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Anyone have personal experience with the old V12 S600 Merc?


BluDestiny

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Was looking around for a "luxury" daily. Tired of my bike and a little rattled after another death of a student at my school from a motorcycle accident, not that I knew him personally, but knew of him.

 

Spotted this add on zilvia:

http://zilvia.net/f/cars-sale/494921-handbuilt-v12-s600-mercedes-vip-ready-trades-welcome.html

 

obviously the last few pics aren't his and he is willing to take the bike plus cash. 

 

Before I even consider this, I'd like to know if anyone has had or worked on one of these beasts. How much of a pain are they and how reliable are they? Would mostly be doing DD stuff in it, possibly a cross country at some point. I would have to drive about 5 hours to get trade for it anyway. 

 

for reference here is my bike, 03 CBR 600RR.

http://zilvia.net/f/cars-sale/498079-2003-honda-cbr-600rr-4000-12k-miles.html

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The M120 is a phenomenal motor and I do adore the thing, and more importantly the sounds it makes. That said it had some common problems, most of which have to do with the seals around the front of the engine. It's not a terribly difficult engine to work on, there's just a ton of shit in the engine compartment. There is a ton of parts similarity between this engine and the garden variety M104 I6 DOHC's in the plebian benzes, so if you need parts you'll find you can mix and match from much cheaper models of mercedes. That said, the most important things to consider for this car are the maintenance records. If he's up on the maint. you wont get eaten alive. If it's not, may God have mercy on your soul. You HAVE to make sure everything works because hunting down electrical problems on a W140 is about a million times harder than it needs to be. This is MB's answer to the LS400 and since Lexus knocked MBZ flat on their asses when it came out, they decided they were going to put every gadget and gizmo that Stuttgart could even imagine in this thing. 

 

Make sure the engine wiring harness is in good shape. Ask to see if it's been replaced. If he has no idea, grab a bundle of wires and see if they're pliable or they crumble in your hands. If it's the latter, just say no. 

 

Handbuilt isn't really true in the purest sense of the word. It was pretty much built like any other MBZ, but they like complicating things, so more things had to be hand fitted. 

 

Body should be pretty solid, but check for rust spots around the front suspension points. Make sure the spring perches are solid, replacing those aren't cheap. 

If you can, see if you can go see the car after it's been sitting and cold for at least 24 hours. The car should still be at normal ride height. If it looks like some hipster got a hold of it and it's a set of 6000 dollar wheels away from a stanceworks feature, you're in for a burning in your pocket book. Take it for a drive. It should shift firmly, but not jerk. The 722.3 is a strong transmission, and it's reliable, but most of the problems rear their head on the 2-3 shift, downshifting, and shifting into reverse. All of these should happen with authority, but not feel like its about to rip your teeth out. 

 

 

If it's all in good order, it really is a wonderful car. You'll have a whole new definition of comfort, and the car has incredible road presence. I think the trunk has room for 2 or 3 bodies, and at least 10kg of coke along with that...

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I can't tell you to much about the car or the engine, but i'll second on the description of the gearbox, my dd G350 has the same box. It needed an overhaul two years ago for the mentioned faults, this set me back about 2000dollars. It works fine now and it is ready for 10 new years of abuse :D

 

for the most part my experience with MB is one of great quality, i have owned four different G-class vehicles and i am looking for a new one. i think it is around the years of the w140 that MB had low quality metal in their cars, this makes them more prone to rust. the engines are mostly bulletproof.

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I've read that the wiring harness does go out and usually gets replaced around this mileage or before. Will definitely be spending a day with him trying to figure out the electronics. He does say everything works. Will ask for a vin so that I can get a car fax and ill ask him.

 

Im pretty sure that he just bought this car to flip it so I don't know how much about the maintenance record he knows.

 

In all honestly im only looking at driving this thing till I graduate college and get a job, so another year, or two if I decide to go for my masters.

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I'm pretty heavy into the 126 series MB.  1980s to 1991.

 

Things got REALLY complicated with the w140 and my Indy says they are a bear.  Lots of parts and systems.  Lots of window regulators.

If you are interested I can give you his number.  Keeping that car top-shape would be a full time endeavor, perhaps a little more so than most.

 

Whereas he swears the 2001-2003 E320 is like the best car ever that he works on.  Bulletproof and for this I just about bought one recently.

Tj

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I've read that the wiring harness does go out and usually gets replaced around this mileage or before. Will definitely be spending a day with him trying to figure out the electronics. He does say everything works. Will ask for a vin so that I can get a car fax and ill ask him. Im pretty sure that he just bought this car to flip it so I don't know how much about the maintenance record he knows. In all honestly im only looking at driving this thing till I graduate college and get a job, so another year, or two if I decide to go for my masters.

 

If that's the case than go for it. The M120, IMO is worth the trouble for the sound alone if it's only for a year, and it's getting to the point were the 500 and 600's are pretty much at the bottom of the depreciation curve. 

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I'm also a past owner of a W126 chassis.  I talked with my mechanic about buying a W140 and he steered me away for the following main reasons:

 

1.  MB decided to "go green" in the late 1980s (thanks Jurgen Shrump - the same guy who thought buying Chrysler was a good idea) and as part of that they made their whole wiring system more easily recyclable and quicker to degrade in landfills.  The result is that W140 cars are starting to have lots and lots of electrical issues.

2.  The HVAC system was over designed and under-built to compete with the brilliance of Lexus.  Fan motors fail easily and its a $2,000 job to replace.  And once the center stack is disassembled and reassembled its never the same.  It creaks, groans, and pops for the rest of its life.

3.  Rust issues as mentioned above as a result of the change in rust proofing to meet the new green agenda.

4.  Plastics were also changed to be easier to recycle and degrade quicker in landfills.

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I agree with John.  We run an German car shop and just last night I had a customer call and ask me to PPI a Benz of the same vintage.  I told him of one I bought from a customer who didn't want to spend the money to chase the wiring issues it came in with.  After three full days of work I was nowhere near the end of this cars gremlins.  It now ran, but was full of other issues.  I sold it for what I paid, losing 24 hours of shop time.

 

The acutal mechanicals of the car are straightforward.

 

That said, when they are right they are the second most amazing luxury ride ever, IMHO.  Buyer beware, keeping it in that shape won't be cheap or easy.

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well talked to guy and he does have most/all the maintenance records. Apparently the tranny was replaced at 120k miles (car has 160k now). Other miscellaneous things were  done here and there, but the tranny was the biggest expense ( bill said $6000). He couldn't find anything about the wiring harness, which has me worried. My friend also ran out of time for his carfax period, so I may get one soon. to check it out. For those that do have carfax the Vin is wdbga57e2sa226451

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