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Welp, took one for the "Am I crazy team"...picked up a used S600

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Vdubchaos said:
YOu should be able to do all that yourself......one would hope, but knowing these cars, probably not.

6 hour labor is pushing $1000 at a stealership.....hehe
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What do you mean by "knowing these cars"? The S600 forum community has a wealth of DIY information.
 
You buy these cars if you are either able to pay that without flinching or can wrench yourself. I get the feeling that OP can handle both. He went in with eyes open. I am cheering for him.
 
kn51 said:
Thought I'd give you a general update.
It has a minor coolant leak. Seems to be originating from the radiator. A radiator for the car is basically $250...no biggie. The kicker is labor to install is 6 hours. Bumper needs to come off, headlights removed, splash shields removed, etc. Point is basic parts costs aren't bad, the labor will kill ya.

So that is a boring update on the life of the S600.
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If the leak is on the plastic hose where the upper coolant hose connect to the radiator, you should be able to patch that depend on how creative you are with plastic repair.

you may get lucky and it's the upper hose itself that cracked/leaks.

For some reason, European plastic car parts are not on the same level as those in Japanese cars. Eventually, you'll need to chase down vacuum leaks and it will be on one of the plastic T connections they use.
 
jlee said:
If anybody is bored, they can go find another thread. Have you seen my MR2 build thread yet? We don't bore that easily. :awe:

I was mostly looking at suspension and coil failures. I believe there's a coil spring conversion if the ABC system fails, but it seems a shame to remove it instead of fixing it (though it would potentially be a lot cheaper).
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IIRC, to replace the suspension on the S600 is around $16k at the dealer.
 
Vdubchaos said:
YOu should be able to do all that yourself......one would hope, but knowing these cars, probably not.

6 hour labor is pushing $1000 at a stealership.....hehe
Click to expand...

Plus it probably requires a special coolant that costs 5x what normal coolant costs. Might as well replace all the hoses while you're in there, that's another $500 and there's no way a Mercedes dealership will put in a Rock Auto radiator. They'll install an OEM radiator which probably costs $1000. So, you're looking at three grand for this repair... at the dealership (this is my estimate). D:
 
DaTT said:
IIRC, to replace the suspension on the S600 is around $16k at the dealer.
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My boss has a CLS550 and his front suspension developed a leak in the air ride system. He neglected it for a while and kept driving the car which did further damage to the suspension. Dealer wanted $4k to repair it.
 
It's around 2K from my reading. Most of my musings are conjecture at this point since there is quite an overlap reading up on w220/221 type stuff. W221 is improved in a lot places (obviously not trim...).

I have the workshop manual headed my way (was like $12, shhh) so that will be fun reading.

As for the suspension, there are two versions. Airmatic and ABC. Airmatic uses air. ABC uses hydraulics. Either or you are looking at about $1K a strut.

Anyways, just sharing my ownership experience. If you really want to explore big bucks...go the AMG route.
 
kn51 said:
It's around 2K from my reading. Most of my musings are conjecture at this point since there is quite an overlap reading up on w220/221 type stuff. W221 is improved in a lot places (obviously not trim...).

I have the workshop manual headed my way (was like $12, shhh) so that will be fun reading.

As for the suspension, there are two versions. Airmatic and ABC. Airmatic uses air. ABC uses hydraulics. Either or you are looking at about $1K a strut.

Anyways, just sharing my ownership experience. If you really want to explore big bucks...go the AMG route.
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I wasn't too far off and I bet they could find something else in there to ding you for while they have it in to make up the difference. 😎
 
kn51 said:
I let my two teenagers drive it around the block. Daughter: Adjusted seat, mirrors, paranoid as hell..
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We have a new C300, our first MB. We let my daughter drive it. She gets behind the wheel and says, "Does this mean I can drive like an asshole?" Ah, kids say the darndest things.
 
JulesMaximus said:
Plus it probably requires a special coolant that costs 5x what normal coolant costs. Might as well replace all the hoses while you're in there, that's another $500 and there's no way a Mercedes dealership will put in a Rock Auto radiator. They'll install an OEM radiator which probably costs $1000. So, you're looking at three grand for this repair... at the dealership (this is my estimate). D:
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That's about right.

Unless you do stuff yourself (and even then things get expensive really fast with these cars) owning just about ANY luxury/expensive car = 2-3k each time something goes wrong.

Especially the German ones....

Thus my general advice of "your wallet WILL hate you, just a matter of time"
 
jlee said:
http://www.mbca.org/forum/w220-s-class-encyclopedia-start-here
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220-s-class/1508080-w220-s-class-encyclopedia-start-here.html

I would copy/paste a massive wall of text, but I don't want to disrupt the thread's viewability.
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Jesus, reading thru that thread is depressing. Now way in hell I would touch a car like that with a 100 foot pole.

No thanks

As for radiator, you see, reason #534232 why buying cars like this sucks. Radiator is usually a routine/easy maintenance item. I have never EVER looked up any directions/how to while doing a radiator on ANY of my cars (I've done radiator swaps at least 5 times/all different vehicles).

I know for sure that working on these cars or swapping a radiator is NOT exactly routine and as with most German high end cars, overly complex and complicated for no apparent reason.

The reason why these cars are dirt cheap 3-4 years after they were new is simply because.....drum roll.....no body in their right mind wants them.
 
Vdubchaos said:
Jesus, reading thru that thread is depressing. Now way in hell I would touch a car like that with a 100 foot pole.

No thanks

As for radiator, you see, reason #534232 why buying cars like this sucks. Radiator is usually a routine/easy maintenance item. I have never EVER looked up any directions/how to while doing a radiator on ANY of my cars (I've done radiator swaps at least 5 times/all different vehicles).

I know for sure that working on these cars or swapping a radiator is NOT exactly routine and as with most German high end cars, overly complex and complicated for no apparent reason.

The reason why these cars are dirt cheap 3-4 years after they were new is simply because.....drum roll.....no body in their right mind wants them.
Click to expand...

As I said, there's a lot of information out there.

Nobody's making you buy one - other than your penchant for bitching, I'm not sure why you're even in this thread.
 
jlee said:
As I said, there's a lot of information out there.

Nobody's making you buy one - other than your penchant for bitching, I'm not sure why you're even in this thread.
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Eh, he probably drives a Camry and has given up on life.
 
Vdubchaos said:
No way in hell I would touch a car like that with a 100 foot pole.
No thanks
no body in their right mind wants them.
Click to expand...
You;
Hello, my name is Vdubchaos, and I own the largest salt mine in the Western Scene. I am known around the world for my salt, and have worked in the salt industry my whole life, as did my father, and my father's father, and my father's father's father when he came to the USA and settled in Saltlake City, where I live to this day. I tried to expand into other mineral industries, but quickly found that salt was in my genes, my way of life, my way of living. And so I returned home to run my salt mine
Click to expand...
because you don't drive this
RA_800.jpg


You know you would drive a V12 if you could.
 
Vdubchaos said:
That's about right.

Unless you do stuff yourself (and even then things get expensive really fast with these cars) owning just about ANY luxury/expensive car = 2-3k each time something goes wrong.

Especially the German ones....

Thus my general advice of "your wallet WILL hate you, just a matter of time"
Click to expand...

Meh, even if you take it to the dealership it's still not as bad as owning a boat.
 
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