W126 500SE As daily driver?
Discussion
First post, please be gentle!
I recently bought an 8 year old VW Touran 2.0 FSI, which has been my worst purchase ever, with nothing but expensive problems since I got it. I'm now facing a £1,300 bill to make it road-worthy again. This is particularly galling , as I didn't particularly lust after it in the first place.
I'm now thinking of cutting my losses, and buying my dream car, a W126 500SE. The tricky part is it would be a daily driver, and would need to accommodate 3 child seats! I have seen one advertised with 3x3 seats in the back, and if this is true I would imagine the width of the car would happily fit three seats.
I'd be covering approximately 8k miles a year, including short trips to drop/collect from the local school. I'm happy to pay for annual servicing, but need it to start every time- I'm not up for daily fettling.
Am I just dreaming? If my wallets going to be regularly assaulted, I'd at least like some excitement from the culprit.
I recently bought an 8 year old VW Touran 2.0 FSI, which has been my worst purchase ever, with nothing but expensive problems since I got it. I'm now facing a £1,300 bill to make it road-worthy again. This is particularly galling , as I didn't particularly lust after it in the first place.
I'm now thinking of cutting my losses, and buying my dream car, a W126 500SE. The tricky part is it would be a daily driver, and would need to accommodate 3 child seats! I have seen one advertised with 3x3 seats in the back, and if this is true I would imagine the width of the car would happily fit three seats.
I'd be covering approximately 8k miles a year, including short trips to drop/collect from the local school. I'm happy to pay for annual servicing, but need it to start every time- I'm not up for daily fettling.
Am I just dreaming? If my wallets going to be regularly assaulted, I'd at least like some excitement from the culprit.
They are great cars and extremely reliable but I'd be lying if I told you they were cheap to run. They are very much an enthusiast's car. By that I mean you can't just buy one, service it once a year, and expect that in three years' time it will be pretty much the same as it is now. All of the bargains that you see are really a bit shedish, with lots of backlog maintenance.
All that said, I do 15,000 miles a year in my SEC and I am happy to count on it. It is not my only car but I don't save it for special journeys. I use it to commute a couple of times a week. I use it for long journeys. I use it for touring holidays. And I use it in winter. I'm taking it o Scotland soon. Mine has a 5.6. It gives 18 to 20mpg. Best I have ever seen was 24; worst was 16. I drive it quite fast: it'll do 150 pretty easily. I spend about £1,500, maybe £2,000 a year on it. I am pretty fanatical about condition so mine is a work of constant improvement. Really I should have bought a better one.
The rear seat on the SE and SEL is wide and flat but the centre belt is a lap belt: only the outside seats have three-pointed belts.
All that said, I do 15,000 miles a year in my SEC and I am happy to count on it. It is not my only car but I don't save it for special journeys. I use it to commute a couple of times a week. I use it for long journeys. I use it for touring holidays. And I use it in winter. I'm taking it o Scotland soon. Mine has a 5.6. It gives 18 to 20mpg. Best I have ever seen was 24; worst was 16. I drive it quite fast: it'll do 150 pretty easily. I spend about £1,500, maybe £2,000 a year on it. I am pretty fanatical about condition so mine is a work of constant improvement. Really I should have bought a better one.
The rear seat on the SE and SEL is wide and flat but the centre belt is a lap belt: only the outside seats have three-pointed belts.
I have a 1989 300SE and it is my daily. As R129SL mentioned, you do need to keep on top of them, so far this year I've spent almost 2k on mine. I also seem to get pretty much exactly the same fuel economy out of my 3.0 as he does his 5.6! They are all thirsty. I bought a 300 as it was the best car I could find for sale at the time.
They are absolutely fantastic motors and I would recommend one highly. The design is more than thirty years old though so the driving experience is very different to a modern car. However they are really comfortable, will go all day long and the view down that lovely sculpted bonnet down to the three pointed star is just brilliant.
The interior should be rock solid and I think it is a perfect example of elegant simplicity.
They are absolutely fantastic motors and I would recommend one highly. The design is more than thirty years old though so the driving experience is very different to a modern car. However they are really comfortable, will go all day long and the view down that lovely sculpted bonnet down to the three pointed star is just brilliant.
The interior should be rock solid and I think it is a perfect example of elegant simplicity.
Don't give up that easily http://www.securon.co.uk/seatbelts_layouts.htm
If the 126 rear shelf hasn't disintegrated due to a leaky screen seal yet... there could be a way
If the 126 rear shelf hasn't disintegrated due to a leaky screen seal yet... there could be a way
mickyveloce said:
3point centre belt will be an easy fix , I would have thought . Quickfitbs made me some 3 point belts for the rear of my 129 sl at around £50 each .
Tell me more about these when you have time, would you please. I assume you put a child or children in the rear. Do you use a child seat? How do you get on with it? I'd like to use my SL more with the boy and have been thinking of going down this route. I know you're not a million miles from me, any chance I could have a look some time? Thanks!J , the belts are great . Quickfitbs in London sent the belts through the post after I ordered them through their website .
There is a gallery on the website too , which shows the finished installation . There is a good choice of colours too , mine matched the blue leather well .
My mechanic installed them after ringing the company first . In doing so he had to cut an aperture into the bulkhead and route the belts under the pop up bar . They are bolted to the cars structure .
My boys are 5 and 8 and use the belts in conjunction with the rear seat . Boosters would raise their heads above the rear deck and make it dangerous . Although I'm not convinced the rear seat is homologated as a child seat , in conjunction with the there point belts and the roll over bar , I consider them to be very safe in the car .
The belts function with roof up or down and hardtop in place too .
I'm just North of boroughbridge near junction 49 on the a1. It would be a pleasure to see you !
There is a gallery on the website too , which shows the finished installation . There is a good choice of colours too , mine matched the blue leather well .
My mechanic installed them after ringing the company first . In doing so he had to cut an aperture into the bulkhead and route the belts under the pop up bar . They are bolted to the cars structure .
My boys are 5 and 8 and use the belts in conjunction with the rear seat . Boosters would raise their heads above the rear deck and make it dangerous . Although I'm not convinced the rear seat is homologated as a child seat , in conjunction with the there point belts and the roll over bar , I consider them to be very safe in the car .
The belts function with roof up or down and hardtop in place too .
I'm just North of boroughbridge near junction 49 on the a1. It would be a pleasure to see you !
mickyveloce said:
J , the belts are great . Quickfitbs in London sent the belts through the post after I ordered them through their website .
There is a gallery on the website too , which shows the finished installation . There is a good choice of colours too , mine matched the blue leather well .
My mechanic installed them after ringing the company first . In doing so he had to cut an aperture into the bulkhead and route the belts under the pop up bar . They are bolted to the cars structure .
My boys are 5 and 8 and use the belts in conjunction with the rear seat . Boosters would raise their heads above the rear deck and make it dangerous . Although I'm not convinced the rear seat is homologated as a child seat , in conjunction with the there point belts and the roll over bar , I consider them to be very safe in the car .
The belts function with roof up or down and hardtop in place too .
I'm just North of boroughbridge near junction 49 on the a1. It would be a pleasure to see you !
Thanks for this, I'm going to give it some thought. I'm away for a few weeks so may be in touch.There is a gallery on the website too , which shows the finished installation . There is a good choice of colours too , mine matched the blue leather well .
My mechanic installed them after ringing the company first . In doing so he had to cut an aperture into the bulkhead and route the belts under the pop up bar . They are bolted to the cars structure .
My boys are 5 and 8 and use the belts in conjunction with the rear seat . Boosters would raise their heads above the rear deck and make it dangerous . Although I'm not convinced the rear seat is homologated as a child seat , in conjunction with the there point belts and the roll over bar , I consider them to be very safe in the car .
The belts function with roof up or down and hardtop in place too .
I'm just North of boroughbridge near junction 49 on the a1. It would be a pleasure to see you !
chris333 said:
r129sl said:
Heresy!
As Alan Partridge said: Lexus: the japanese mercedes!I speak as both a Lexus and Mercedes owner, with tongue firmly in cheek!
Took me a bit of effort to convince him otherwise......
A Lexus LS400 is a nice car, but it is certainly not as close to a W126 as many would like to believe. The S Class has a totally different feel, timeless and bank vault like. The Lexus feels bulletproof mechanically, but still doesn't have that feeling that I can't really describe, but drivers of both would understand.
bit late ... but get the MB 500 and a Multimac:
https://multimac.co.uk/home
Trim it in any colours you like. Classy looking seats, very secure fitting and very strongly made. They will do kids until c age 12 - and with 5-point harness too (most plastic stand-alone seats stop using 5-point harness at c age 4 - but kids take the p with adult seat belts so safety is pretty suspect with most child seats in my view). See pic of ours:
https://multimac.co.uk/home
Trim it in any colours you like. Classy looking seats, very secure fitting and very strongly made. They will do kids until c age 12 - and with 5-point harness too (most plastic stand-alone seats stop using 5-point harness at c age 4 - but kids take the p with adult seat belts so safety is pretty suspect with most child seats in my view). See pic of ours:
Gassing Station | Mercedes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff