Sensible family daily wagon - Mercedes Benz S211 E500
Discussion
At least it's there, GPM. Who wouldn't want the promise of an M-division special with a stonking V8 just waiting to be driven?
In the meantime (back in April), I had noticed a creaking from the o/s/r bench and upon inspection I found the culprit... and thankfully a diligent profession parts outfit on ebay advertised it correctly with both the part number AND the colour code 7F72 palmgrau
and whilst I was there, I began to notice some other bodges from a previous bodger...
on the rail, there are two floating brackets on which only one of the 'hooks' for the fascia containing the downlighting was located:
as I demonstrate here:
and how they should be:
and comparing the plastic on one side to the other:
and one of the tensioned parts on the fascia was snapped too. No wonder there was so much creaking and groaning from my seat!
and on the other side -- another missing bolt
In the meantime (back in April), I had noticed a creaking from the o/s/r bench and upon inspection I found the culprit... and thankfully a diligent profession parts outfit on ebay advertised it correctly with both the part number AND the colour code 7F72 palmgrau
and whilst I was there, I began to notice some other bodges from a previous bodger...
on the rail, there are two floating brackets on which only one of the 'hooks' for the fascia containing the downlighting was located:
as I demonstrate here:
and how they should be:
and comparing the plastic on one side to the other:
and one of the tensioned parts on the fascia was snapped too. No wonder there was so much creaking and groaning from my seat!
and on the other side -- another missing bolt
B'stard Child said:
New Steering wheel and gearshift go a long way to making a car feel new again (even when it’s got a lot of mikes under it’s belt)
Nice work (shame about the scuff)
There was a suspicion for me that it didn't exactly match with the leather on the gearknob... to be revisited.Nice work (shame about the scuff)
The next trip was to Bath -- my first visit to the City. On one stretch of the M4 on the approach to the A46 that it downhill, straight and in my case - largely empty. It was hilarious to feel sixth click over the seventh and all the way to a rather generous pace.
My stopover for the evening was a boutique hotel called 'Harington's'.
I had enough time on this narrow cobbled street to unload my overnight bag and some cases of water. Opposite, were some drinkers enjoying a beverage outside a pub, this was only the first month out of lockdown and only drinks outside were allowed. In this case, the pub is called 'The Raven' and just a couple of weeks prior to my visit, Keir Starmer had been booted out of the pub by an anti-lockdown landlord...
which reminded me a great deal of 'Dennis the Constitutional Peasant'...
Later on that evening, whilst chatting to the rather curvaceous, young and engaging student that was on night duty, she told me that the pub is owned by two landlords. It was one of them that consented to the visit of the Leader of the Opposition; evidently when his co-landlord caught wind of this, he intervened to notable effect.
Anyway, Bath is a rather lovely place.
and this bridge reminded me of the Ponte Vecchio in Firenze which I visited on the motorbike when attending the Mugello MotoGP.
The reason I was there was for some filming - but I can't reveal more at this stage due to an NDA which I didn't read, but signed, so therefore don't know what I should say - easier to stay shtump.
I was priviliged enough to have the entire place to myself - almost - for about five hours.
Bath is such a picturesque City, that I didn't really know which photo angle was best -- so I just took a few
I then took the opportunity to visit 'Colonna & Smalls', one of the UK's top coffeehouses.
Empty, due to COVID restrictions
Their espressos were incredible - there was one from China which had elements of szechuan initially then evolved into white tea and lemongrass.
It then started to pour - right on cue for me, as the weather had been splendid for twenty four hours of my stay. The Kamikaze Miyabe+Zipang coating applied six months earlier was still repelling water.
On the return drive on the M4, I hit standing water in lane three at the ton and the steering didn't flinch, neither did the car's stability. The performance from the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S are really impressive. There was the tracking of the car that wasn't quite running straight however... I'd have to get that resolved.
My stopover for the evening was a boutique hotel called 'Harington's'.
I had enough time on this narrow cobbled street to unload my overnight bag and some cases of water. Opposite, were some drinkers enjoying a beverage outside a pub, this was only the first month out of lockdown and only drinks outside were allowed. In this case, the pub is called 'The Raven' and just a couple of weeks prior to my visit, Keir Starmer had been booted out of the pub by an anti-lockdown landlord...
which reminded me a great deal of 'Dennis the Constitutional Peasant'...
Later on that evening, whilst chatting to the rather curvaceous, young and engaging student that was on night duty, she told me that the pub is owned by two landlords. It was one of them that consented to the visit of the Leader of the Opposition; evidently when his co-landlord caught wind of this, he intervened to notable effect.
