2007 Mercedes S600 Twin Turbo V12
Discussion
After ~2 years with a 2003 Jaguar X350/XJ8 4.2 SE I decided on an upgrade. I've always been a sucker for high spec cars and 12 cylinder engines so the only sensible car for my weekend family duties was a W221 Mercedes S600. I had some shenanigans during the purchase process but settled on a privately owned 2007 car with 83k on the clock and a decent history.
I'm picking it up this afternoon so will get some better photos, at the moment it's just autotrader ad shots. As an S600 it already comes with a fantastic amount of kit; extended leather, dynamic multicontour seats that inflate as you go round corners, cooled/heated seats all round, electrically adjustable rear seats, massaging rear seats, ABC suspension, and of course a smashing V12 with a pair of turbos. On top of that it has rear seat entertainment (with digital TV!), a panoramic roof, and most importantly a rear fridge for my driving gin. Sadly no distronic radar cruise or night vision, so I'll have to slum it without.
I kept myself awake last night reading about issues with ABC, but aside from that and the issue with coil packs most of the problems they have are common to all W221 models and none seem particularly awful. It'll only be doing 4-5k a year so it has a fighting chance of not being ruinous, right?
Oh yes, and in addition to the 20 inch "AMG
" wheels it's on now (two rear tyres need replacing soon) I am getting the original 18" wheels with a full set of Pirelli winter tyres on them. I think I'll be parting with the 20" wheels, great though they look. Fun fact - the standard fit wheels are forged, which I was very surprised at given the cast boat anchors that most OEMs supply. Don't know about these 20" wagon wheels though.
I'm picking it up this afternoon so will get some better photos, at the moment it's just autotrader ad shots. As an S600 it already comes with a fantastic amount of kit; extended leather, dynamic multicontour seats that inflate as you go round corners, cooled/heated seats all round, electrically adjustable rear seats, massaging rear seats, ABC suspension, and of course a smashing V12 with a pair of turbos. On top of that it has rear seat entertainment (with digital TV!), a panoramic roof, and most importantly a rear fridge for my driving gin. Sadly no distronic radar cruise or night vision, so I'll have to slum it without.
I kept myself awake last night reading about issues with ABC, but aside from that and the issue with coil packs most of the problems they have are common to all W221 models and none seem particularly awful. It'll only be doing 4-5k a year so it has a fighting chance of not being ruinous, right?
Oh yes, and in addition to the 20 inch "AMG
" wheels it's on now (two rear tyres need replacing soon) I am getting the original 18" wheels with a full set of Pirelli winter tyres on them. I think I'll be parting with the 20" wheels, great though they look. Fun fact - the standard fit wheels are forged, which I was very surprised at given the cast boat anchors that most OEMs supply. Don't know about these 20" wagon wheels though.Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 13th August 09:33
Many congratulations on a very fine purchase, the car looks absolutely mega.
Looking forward to more pics and updates.
(I only realised you had changed your username when I saw your Jag thread pop up.
According to Wikipedia, "Research has shown that Sticklebacks display distinct personality traits, specifically in the area of taking risk...")
Sounds like your eyes are wide open so any risk is a calculated one
Looking forward to more pics and updates.
(I only realised you had changed your username when I saw your Jag thread pop up.
According to Wikipedia, "Research has shown that Sticklebacks display distinct personality traits, specifically in the area of taking risk...")
Sounds like your eyes are wide open so any risk is a calculated one
So, you're now the second recent PH'er giving me an inferiority complex with regards S Classes.
I bought our W220 320Cdi about 3 weeks ago and since then, there's two new threads about S600 purchases!
Obviously being a fellow lover of big engined wafters I immediately went on AutoTrader, just to see mind you, what sort of bargain prices S600's can be bought for...........surprise and relief, they're actually quite a lot more money compared to similar S500's for instance.
I appreciate the increase in cost new but was still quite surprised by probably a £5-6k difference at this age for such a highly complex and relatively unloved vehicle over a similar 500.
Doesn't stop the want though!
And definitely looking forward to your updates too.
I bought our W220 320Cdi about 3 weeks ago and since then, there's two new threads about S600 purchases!
Obviously being a fellow lover of big engined wafters I immediately went on AutoTrader, just to see mind you, what sort of bargain prices S600's can be bought for...........surprise and relief, they're actually quite a lot more money compared to similar S500's for instance.
I appreciate the increase in cost new but was still quite surprised by probably a £5-6k difference at this age for such a highly complex and relatively unloved vehicle over a similar 500.
Doesn't stop the want though!
And definitely looking forward to your updates too.
1Toomanycars said:
So, you're now the second recent PH'er giving me an inferiority complex with regards S Classes.
I bought our W220 320Cdi about 3 weeks ago and since then, there's two new threads about S600 purchases!
Obviously being a fellow lover of big engined wafters I immediately went on AutoTrader, just to see mind you, what sort of bargain prices S600's can be bought for...........surprise and relief, they're actually quite a lot more money compared to similar S500's for instance.
I appreciate the increase in cost new but was still quite surprised by probably a £5-6k difference at this age for such a highly complex and relatively unloved vehicle over a similar 500.
Doesn't stop the want though!
And definitely looking forward to your updates too.
A standard 500 is way down on spec compared to a 600, if you manage to find a similarly specified one it's usually within a couple of grand of a 600. At least that's what I'm telling myself.I bought our W220 320Cdi about 3 weeks ago and since then, there's two new threads about S600 purchases!
Obviously being a fellow lover of big engined wafters I immediately went on AutoTrader, just to see mind you, what sort of bargain prices S600's can be bought for...........surprise and relief, they're actually quite a lot more money compared to similar S500's for instance.
I appreciate the increase in cost new but was still quite surprised by probably a £5-6k difference at this age for such a highly complex and relatively unloved vehicle over a similar 500.
Doesn't stop the want though!
And definitely looking forward to your updates too.
Just driven it home, about 70 miles and averaged 19mpg mostly sticking to speed limits and only limited use of the loud pedal, so consumption is going to be catastrophic.
Few initial impressions:
Ride is a bit firmer than I expected but it is on 20" wheels;
5 speed gearbox is really old school - 2000RPM at 70MPH feels high and it is very quick to unlock the torque converter and slush about. This must be killing economy (it shifts very smoothly though);
Pulling off in 2nd is lame;
The dynamic seats are fantastic;
ABC keeps it very level and it's amazing how nimble it feels;
HVAC is very quiet and effective - the noise of the fan was a real bugbear on my X350;
In fact the whole car is eerily quiet, much quieter than my X350;
It's really very fast but really understated about how it goes about doing it;
Sat nav system is amazingly responsive and high res for such an old car;
The speed limiter is AMAZING, using the brakes to keep you at or below the set limit. Every other car I've had a limited on just beeps; and
A 500, particularly a twin turbo, is a far more sensible choice.
I've spotted a couple of faults so far:
Drivers side door vent has a broken adjuster. I can see the bit inside that has come off and it may be fixable;
The boot opening and closing isn't working, it pops open but won't open fully and the close button isn't lit up and does nothing;
The plug socket in the boot for the fridge has come away from the trim; and
I'm not sure but I think there is a bit of a smell of fuel around the filler area when you've stopped. Emissions controls normally cry murder if there is any issue with tank sealing or venting though.
So pretty good for an 83k mile 13 year old car! On the plus side I discovered it has a full size alloy spare (18" it looks like) with a winter tyre on.
I didn't get a forecourt shot because I was a bit too horrified by this
It asks for 98 RON on the fuel cap and it says no lower than 93 so presumably it detunes itself.
Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 13th August 18:46
Welcome to the V12 club 
Re ABC suspension, it's nothing to worry about as per mu thread, if you can turn a spanner.
Lovely looking car though, I have fridge envy.... I'm surprised yours is a 5 speed, I thought it would have been 7G, suppose its the torque factor.
I have lots of links to parts, tech tips and help guides if you need them.
Re ABC suspension, it's nothing to worry about as per mu thread, if you can turn a spanner.Lovely looking car though, I have fridge envy.... I'm surprised yours is a 5 speed, I thought it would have been 7G, suppose its the torque factor.
