Which stupidly cheap but powerful diesel luxo barge?

[Grindle]

VW Phaeton 5.0 V10 TD. Audi A8 4.2 V8 TD. Mercedes S Class 3.0 V6 TD.

Well within budget for early versions with sensible miles.
Which one is best? Anything else out there with preferably 300+ bhp and plenty of cylinders?

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd go for the Audi it's a better car than the Phaeton the S Class lacks the cylinders & bhp (shame we didn't get the V8 Diesel they sold in Europe) to match the other two.

[LayZ]

V10 TDI was amazing back then but now just a money pit and not economical most 3.0 TDIs are nearly making that much torque/power.

I can recommend anything with the Merc OM642 3.0 V6. Post 2010 or so had 270PS. My pick would be a last of the line W219 CLS Grand Edition. These had all the toys (like ALL) as standard and the uprated engine, now available sub-10k. One of the best modern car designs to my eyes (I have one so I would say that).

[markirl]

Have a drive of a remapped 3.0 TDi A8, apparently 99% as good as a 4.2 TDi

[ZX10R NIN]

Until you drive a mapped 4.2

[Grindle]

59-plater A8 in black duly bought. Not the LWB version. Still big but doesn't feel that heavy, the Phaeton did. 4.2 TDI with 345bhp and 590 torques. Feels fast enough with little or no lag. 88,000 miles and FSH but needs some light paint work done.

[ZX10R NIN]

Well done OP