Sensible family daily wagon - Mercedes Benz S211 E500
Discussion
JakeT said:
Funnily enough we also headed into continental Europe on the same day. We were near Bourges when we crossed the 40 mark. I bloody love the heat though. 
I imagine that, if having crossed via the Chunnel (?), you'd have caught an early train before it got too hot and playing havoc with the timetables?Having just checked my location when I took that photo, it was at 1648hrs at Veurne, Belgium on the A16 - so it was scorching 335 north, over an hour later than your photo was taken (unless you hadn't shifted the hour forward). What a day!
tog said:
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!
For anyone visiting the Hotel de France, there is an excellent little deli on the square, run by a very amusing Greek chap (Nicholas iirc); it's a great place to stock up on bonbons for the roadtrip.
I'm very pleased to have the recommendations on my thread, which I shall certainly revisit. The Auberge de Chassignolles looks idyllic and I shall be sure to stop there when we next head to Europe in anger (let's be honest, it'll probably be in 2021). I notice that the chef is from Bristol, too... a poetic touch on your part, or mere coincidence? That 410 is extremely insta-worthy.
You do realise that the chauffeur doesn't actually come with the car? That was an unintended euphemism, but oh so contrary to what we would all like to imagine would ruffle the tulips in the capacious interior with the rears folded...
Edited by bolidemichael on Friday 10th April 23:41
The next day I awoke to another sunny day and admired the plants being grown in the walled garden of my green fingered friend
He's a soil scientist who wanted to get practical experience, so now runs an organic farm (clicky linky).
I was astounded to see that they have blackberries bred to grow without thorns!
He's a soil scientist who wanted to get practical experience, so now runs an organic farm (clicky linky).
I was astounded to see that they have blackberries bred to grow without thorns!
Edited by bolidemichael on Thursday 16th April 23:05
I departed for my next destination for a leisurely drive, with no hurries nor worries. At 39°C, I was looking forward to a blissful weekend camping in the mountains at one of my favourite places in the world.
Of course, despite having gained a day on my mates, I was still the last to arrive.
The Michael Schumacher Esses; I had arrived on the Sudschleife and despite the weather at the bottom of the mountain being SCORCHIO!!, it had turned into mid-teens by the time I had arrived. Cock.
We had planned for the 24-hour cycle for around nine months with a custom kit and all that jazz. Being Dads, we all had our estates - I hate the Skoda MPG-mobile, but quite like the unloved JRG Mondeo.
Of course, the priorities had been addressed by a german member of our contingent:
We set up camp and awoke to prepare for the cycling to start at 11am the following day. The weather was very pleasant for all of three hours and cycling around a silent Nordschleife is more pleasurable than most busy touristfahren days on a crowded sunny afternoon. The experience of having this wonderful place to oneself in utter peace and quiet is extremely pleasurable. After the first three hours, however, this is how my bike spent the remaining twenty one hours.
The weather was abysmal, atrocious, abominable. The bloody Nordschliefe and its mountainous weather system. Needless to say, I spent the remainder of the time drinking copious quantities of this fine beer and hours preparing a tuna pasta for us all. The weather was grim, completely and utterly sodden and miserable (clicky linky).
Goodbye, Green Hell
We took the short drive round to the Dorint Hotel. The only thing that kept me going was the countdown to the warm shower and comfortable hotel room. Sir Ranulph Feinnes, I am not.
Upon arrival I was greeted by a friendly reception, the German F1 on the tv with Seb Vettel embarrassing himself with yet another capitulation, followed by steak at the Pistenklaus and drinks at the, very characterful and motor enthusiast driven, hotel bar. I was amused to see that punters were allowed to smoke in there, how odd.
Of course, despite having gained a day on my mates, I was still the last to arrive.
The Michael Schumacher Esses; I had arrived on the Sudschleife and despite the weather at the bottom of the mountain being SCORCHIO!!, it had turned into mid-teens by the time I had arrived. Cock.
We had planned for the 24-hour cycle for around nine months with a custom kit and all that jazz. Being Dads, we all had our estates - I hate the Skoda MPG-mobile, but quite like the unloved JRG Mondeo.
