S Class - Dad Tank II
Discussion
thecremeegg said:
Car looks great, and thanks for introducing me to Volbeat, they're amazing! 
Thank you and glad to be of service! I stumbled across them about ten years ago and they've just gone from strength to strength. Even managed to get my other half listening to them and she's no metal fan! So I had the last piece of the OCD puzzle is now complete!
Since having my front seats and arm reset repainted, the rest of the leather despite actually looking really good, I wanted to look like new. Also, it seems that despite it's relatively modest 69k one previous owner liked hold the top of the wheel and in turn it was annoyingly worn.
So I contacted the chap I had the previous work and he had a slot today to come and do some leather repainting. First up was the steering wheel, lost of masking...
That has come up really nicely. Not as much texture as you would get on the original as it has to be filled slightly to level out the worn parts but the finish is spot on.
With the rears, we discussed it and his advice was not to bother with the vertical part of the seats. He said they were in excellent condition so I just had the bench done. This has some general wear and tear but not much. Now looks like this.
These are the fronts he did about 3 months ago now.
So basically that's everything cosmetic I wanted done, it's all been fully serviced and now re-mapped. Time to enjoy (more than I have already!).
Since having my front seats and arm reset repainted, the rest of the leather despite actually looking really good, I wanted to look like new. Also, it seems that despite it's relatively modest 69k one previous owner liked hold the top of the wheel and in turn it was annoyingly worn.
So I contacted the chap I had the previous work and he had a slot today to come and do some leather repainting. First up was the steering wheel, lost of masking...
That has come up really nicely. Not as much texture as you would get on the original as it has to be filled slightly to level out the worn parts but the finish is spot on.
With the rears, we discussed it and his advice was not to bother with the vertical part of the seats. He said they were in excellent condition so I just had the bench done. This has some general wear and tear but not much. Now looks like this.
These are the fronts he did about 3 months ago now.
So basically that's everything cosmetic I wanted done, it's all been fully serviced and now re-mapped. Time to enjoy (more than I have already!).
Few little updates on the S Class. Got a nice error indicating that my left brake light was out. Did a check with the help of the other half and yep, the left one had gone.
Looked on all the usual sites, no joy on finding a bulb. Turns out it's a row of LEDs and not generic part. Spoke to my local specialist who had a look, initially determined it was the light cluster thinking it was integrated. £140 just for the part.
Turns out it was the wrong part and the LEDs can be replaced separately. Still £40 for what is technically a bulb isn't cheap but £100 less than I anticipated.
I have also moved on from using MP3 DVDs and got myself a PCMCIA adapter off the world of eBay. Not convinced it's genuine but it reads SD cards no problem!
Also managed to sort the time on the clock. It's a known issue with these that the clock doesn't update no matter what you change it to on the Command system.
There's a trick to it. Leave the car overnight, get in and set the clock within the first 60 seconds and it changes and stays. Really weird but you basically have to beat it to picking up the GPS!
Gave the car a bit of a clean today, nothing heavy just a standard wash and topped up the Megs Hybrid Ceramic that's on the car. Hadn't been cleaned in 6 weeks!
Quick once over on the interior.
Sealed the glass too as I suspect I'll be driving in the rain more now we're in Autumn!
Next on the cards will be the glow plugs. The little coil light is staying on that bit longer and has come on whilst on a drive a couple of times now. Car starts no problem but I'll get the plugs checked. Funny thing is that the car has just hit 71k and my other half's CLS350 (same engine) needed glow plugs done at almost exactly the same miles.
Looked on all the usual sites, no joy on finding a bulb. Turns out it's a row of LEDs and not generic part. Spoke to my local specialist who had a look, initially determined it was the light cluster thinking it was integrated. £140 just for the part.
Turns out it was the wrong part and the LEDs can be replaced separately. Still £40 for what is technically a bulb isn't cheap but £100 less than I anticipated.
I have also moved on from using MP3 DVDs and got myself a PCMCIA adapter off the world of eBay. Not convinced it's genuine but it reads SD cards no problem!
Also managed to sort the time on the clock. It's a known issue with these that the clock doesn't update no matter what you change it to on the Command system.
There's a trick to it. Leave the car overnight, get in and set the clock within the first 60 seconds and it changes and stays. Really weird but you basically have to beat it to picking up the GPS!
Gave the car a bit of a clean today, nothing heavy just a standard wash and topped up the Megs Hybrid Ceramic that's on the car. Hadn't been cleaned in 6 weeks!
Quick once over on the interior.
Sealed the glass too as I suspect I'll be driving in the rain more now we're in Autumn!
Next on the cards will be the glow plugs. The little coil light is staying on that bit longer and has come on whilst on a drive a couple of times now. Car starts no problem but I'll get the plugs checked. Funny thing is that the car has just hit 71k and my other half's CLS350 (same engine) needed glow plugs done at almost exactly the same miles.
tgr said:
Great work Alex!
Thank you mate. 
Hammerhead said:
That’s a handsome, very well pampered car, indeed!
Looks like it’d devour an epic trip through Europe without breaking a sweat.
Thanks mate. Yeah it's incredibly comfortable. I do regular 240 mile drives so that's why I bought it. I can imagine if you wanted to do a huge road trip, there's not much better out there. It even managed 41mpg on a run which I think is admirable. Looks like it’d devour an epic trip through Europe without breaking a sweat.
Very nice, the leather refresh and colour makes it look brand new. That’s a lot of car for the money, good work.
Was on a late delayed flight home from Germany a few years ago and the airport taxi firm my work uses gave the job to a different private driver as it was so late. He turned up in one of these can’t remember if it was a 320 or a 350 though it was this generation S-Class. It had reclining rear seats and after the squeezy jet flight I had just got off of I was very happy about that, think I slept the journey back down the A3 to the south coast from Heathrow no trouble. Perfect mile muncher I would say, very fit for your intended purpose.
How do you think the Meguiars spray on hybrid wax compares to Autoglym HD wax application, worth a try?
Was on a late delayed flight home from Germany a few years ago and the airport taxi firm my work uses gave the job to a different private driver as it was so late. He turned up in one of these can’t remember if it was a 320 or a 350 though it was this generation S-Class. It had reclining rear seats and after the squeezy jet flight I had just got off of I was very happy about that, think I slept the journey back down the A3 to the south coast from Heathrow no trouble. Perfect mile muncher I would say, very fit for your intended purpose.
How do you think the Meguiars spray on hybrid wax compares to Autoglym HD wax application, worth a try?
jwwbowe said:
Very nice, the leather refresh and colour makes it look brand new. That’s a lot of car for the money, good work.
Was on a late delayed flight home from Germany a few years ago and the airport taxi firm my work uses gave the job to a different private driver as it was so late. He turned up in one of these can’t remember if it was a 320 or a 350 though it was this generation S-Class. It had reclining rear seats and after the squeezy jet flight I had just got off of I was very happy about that, think I slept the journey back down the A3 to the south coast from Heathrow no trouble. Perfect mile muncher I would say, very fit for your intended purpose.
How do you think the Meguiars spray on hybrid wax compares to Autoglym HD wax application, worth a try?
Yeah I'm really pleased with the leather, has made such a difference making it look brand new. The rear wasn't overly worn but having that factory matt finish makes it look unused. Luckily the bodywork was in decent shape so a bit of detailing and it looks good. Was on a late delayed flight home from Germany a few years ago and the airport taxi firm my work uses gave the job to a different private driver as it was so late. He turned up in one of these can’t remember if it was a 320 or a 350 though it was this generation S-Class. It had reclining rear seats and after the squeezy jet flight I had just got off of I was very happy about that, think I slept the journey back down the A3 to the south coast from Heathrow no trouble. Perfect mile muncher I would say, very fit for your intended purpose.
How do you think the Meguiars spray on hybrid wax compares to Autoglym HD wax application, worth a try?
The long wheel base models had options of reclining rear seats and other bits for the passengers. I'm not surprised you were comfortable. Any faults aside, they nailed the comfort and refinement in these.
I really like the Meguiars Hybrid Ceramic Wax. I used the spray on one which once a base layer is applied, you can spray on and rinse to top up. I have a sealant underneath but I highly rate the Megs stuff. I've not used the AG HD wax but always heard good things about it. I think the Megs product can be used as a standalone protection but I like it for topping up regularly.
Alex_225 said:
jwwbowe said:
Very nice, the leather refresh and colour makes it look brand new. That’s a lot of car for the money, good work.
Was on a late delayed flight home from Germany a few years ago and the airport taxi firm my work uses gave the job to a different private driver as it was so late. He turned up in one of these can’t remember if it was a 320 or a 350 though it was this generation S-Class. It had reclining rear seats and after the squeezy jet flight I had just got off of I was very happy about that, think I slept the journey back down the A3 to the south coast from Heathrow no trouble. Perfect mile muncher I would say, very fit for your intended purpose.
How do you think the Meguiars spray on hybrid wax compares to Autoglym HD wax application, worth a try?
Yeah I'm really pleased with the leather, has made such a difference making it look brand new. The rear wasn't overly worn but having that factory matt finish makes it look unused. Luckily the bodywork was in decent shape so a bit of detailing and it looks good. Was on a late delayed flight home from Germany a few years ago and the airport taxi firm my work uses gave the job to a different private driver as it was so late. He turned up in one of these can’t remember if it was a 320 or a 350 though it was this generation S-Class. It had reclining rear seats and after the squeezy jet flight I had just got off of I was very happy about that, think I slept the journey back down the A3 to the south coast from Heathrow no trouble. Perfect mile muncher I would say, very fit for your intended purpose.
How do you think the Meguiars spray on hybrid wax compares to Autoglym HD wax application, worth a try?
The long wheel base models had options of reclining rear seats and other bits for the passengers. I'm not surprised you were comfortable. Any faults aside, they nailed the comfort and refinement in these.
I really like the Meguiars Hybrid Ceramic Wax. I used the spray on one which once a base layer is applied, you can spray on and rinse to top up. I have a sealant underneath but I highly rate the Megs stuff. I've not used the AG HD wax but always heard good things about it. I think the Megs product can be used as a standalone protection but I like it for topping up regularly.
Thanks for that I’ll give the Megs hybrid spray a go then. I highly rate their snow foam, it’s a bit pricy but the best I’ve tried. I’ve just bought a old wagon that needs a bit of TLC (thread to follow) still have some AG HD wax that can be a base when I can spend some time on it, a spray top up would be very handy indeed though.
jwwbowe said:
Yep that matt finish is ace. Ah didn’t realise it was a LWB, though I imagine a SWB is plenty comfortable in the back to. I’m sure that 200mile regular journey of yours breezes by.
Thanks for that I’ll give the Megs hybrid spray a go then. I highly rate their snow foam, it’s a bit pricy but the best I’ve tried. I’ve just bought a old wagon that needs a bit of TLC (thread to follow) still have some AG HD wax that can be a base when I can spend some time on it, a spray top up would be very handy indeed though.
Yeah it's nice to have that factory look. So many of these balms and leather treatments just make it shinier. The Dr Leather spray is a good cleaner and keeps them looking original.Thanks for that I’ll give the Megs hybrid spray a go then. I highly rate their snow foam, it’s a bit pricy but the best I’ve tried. I’ve just bought a old wagon that needs a bit of TLC (thread to follow) still have some AG HD wax that can be a base when I can spend some time on it, a spray top up would be very handy indeed though.
Apparently and I was surprised by this but the LWB outsells the SWB models, goes to show how many are bought for people to be driven in rather than to drive themselves. I've not driven anyone in the back of the car yet, usually just me and my eldest and she sits up front. I'm 6'1 and I'd be able to sit behind my seat still so the LWB must be ideal. I think the biggest difference from the likes of an E Class is the size of the seats. The E or CLS hardly lacks room but the S has wider and deeper seats so you don't feel cramped even slightly.
Let me know how you get on with it. Apparently it will bond to the surface regardless of what's already applied so could make an ideal top up to the HD wax like you say.
The initial layer they suggest is sprayed onto a wet car and then you simply dry it, the process of drying should spread the product and then it can cure. The following layers can be sprayed on and rinsed straight off (much like Gyeon Wetcoat). I always use the initial process though as I'm drying the car anyway and by all accounts it lasts better that way.
The mats are more practicality over looks as they're not exactly luxurious. I have the original mats though which are clean and under the boot floor protector. They are nice thick carpet but if using the car in all weathers, I'm happy with the rubber mats for that sake.
Guess the plates are divisive although in the plastic, they're hard to spot as being much different to normal plates really.
Guess the plates are divisive although in the plastic, they're hard to spot as being much different to normal plates really.
bolidemichael said:
Do you use H2GO on the headlamp lenses?
Sorry completely forgot to respond to this question. I don't generally use the H2Go on the headlights mainly as they bead from whatever protection I use on the car anyway. Gave the car a last clean for 2020 so despite doing far less miles (around 6k) than I anticipated I'm looking forward to using it more this year.
Can't beat giving unnecessary parts of the car a clean.
I can honestly say I had no idea what a glow plug looked like, until I found the one that was replaced lurking in the engine bay. I always assumed they were like a spark plug but I can see how they snap now!
So in short, I'm still in love with the car. It's had it's niggles and as picked up by PH on FB, it's one of those cars that offers a hell of a lot for the money. A hell of a lot of car and potentially a hell of a lot of expensive repairs. I'd recommend one!
It's interesting you mention the glowplugs and the associated light as I bought a W220 back in the summer with exactly the same issue. It started absolutely fine but the light stayed on for an increasing amount of time as the temperature dropped.
After deciding earlier in the year to have all 6 replaced on our X5 as a matter of course @ circa 80k (because BMW) and our mechanic finding one wasn't actually working, I booked the S Class in too for replacement of all 6, and surprise surprise, one not functioning correctly. Been perfect ever since, although it's now off the road for winter.
Well worth doing whether you can do it yourself or have to pay someone. I paid less than £150 all in.
I'm very tempted by a W221 but would ideally like one with the AMG kit etc, although yours with just the wheels looks good and the prices at the moment are so low even for sub 100k ones, but alas our driveway can only fit four 5 metre long cars on it (or six normal sized cars) and all four spaces are currently occupied!
After deciding earlier in the year to have all 6 replaced on our X5 as a matter of course @ circa 80k (because BMW) and our mechanic finding one wasn't actually working, I booked the S Class in too for replacement of all 6, and surprise surprise, one not functioning correctly. Been perfect ever since, although it's now off the road for winter.
Well worth doing whether you can do it yourself or have to pay someone. I paid less than £150 all in.
I'm very tempted by a W221 but would ideally like one with the AMG kit etc, although yours with just the wheels looks good and the prices at the moment are so low even for sub 100k ones, but alas our driveway can only fit four 5 metre long cars on it (or six normal sized cars) and all four spaces are currently occupied!
Edited by 1Toomanycars on Sunday 3rd January 10:00
1Toomanycars said:
It's interesting you mention the glowplugs and the associated light as I bought a W220 back in the summer with exactly the same issue. It started absolutely fine but the light stayed on for an increasing amount of time as the temperature dropped.
After deciding earlier in the year to have all 6 replaced on our X5 as a matter of course @ circa 80k (because BMW) and our mechanic finding one wasn't actually working, I booked the S Class in too for replacement of all 6, and surprise surprise, one not functioning correctly. Been perfect ever since, although it's now off the road for winter.
Well worth doing whether you can do it yourself or have to pay someone. I paid less than £150 all in.
I'm very tempted by a W221 but would ideally like one with the AMG kit etc, although yours with just the wheels looks good and the prices at the moment are so low even for sub 100k ones, but alas our driveway can only fit four 5 metre long cars on it (or six normal sized cars) and all four spaces are currently occupied!
I started to notice that light coming on but I always assumed it would stay on longer and longer. This one was odd as it would go off fairly quickly then come on again even after an hour of driving. With my other half's CLS, with the same V6 diesel it did as yours did whereby the light stayed on longer and longer. We had all of hers replaced where as the specialist I used recommended just the one purely as it's not uncommon they snap so replace as required. Let's see how the others last anyway haha. After deciding earlier in the year to have all 6 replaced on our X5 as a matter of course @ circa 80k (because BMW) and our mechanic finding one wasn't actually working, I booked the S Class in too for replacement of all 6, and surprise surprise, one not functioning correctly. Been perfect ever since, although it's now off the road for winter.
Well worth doing whether you can do it yourself or have to pay someone. I paid less than £150 all in.
I'm very tempted by a W221 but would ideally like one with the AMG kit etc, although yours with just the wheels looks good and the prices at the moment are so low even for sub 100k ones, but alas our driveway can only fit four 5 metre long cars on it (or six normal sized cars) and all four spaces are currently occupied!
I must admit I do like the AMG kit on these and the S63 looks pretty mean. But at the same time I quite like the understated looks of something like the S600 which has the power but the exterior doesn't give it away. I like how with this particular era of the W221 there's no exhausts on show for example.
I'm sure you could find some space somewhere mate haha. We've just had a deposit put down on my partners CLS but replaced it with an ML which although a bit shorter isn't not exactly petite! That said I store a couple of cars in a specific car storage facility so keep them out the way.
Purchased a new dashcam just after Christmas so decided to fit that today. I know they're divisive on here, partly due to the reputation dashcammers have for instigating problems then playing the, 'I've got a dashcam' card. Morons. That said I had a dashcam in my old E Class, I used to leave it on when driving and forget about it. Nice to know I had an independent witness though and also managed to help someone else out as it captured an incident up ahead.
Anyway, I went for this a Nextbase 522GW. A marked improvement in build quality and features over my first one. Takes a 128gb memory card so up to 16 hours of recording, has GPS built in and also has a bluetooth connection so you can get the videos straight off the camera.
Simple job of piggy backing off one of the fuses, the only bit of exposed cable is round the A pillar.
Job done. Really pleased with it.
Anyway, I went for this a Nextbase 522GW. A marked improvement in build quality and features over my first one. Takes a 128gb memory card so up to 16 hours of recording, has GPS built in and also has a bluetooth connection so you can get the videos straight off the camera.
Simple job of piggy backing off one of the fuses, the only bit of exposed cable is round the A pillar.
Job done. Really pleased with it.
alec.e said:
Would you know the fuse that you tapped into? Embarrassingly, I am having a hard time finding a suitable switched power feed on my CL- the fuse taps stuck out too far for the cover to fit- which did you use?
Thanks
I don't know exactly what the fuse does but if you're looking at the side of that panel, it was the second from top fuse. Only thing is that it is live all the time so do have to be mindful of turning the camera off. That said, I had the same in my old E Class so I'm used to it. Thanks
Hope that helps mate.
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