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Keep in mind that the V-14 W140 car was not designed with "ease of repair" or "economy of maintenance" in mind. This car was the flagship of MB's product line, and in Canada it carried a price tag of $200K with taxes. Only the richest needed apply.
The S600 carried every bit of technology MB had at their disposal. The original owners of the cars cared very little about long term operating costs. If so, they would not have bought the S600, they would have bought an E-Class.
S600 owners need a "frame of mind" that puts them in the shoes of the people that were the target of this car in the first place. "Money is no object" would be an apt phrase.
This is not to mean that the used S600 cannot be a great car, but they are frightfully expensive to repair out of warranty, and people seem to have unrealistic expectations of the car. Sure, it was expensive, but there is no direct relationship with respect to reliability and price. In fact, with most marques, it is an inverse relationship thanks to the piling on of technology in high-end cars.
Thanks to the reputation for expesive running costs (justified in many cases) that the V-12 cars have, they depreciate very hard. This means there are "affordable" used versions floating around. I know more than a couple people that stretched to buy a used V-12 German sedan and then become disappointed when they were required to pour more money into the car. The purchase price had driven to the brink, and there was little left.
When I still had the Porsche, I would meet young guys that bought mid eighties 911's and were soured on the marque. At that time, a 1985 911 was a $45K car used, and these fellows were maxed on the purchase price. They expected the 911 to be Corolla like, thanks to it's high price. "But I paid so much for the car, it should be well made." Well, it was never designed to be owned by a 22 year old waiter that had to finance it over 84 months and empties his piggy bank evey month just to make the payment. (This is not a jab at the above poster, just my own experience with some 911 owners...)
In the flagship world, the S600 Mercedes is the best of the best. BMW's V-12 cars have failed to hold their cachet and don't even come close to MB's bank-vault cars. However, anyone that has to pay attention to running costs should think about a different model....
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