Of course, the priorities had been addressed by a german member of our contingent:
We set up camp and awoke to prepare for the cycling to start at 11am the following day. The weather was very pleasant for all of three hours and cycling around a silent Nordschleife is more pleasurable than most busy touristfahren days on a crowded sunny afternoon. The experience of having this wonderful place to oneself in utter peace and quiet is extremely pleasurable. After the first three hours, however, this is how my bike spent the remaining twenty one hours.
The weather was abysmal, atrocious, abominable. The bloody Nordschliefe and its mountainous weather system. Needless to say, I spent the remainder of the time drinking copious quantities of this fine beer and hours preparing a tuna pasta for us all. The weather was grim, completely and utterly sodden and miserable (clicky linky).
Goodbye, Green Hell
We took the short drive round to the Dorint Hotel. The only thing that kept me going was the countdown to the warm shower and comfortable hotel room. Sir Ranulph Feinnes, I am not.
Upon arrival I was greeted by a friendly reception, the German F1 on the tv with Seb Vettel embarrassing himself with yet another capitulation, followed by steak at the Pistenklaus and drinks at the, very characterful and motor enthusiast driven, hotel bar. I was amused to see that punters were allowed to smoke in there, how odd.
Edited by bolidemichael on Friday 17th April 01:41
Edited by bolidemichael on Friday 17th April 23:04
How have I missed this? What great journeying. A man after my own heart: driving too far, too fast and living and eating far too well. Keep it coming, this is great stuff. Thank you for posting it all up.
My boy asked me tonight, "When this is back to normal, where shall we have a road trip to?"
My boy asked me tonight, "When this is back to normal, where shall we have a road trip to?"
bolidemichael said:
I imagine that, if having crossed via the Chunnel (?), you'd have caught an early train before it got too hot and playing havoc with the timetables?
Having just checked my location when I took that photo, it was at 1648hrs at Veurne, Belgium on the A16 - so it was scorching 335 north, over an hour later than your photo was taken (unless you hadn't shifted the hour forward). What a day!
I think you're correct. I elected not to change the clock in the car and try to run on 'England time' and then add an hour. That did not work, so I changed it the next day. Having just checked my location when I took that photo, it was at 1648hrs at Veurne, Belgium on the A16 - so it was scorching 335 north, over an hour later than your photo was taken (unless you hadn't shifted the hour forward). What a day!
The first dip in the pool was absolute heaven. I love the heat, but 40 is about my limit.
r129sl said:
How have I missed this? What great journeying. A man after my own heart: driving too far, too fast and living and eating far too well. Keep it coming, this is great stuff. Thank you for posting it all up.
My boy asked me tonight, "When this is back to normal, where shall we have a road trip to?"
Our son asked us the same too; we love a road trip, which is very nice. I feel the call of the road at the moment, too; it's at times like these that I'm please to be running a thread that's perpetually historic. My boy asked me tonight, "When this is back to normal, where shall we have a road trip to?"
2019 was a good year for driving around our island and the continent. I have a few miles yet to cover; it's quite the task to continually catch up with a moving target in the present day!
tobinen said:
Nice bike BM. I have a Milanino which I built from various new and used parts. I've always fancied the Pininfarina but barges take up the spare cash.
It's just a case of which hobby can sink you! Bicycles and the gear to match can be a proper wallet drainer. The De Rosa is lovely though as has a DI2 electronic gearchange.JakeT said:
bolidemichael said:
I imagine that, if having crossed via the Chunnel (?), you'd have caught an early train before it got too hot and playing havoc with the timetables?
Having just checked my location when I took that photo, it was at 1648hrs at Veurne, Belgium on the A16 - so it was scorching 335 north, over an hour later than your photo was taken (unless you hadn't shifted the hour forward). What a day!
I think you're correct. I elected not to change the clock in the car and try to run on 'England time' and then add an hour. That did not work, so I changed it the next day. Having just checked my location when I took that photo, it was at 1648hrs at Veurne, Belgium on the A16 - so it was scorching 335 north, over an hour later than your photo was taken (unless you hadn't shifted the hour forward). What a day!
The first dip in the pool was absolute heaven. I love the heat, but 40 is about my limit.
Your 'pool feeling' was my 'Belgian beer feeling'
Being in and around Nurburg is always a delight for a petrolhead. The vehicles, sounds, spirit and people all seem to share a similar spirit. I'm always curious to see what cars are in and around:
after all, look at this fella enjoying the atmosphere of the, erm, empty track
The Mercs were on display at the Dorint, I was particularly interested in the first one:
and of course, the room with a track view
but the highlight for me, was the AUTOMATIC PANCAKE MAKER!
after all, look at this fella enjoying the atmosphere of the, erm, empty track
The Mercs were on display at the Dorint, I was particularly interested in the first one:
and of course, the room with a track view
but the highlight for me, was the AUTOMATIC PANCAKE MAKER!
r129sl said:
How have I missed this? What great journeying. A man after my own heart: driving too far, too fast and living and eating far too well. Keep it coming, this is great stuff. Thank you for posting it all up.
My boy asked me tonight, "When this is back to normal, where shall we have a road trip to?"
I echo your comments re this thread r129, such a good read during these unpleasant times. Looks as if the roads of Northern Europe are going to be busy when it's all over!My boy asked me tonight, "When this is back to normal, where shall we have a road trip to?"
bolidemichael said:
but the highlight for me, was the AUTOMATIC PANCAKE MAKER!
Oh yes, I've been hypnotised by similar in French supermarkets https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9PTnTMUthMbolidemichael said:
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.
I was also heading to the Eurotunnel that day, and also being effortlessly powered by an M113 My trip however was heading the other way, from Switzerland on my way to Ireland via the UK. Sadly no temperature gauge shots.
I'm following your thread with interest, before the G55 I had an S211 E55 with some Brabus tweaks. This generation of E class are cracking long distance cars.
What wonderful and welcome comments and what a machine that crepe maker is! The G Glass isn't too shabby, neither guv 
I shall persist in my anachronistic thread. For so long I had been berating myself for having imposed on myself a Sisyphean task in trying to cover the entire ownership of my vehicle, yet, being such a lover of my car and the adventures it affords (I classify borkage as an adventure in order to keep myself chipper) it seemed as though I would never catch up.
Our lockdown (though not mine as I'm working harder than ever keeping our good nation hydrated and supplied with tonics and other essentials
) is giving me a opportunity to glimmer light at the end of the tunnel as I'm not accumulating more miles. There are still quite a few miles to cover and tales to tell!
I have now also resolved a frustrating issue with Onedrive's helpful support (the cloud location in which my photos are stored), which means that I can embed a sequence of photos without having to refresh or close the browser. As you can imagine, this drained a lot of time late at night.
I shall persist in my anachronistic thread. For so long I had been berating myself for having imposed on myself a Sisyphean task in trying to cover the entire ownership of my vehicle, yet, being such a lover of my car and the adventures it affords (I classify borkage as an adventure in order to keep myself chipper) it seemed as though I would never catch up.
Our lockdown (though not mine as I'm working harder than ever keeping our good nation hydrated and supplied with tonics and other essentials
) is giving me a opportunity to glimmer light at the end of the tunnel as I'm not accumulating more miles. There are still quite a few miles to cover and tales to tell!I have now also resolved a frustrating issue with Onedrive's helpful support (the cloud location in which my photos are stored), which means that I can embed a sequence of photos without having to refresh or close the browser. As you can imagine, this drained a lot of time late at night.
It was a splendid morning and as I bid my cycling buddies adieu, further adventure and another country beckoned. I was heading North to Denmark, specifically Jutland, for a brief dinner appointment and overnight stop. Just the small matter of five hundred-odd miles and a leisurely start counted against me - as perhaps, did the promise of congestion and roadworks on the autobahnen on this Monday morning.
