Mercedes don't make 'em like they used to...
Discussion
I took a taxi this afternoon on hols in Marrakech which showed 627,066km on the odometer. The ubiquitous Mercedes S Class W116 of 1973 vintage a la....
... and what a wonderful thing it was. Despite the mileage, it felt in decent shape. It rode well, didn't smoke, and felt reasonably together -at least from the passenger seat!
It had benefited from a few modifications over the years. The original auto gearbox had been upgraded to a manual some years ago by the look of the wooden gear knob which resembled a well worn shepherd's crook. The door handle in the front was held on with expanding foam. The door pulls in the back had been replaced with a piece of leather and a couple of bolts. The four electric window switches in the front were now only marshalling two electric windows in the front, the rears now having manual winders in their stead. More than a little triggers broom then. My French did not stretch beyond establishing that it was a petrol engine of non-descript original, but the owner of the last 15 years was confident it had many more kilometres ahead of it.
I got his number. I will be taking another trip before I leave.
Ah I've just come back from Marrakech today and loved the old Mercs there. Airport run was in an old S Class with 427,000 km which was excellent and rear legroom and comfort was better than some new cars I've been in.
The highlight though was an W123 240D with nearly 900,000 km on the clock, looked a bit tired but seemed to ride and pull really well.
First thing I did when I got back is start looking for old Mercs lol
The highlight though was an W123 240D with nearly 900,000 km on the clock, looked a bit tired but seemed to ride and pull really well.
First thing I did when I got back is start looking for old Mercs lol
Garlick said:
I've been telling anyone who'll listen for years that you can't beat an old Merc 
+1In the last 20 years I've done approaching half a million kilometres in a W126 500SEL and - the bulk of the distance - a 560SEL. No plans or need to replace it - there simply isn't anything else remotely like one.
In real terms, a modern Benz costs half what it did 25 years ago. S-Class prices have beaten compounded inflation since the '80s despite being loaded with ever more expensive electronic tat. In every respect, they're less than half the car they once were. The effect of inflation, alone, would make a W126-equivalent cost more than £150,000 today. No company has ever built, nor will ever build, cars like Mercedes-Benz did in the 1980s.
bosscerbera said:
In real terms, a modern Benz costs half what it did 25 years ago. S-Class prices have beaten compounded inflation since the '80s despite being loaded with ever more expensive electronic tat.
But wrt purchase price comparisons could you not substitute Benz with pretty much any premium manufacturer with the same result? How have Bentley, Aston, Rolls etc trended in comparison? Are Benz just standing out because of their woeful quality through the 90's in particular?
XTR2Turbo said:
bosscerbera said:
In real terms, a modern Benz costs half what it did 25 years ago. S-Class prices have beaten compounded inflation since the '80s despite being loaded with ever more expensive electronic tat.
But wrt purchase price comparisons could you not substitute Benz with pretty much any premium manufacturer with the same result? How have Bentley, Aston, Rolls etc trended in comparison? Are Benz just standing out because of their woeful quality through the 90's in particular?
The depth of Benz quality stood out in the 80s, and it's even more marked when you look at it now. I recently bought a 'donor car' for some bits for my 560 and looking at the stripped shell, it's quite unlike anything else. Seeing is believing.
I often drive newer barges and many's the time I've half-expected to get back into my leggy old Merc and for it to feel its age. It never does. Conversely, when I've let people drive it they are surprised by it: it's very smooth; deceptively fast; and feels rock solid. The only thing you'd mark it down for is wind noise - but that's a useful indication that it might be worth checking the speedo since you don't notice it until north of 70mph...
A big part of the smoothness/solidity is the rare 560SEL-only hydropneumatic suspension. It's the most evolved version of the system that the W100 Grosser had, and which featured on the 300 6.3 and 450 6.9. My 500SEL was coil-sprung and it wallowed like you'd expect a barge to wallow. Since all Mercs bar a few 560s are coil-sprung, the coil-sprung ride/handling is the basis for most people's judgment. Hydro was too expensive to be standard fit, and was an expensive option. It is, however, reliable and very effective. Whatever the load, the ride height is constant. At higher speeds, it self-lowers and it will automatically switch to the Sport mode when driven hard in the twisties.
The W140 was supposed to have air suspension but got coils with rear-only hydropneumatic for self-levelling. The W220 piloted Airmatic. A W220 - in real terms - was much less expensive than a W126, and Airmatic was standard. Airmatic is unreliable. Airmatic gives a good ride and bad roadholding. Its efforts to self level - and impede the weight transfer that comes from a bit of leaning - makes for exactly the kind of handling you'd expect if you put a big anti-roll bar on a car: terminal understeer. And, if it's V8/V12-powered, continuous interference from the ASR to curb poor traction and oversteer.
"Mercedes don't make 'em like they used to...." Too right, and more's the pity.
XTR2Turbo said:
bosscerbera said:
In real terms, a modern Benz costs half what it did 25 years ago. S-Class prices have beaten compounded inflation since the '80s despite being loaded with ever more expensive electronic tat.
But wrt purchase price comparisons could you not substitute Benz with pretty much any premium manufacturer with the same result? How have Bentley, Aston, Rolls etc trended in comparison? Are Benz just standing out because of their woeful quality through the 90's in particular?
More recently, the suggestion is that the beanies do the numbers, tell the engineers what they have available and then they work out what the can/can't do.
I suppose there's a bit of generalisation and exaggeration (beanies don't dictate, shareholders do and then accountants simply provide the info) but I suspect there's also a strong element of truth. I'd no more back a premium German to do big miles than I would anything else at the moment.
They did make great cars then, I drove in a Taxi in Tenerife many years ago that had 850k on the clock, I'd bet it's still going with over a million kms now. Seats were still comfortable and the fabrics/interior had hardly worn.
Another one I've been in is a 500E thats is Alois Ruf's daily driver, that had done over 500,000 km when I was in it about 5 years back.
Another one I've been in is a 500E thats is Alois Ruf's daily driver, that had done over 500,000 km when I was in it about 5 years back.
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