I have lots of links to parts, tech tips and help guides if you need them.
swampy442 said:
... I'm surprised yours is a 5 speed, I thought it would have been 7G, suppose its the torque factor...
Yes, I think you're right. From what I recall it's the 722.6 gearbox (or a derivative of) which I have in my 1996 SL600. It's the only unit available that can handle the torque. I think Porsche used it in their "996" 911 turbo too.All W221 V12 models had the 5 speed box until the end of production apparently, which may be dodging a bullet considering the issues I've heard about with the early 7G Tronic cars!
I've had the opportunity to go over the history in depth. Considering the car is now at 83,000 miles the interesting points are:
December 2019 it had a service, radiator, condenser, and a blower motor; (£1600);
October 2018 it had an ABS module (£903);
July 2018 it had all four ABS sensors (£598) presumably to fix the fault that was later found to be the ABS ECU;
Feb 2018 it had an ABC pump and some pipe that had corroded (£1,493);
Dec 2016 it had an oil cooler, new batteries, and an EIS Switch (£3,481.53);
Jan 2013 at 63k miles it had a service in which the plugs were changed, so they don't need doing for a while;
Oct 2012 at 61k miles it had a control unit in the gearbox and a fluid/filter change so the fluid is good for a while; and
In Sept 2012 the owner paid £2,164 to fit the iPod kit and backup camera, and a further £2,695 for a new DAB module and a multicontour seat module.
There are other regular services etc but I am very pleased to see that the autobox fluid, spark plugs, and ABC fluid should be fine. The seller did say that it had a coil pack not long after they had it but the invoice isn't present so who knows.
Took the covers off the engine to scare myself
Spent an hour in Bristol traffic
It's all worthwhile though, behold my fridge (which is bigger than expected and can take four full sized wine bottles) and table!
The fridge works but someone has been monkeying around with it in the past. The four bolts that hold the plastic trim in place that it fits into are missing, and someone has been messing around with the wires for the control panel and one is cut. I need to find someone who has the fridge and would be kind enough to show me what their wiring looks like so I can try and work out what's been done (and why).
Fuse isn't behind the inoperative remote boot closing, I think it might be one of those things that needs Star diagnostics to work out. Probably software in the boot closing ECU or something bizarre like that.
I've had the opportunity to go over the history in depth. Considering the car is now at 83,000 miles the interesting points are:
December 2019 it had a service, radiator, condenser, and a blower motor; (£1600);
October 2018 it had an ABS module (£903);
July 2018 it had all four ABS sensors (£598) presumably to fix the fault that was later found to be the ABS ECU;
Feb 2018 it had an ABC pump and some pipe that had corroded (£1,493);
Dec 2016 it had an oil cooler, new batteries, and an EIS Switch (£3,481.53);
Jan 2013 at 63k miles it had a service in which the plugs were changed, so they don't need doing for a while;
Oct 2012 at 61k miles it had a control unit in the gearbox and a fluid/filter change so the fluid is good for a while; and
In Sept 2012 the owner paid £2,164 to fit the iPod kit and backup camera, and a further £2,695 for a new DAB module and a multicontour seat module.
There are other regular services etc but I am very pleased to see that the autobox fluid, spark plugs, and ABC fluid should be fine. The seller did say that it had a coil pack not long after they had it but the invoice isn't present so who knows.
Took the covers off the engine to scare myself
Spent an hour in Bristol traffic
It's all worthwhile though, behold my fridge (which is bigger than expected and can take four full sized wine bottles) and table!
The fridge works but someone has been monkeying around with it in the past. The four bolts that hold the plastic trim in place that it fits into are missing, and someone has been messing around with the wires for the control panel and one is cut. I need to find someone who has the fridge and would be kind enough to show me what their wiring looks like so I can try and work out what's been done (and why).
Fuse isn't behind the inoperative remote boot closing, I think it might be one of those things that needs Star diagnostics to work out. Probably software in the boot closing ECU or something bizarre like that.
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 14th August 12:19
Found the first broken thing that actually irritates - the CD changer will eventually recognise an audio CD, play a bit, then stop with an error. Won't recognise any DVDs at all. This is particularly irritating as that drive is needed to update the maps from the current 2013 version!
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