Discussion
Can I ask how good these are? pre-facelift? Vs facelift actually what did it fix / make better?
There's one for sale, 2007 with just 14,000 miles... I know sometimes a car sitting around can actually make it unreliable. But for £18k might be worth it in this case?
I don't commute so I don't require super reliability, have cover etc anyway.
I drove an S320 diesel 2007 and found it gutless, as well as a very loud annoying rattle in the A pillar somewhere, not quite what I expected for a 60k miler for £11k!! I kind of expected the gutlessness but on a hill at low speed it was very gutless indeed, other than that I really liked it.
Finally can the headlights from the facelift be fitted to the pre-facelift (you get dual xenons, AFS, and LED DRL's) or is the shape of the bonnet/bumpers different like some cars?
Thanks
There's one for sale, 2007 with just 14,000 miles... I know sometimes a car sitting around can actually make it unreliable. But for £18k might be worth it in this case?
I don't commute so I don't require super reliability, have cover etc anyway.
I drove an S320 diesel 2007 and found it gutless, as well as a very loud annoying rattle in the A pillar somewhere, not quite what I expected for a 60k miler for £11k!! I kind of expected the gutlessness but on a hill at low speed it was very gutless indeed, other than that I really liked it.
Finally can the headlights from the facelift be fitted to the pre-facelift (you get dual xenons, AFS, and LED DRL's) or is the shape of the bonnet/bumpers different like some cars?
Thanks
I can't really answer your questions, other than to say that I've recently bought a 60K mile example of similar age for less than half that price, so it seems like a steep premium to pay for the ultra-low mileage (and since my brother used to run them as limousines for his business when they were current, I know that they wear the miles very well... hence you need to be careful of clocked examples - the interior and paint of a 160K car will look as fresh as a 60K car, if it's well looked after).
Whilst it's not desperately slow, neither does the performance seem to reflect what you'd expect from a 5.5 litre V8 with a 5.4 second 0-60 time. It's power is adequate, but certainly not astonishing, and my recollection of the S350 diesel I owned before is that it felt almost equally brisk.
The diesel had the torque to pick up speed instantly, whereas the petrol V8, dare I say it, feels a bit flat until it's kicked down a gear or two from cruising revs. And since the gearbox isn't the quickest to kickdown, you find yourself having to plan ahead a bit for overtaking moves, which isn't what I expected of a 5.5 litre V8 naturally aspirated engine.
Whilst it's not desperately slow, neither does the performance seem to reflect what you'd expect from a 5.5 litre V8 with a 5.4 second 0-60 time. It's power is adequate, but certainly not astonishing, and my recollection of the S350 diesel I owned before is that it felt almost equally brisk.
The diesel had the torque to pick up speed instantly, whereas the petrol V8, dare I say it, feels a bit flat until it's kicked down a gear or two from cruising revs. And since the gearbox isn't the quickest to kickdown, you find yourself having to plan ahead a bit for overtaking moves, which isn't what I expected of a 5.5 litre V8 naturally aspirated engine.
Edited by Equus on Wednesday 10th April 16:19
Equus said:
I can't really answer your questions, other than to say that I've recently bought a 60K mile example of similar age for less than half that price, so it seems like a steep premium to pay for the ultra-low mileage (and since my brother used to run them as limousines for his business when they were current, I know that they wear the miles very well... hence you need to be careful of clocked examples - the interior and paint of a 160K car will look as fresh as a 60K car, if it's well looked after).
Whilst it's not desperately slow, neither does the performance seem to reflect what you'd expect from a 5.5 litre V8 with a 5.4 second 0-60 time. It's power is adequate, but certainly not astonishing, and my recollection of the S320 diesel I owned before is that it felt almost equally brisk.
The diesel had the torque to pick up speed instantly, whereas the petrol V8, dare I say it, feels a bit flat until it's kicked down a gear or two from cruising revs. And since the gearbox isn't the quickest to kickdown, you find yourself having to plan ahead a bit for overtaking moves, which isn't what I expected of a 5.5 litre V8 naturally aspirated engine.
I have to say that I agree. An £18k S500, regardless of mileage, is overvalued, and you'd be far better off with one at £10k but a greater number of miles. You'd also be better off getting the facelift model (if the dual xenon, DRLs etc are important to you) rather than retrofitting.Whilst it's not desperately slow, neither does the performance seem to reflect what you'd expect from a 5.5 litre V8 with a 5.4 second 0-60 time. It's power is adequate, but certainly not astonishing, and my recollection of the S320 diesel I owned before is that it felt almost equally brisk.
The diesel had the torque to pick up speed instantly, whereas the petrol V8, dare I say it, feels a bit flat until it's kicked down a gear or two from cruising revs. And since the gearbox isn't the quickest to kickdown, you find yourself having to plan ahead a bit for overtaking moves, which isn't what I expected of a 5.5 litre V8 naturally aspirated engine.
I'm with you on the performance issue as well; although an S500 is definitely faster once you wind it out, I'd struggle to say that it's any faster from an instant put-your-foot-down-at-20mph scenario. Obviously it's quieter and smoother, but then again I like the diesel's characteristics.....which is why I bought one!
Facelift W221 S-class 500 BlueEFFICIENCY gets the 429hp M278 4.7 litre GDI biturbo V8 - noticeably quicker, more powerful and significantly more torquey (700 Nm @ 1800-3500rpm) than the earlier 5.5 V8 version (530 Nm @ 2800-4800rpm) and even the 350 diesels (620Nm @ 1600-2400rpm).
Effortless overtaking with 0-60mph in 4.7s / 0-100 in 11s, or will cruise at 70mph under 2000 rpm @ 35mpg if you want it to on long runs.
Get a facelift 500L with the 4.7 biturbo if you can find one - you won't regret it.
However 95%+ are 350 diesels, so it took me a year to find a 500L 4.7 biturbo in the right colour & spec for me, from only around 110 or so on the road with not many for sale at any given time compared with the 3000+ 350 diesels... Hth.
Effortless overtaking with 0-60mph in 4.7s / 0-100 in 11s, or will cruise at 70mph under 2000 rpm @ 35mpg if you want it to on long runs.
Get a facelift 500L with the 4.7 biturbo if you can find one - you won't regret it.
However 95%+ are 350 diesels, so it took me a year to find a 500L 4.7 biturbo in the right colour & spec for me, from only around 110 or so on the road with not many for sale at any given time compared with the 3000+ 350 diesels... Hth.
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