Posting this to several forums as i'm a bit frantic. My 1995 S600 with 55K miles began to act a bit more sluggish right out of Boise, and somewhat later there was increased color (dark) to the exhaust when downshifting into passing gear. Took it to the dealership, and they swapped computers, air mass meters and o2 sensors and found tht the left bank of cylinders was pumping way too much fuel. None of the above fixes helped and
the final diagnosis was a crumbled wire harness. Cost to fix, $6K. Sad song, but gets worse. He thinks the engine may have been permanently damaged by too rich fuel flow and feels the best bet would be a rebuilt engine at $28K. Worth of vehicle is 30-40K and it is in excellent condition, interior is showroom and all the goodies work. Min paint chips. Has anyone ever heard of this problem with blown V-12's? I have written MB more of less offering to pay for the harness, but if the engine is gone I hope they would help with that. This is a known design defect, but apparently no technical bulletin issued as I checked with my shop the day I got the car and made sure everything was kosher. Unfortunately, i was not the car's first owner. Any thoughts?