Their are so many crap W140's out their. - Page 5 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

iwrock · #61 11-08-2005, 12:03 AM

The 600 suspension is called "hydropneumatic." It is just a really fancy hydralic suspension. There is an S600 daily driver at the mechanic I go to, and it has just about 200,000 miles on it. He says the worst thing that has happened was the dreaded throttle body, but other than that, it is just all routine maintainence. In all honesty, I think that they V12 M120 is just as dependale as the V8 M119, just parts are a tad bit more expensive.

I would take a well maintained M120 over a well maintained M119 any day. That V12 just has something that no toher car can offer.

iwrock · #62 11-08-2005, 12:05 AM

Oh, and here is the bad girl

braverichard · #63 11-08-2005, 12:12 AM

Sweet SL600.

Hatterasguy · #64 11-08-2005, 03:44 PM

Sweet SL!

That car is screaming for a nice Brabus exhuast and maybe a chip!

Rich I wouldn't be bothered by the mileage at all, why? The engine is certainly just broken in and the W140 itself is at least as durable as the W126 it replaced if not more so.

My only concern would be suspension work, but that is to be expected with any higher mileage MB.

snp8990 · #65 11-08-2005, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

Sweet SL!

That car is screaming for a nice Brabus exhuast and maybe a chip!

Rich I wouldn't be bothered by the mileage at all, why? The engine is certainly just broken in and the W140 itself is at least as durable as the W126 it replaced if not more so.

My only concern would be suspension work, but that is to be expected with any higher mileage MB.

Yea my W140 is in excellent condition and the suspension is still nice and smooth as it should be. Like i said, If your interested, send me an email at Snp8990@yahoo.com for some pics. Its a 1998 S500 Obsidian black over Beige. Send me an email.

plink49 · #66 11-08-2005, 08:39 PM

Braverichard.......the car very well may be a good buy, but just two things stick out to me as red flags: One, it is too cheap, and two, I'd be leary of any car that was rebadged to make it appear newer than it actually was ('92s were all badged with the number [500] before the letter designation), and as a more expensive model (600 vs 500). What is the purpose for doing that other than to deceive. There may be more deceptions there than just the rebadging! High mileage by itself is no reason to not buy a MB, but couple that with the deceptive re-dos, and I would shy away from it....perhaps why it has been for sale for a long time.

Destroyer · #67 11-09-2005, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

So where are all the one owner, mint, full service record W140's found?.

Florida

braverichard · #68 11-09-2005, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plink49

Braverichard.......the car very well may be a good buy, but just two things stick out to me as red flags: One, it is too cheap, and two, I'd be leary of any car that was rebadged to make it appear newer than it actually was ('92s were all badged with the number [500] before the letter designation), and as a more expensive model (600 vs 500). What is the purpose for doing that other than to deceive. There may be more deceptions there than just the rebadging! High mileage by itself is no reason to not buy a MB, but couple that with the deceptive re-dos, and I would shy away from it....perhaps why it has been for sale for a long time.

If I were to buy the car I'd obviously get a PPI done (which I believe it will ace) but I actually have no problem with the rebadges. A lot of W140 owners love to do that so that it makes their cars look not just newer (i.e, S500 vs. 500SEL) and more expensive and powerful (i.e, S600 vs. S500). Just looking on eBay, I've seen several S320s badged as S600 (all explained in the auction). High mileage is no reason not to buy an MB, of course they were built to last forever, I just didn't know how well the W140 stands up against mileage. Seems like it may be a good purchase afterall.

Hatterasguy · #69 11-10-2005, 12:55 PM

I really hate up badges. S320's with S600 badges are a joke.

Especially when you pull up to them with a real S600 and put them to shame.

Anyway we picked up the car yesterday and so far have a luke warm feeling about it.

The owner was a pretty slick guy who may have been hiding a few things.

First off he raved about how nice the car was and was wondering why we were not thanking him for selling us a $21K(book value) car for $11,550. He even questioned my MB knowledge.

I didn't tell him what I was really thinking, the car is decent but it ain't the best W140 out their and is far from the best one I have seen. Then he kept saying it is a $21k car and I shut him down by saying I was looking at an S500 for $16.5k a few months back that was about as close to perfect as a picky person could expect. He didn't even know what the W/S button on the console was for.

Anyway the body and interior are nice, from what I can tell so far it is a one owner around town car. The guy we bought it from didn't have it for long. He also told me their were maintaince records yet when I got to the car their were none.

However all of the fluids look pretty clean and it seems to have good German filters in it so I think it was maintained. A few interior bits are broken but nothing really show stopping.

There are however two major problems.
1. He tried to fix the drivers side mirror with epoxy. The idiot got it all over the freakend side of the door and didn't wipe it off.

So it looks like along with a new mirror the door will have to be resprayed. &*(^*()^(*() I wish he left it broken I probably could have fixed the mirror.

2. The check engine light came on 100 miles into the trip on the way home. Now this is where this guy gets slick. When we first looked at the car the battery was dead so he hooked it up to one of those battery packs and the car started fine. But the CE light came on. Now at first I suspected that maybe the low voltage triggard it so we disconnected the battery and it went away. It stayed off for 100 miles before it came back on. Now it gets better when I was looking the engine over I found a sensor disconnected, at the time it didn't click I though maybe the plug popped off. So I just plugged it back in. Now I think that sensor is the MAP sensor and may be causing this CE light. Over the next few days we will bring it to Autozone to get the codes read and take it from their.

So the jurry is still out on whether we got a good deal or not. My gut feeling is the car is basicaly sound and solid. Once we deal with these issues I think it will prove to be a good buy. Hopefully I am not wrong...

braverichard · #70 11-10-2005, 01:08 PM

I too hope you aren't wrong. I've since been thinking about that locally available 500SEL. I don't have the spare cash, but I might be able to sell off some valuable stuff I haven't touched for years to raise the funds.

Your S320 purchase for your friend sounds just like every eBay story out there. The cars are never exactly as represented online. Quite a shame in my opinion, considering eBay has an awesome inventory of just about any vehicle ever made.

page62 · #71 11-10-2005, 01:31 PM

It does seem like ebay cars are chronically overrepresented -- and I wonder if there are many small-time dealers representing themselves as individuals. But I have a feeling you'll be OK, once you get past the glitches.

Here's a trick with epoxy. Heat caused by friction can remove it. I've used a tiny buffing wheel on a Dremel to remove the stuff. Obviously, you'd have to be very, very careful not to damage the paint -- but if you've got nothing to lose it'd be worth considering.

A. Rosich · #72 11-11-2005, 09:24 PM

[QUOTE=braverichard]Hatterasguy is correct, the two models don't share the same suspension for ANY year 1992 - 1999. In fact, in 1998, when the adjustable suspension became standard on the S600, I don't think it was made available in any other trims.

According the optional equipment list on 1994 W140 models you could order Code No. 217: "Adaptive damping system (ADS) on front and rear axles" for D.M. 4,225.00 for the 300SE/L, 400SE/L and 500SE/L and for D.M. 2,710.00 for the 600 SE/L (as the 600 had the rear axle self-levelling setup standard worldwide).

For 1997 onwards the code was changed from 217 to 214 and it could even be ordered for the S 300 Turbo Diesel and even the lowend S 280; and of course the cost tripled.

In the U.S. could be different, but worlwide you could drive ANY W140 from its whole life cycle with A.D.S. if you were willing to pay for the option.

deanyel · #73 11-11-2005, 09:35 PM

Buying a car on ebay is like playing the lottery - it's a gamble but everyone thinks they can win. It's a market characterized by a) low prices, and b) many sight unseen transactions. Obviously it's going to attract a lot of flawed cars.

Hatterasguy · #74 11-11-2005, 09:59 PM

MB doesn't seem to offer US buyers as many options.

Anyway the CE light may be fixed. He got temp plates and brought it to a shop with the proper diagnostic machine. It read the codes ect and them came up with a faulty MAF sensor. The guy at the shop said drive it for the weekend as much as possible and bring it back early next week. He wants to scan the computer again and make sure everything is within specs. Hopefully next week she passes emissions.

Does anyone know if a MA dealer has to sell a car that will pass emissions? This guys is seeming a little slick.

Also the epoxy wouldn't come off the door. He tried everything then finally wet sanded it and buffed it. It looks ok but the paint is shot. So the door will have to be painted. Also the mirror is so caked in epoxy it needs to be replaced, $$$. *)&^_&^(&*(_ idiot why did he do that? It is a damn shame the door needs to be painted, the paint is original and very nice.