The V12 is a roll of the dice; there are happy folks and then folks like my friend. He loves the car, but the local indie and dealer both know how he takes his coffee and how soon he's likely to want a refill. Not only is the engine significantly more complex and expensive to fix, but some of the other systems were "enhanced" as well for that model.
I toyed with the idea, though after doing so I'm sticking with my 107. My best gleanings are that the six is decent power and pretty trouble-free, and the 5-liter is plenty of power and pretty trouble-free. With either, the likely source of issues is not the engine, but the wiring harness, top mechanism, etc.--all those bits that make the car the overengineered but luscious wonder it is. I found it tempting, but for a toy car/summer driver I decided I like the simpler feel of manual seats, a manual top, and not so much to go wrong.

__________________
Craig Bethune

'97 SL500, 40th anniversary edition

'04 Olds Bravada (SWMBO's)
'06 Lexus ES330
'89 560SL (sold)


SL--Anything else is just a Mercedes.
(Kudos to whoever said it first)