in Ghent since 1962 and home to some of the world's finest beer. But first... some insights.
Ghent was once one of Europe's greatest cities whose wealth was built on the wool industry; at the emergence of Ghent, there was once an abbey in Ghent named after St Bavo (and another after St Pieter, adjacent, though let's leave them aside); when the citizens of Ghent refused the taxes imposed, Charles V had the abbey torn down and a fortress built in its stead. The fortress no longer stands, but in remembrance of the great heritage of the abbey, which dated back to the 7th century, there are now trees and shrubs laid to form the monastery, the entrance, walls and pillars all represented.
as you can imagine, it's a beautiful and historic city and I could waffle on (groan!), but the most important feature of that moment in time:
Edited by bolidemichael on Thursday 9th April 00:38
bolidemichael said:
Nice... do you have a thread on it?
I don't know if they were done before, my insight into the provenance starts at around 97k. I have hunted down all of the stamps and had the service book completed, though.
What's the effect of the arnott coils on the ride? I must say that the air suspenders make the ride into a luxury one.
As for performance - perhaps that's the case with the Golf R, but it's the V8 as you well know, that makes the experience so pleasant on long journeys. I love the low revving engine and the engine braking; it makes the journey very relaxing indeed...
No thread sorry, maybe someday but really I've missed too much of my time with the car to start now.I don't know if they were done before, my insight into the provenance starts at around 97k. I have hunted down all of the stamps and had the service book completed, though.
What's the effect of the arnott coils on the ride? I must say that the air suspenders make the ride into a luxury one.
As for performance - perhaps that's the case with the Golf R, but it's the V8 as you well know, that makes the experience so pleasant on long journeys. I love the low revving engine and the engine braking; it makes the journey very relaxing indeed...
Edited by bolidemichael on Wednesday 8th April 22:04
Man maths led to the coils, I was doing a wee refresh and the arnott coils looked like an ideal conversion. However in retrospect the rear end is too soft IMHO and I've lost all the benefits of airmatic. The ride, adjustable damping etc. I really like the idea of a E55k S211 next year, so I've no plans to revert back to airmatic on mine. What's done will remain.
I'd imagine there's a really sweet spot for the car. A fast part throttle cruise with about 4k on the tach. Engine humming, comfort and still plenty of shove left. I'm only guessing though
Fattyfat said:
bolidemichael said:
Nice... do you have a thread on it?
I don't know if they were done before, my insight into the provenance starts at around 97k. I have hunted down all of the stamps and had the service book completed, though.
What's the effect of the arnott coils on the ride? I must say that the air suspenders make the ride into a luxury one.
As for performance - perhaps that's the case with the Golf R, but it's the V8 as you well know, that makes the experience so pleasant on long journeys. I love the low revving engine and the engine braking; it makes the journey very relaxing indeed...
No thread sorry, maybe someday but really I've missed too much of my time with the car to start now.I don't know if they were done before, my insight into the provenance starts at around 97k. I have hunted down all of the stamps and had the service book completed, though.
What's the effect of the arnott coils on the ride? I must say that the air suspenders make the ride into a luxury one.
As for performance - perhaps that's the case with the Golf R, but it's the V8 as you well know, that makes the experience so pleasant on long journeys. I love the low revving engine and the engine braking; it makes the journey very relaxing indeed...
Edited by bolidemichael on Wednesday 8th April 22:04
Man maths led to the coils, I was doing a wee refresh and the arnott coils looked like an ideal conversion. However in retrospect the rear end is too soft IMHO and I've lost all the benefits of airmatic. The ride, adjustable damping etc. I really like the idea of a E55k S211 next year, so I've no plans to revert back to airmatic on mine. What's done will remain.
I'd imagine there's a really sweet spot for the car. A fast part throttle cruise with about 4k on the tach. Engine humming, comfort and still plenty of shove left. I'm only guessing though
There are a couple of nice E55s for sale on the MBClub forum, but they're overpriced for the market demand. I'd like to try one too, the the supercharged goodness, but I can't help but feel that this iteration of NA M113 is a very nice balance between power and erm, calm.
That's odd - I thought that all 211 M113s were mated to a 7G-Tronic. Perhaps yours is a very early build, post the VIN and I'll check, unless you have this info? Well, without intending to rub it in, seven gears is perfectly long-legged. On the autobahn (and once or twice elsewhere), I have noticed that with the throttle pinned, the gearchange from sixth to seventh is at 130mph!
bolidemichael said:
Alex_225 said:
bolidemichael said:
and voila! If you notice, the seat is quite shiny - it transpires that it has previously been repaired and blended. In order to get the seat back to OEM, I'll need a new skin - £1,560!
I'd be really surprised if you couldn't use a really good leather cleaner to bet the leather a lot less shiny, a lot of that shine will be the oils built up on it. All the moisturising type products won't help but a straight up cleaner would. Alternatively, you could get the leather repainted. Technically the leather is just painted and lacquered anyway so they'd come up like new.
bolidemichael said:
Would you look at that - the man tog compliments me and then thumps his phallic Bristol on the proverbial table with a splendid shot in the same location; would you look at the length of that bonnet!
I've just had a look at your garage and this piece on your Bristol is excellent, what an awesome ownership history, full of cost and drama too. Your kind of ownership make mine feel all the more normal, thank goodness loons have somewhere to congregate.
It was remiss of me to not have credited r129sl for the inspiration for this leg - both the Garabit and the Hotel de France feature on his excellent 124 Titivation thread.
Ha! I'd forgotten about the Carpool piece. Seems like a long time ago now. Garabit was while in the Auvergne with wifey in 2018, and we stopped at Hotel de France on the way home from Spain in 2017 with the kids (ferry to Santander, two weeks to get to Cherbourg on the scenic route). Auvergne was technically a work trip – I had to photograph a big wedding in Switzerland so drove across France solo, wife flew to Lyon and we had a few days in the Auvergne ( Auberge de Chassignolles - wonderful in every way) before I dropped her back at the airport and drove to Switzerland for a few days work before heading home again. A few pics on my Instagram - @bristol410.I've just had a look at your garage and this piece on your Bristol is excellent, what an awesome ownership history, full of cost and drama too. Your kind of ownership make mine feel all the more normal, thank goodness loons have somewhere to congregate.
It was remiss of me to not have credited r129sl for the inspiration for this leg - both the Garabit and the Hotel de France feature on his excellent 124 Titivation thread.
I love this thread though, and others like it, as I always want to find recommendations for hotels and restaurants that don't rely on trawling the web wondering what is as good as its reviews. I quite fancy a big petrol E wagon too. I had a S124 E280 briefly and didn't gel with it, though loved the 300SE I had some years ago. A W126 560SEL wagon as discussed on the smoker barge thread recently would be my ideal!
Alex_225 said:
bolidemichael said:
Alex_225 said:
bolidemichael said:
and voila! If you notice, the seat is quite shiny - it transpires that it has previously been repaired and blended. In order to get the seat back to OEM, I'll need a new skin - £1,560!
I'd be really surprised if you couldn't use a really good leather cleaner to bet the leather a lot less shiny, a lot of that shine will be the oils built up on it. All the moisturising type products won't help but a straight up cleaner would. Alternatively, you could get the leather repainted. Technically the leather is just painted and lacquered anyway so they'd come up like new.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff