Merc E320 CDI S211 band wagon
Discussion
The Citroen DS5 that I had been running for the last few years as a family and band touring wagon did not leave a lasting impression. Probably due to it just being a Peugeot under the quite striking skin, but by not having a whacky suspension system or mental placement of the controls, it just left me feeling flat and I had to change it.
I was looking for something quite massive really when this shed of the week came out and I thought that looked like a really good idea. A little bit of research later and I realised it probably wasn't a great idea, but with a bit of tweaking and a little more budget, it could work for me. The most significant change would be going for a facelift S211, which I had always preferred the look of and which seemed to have far fewer mechanical issues. In fact in Sport trim I had always coveted these when new thinking it a rather classy, yet still sporty way of getting about. At the time I was driving Subaru Legacy's and was very aware that dynamically the Merc wasn't something that would suit me at a time when I could only run one car.
Fast forward many years and with the barge only needing to serve my load lugging needs and not my driving ones, it looks to be a pretty perfect tool and thus far has proved to be such. I am loving driving it, really exceptionally comfortable on a long haul and with a nice bit of poke should I need to overtake or something. It encourages you to just waft along which is something I've never had in my cars before, but I like it. It's an age thing I presume.
I was looking for something that had been doing around the same sort of mileage I was intending to carry on doing and so was looking for around 120k and I had been told a fastidious service history was top of the list and thankfully this one has just that. MOT history seemed reasonably clean and had nothing that would worry me too much. I was for sale at a dealer for £6k and with the more than fair P/X offered on my DS5 I bit his hand off as it looked to be a really clean car. There were far, far cheaper ones on the market and there is a chance I overspent, but I didn't want to go full old man and an E320 in Sport trim seemed to demand the most money anyway and a final year one seemed like a good move over an earlier elegance which would have been a leap too far I think.
Once home I sent it in to a local specialist to get a few niggles sorted and found there was quite a bit of corrosion to the oil cooler pipes that were hidden during my inspections and a weak point not known to me. I asked him to sort everything out and have so far had to pay an extra £850 to get everything straight. I am hoping it won't be too troublesome, but with the age and mileage as they stand who knows! Fingers crossed this will be a really uninteresting readers car post, but I will let you know how it goes for those thinking of a high mile load lugger.
I'm now off to do a load of gigs around the country with a tribute band, but having a small child at home I have to return each night rather than stay over, so this will be doing a fair few miles in the next year. I live in Worcestershire and so far have only gone to Cobham in Kent, but it performed beautifully and I'm looking forward to my next jaunt to Colchester this Saturday. The pic below shows the car loaded up with two guitars, a guitar amp, an acoustic guitar, two bass guitars, a bass amp, a huge pedal board and bags with all the extras in without the need to fold the rear seat. Quite a boot!
I was looking for something quite massive really when this shed of the week came out and I thought that looked like a really good idea. A little bit of research later and I realised it probably wasn't a great idea, but with a bit of tweaking and a little more budget, it could work for me. The most significant change would be going for a facelift S211, which I had always preferred the look of and which seemed to have far fewer mechanical issues. In fact in Sport trim I had always coveted these when new thinking it a rather classy, yet still sporty way of getting about. At the time I was driving Subaru Legacy's and was very aware that dynamically the Merc wasn't something that would suit me at a time when I could only run one car.
Fast forward many years and with the barge only needing to serve my load lugging needs and not my driving ones, it looks to be a pretty perfect tool and thus far has proved to be such. I am loving driving it, really exceptionally comfortable on a long haul and with a nice bit of poke should I need to overtake or something. It encourages you to just waft along which is something I've never had in my cars before, but I like it. It's an age thing I presume.
I was looking for something that had been doing around the same sort of mileage I was intending to carry on doing and so was looking for around 120k and I had been told a fastidious service history was top of the list and thankfully this one has just that. MOT history seemed reasonably clean and had nothing that would worry me too much. I was for sale at a dealer for £6k and with the more than fair P/X offered on my DS5 I bit his hand off as it looked to be a really clean car. There were far, far cheaper ones on the market and there is a chance I overspent, but I didn't want to go full old man and an E320 in Sport trim seemed to demand the most money anyway and a final year one seemed like a good move over an earlier elegance which would have been a leap too far I think.
Once home I sent it in to a local specialist to get a few niggles sorted and found there was quite a bit of corrosion to the oil cooler pipes that were hidden during my inspections and a weak point not known to me. I asked him to sort everything out and have so far had to pay an extra £850 to get everything straight. I am hoping it won't be too troublesome, but with the age and mileage as they stand who knows! Fingers crossed this will be a really uninteresting readers car post, but I will let you know how it goes for those thinking of a high mile load lugger.
I'm now off to do a load of gigs around the country with a tribute band, but having a small child at home I have to return each night rather than stay over, so this will be doing a fair few miles in the next year. I live in Worcestershire and so far have only gone to Cobham in Kent, but it performed beautifully and I'm looking forward to my next jaunt to Colchester this Saturday. The pic below shows the car loaded up with two guitars, a guitar amp, an acoustic guitar, two bass guitars, a bass amp, a huge pedal board and bags with all the extras in without the need to fold the rear seat. Quite a boot!
Good choice. We have had our near identical car since it was 2 and it's now on 160k. It hasn't been flawless - broken front spring, leaking rear air springs and the oil cooler seals in the engine's V - but it feels like it will go on forever with suitable servicing and maintenance. It's likely to be bumped out by its recently arrived, faster, petrol powered sibling (if I ever finish fettling and wrestling with it) but I don't think I'd be without an S211! (it's on the left, on its winter wheels)
Love the two parked face to face, great stuff. Clearly a fan then! I would love to have had the E500, but with so many miles and shared fuel bills with band mates it would have been a very selfish move. Hey guys, will you pay double so I can enjoy a V8 soundtrack? Saying that, the OM642 is a surprisingly un-diesel sounding engine once warmed up. The PSA four pot I came from was a proper truck unit.
I am getting more and more attached every day. I have done my second gig and took three peoples equipment and the three people including myself. We managed to get four electric guitars, two acoustic guitars, two amps, an 88 key stage piano and stand along with all our bags and associated gear. We all arrived after the four hour journey as fresh as daisies while the rest of the band were in an old Renault Trafic van and were considerably less well rested. We also managed 40mpg over the 420 miles on winter tyres. I am putting new summer boots on this week ready for six long distance gigs over March, so it will be interesting to see how they improve the fuel consumption.
Here we are on stage in Colchester
I am commuting in it at the moment as I just love being in it and it really has got under my skin, which was part of the plan. My previous car filling this role had no emotional effect on me and it just makes life that little better to enjoy your journeys, particularly if you have to make many long ones. One feature I did miss from a more modern car was the bluetooth streaming, but I have just managed to get a Connects2 adapter for the Media Interface and so can now stream my Spotify playlists. There was some doubt that this would work and it was only £35, but it did and is working with a current iPhone so happy days. Really chuffed with the car so far.
I am getting more and more attached every day. I have done my second gig and took three peoples equipment and the three people including myself. We managed to get four electric guitars, two acoustic guitars, two amps, an 88 key stage piano and stand along with all our bags and associated gear. We all arrived after the four hour journey as fresh as daisies while the rest of the band were in an old Renault Trafic van and were considerably less well rested. We also managed 40mpg over the 420 miles on winter tyres. I am putting new summer boots on this week ready for six long distance gigs over March, so it will be interesting to see how they improve the fuel consumption.
Here we are on stage in Colchester
I am commuting in it at the moment as I just love being in it and it really has got under my skin, which was part of the plan. My previous car filling this role had no emotional effect on me and it just makes life that little better to enjoy your journeys, particularly if you have to make many long ones. One feature I did miss from a more modern car was the bluetooth streaming, but I have just managed to get a Connects2 adapter for the Media Interface and so can now stream my Spotify playlists. There was some doubt that this would work and it was only £35, but it did and is working with a current iPhone so happy days. Really chuffed with the car so far.
Very sound decision-making criteria for buying a new-to-you car and I hope that it proves to be sound. In fact, the S211 never really came onto my radar until I saw one identical to yours that used to frequent our business centre. Whilst I was slightly let down at it being diesel, I was impressed by the lovely alloys and the handsome twin tailpipes. Some research later and I ended up with a cheap pre-facelift E500 and have been paying for titivation ever since!
With respect to the sound, you're not missing much with the M113 V8, which is rather muted -- which fits the MO of the vehicle, a plush and capacious ride to cover ground for multiple occupants. The fact that the engine on yours is quiet when warm means that it ticks all of your boxes.
I didn't know that there was a Cobham in Kent. I was about to correct you with the town in Surrey, but thought I had best google it just in case my knowledge wasn't peerless (insight comes with age and reluctantly).
Now, which one are you -- I'm guessing that you're male, so that rules out the two bandmates that I'd select for a lift (to maximise mpg, of course, due to reduced payload)? I'm opting for either of the two on the left -- silk shirt Greek waiter or rocking the Mick Fleetwood vibes.
With respect to the sound, you're not missing much with the M113 V8, which is rather muted -- which fits the MO of the vehicle, a plush and capacious ride to cover ground for multiple occupants. The fact that the engine on yours is quiet when warm means that it ticks all of your boxes.
I didn't know that there was a Cobham in Kent. I was about to correct you with the town in Surrey, but thought I had best google it just in case my knowledge wasn't peerless (insight comes with age and reluctantly).
Now, which one are you -- I'm guessing that you're male, so that rules out the two bandmates that I'd select for a lift (to maximise mpg, of course, due to reduced payload)? I'm opting for either of the two on the left -- silk shirt Greek waiter or rocking the Mick Fleetwood vibes.
I am the Greek waiter. It was the first time out for that shirt supplied by our agent, I am not very keen on wearing it again. I will pass on the Greek waiter likeness and hope they understand.
We are in fact a Fleetwood Mac tribute, but the unbelievably similar to Mick Fleetwood looking guy is in fact the backup keyboard player. I have been trying to get them to put him in the middle and have a photo of some drums in front of his keyboards but no one is going for it.
I'm meant to be Lyndsey Buckingham, they seem to think he would wear that shirt. I'm less sure.
Naturally, the girls usually call shotgun to be in the Merc due to the comfort and I'm certainly not complaining about the improved mpg!
We are in fact a Fleetwood Mac tribute, but the unbelievably similar to Mick Fleetwood looking guy is in fact the backup keyboard player. I have been trying to get them to put him in the middle and have a photo of some drums in front of his keyboards but no one is going for it.
I'm meant to be Lyndsey Buckingham, they seem to think he would wear that shirt. I'm less sure.
Naturally, the girls usually call shotgun to be in the Merc due to the comfort and I'm certainly not complaining about the improved mpg!
I had a 55 plate E320CDI from 118k to 160k, when failed injectors rendered it beyond economical repair.
I replaced it with a 10 plate E350CDI.
The first one was moderately troublesome. Off the top of my head, turbo actuator, tailgate latch, ABS sensor (ring in axle, not sender), alternator, auxiliary battery. Needed an Italian tune-up every MOT to pass smoke, but I did remap it, so I can forgive that.
Second one, bought at 106k, currently on 116k, has had a new torque converter, a motor in the gubbins of the intake tract, and an alternator. It has recently taken to an ABS sensor throwing a wobbly in heavy rain and last week it started dropping the rear suspension overnight and taking 30 seconds or so to pump itself up in the morning, which is presumably an air leak. I'm having treacherous thoughts about it. It's a nice looking thing, it's quick enough (not remapping this one), very comfortable (seats in the old one were better), nice inside, handles less like a boat than the other one, not bad on fuel, immensely practical, very refined. It is in fact a great car when it's working but has so far been an unreliable money pit.
I did read that the newer ones were more reliable, and I did like the other car, but really the reason I bought another one is that I had a large German Shepherd dog and there aren't any other estates with the same practicality. My dog died, so I don't need the space so much now. I don't think I'll be buying another one.
I replaced it with a 10 plate E350CDI.
The first one was moderately troublesome. Off the top of my head, turbo actuator, tailgate latch, ABS sensor (ring in axle, not sender), alternator, auxiliary battery. Needed an Italian tune-up every MOT to pass smoke, but I did remap it, so I can forgive that.
Second one, bought at 106k, currently on 116k, has had a new torque converter, a motor in the gubbins of the intake tract, and an alternator. It has recently taken to an ABS sensor throwing a wobbly in heavy rain and last week it started dropping the rear suspension overnight and taking 30 seconds or so to pump itself up in the morning, which is presumably an air leak. I'm having treacherous thoughts about it. It's a nice looking thing, it's quick enough (not remapping this one), very comfortable (seats in the old one were better), nice inside, handles less like a boat than the other one, not bad on fuel, immensely practical, very refined. It is in fact a great car when it's working but has so far been an unreliable money pit.
I did read that the newer ones were more reliable, and I did like the other car, but really the reason I bought another one is that I had a large German Shepherd dog and there aren't any other estates with the same practicality. My dog died, so I don't need the space so much now. I don't think I'll be buying another one.
Nice wagon OP, they are great vehicles.
As everyone is posting pictures:
Unfortunately it doesn’t look like this anymore, a few dents and on scabby 16” wheels with all seasons, big 170k mile service coming up next with gearbox oil change. Going to be selling up in September when the wifes new car arrives, not sure what it’s worth really.
As everyone is posting pictures:
Unfortunately it doesn’t look like this anymore, a few dents and on scabby 16” wheels with all seasons, big 170k mile service coming up next with gearbox oil change. Going to be selling up in September when the wifes new car arrives, not sure what it’s worth really.
After a year I thought I'd give an update on how the Merc is running. I did 20,000 miles over my first year of ownership, covering every corner of the UK while on tour with the band and it hasn't actually let me down yet. I still love driving it and for my very specific need, there simply isn't a replacement as every other option has a significant downside, usually a financial one. Truth be told, for the miles I'm doing and the space and comfort I need there is nothing that will do what this has done in the last year for less money.
However, it has been an expensive car to run and I think it is worth letting people know that the purchase price of these old luxury cars is never the real cost and is a somewhat irrelevant figure. I spent well on this one, buying the piece of mind a full dealer history and clean MOT should allow, but with so many things that can potentially go wrong at this age it really is a lottery.
The first cost came when deciding to change the winter tyres it came with for summer tyres during the spring. I chose Bridgestone T005’s as they are meant to be low rolling resistance and I thought they would improve the fuel economy, but they didn’t. Either the winter tyres are particularly good or the Bridgestones are rubbish. I have since put the winters back on and by the time I did, the Bridgestones were pooped, so they probably only managed about 15k and weren’t particularly cheap in this size.
Next, during the summer, my rear airbags popped on a rough road while mountain biking. These were bound to go at some point being the originals so I wasn’t too bothered and it’s nice to know the ones I have put on should last me a good while now. I had my Merc specialist fit Arnott bags and it came to around £1100 all in with an aircon re-gas as well.
Then, due to my higher the usual mileage and for the first time in my life, I had to service the car according to mileage rather than time. This was a routine Service C, not that I know what that is and they wouldn’t tell me, but I also had a corroded fuel pipe and they changed the fuel filter whilst at it, plus new front springs as one had cracked, so that all came to around £700. Annoyingly I had wanted them to fit my winter tyres, but they found a crack in one wheel and a buckle in another and wouldn’t fit them. I decided to do a full refurb as they were starting to corrode a little and called Chris at Exel Wheels. If you don’t know of Chris, he runs a great business aimed mostly at Porsche owners and I had already had him do my Porsche wheels. Chris holds a lot of wheels to fit different cars and he comes to you with a set for your car and leaves you with them so you are still running while he does the refurb to unbelievable standards. I gave him a call and he did have a set for this and the job he did was staggering. It cost £500 including the repairs, but at least the winters were fitted and they look stunning. Ridiculous to do it on such on old barge, but they give me a lot of joy as I like things done well.
