New S500 and potted car history.
Discussion
So after hanging around and admiring some amazing readers cars over the years I thought I would make some effort and post my very modest recent car history and a few photos of my new Merc. I’ve had loads of cars over the last 15 or so years, some good and some absolute kak ( I’m looking at you 1.5 diesel Corsa ) but they’ve all been basic get to work stuff and not really of any note, but ! I’ve also always had something that’s just for fun.
Back in 2005 I bought a knackered RS1600i from eBay, it had had a bump, was rusty and the twin coils ( and it turned out most of the engine ) was junk, it’s definitely not the done thing with them now but back then when there were a few more around I decided to make it how I wanted it to be and go away from standard, what followed was near enough ten years of changes and what I considered to be improvements ( you can make your own minds up on that point ).
Rusty Sunburst became frozen white, wheezy 1.6 CVH became a 2.0 Zetec, fuel injectors were ditched for mikuni carbs from and early R1 ( Bogg brothers were then and still are the wizards in this department), the bonnet became carbon and the ripped and shagged interior became Sparco seats with harnesses.
Before
After
Definitely a labour of love and I never made back close to what I’d spent when I decided a couple of years ago to pass the baton to someone else, but it was an absolute hoot while it lasted, the combination of a well set up zetec with carbs and velocity stacks and no interior made for a less than relaxing drive most of the time but the noise was addictive and I still miss it now.
Time to move on though.
It took a while for me to decide what could replace the escort. I wanted something quick but with a bit more practicality ( basically just about anything ! ) and in the end I settled on an E85 Z4 3.0.
Sterling grey with red leather it had to be and it took a while to find a good one. I settled in the end for a low mileage Z with mint 108’s and rubbish but new tyres (wingwang happysport 200’s in case your wondering ), apart from general maintenance and the odd hiccup it’s been faultless for the last couple of years and you never tire of that 6 cylinder growl.
But once again I decided it was time for a change and seeing as I’m now old enough for car insurance premiums to be a lot less terrifying than they were I decided I wanted a V8 and it had to be a Merc. I’ve always had a soft spot for the three pointed star and I’ve never had any serious issues with the few that I’ve owned over the years, through a process of elimination ( both common sense and bank balance related ) I’ve settled on the S500 you see below, it caught my eye with the spec/full MB history and a nearly new set of conti’s which won’t have been cheap. It’s got a knackered HK logic 7 amp ( of course it has ) which will be sorted and a couple of minor niggles that I’ll work my way through over the coming months.
It’s a big old barge for the cash !.
Back in 2005 I bought a knackered RS1600i from eBay, it had had a bump, was rusty and the twin coils ( and it turned out most of the engine ) was junk, it’s definitely not the done thing with them now but back then when there were a few more around I decided to make it how I wanted it to be and go away from standard, what followed was near enough ten years of changes and what I considered to be improvements ( you can make your own minds up on that point ).
Rusty Sunburst became frozen white, wheezy 1.6 CVH became a 2.0 Zetec, fuel injectors were ditched for mikuni carbs from and early R1 ( Bogg brothers were then and still are the wizards in this department), the bonnet became carbon and the ripped and shagged interior became Sparco seats with harnesses.
Before
After
Definitely a labour of love and I never made back close to what I’d spent when I decided a couple of years ago to pass the baton to someone else, but it was an absolute hoot while it lasted, the combination of a well set up zetec with carbs and velocity stacks and no interior made for a less than relaxing drive most of the time but the noise was addictive and I still miss it now.
Time to move on though.
It took a while for me to decide what could replace the escort. I wanted something quick but with a bit more practicality ( basically just about anything ! ) and in the end I settled on an E85 Z4 3.0.
Sterling grey with red leather it had to be and it took a while to find a good one. I settled in the end for a low mileage Z with mint 108’s and rubbish but new tyres (wingwang happysport 200’s in case your wondering ), apart from general maintenance and the odd hiccup it’s been faultless for the last couple of years and you never tire of that 6 cylinder growl.
But once again I decided it was time for a change and seeing as I’m now old enough for car insurance premiums to be a lot less terrifying than they were I decided I wanted a V8 and it had to be a Merc. I’ve always had a soft spot for the three pointed star and I’ve never had any serious issues with the few that I’ve owned over the years, through a process of elimination ( both common sense and bank balance related ) I’ve settled on the S500 you see below, it caught my eye with the spec/full MB history and a nearly new set of conti’s which won’t have been cheap. It’s got a knackered HK logic 7 amp ( of course it has ) which will be sorted and a couple of minor niggles that I’ll work my way through over the coming months.
It’s a big old barge for the cash !.
Plans for now are just cosmetic, I’ve set aside the next month to read the owners manual (570 pages, all in English in case your wondering ) and then it’s just waft around between petrol stations. You pilot it rather than drive it, performance seems a crude word for how it gets down the road, you just apply pressure to the throttle and suddenly your going a lot faster than you were.
Pauljayv said:
Plans for now are just cosmetic, I’ve set aside the next month to read the owners manual (570 pages, all in English in case your wondering ) and then it’s just waft around between petrol stations. You pilot it rather than drive it, performance seems a crude word for how it gets down the road, you just apply pressure to the throttle and suddenly your going a lot faster than you were.
Sounds good. Mercedes makes great big cars to waft around in - come into their own on the Autobahn (if you ignore the petrol consumption)Some great cars already! 
I love what you did with your RS1600i, even if purists wouldn't be quite so keen.
It sounds like you enjoyed your Z4 too. I love them but then I would say that as I'm on my third Z4 Coupe in the last 6 years.
But your S500 looks stunning, albeit a totally different sort of car!
Enjoy.
I love what you did with your RS1600i, even if purists wouldn't be quite so keen.
It sounds like you enjoyed your Z4 too. I love them but then I would say that as I'm on my third Z4 Coupe in the last 6 years.
But your S500 looks stunning, albeit a totally different sort of car!
Enjoy.
Small update from both ends of the cost spectrum, first job was to remove the knackered Logic 7 amp and send it down to Cartronics for inspection, unfortunately it wasn’t good news, a new motor control unit and obligatory recoding is needed which is a right kick in the nuts but I got a decent chunk knocked off the car cost which will cover some of it. Second common W221 problem fortunately didn’t cost me a bean to sort out, the electric seat belt height adjusters commonly fail on these and it’s normally due on o the clip under the seat coming adrift. The cable clip just slots over a cam in the seat base runner, it’s a fiddly as hell but I managed to get both back on without too many problems.
Another small job and common fault sorted, I replaced the cheap jack plastic handle on the rear arm rest, proper crap bit of design and doomed to fail. Spend a good half an hour messing with the active seats and watching Blade Runner. For some reason the rear armrest won’t fold back properly into the back rest and google isn’t bringing up any similar issues
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