1996 S-600 - thinking about buying
 

What is overall opinion on these cars? I have owned many V-8s, but never the 12. Do they have any known problems? What is experience?
They are asking $16,500 with 78,000 miles.
Car appears to be in great shape....going to see in person this afternoon.
Please advise if I am getting into BEEG problems!

Thanks

personally i would avoid it, but they are prone to the typical wiring harness failures and actuator problems. have also seen catalytic coneverter issues. all can be quite costly.

Great cars, go for it! Just have a PPI done by someone who knows what they are looking at.

Don't know too much about the 600 but my MB specialist says half the cylinders go out, a bit rare but you never know, and yes the electrical problems are big, costly, and irritating. Have a specialist check the car out before you purchase.


:):):):)

As said before many times: owening a 600 is the equivalent running costs of owening two 320s with the added hassle that almost any engine part is three to four times more difficult to acces than on a 320 due to space limitations ( = double or triple the hourly rate to change a part).

S 600s are rare and very nice, but you will be really hard pressed to notice the difference of driving an S 500. The M119 engines on 500s are tank proof and will last forever (they just have a few little things to look for, unlike the V12, which has many issues to be careful about).

I owned many 560's and ask people what do they think of the 600SEL 1992. They all advised against buying it. I bought the car and it cost me about 2000$ for miscellaneous repair and I expect additional 1500$. I believe that S600 from 1996~1999 W140 that has 12 coils (unlike early 600's) I believe that they are the best MB engines ever made. If you see 12 coils (NOT ONLY 2) go for it. It will cost you a couple of thousand dollars to fix some issues but then, hopefully you will have a lifetime car.

The M120 engines are mills not only powerful engines. Don't forget to ask about the air mass wireing harness work and the general wireing harness work. The wireing harness work is too costly.

You will notice a big difference on driving between 500 and 600. All the best...

Every man should have at least one V12 in their life. That being said, prepare to spend money. W140's have lots of issues regardless of engine size, and the 600's have extra things that can and usually do need attention. If you can't do the diagnosing or the work yourself, it will be even more costly.

The link below takes you to some of the work I did on my old 600. This list is by no means comprehensive. I decided to start documenting the work after I had already done a lot.

http://v12uberalles.com/articles_and_info.projects_page.htm

1996 and later years are the best ones to look for.

I have a '97 S420, '99 ML320, and an '01 S600 (bought them all new). The S600 has had only one issue. The #1 fuel injector went bad at 48,500 miles. I put a new one on (after my shop diagnosed bad coil packs, which I replaced to no avail) and the car is back to perfect. Other than that, there have been no problems. The MB dealer loves to see them come into their shop because they believe anybody with one undrestands that the repairs will be big $$$ Not true if you are a decent mechanic with proper tools. I say go for it, and set aside $100 a month for maintenance reserves.

$100 a month seem just enough for oil and spark plug changes within a year :D :D.