Shortly after the service I started to notice a bit of an excessive whooshing sound and popped my head under the bonnet where I found the main intake pipe was cracked where the jubilee clip held it onto the turbo. It was pretty old and brittle so no surprise there so I bought a third party job off eBay for a fraction of the Merc price and fitted it myself. This improved things a fair bit and I mostly thought it was sorted, but I could hear a little more air than I thought there should be.
I didn’t get a chance to work out what it was because I had a low voltage warning during the very cold weather in December that took over all of my thoughts. It was an occasional issue and one that I thought had been brought on by the cold. I checked the battery and found it was the wrong one, quite under spec and not an AGM one as should have been fitted. I took the plunge and fitted a new AGM battery for a little over £200. Sadly, this didn’t solve things. I was about to move house and was doing it without a removal firm and I needed this car due to its size so I was desperate and couldn’t get it booked in at my specialist until January. My Dad had his car booked in at a Subaru specialist that I know well, so I took his slot to get a reconditioned alternator fitted. That also didn’t solve the problem so I was down one car and down on money. Thankfully the Subaru chap only charge me £100 for his time on it as he is an old friend, but I then had to wait until January until the Merc guys could look at it.
This was the only time it sort of let me down as I couldn’t do a journey much over 20 miles before the battery depleted. It is not my only car and thankfully I didn’t have any gigs on as it is my biggest car. The house move went well, although we did miss having it as one car had to do two trips, but Christmas came and went and I didn’t really need to use it. The first woking day of Jan saw me at the Merc specialist who fitted a new alternator and found that there was a split boost pipe that caused the whole problem. When I had heard the whooshing it was not just the pipe on the top of the engine and the leaking oil had gone straight onto the alternator and killed it. It seems the previous reconditioned alternator was just a duff one and things could have worked straight away, but we wouldn’t have known about the boost leak and it would have died anyway, so there we go. The Merc guys sorted it all out for about £500 and everything electrical has been perfect since.
Next up came MOT time, where I made a bit of a mistake. I had joined the Halfords club thing as the membership benefits sort of made it free with the amount of things I buy throughout the year with all the money off deals they give. In to the deal they offer a free MOT and as I had to service well before the MOT was due, which had never happened to me before, I took up the offer. Naturally, it failed! A couple of lower ball joints were buggered, along with a few advisories. They quoted me over £700 to have two new arms fitted and an insistence that it had four wheel alignment after, despite only the fronts being touched. I kicked up quite a fuss and got the car taken over to the Subaru guy who happens to be very close to that Halfords. He did the work and cleared up the advisories for £350 and then I got him to do the retest as I don’t trust Halfords, so still only £395 all in!
That’s the lot so far and around £4000 spent in the first year. I’m hoping to have an easier time this year, but I will need new summer tyres soon. I’m going to give Goodyear a go this time hoping for more than 15k miles and a bit better fuel use.
I have to say that despite it all I still absolutely love it and as alluded to earlier, I just couldn't imagine what might replace it. It is now nearing 150k miles and who knows how many issues I'm going to have, but with a clean MOT under its belt I'm hoping for plenty more from the old barge. It's a perfect family car for sure, a perfect band wagon and no matter how long the journey, I'm always completely comfortable. It also manages to look great wherever it goes. £4k for the years running might seem steep, but I have done 20k miles and my brother has spent about £4k on repayments for his Mazda hatchback that is no where near as stylish, comfortable or accommodating and would certainly not serve my needs. I would need to spend quite a bit more for a car large enough to manage, so I'm still beating new costs. I might not be beating a car half the age though, but I just prefer these older ones so I've made my choice. Can't see me jumping any time soon really.
A little family break to the Buxton Crescent Hotel with Manny the Merc looking spot on!
However, it has been an expensive car to run and I think it is worth letting people know that the purchase price of these old luxury cars is never the real cost and is a somewhat irrelevant figure. I spent well on this one, buying the piece of mind a full dealer history and clean MOT should allow, but with so many things that can potentially go wrong at this age it really is a lottery.
The first cost came when deciding to change the winter tyres it came with for summer tyres during the spring. I chose Bridgestone T005’s as they are meant to be low rolling resistance and I thought they would improve the fuel economy, but they didn’t. Either the winter tyres are particularly good or the Bridgestones are rubbish. I have since put the winters back on and by the time I did, the Bridgestones were pooped, so they probably only managed about 15k and weren’t particularly cheap in this size.
Next, during the summer, my rear airbags popped on a rough road while mountain biking. These were bound to go at some point being the originals so I wasn’t too bothered and it’s nice to know the ones I have put on should last me a good while now. I had my Merc specialist fit Arnott bags and it came to around £1100 all in with an aircon re-gas as well.
Then, due to my higher the usual mileage and for the first time in my life, I had to service the car according to mileage rather than time. This was a routine Service C, not that I know what that is and they wouldn’t tell me, but I also had a corroded fuel pipe and they changed the fuel filter whilst at it, plus new front springs as one had cracked, so that all came to around £700. Annoyingly I had wanted them to fit my winter tyres, but they found a crack in one wheel and a buckle in another and wouldn’t fit them. I decided to do a full refurb as they were starting to corrode a little and called Chris at Exel Wheels. If you don’t know of Chris, he runs a great business aimed mostly at Porsche owners and I had already had him do my Porsche wheels. Chris holds a lot of wheels to fit different cars and he comes to you with a set for your car and leaves you with them so you are still running while he does the refurb to unbelievable standards. I gave him a call and he did have a set for this and the job he did was staggering. It cost £500 including the repairs, but at least the winters were fitted and they look stunning. Ridiculous to do it on such on old barge, but they give me a lot of joy as I like things done well.
Shortly after the service I started to notice a bit of an excessive whooshing sound and popped my head under the bonnet where I found the main intake pipe was cracked where the jubilee clip held it onto the turbo. It was pretty old and brittle so no surprise there so I bought a third party job off eBay for a fraction of the Merc price and fitted it myself. This improved things a fair bit and I mostly thought it was sorted, but I could hear a little more air than I thought there should be.
I didn’t get a chance to work out what it was because I had a low voltage warning during the very cold weather in December that took over all of my thoughts. It was an occasional issue and one that I thought had been brought on by the cold. I checked the battery and found it was the wrong one, quite under spec and not an AGM one as should have been fitted. I took the plunge and fitted a new AGM battery for a little over £200. Sadly, this didn’t solve things. I was about to move house and was doing it without a removal firm and I needed this car due to its size so I was desperate and couldn’t get it booked in at my specialist until January. My Dad had his car booked in at a Subaru specialist that I know well, so I took his slot to get a reconditioned alternator fitted. That also didn’t solve the problem so I was down one car and down on money. Thankfully the Subaru chap only charge me £100 for his time on it as he is an old friend, but I then had to wait until January until the Merc guys could look at it.
This was the only time it sort of let me down as I couldn’t do a journey much over 20 miles before the battery depleted. It is not my only car and thankfully I didn’t have any gigs on as it is my biggest car. The house move went well, although we did miss having it as one car had to do two trips, but Christmas came and went and I didn’t really need to use it. The first woking day of Jan saw me at the Merc specialist who fitted a new alternator and found that there was a split boost pipe that caused the whole problem. When I had heard the whooshing it was not just the pipe on the top of the engine and the leaking oil had gone straight onto the alternator and killed it. It seems the previous reconditioned alternator was just a duff one and things could have worked straight away, but we wouldn’t have known about the boost leak and it would have died anyway, so there we go. The Merc guys sorted it all out for about £500 and everything electrical has been perfect since.
Next up came MOT time, where I made a bit of a mistake. I had joined the Halfords club thing as the membership benefits sort of made it free with the amount of things I buy throughout the year with all the money off deals they give. In to the deal they offer a free MOT and as I had to service well before the MOT was due, which had never happened to me before, I took up the offer. Naturally, it failed! A couple of lower ball joints were buggered, along with a few advisories. They quoted me over £700 to have two new arms fitted and an insistence that it had four wheel alignment after, despite only the fronts being touched. I kicked up quite a fuss and got the car taken over to the Subaru guy who happens to be very close to that Halfords. He did the work and cleared up the advisories for £350 and then I got him to do the retest as I don’t trust Halfords, so still only £395 all in!
That’s the lot so far and around £4000 spent in the first year. I’m hoping to have an easier time this year, but I will need new summer tyres soon. I’m going to give Goodyear a go this time hoping for more than 15k miles and a bit better fuel use.
I have to say that despite it all I still absolutely love it and as alluded to earlier, I just couldn't imagine what might replace it. It is now nearing 150k miles and who knows how many issues I'm going to have, but with a clean MOT under its belt I'm hoping for plenty more from the old barge. It's a perfect family car for sure, a perfect band wagon and no matter how long the journey, I'm always completely comfortable. It also manages to look great wherever it goes. £4k for the years running might seem steep, but I have done 20k miles and my brother has spent about £4k on repayments for his Mazda hatchback that is no where near as stylish, comfortable or accommodating and would certainly not serve my needs. I would need to spend quite a bit more for a car large enough to manage, so I'm still beating new costs. I might not be beating a car half the age though, but I just prefer these older ones so I've made my choice. Can't see me jumping any time soon really.
A little family break to the Buxton Crescent Hotel with Manny the Merc looking spot on!
I had a 2003 E320cdi. I bought it with about 100k on it and sold it with just over 140k on the clock. I can say as an overall car it was the best car I've ever owned. I had it mapped so was genuinely quick, still managed nearly 50mpg, comfortable, practical and comfortable. As an all rounder I loved that car!
Enjoy OP, hope yours is as good as mine was to me!
Enjoy OP, hope yours is as good as mine was to me!
Very good! As a fellow muso I too appreciate comfortable load luggers (although as a double bass, cello & keys player I often travelled to gigs alone, which wasn't altogether terrible most of the time).
I recall driving back from a gig in Cambridge and not touching the brakes once, back to Reading, because the disks were rusty and the edges breaking up causing horrible pedal feel and noise..... While driving isn't the main focus of musician life, we'd be stuffed without our cars.
I'm waiting for my W124 to come back from a front spring replacement. I can't wait to get it back.
I recall driving back from a gig in Cambridge and not touching the brakes once, back to Reading, because the disks were rusty and the edges breaking up causing horrible pedal feel and noise..... While driving isn't the main focus of musician life, we'd be stuffed without our cars.
I'm waiting for my W124 to come back from a front spring replacement. I can't wait to get it back.
A great update.
Elison: I spent £4k on my S211 and still love it
BolideMichael: Hold my beer
It is nice to hear my experiences being echoed by another diligent owner, however. The purchase price is nothing in comparison to the funds required to maintain them properly, but they are very satisfying, comfortable and solid cars to own. A proper Merc that has been engineered and designed with care and an attention to detail. The interior trim is nice too, with leather, wood and chrome contrasted and with elegant lines and tactile surfaces.
S211s are fantastic things. I really enjoyed your update -- whilst the 18" looks good, they do have a well deserved reputation for buckling or cracking due to the weight of the vehicle. That's why I've always stuck with the 17" and never had a failure (though they were standard on my pre-facelift).
Elison: I spent £4k on my S211 and still love it
BolideMichael: Hold my beer
It is nice to hear my experiences being echoed by another diligent owner, however. The purchase price is nothing in comparison to the funds required to maintain them properly, but they are very satisfying, comfortable and solid cars to own. A proper Merc that has been engineered and designed with care and an attention to detail. The interior trim is nice too, with leather, wood and chrome contrasted and with elegant lines and tactile surfaces.
S211s are fantastic things. I really enjoyed your update -- whilst the 18" looks good, they do have a well deserved reputation for buckling or cracking due to the weight of the vehicle. That's why I've always stuck with the 17" and never had a failure (though they were standard on my pre-facelift).
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