The first stop, however, as always, is the world's best petrol station; as usual, it didn't disappoint, with all manner of exotica on display and the sounds of cars at full chat on the Dottinger Hohe straight, running parallel to the B258. There was a black Aventador being jet washed (in the background) and whilst in the shop, I purchased a large map of the Nordschleife and a sticker - though I wasn't certain why the sticker had been purchased as I have a rule to myself only to apply it to vehicles that have actually tackled the circuit (with me at the controls).
and full PH points to the owner of this unusually coloured 911 with a relevant VRN:
and so it was that I embarked on the next leg of my journey, like Odysseus avoiding all manner of titillations en route
merely focusing on making good pace and maximising the enjoyment of allowing my wonderful machine to stretch its legs on the autobahn.
I was happily on the phone to my brother, whilst on the limiter, as one does, when I heard a chatter from the car - I couldn't possibly have imagined what it might be other than a blown tyre, but the car was driving fine and fully controllable. I was praying that it was something like that, as my luggage compartment from the front seats back was absolutely full to the brim of luggage. Additionally, according to my management of risk, I didn't have any EU breakdown cover... any, I pulled over and looked around the car - nothing. I therefore re-entered the carriageway from the hard shoulder and tentatively approached 155mph (I know, I couldn't help myself) when the sound re-occurred. It was something reverberating between the tarmac and the car.
Again, I pulled over the hard shoulder and had another look round - it was then that I spotted the issue:
Crikey, what to do? I didn't have any cable ties to hand, so I tucked it into the bodywork as best as I could, whilst praying that nothing shoved the car from behind and made me into a 'bolide-pancake' to rival the hotel's machine. At this point I was around 130 miles into my journey on the A2 outside Hamm and had been on the road just under three hours, indicating the levels of congestion that I had been experiencing. There was nothing doing other than going to my COMAND map and selecting the magic 'MB Logo' in order to direct me to a local workshop - an indicated twelve miles away in Beckum.
The first stop, however, as always, is the world's best petrol station; as usual, it didn't disappoint, with all manner of exotica on display and the sounds of cars at full chat on the Dottinger Hohe straight, running parallel to the B258. There was a black Aventador being jet washed (in the background) and whilst in the shop, I purchased a large map of the Nordschleife and a sticker - though I wasn't certain why the sticker had been purchased as I have a rule to myself only to apply it to vehicles that have actually tackled the circuit (with me at the controls).
and full PH points to the owner of this unusually coloured 911 with a relevant VRN:
and so it was that I embarked on the next leg of my journey, like Odysseus avoiding all manner of titillations en route
merely focusing on making good pace and maximising the enjoyment of allowing my wonderful machine to stretch its legs on the autobahn.
I was happily on the phone to my brother, whilst on the limiter, as one does, when I heard a chatter from the car - I couldn't possibly have imagined what it might be other than a blown tyre, but the car was driving fine and fully controllable. I was praying that it was something like that, as my luggage compartment from the front seats back was absolutely full to the brim of luggage. Additionally, according to my management of risk, I didn't have any EU breakdown cover... any, I pulled over and looked around the car - nothing. I therefore re-entered the carriageway from the hard shoulder and tentatively approached 155mph (I know, I couldn't help myself) when the sound re-occurred. It was something reverberating between the tarmac and the car.
Again, I pulled over the hard shoulder and had another look round - it was then that I spotted the issue:
Crikey, what to do? I didn't have any cable ties to hand, so I tucked it into the bodywork as best as I could, whilst praying that nothing shoved the car from behind and made me into a 'bolide-pancake' to rival the hotel's machine. At this point I was around 130 miles into my journey on the A2 outside Hamm and had been on the road just under three hours, indicating the levels of congestion that I had been experiencing. There was nothing doing other than going to my COMAND map and selecting the magic 'MB Logo' in order to direct me to a local workshop - an indicated twelve miles away in Beckum.
Edited by bolidemichael on Friday 18th September 10:15
Yes, what happened next?
Chris944_S2 said:
I was also heading to the Eurotunnel that day, and also being effortlessly powered by an M113
My trip however was heading the other way, from Switzerland on my way to Ireland via the UK. Sadly no temperature gauge shots.
I'm pretty sure I've stopped there. I know it could be any French aire de repos but my money is on the one at the bottom of the A39?My trip however was heading the other way, from Switzerland on my way to Ireland via the UK. Sadly no temperature gauge shots.
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