Mercedes w220 s320cdi for £600 restoration

[Mikedknight]

Thought I'd start a thread on this, mainly to make sure I keep up with the work on it.

No before photos of when I purchased it but it was on 128,000 miles with some mot and no service history. The dash board was nicely lit up with just about every error possible. The bodywork was covered in lacquer peel and the arches had some rust bubbles.

I decided to drive it the 200+ miles home and as the miles passed the warning lights started to disappear. By the time I got home all warning lights had gone and it seemed like everything was working. The suspension was creaky and it needed a service but I was happy with my purchase.

That was over 18 months ago and it's now done another 20k miles, the suspension creak fixed itself. The only costs so far have been a full service and brake pads (did these myself) oh and some corroded break pads were replaced the the last mot which it passed with no advisories.

This takes me to the bodywork which I decided to tackle myself in October last year. The car has been in the garage since then, I had no idea how long it would take to take an s class back to bare metal even with a decent sander! I'll update when I get a little further but it shows if you are lucky you can run these beasts on very little money.

Edited by Mikedknight on Monday 2nd July 19:37

[Mikedknight]

This has taken such a ludicrous amount of time I may as well change the colour of it when I'm done prepping the bodywork. Any ideas?

[Z3D]

What about the new merc green? Bit marmite but why not

[northwest monkey]

Burnt orange. I love that colour!

[anonymous-user]

Z3D said:

What about the new merc green? Bit marmite but why not

This sort of colour?



I saw a new E class a while back in a shade very similar to this, looked very nice.

[Mikedknight]

I already have an old green 5 series, but I'm loving the burnt orange idea.

[MercedesClassic]

I'd go Designo Mystic Blue or some sort of purple or deep blue hue.

[Deep Thought]

Mikedknight said:

The dash board was nicely lit up with just about every error possible.

I decided to drive it the 200+ miles home and as the miles passed the warning lights started to disappear. By the time I got home all warning lights had gone and it seemed like everything was working.

Thats almost wholly the mirror image of what happens when i buy a used car.

[Deep Thought]

swiveleyedgit said:

Z3D said:

What about the new merc green? Bit marmite but why not

This sort of colour?



I saw a new E class a while back in a shade very similar to this, looked very nice.

I "think" he means this green...

[Mikedknight]

New model colour on an old model car, a tempting proposition. The great thing is basically all paint colours cost the same to buy,the labour is the same (actually I find silver the most difficult) so anything goes. Oh and the car is worth about 60p so I can't lose :-)

[Croutons]

Be bold.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[Deep Thought]

Mikedknight said:

New model colour on an old model car, a tempting proposition. The great thing is basically all paint colours cost the same to buy,the labour is the same (actually I find silver the most difficult) so anything goes. Oh and the car is worth about 60p so I can't lose :-)

The problem for me with a fresh modern colour will be the wheels. I'd do a fresh colour if i was prepared to upgrade the wheels to a later type wheel style too, otherwise i'd probably stick with a period colour.

It could carry off that darker green on the standard wheels (refurbed) or maybe their new Brilliant blue with good bright silver refurbed wheels but a wacky / new bright colour and the current wheels isnt going to look great...

I'd probably be boring and go for maybe a mid grey or if i had to change it'd be to that dark green or the Brilliant Blue

Edited by Deep Thought on Wednesday 4th July 21:29

[Mikedknight]

The blue is beautiful as is the Bentley brown, I'm not going to be able to change the wheels to suit though :-( just put four new tyres on them that cost nearly as much as the car did!

[anonymous-user]

Mikedknight said:

This has taken such a ludicrous amount of time I may as well change the colour of it when I'm done prepping the bodywork. Any ideas?

How about Mazda red

[GH421]

Mercedes released an estoril blue type colour on the w221. I've never seen a W220 with this colour

[bungz]

I would go with some iconic colour from another brand, something that really should not be on a sheddy dag dag Merc.

The Mazda red is a good shout.

[Deep Thought]

Mikedknight said:

The blue is beautiful as is the Bentley brown, I'm not going to be able to change the wheels to suit though :-( just put four new tyres on them that cost nearly as much as the car did!

I think if you were going for a really wacky colour you'd need to. The Mercedes blue, the dark green or even the Bentley brown would be fine with just a good home refurb on the alloys thats there. Refurbing the alloys yourself would be a walk in the park compared to what you've just done anyway.

[James_rimworx]

In the process of purchasing a leggy s500 from a family member before she trades it in with a view to do some thing similar to this, so following with interest! I vote BMW Sepang bronze!

[Mikedknight]

Good luck with your purchase, there is definitely luck involved with these. I've had at least half a dozen of them over the years. My first was a 99 model purchased in 2001 and it was the worst car ever (also the most expensive) this one the cheapest has been the most reliable. I'm thinking a bronze/brown colour now for sure.