Anyway, Bath is a rather lovely place.
and this bridge reminded me of the Ponte Vecchio in Firenze which I visited on the motorbike when attending the Mugello MotoGP.
The reason I was there was for some filming - but I can't reveal more at this stage due to an NDA which I didn't read, but signed, so therefore don't know what I should say - easier to stay shtump.
I was priviliged enough to have the entire place to myself - almost - for about five hours.
Bath is such a picturesque City, that I didn't really know which photo angle was best -- so I just took a few
I then took the opportunity to visit 'Colonna & Smalls', one of the UK's top coffeehouses.
Empty, due to COVID restrictions
Their espressos were incredible - there was one from China which had elements of szechuan initially then evolved into white tea and lemongrass.
It then started to pour - right on cue for me, as the weather had been splendid for twenty four hours of my stay. The Kamikaze Miyabe+Zipang coating applied six months earlier was still repelling water.
On the return drive on the M4, I hit standing water in lane three at the ton and the steering didn't flinch, neither did the car's stability. The performance from the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S are really impressive. There was the tracking of the car that wasn't quite running straight however... I'd have to get that resolved.
Agarange said:
I used to sell tifosi's. Very sensible bikes.
Yes, they're really good bikes and mine has benefitted from some lighter wheels and recently a complete overhaul by 'Doctor D' Rohan Dubash based in Sutton, he records all the works that he does on his FB page in detail. It was a complete overhaul with a high level of attn to detail.May 2021
My visit to Wheels in Motion in Chesham was out of frustration, having reached an end point with my hitherto-Man who sorted me out with all things alloy and tyre related. However, he couldn't get the car to track straight despite a couple of visits on his Hunter machine. The apotheosis of his competence was to point me towards someone with a special machine for vehicles with air suspension. I just didn't buy it and decided to head towards some well-respected and knowledgeable specialists for the Merc.
En route, I stopped at MB Brooklands to order some bits and bobs for the planned fettle of the creaking and broken plastics of the interior as spotted earlier when replacing the cracked plastic cover for the rear seat bench (top of this page if you're on the default PH setting... yes, they can be adjusted!).
They're well organised and a time slot is booked for the single ramp, so when one arrives there is no waiting once the appointment time commences.
We got up on the ramp and I was allowed to wander around whilst they did their thing. 'They' is Joe, who is the resident specialist. He's a really nice and approachable guy, perfect for someone of my bent, that enjoys asking a lot of questions. Some imperfections were spotted on my walkaround and noted:
This was quite an odd one - thinking about it, it's likely to have been bodged by the bodyshop.
This one I suspect was my Indy, but they denied it so we'll never know... neverthless, not heartbreaking.
The upshot was that the camber couldn't be adjusted to the parameters required, but we gave it a best shot and I was told to return if it wasn't resolved -- i.e. tracking straight.
In between was an more workmanlike demand on the 211, carrying bikes, family and using the adjustable suspension to park in a muddy, damp field with very long grass. It coped rather well.
Well, the car wasn't tracking straight so I paid another visit to Chesham... via MB Brooklands for another wee splurge on bits, of course. Since there was a lead time on bits arriving from Germany, I just kept adding to the list of requirements.
Dandelion tyres anyone?
Waze took me on a more interesting route this time - via Amersham:
One at WiM, Joe happened upon something that I'd suspected for a while and also queried my indy on... the geometry of Magnus was in range... when on the raised position of the suspension! No wonder it was throwing my hapless tyre 'Man' into a fit of pique and proving so elusive to adjust.
When the rear air bags were replaced in January, the ride height was reset and the 'base' or 'standard' height set in the 'raised' function, in error. So I drove straight to the indy on this instance, armed with my white paper a la Neville Chamberlain.
and in time-honoured tradition, playing a game of brinkmanship with the OBC regarding fuel levels...
Once there, he bamboozled me with the factory guidance from MB regarding the ride height settings. Long and short, with WiM we reasoned that the standard ride height needed to be raised by about 15-20mm both front and rear.
Four days later and the ride height was looking far more correct, to my eyes (apologies for the poor lighting).
In order to demonstrate for you, avid reader, the difference that this modest adjustment to the ride hide made, here is a comparison of each corner -- before/after adjustment:
And there endeth one saga, five months in the making. The next instalments will involve, amongst other adventures, the titivation of the interior seat trims and the long-running tale of the not-so-softly-and-consistently-closing rear bootlid...
My visit to Wheels in Motion in Chesham was out of frustration, having reached an end point with my hitherto-Man who sorted me out with all things alloy and tyre related. However, he couldn't get the car to track straight despite a couple of visits on his Hunter machine. The apotheosis of his competence was to point me towards someone with a special machine for vehicles with air suspension. I just didn't buy it and decided to head towards some well-respected and knowledgeable specialists for the Merc.
En route, I stopped at MB Brooklands to order some bits and bobs for the planned fettle of the creaking and broken plastics of the interior as spotted earlier when replacing the cracked plastic cover for the rear seat bench (top of this page if you're on the default PH setting... yes, they can be adjusted!).
They're well organised and a time slot is booked for the single ramp, so when one arrives there is no waiting once the appointment time commences.
We got up on the ramp and I was allowed to wander around whilst they did their thing. 'They' is Joe, who is the resident specialist. He's a really nice and approachable guy, perfect for someone of my bent, that enjoys asking a lot of questions. Some imperfections were spotted on my walkaround and noted:
This was quite an odd one - thinking about it, it's likely to have been bodged by the bodyshop.
This one I suspect was my Indy, but they denied it so we'll never know... neverthless, not heartbreaking.
The upshot was that the camber couldn't be adjusted to the parameters required, but we gave it a best shot and I was told to return if it wasn't resolved -- i.e. tracking straight.
In between was an more workmanlike demand on the 211, carrying bikes, family and using the adjustable suspension to park in a muddy, damp field with very long grass. It coped rather well.
Well, the car wasn't tracking straight so I paid another visit to Chesham... via MB Brooklands for another wee splurge on bits, of course. Since there was a lead time on bits arriving from Germany, I just kept adding to the list of requirements.
Dandelion tyres anyone?
Waze took me on a more interesting route this time - via Amersham:
One at WiM, Joe happened upon something that I'd suspected for a while and also queried my indy on... the geometry of Magnus was in range... when on the raised position of the suspension! No wonder it was throwing my hapless tyre 'Man' into a fit of pique and proving so elusive to adjust.
When the rear air bags were replaced in January, the ride height was reset and the 'base' or 'standard' height set in the 'raised' function, in error. So I drove straight to the indy on this instance, armed with my white paper a la Neville Chamberlain.
and in time-honoured tradition, playing a game of brinkmanship with the OBC regarding fuel levels...
Once there, he bamboozled me with the factory guidance from MB regarding the ride height settings. Long and short, with WiM we reasoned that the standard ride height needed to be raised by about 15-20mm both front and rear.
Four days later and the ride height was looking far more correct, to my eyes (apologies for the poor lighting).
In order to demonstrate for you, avid reader, the difference that this modest adjustment to the ride hide made, here is a comparison of each corner -- before/after adjustment:
And there endeth one saga, five months in the making. The next instalments will involve, amongst other adventures, the titivation of the interior seat trims and the long-running tale of the not-so-softly-and-consistently-closing rear bootlid...
Edited by bolidemichael on Tuesday 28th December 09:23
I grew up in Amersham, the old town is particularly nice with lots of good pubs. Pleased to see your persistence paid off getting the alignment fixed. I've used WIM myself a number of times over the years and found them a bit hit or miss, guess it depends which man is doing the work on the day.
therusterman said:
I grew up in Amersham, the old town is particularly nice with lots of good pubs. Pleased to see your persistence paid off getting the alignment fixed. I've used WIM myself a number of times over the years and found them a bit hit or miss, guess it depends which man is doing the work on the day.
Joe is the man I ask for before booking. bobiwine said:
I went to school in Amersham for a couple of years. Stop in at ‘The Grocer at 91’ next time your heading to WIM. Will keep a mental note of WIM.
That's good to know, thanks. It's the first time that I encountered the place and it's good to have on my radar. The drive to WiM is prety cool too, over the Chiterns, I believe. One of the hill is very steep and I usually encounter cyclists giving it a go -- I'd like to have a go myself!Gallons Per Mile said:
Love the height comparison pictures with the wheels aligned between photos. Nice attention to detail on this thread 
It took a bit of a while, but got there!June 2021
June 3rd was almost entirely a Magnus day. I started by heading to d:class to query the colour options for the steering wheel, as it wasn't a match for the original. Of course, there were a couple of interesting Mercs hanging about:
The number plate on this is top notch (poor spacing, but possible forgivable in this instance):
As you can see, there are quite a few options:
I found it quite tough to decide (have a look in comparison to the leather on the gear knob), so I left the original steering wheel with them and asked them to see what they could do.
Next stop... Chesham and WiM for a final tweak, now that the ride height had been corrected. There was a nice old LS430 in the car park, having covered a graceful 215k miles and still looking rather handsome in green over tan iirc
Whilst on the ramp, I took the opportunity for an underside inspection. To my non-mechanic eyes, it was looking pretty clean and tidy, which after about 165k made me feel quite pleased in my continued stewardship of this road locomotive from Sindelfingen.
There were a couple of obvious issues -- firstly, a snapped bracket for the handbrake cable:
and some spot welds for the exhaust that would need to be renewed in time
There was also some gunky looking pipes, which I feared might be an oil leak
but in hindsight, I believe that this is the bilt hamber Dynax UB that I asked them to apply to the air con condenser pipes in 2019 when they were brought to my attention by someone on the barge thread. I could be wrong (and happy for you to correct me). Spoiler -- it has been subsequently checked and confirmed that there is no leak.
Another imperfection from the paintshop spotted. Look at my frown, which conveys my irritation at having overlooked it... neverthless, I stand by my appraisal that the paintjob was excellent overall pursuant to the protracted time and entire re-working of the job due to poor quality first time round. I wouldn't use them again, however.
and just for my recollection and comparison, the osf fixings in comparison to the missing nsf
The discussion over set up involved usage, really. Was I going to be wanting a set up for the UK, in which case the castor would be set so that the car pulled extremely to the right, thereby compensating for the camber in the UK for driving on thecorrect side left (in which case the nsf wheel would be set far forward of the right) or would I want a neutral set up (close to factory) so that the drive was correct on the Continent, whilst tolerable i.e. a mild pull, in the UK. I opted for the latter, as I was determined not to have the promise to driving wherever I wanted curtailed by this pesky virus.
After that, I headed to MB Brooklands to collect my now-arrived parts for interior titivation.
I genuinely struggled to get the B pillar trim into the boot
so opted for the rear bench
Number 60 is in the large boxes -- both sides of the car.
there were, of course, some lovely vehicles awaiting service
Back home and these were the stats from by little pootle to Chobham, Surrey -- Chesham -- Brooklands -- SW20.
The PH equivalent of a spa day... some self care for me and my machine felt great.
June 3rd was almost entirely a Magnus day. I started by heading to d:class to query the colour options for the steering wheel, as it wasn't a match for the original. Of course, there were a couple of interesting Mercs hanging about:
The number plate on this is top notch (poor spacing, but possible forgivable in this instance):
As you can see, there are quite a few options:
I found it quite tough to decide (have a look in comparison to the leather on the gear knob), so I left the original steering wheel with them and asked them to see what they could do.
Next stop... Chesham and WiM for a final tweak, now that the ride height had been corrected. There was a nice old LS430 in the car park, having covered a graceful 215k miles and still looking rather handsome in green over tan iirc
Whilst on the ramp, I took the opportunity for an underside inspection. To my non-mechanic eyes, it was looking pretty clean and tidy, which after about 165k made me feel quite pleased in my continued stewardship of this road locomotive from Sindelfingen.
There were a couple of obvious issues -- firstly, a snapped bracket for the handbrake cable:
and some spot welds for the exhaust that would need to be renewed in time
There was also some gunky looking pipes, which I feared might be an oil leak
but in hindsight, I believe that this is the bilt hamber Dynax UB that I asked them to apply to the air con condenser pipes in 2019 when they were brought to my attention by someone on the barge thread. I could be wrong (and happy for you to correct me). Spoiler -- it has been subsequently checked and confirmed that there is no leak.
Another imperfection from the paintshop spotted. Look at my frown, which conveys my irritation at having overlooked it... neverthless, I stand by my appraisal that the paintjob was excellent overall pursuant to the protracted time and entire re-working of the job due to poor quality first time round. I wouldn't use them again, however.
and just for my recollection and comparison, the osf fixings in comparison to the missing nsf
The discussion over set up involved usage, really. Was I going to be wanting a set up for the UK, in which case the castor would be set so that the car pulled extremely to the right, thereby compensating for the camber in the UK for driving on the
After that, I headed to MB Brooklands to collect my now-arrived parts for interior titivation.
I genuinely struggled to get the B pillar trim into the boot
so opted for the rear bench
Number 60 is in the large boxes -- both sides of the car.
there were, of course, some lovely vehicles awaiting service
Back home and these were the stats from by little pootle to Chobham, Surrey -- Chesham -- Brooklands -- SW20.
The PH equivalent of a spa day... some self care for me and my machine felt great.
Edited by bolidemichael on Thursday 30th December 17:08
June 2021
The first Bicester Sunday Scramble for a while, due to COVID and I woke up feeling decidedly iffy after an evening hosting a bbq in which I consumed faaar too many vodka lime sodas. Good grief, I woke up and the floor moved, so I stuck the car on cruise control at an indicated 72mph and pointed at Bicester.
As I left the motorway an hour later, I felt a little perkier. It was also the first time that I've ever seem this MPG and hadn't previously believed it to be possible, depite another local owner having told me that it was (yes, I knocked on his door to speak to him when I first took ownership of Magnus -- still owns it, too, as does another with a facelift E500 with the 5.5L a la that lurker, Stegel).
I also managed to google-fu my way to a hand car wash en route to Bicester that was open before 0900hrs, raised the suspension for better access for jet-washing under the arches and stood back and relaxed. It was the first time that Magnus would be introduced to fellow losers on the barge thread, as we'd arranged a meet up and I wanted to put my best foot forward.
It was most impressive to see the bargiest of Japanese barges, the inimitable Toyota Century, owned by 21st Century Man (yes, it's a pun) (yes, it took quite a while for the penny to drop).
It's A SHOE HORN!!!
As always, there was some fun stuff on display -- a thread favourite was the V12 Rambo Lambo (click image)
which displayed a veritable Christmas tree of dash lights (click image)
.
I loved this carbon bodied V12 DBS and sat in it making broooom brrooooom noises
Someone popped up on PH and claimed this was owned by his son who works for the Morgan Motor Company. Perhaps it's the insipration for their recent off-road effort... it's a similar colour.
This R107 was apparently and enticingly, driven by a rather fetching young lady
Carbon fibre wheels on the GT40
Finally, the barges of myself and '2 129s' Stegel
The first Bicester Sunday Scramble for a while, due to COVID and I woke up feeling decidedly iffy after an evening hosting a bbq in which I consumed faaar too many vodka lime sodas. Good grief, I woke up and the floor moved, so I stuck the car on cruise control at an indicated 72mph and pointed at Bicester.
As I left the motorway an hour later, I felt a little perkier. It was also the first time that I've ever seem this MPG and hadn't previously believed it to be possible, depite another local owner having told me that it was (yes, I knocked on his door to speak to him when I first took ownership of Magnus -- still owns it, too, as does another with a facelift E500 with the 5.5L a la that lurker, Stegel).
I also managed to google-fu my way to a hand car wash en route to Bicester that was open before 0900hrs, raised the suspension for better access for jet-washing under the arches and stood back and relaxed. It was the first time that Magnus would be introduced to fellow losers on the barge thread, as we'd arranged a meet up and I wanted to put my best foot forward.
It was most impressive to see the bargiest of Japanese barges, the inimitable Toyota Century, owned by 21st Century Man (yes, it's a pun) (yes, it took quite a while for the penny to drop).
It's A SHOE HORN!!!
As always, there was some fun stuff on display -- a thread favourite was the V12 Rambo Lambo (click image)
which displayed a veritable Christmas tree of dash lights (click image)
I loved this carbon bodied V12 DBS and sat in it making broooom brrooooom noises
Someone popped up on PH and claimed this was owned by his son who works for the Morgan Motor Company. Perhaps it's the insipration for their recent off-road effort... it's a similar colour.
This R107 was apparently and enticingly, driven by a rather fetching young lady
Carbon fibre wheels on the GT40
Finally, the barges of myself and '2 129s' Stegel
Edited by bolidemichael on Thursday 30th December 19:13
Spinakerr said:
Excellent car, clearly its found a good owner. I especially liked the shots of Bath earlier on - I must plan a trip there in 2022.
Were the leaking/grungy pipes air con or power steering?
Thank you Spinakerrrrrr, Bath is a fine City, indeed. Do check out that coffee shop, Colonna & Smalls -- mind blowing.Were the leaking/grungy pipes air con or power steering?
The pipes, I've looked up the original photo from Germany -- it's not the air con pipes, which are below:
So I don't know what these pipes are for actually. Any insight from PHers would be welcome (inc yourself), if you haven't already nailed it.
bolidemichael said:
June 2021 ……as does another with a facelift E500 with the 5.5L a la that lurker, Stegel).
When there’s a happy ending to, er, end on (or more accurately end the beginning on) I may do a Readers Ride thread. bolidemichael said:
Finally, the barges of myself and '2 129s' Stegel
You’ve met me - I look nothing like John Prescott!Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff