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Medieval Thinker posted:I bought a 2005 E500 in February, good time so far but a few small issues. quote:-There is a strong gas smell from the drivers side back seat when I'm outside the car or driving with the windows down, I've been told this may be a fuel sender unit leaking, but the Benzworld forum suggested this was only when the tank was mostly full and I have the gas smell all the time. quote:-I'm getting a warning light for right and left "marker lights", I'm assuming this just means its time to replace the running lights? Fievel Goes Bi fucked around with this message at 15:31 on May 15, 2014 |
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May 15, 2014 15:14
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If Medieval Thinker's E500 also has a trunk opener, that mechanism can go out and it's supposedly a bitch to replace up behind the liner on the driver's side of the trunk. Mine closes too quickly now and it will eventually break but I'm not interested in a $400 part that's still working.
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May 15, 2014 17:31
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Tremek posted:Where is your dad? I saw a C63 (6.2 NA) at my local strip this weekend for the first time. They were running 13.8 @ 105 or so. Thanks, altitude. Phoenix area, so he was at the one and only strip we have left. No altitude problems. Even with the heat and the traction issues he was still in the high twelves if I remember correctly. Not quite as quick as his C6 and about the same as the Camaro before it. Just much classier.
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May 16, 2014 03:58
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EvilMoFo posted:So, I bought another W123 today. It is a 1977 300D with a stick shift and it is quite fun to drive. This is a good thing! I notice a distinct disparity in this thread between the more vintage cars and the E55 etc. cars. I see it like the difference between old money and the nouveau riche. 
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May 16, 2014 16:36
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Sigh, I wish all the decent W123s in my area hadn't been turned into veggie cars or just driven to the point where they are all sagging in the middle because of rust. There is one 201 16v around here that I know the owner may be looking to sell in the near future... and I have already got a set of NOS AMG pentas 
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May 16, 2014 17:03
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Mr. Wiggles posted:This is a good thing! If E55-driving, nouveau riche is wrong, then I don't want to be fedora-wearing, pipe-smoking ...right? gently caress.
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May 16, 2014 18:31
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Now, now the G-class folks are the real nouveau riche benz owners. (don't care, I still really want a G500 to bounce around off road)
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May 16, 2014 18:45
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I wouldn't mind a 240GD or 300GD, so long as it was stick, but holy poo poo are they expensive. I have a pair of 1977 300D now, I think the one with the stick is older since the VIN is ~15k less than the auto we are original owners on. edit: look at this long wheelbase 300D that I would buy if I had the money http://goldcountry.craigslist.org/cto/4446988621.html edit that should be a reply but doubleposting is less than ideal: Drove the car ~300 miles this weekend, it is really fun and nearly par with other cars on acceleration. The laundry list of poo poo that is wrong is mostly little crap, some more cosmetic than anything else. The notable issues are the passenger window mechanism needs to be fixed/replaced, the vacuum locks were bypassed via golf tee due to a leak somewhere  , and eventually the syncros need to be rebuilt on the transmission (instead, I will pull the trans off my 240D and swap it out).
EvilMoFo fucked around with this message at 08:13 on May 19, 2014 |
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May 16, 2014 19:44
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Well, I've officially reached the point where average monthly maintenance costs have exceeded the monthly payments. Took car in for an oil change and service on the "lifetime" transmission and realized the rear LED tail/brake assemblies were failing so had both of those replaced. This is a pretty complete record but I may be missing a few small things like bulbs. It also doesn't take into account insurance, fuel, detailing/cleaning supplies. The thing is, there is still no comparable vehicle anywhere close in price range when you consider the purchase price + maintenance. Comparing the average total PAYMENT is a different story though.... 
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May 24, 2014 14:36
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Is anybody familiar with the sound system of an early W202? It's a '94 C220. It appears to be an ~8-speaker system. The aftermarket HU put in it by a previous owner only powers the 4 door speakers, so the woofers in the rear deck are off and there is literally no bass. I'm guessing it has a high-pass filter for the door speakers. Anybody know if it has a separate amp for the rear deck speakers and if maybe I could hook it up to the head unit?
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May 25, 2014 05:30
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The window regulator was broken when I got my 300D stick, got around to dealing with that today. Mercedes wanted ~650 for the thing, I got a perfect one at pick n pull for 11.72 cents. So, the alarm screaming when the car is off, the door is open, and the headlights are on; what causes that lovely tone on an early w123? I assume it is in one of the magical boxes that have one of the only integrated circuits on the car, sadly. I heard my 79 240D do it 2 or 3 times in a couple years (the wiring was less than ideal on that thing, obviously) and I know I am going to gently caress up eventually on this 77 300D stick. I know the newer cars (~82+) have it, they also have entirely different circuitry and I don't want to mix and match too much. edit: apparently it lives at the back of the instrument cluster, haven't found anything suggesting I can add it to a 77 though 
EvilMoFo fucked around with this message at 17:49 on May 25, 2014 |
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May 25, 2014 09:24
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Cyrezar posted:Well, I've officially reached the point where average monthly maintenance costs have exceeded the monthly payments. Took car in for an oil change and service on the "lifetime" transmission and realized the rear LED tail/brake assemblies were failing so had both of those replaced. This is a pretty complete record but I may be missing a few small things like bulbs. It also doesn't take into account insurance, fuel, detailing/cleaning supplies. Its also safe to say that maintenance money doesnt mean anything for resale to most buyers. Car ownership is more or less: purchase price of car + maintenance - depreciation of car itself So you might spend a lot more initial money on a c63, but at the end of 2-3 years it will probably be worth more and it will probably still be under maintenance.
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May 25, 2014 23:30
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coolskillrex remix posted:Its also safe to say that maintenance money doesnt mean anything for resale to most buyers. Car ownership is more or less: purchase price of car + maintenance - depreciation of car itself Maintenance money spent is a sunk cost good for nothing else than supporting your asking price. It will not add anything material to your "investment" in the car as you have to spend it to keep it running at top shape. This isn't a loving corolla. Maintenance records will help but there are plenty of people willing to buy without so your $5 grand might be worth only $1-$2 grand in the market. That said, good luck finding a car that will compete with an E55 performance wise under $50k maintenance records regardless.
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May 26, 2014 02:19
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Cyrezar posted:That said, good luck finding a car that will compete with an E55 performance wise under $50k maintenance records regardless.  There are plenty of cars that are faster for less money, the big selling point of something like an E55 AMG or an M5 is that you get that performance without looking like a tool in a souped-up econobox with a cheap lovely interior. Also the E60 M5 and the Audi RS6 are solid competitors to the E55, and can be had for around $25-30k now
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May 26, 2014 02:26
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The only problem with the above posted car is they are cheap and usually just get the tar beat out of them. (Not all, but easily 80%)
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May 26, 2014 04:13
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Cyrezar posted:Maintenance money spent is a sunk cost good for nothing else than supporting your asking price. It will not add anything material to your "investment" in the car as you have to spend it to keep it running at top shape. This isn't a loving corolla. Maintenance records will help but there are plenty of people willing to buy without so your $5 grand might be worth only $1-$2 grand in the market. That said, good luck finding a car that will compete with an E55 performance wise under $50k maintenance records regardless. If i had 50k and i needed a sedan id get a c63 (ive driven one and its exhaust is amazing, engine is amazing, seats are amazing, looks are amazing, handling is amazing) If i needed a sedan that i knew could beat the e55 in every situation i would get a cts-v
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May 26, 2014 20:53
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coolskillrex remix posted:If i had 50k and i needed a sedan id get a c63 (ive driven one and its exhaust is amazing, engine is amazing, seats are amazing, looks are amazing, handling is amazing) Oh yeah I forgot about the CTS-V (2009+ MY) and they have come down in price to the mid to high 30's now, plus manual option.
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May 27, 2014 01:14
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This is kind of inspiring: http://apidaonline.com/index.php/articles/life/item/5-things-no-one-tells-you-about-owning-a-used-luxury-car Surprised how expensive the consumables are compared to the C class, though.
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May 28, 2014 16:32
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I'm thinking about picking up a '98 E320 4matic wagon to replace my '98 V70, which is getting a little long in the tooth. Aside from rust, are there any major pitfalls I should be aware of? I feel pretty good about it since I have a couple acquaintances who are European car mechanics, and they both spoke highly of the W210 chassis. It's a "one owner car with maintenance records," so it seems like it was well cared for, but I want to make sure I know what I'm getting into.
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Jun 3, 2014 01:06
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zundfolge posted:I'm thinking about picking up a '98 E320 4matic wagon to replace my '98 V70, which is getting a little long in the tooth. Aside from rust, are there any major pitfalls I should be aware of? I feel pretty good about it since I have a couple acquaintances who are European car mechanics, and they both spoke highly of the W210 chassis. It's a "one owner car with maintenance records," so it seems like it was well cared for, but I want to make sure I know what I'm getting into. It is a nice, but not particularly reliable car. Those 4matics can be awfully costly to service.
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Jun 3, 2014 15:41
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HotCanadianChick posted:
An E55 walks an Evo X in a straight line and for 2/3 the price.
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Jun 3, 2014 17:25
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Tremek posted:An E55 walks an Evo X in a straight line and for 2/3 the price. They also aren't really the same class/size of car. It's just a silly comparison all around, the only thing they have in common is 4 doors. I actually looked at new Evo's before buying the E55 and the ghost-town Mitsubishi dealership wanted close to 40 grand for them.
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Jun 3, 2014 23:13
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Tremek posted:An E55 walks an Evo X in a straight line and for 2/3 the price. That's not a standard Evo X. It's an FQ450 or summat, bit more power than factory. (Only sold in the UK, but it is sold new, with full warranty).
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Jun 4, 2014 07:01
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HotCanadianChick posted:That's not a standard Evo X. It's an FQ450 or summat, bit more power than factory. (Only sold in the UK, but it is sold new, with full warranty). Uh, so you're making an even worse comparison where it's probably equal in straight line performance for the equivalent of quote:Only 40 examples of the Lancer Evolution X FQ-440 MR will be produced, each with a £50,000 ($83,000) price tag. Goddamn get out. Tremek fucked around with this message at 17:42 on Jun 4, 2014 |
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Jun 4, 2014 17:40
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In my perpetual quest for hot sedans I was thinking about the new SS today while running because I remember reading the next model year will have a manual option. I thought, maybe it'd be cool to lease a 6-speed for 2 years and if the market turns out how it did for the G8 GXP maybe buy it at the end of the lease and re-sell private party. Looking at the website it somehow manages to get worse fuel economy than the E55. E55 is rated at 15/21, the 2014 SS gets 14/21. Even though it's got an extra gear. All while being slower, less powerful, and a Chevrolet. I'm almost astonished that this is even possible, even a Suburban gets better mileage. All for the low-low price of nearly $46,000 dollars MSRP. They will sell dozens of these. Looks like I'm saving pennies until the 2012+ MY E63s come down in price, I don't think the 6.2L V8 models are enough of an improvement over the 55K. It kind of sucks IMO that the new E63s only come in 4WD.
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Jun 4, 2014 21:43
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The 6.2 63s have motor problems too, buyer beware. Maybe to put your wanderlust to bed here: I came from a manual G8 GXP to the E55 and the E55's a more-better car. 'Nuff said?
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Jun 4, 2014 22:01
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Tremek posted:Uh, so you're making an even worse comparison where it's probably equal in straight line performance for the equivalent of I was replying to Cyrezar, who was talking about the E55 being "the best performance car under $50k". Last I checked, E55s are: A): No longer sold and B): A lot more than $50k new. It's replacement, the E63 starts around $93k, wwelllllllll more than the car I posted. I'd assumed we were talking used with those in mind. You buy a used Evo (or STI, or any number of other turboed tuner cars)used for $15-20k, dump another $5-10k into modding it (and probably another $10k into fixing all the poo poo the moron who owned it before hosed up), and it will beat the snot out of E55s all day long. You'll still look like a retard because you're driving an Evo (put a budget aside for the requisite collection of baseball caps to wear upon your head backwards), but hey, fast. Nothing wrong with E55s, I was just pointing out they are not the all-singing, all-dancing saviour of the sub $50k market if what you're concerned with is speed. E55s are nice, but there's a lot of other cars just as fast or faster in the sub $50k used bracket. p.s. You   edit: for slightly more than the price of a used E55, you can get a ZL1 Camaro with more HP than the current E63 AMG S. I love fast German cars, but they really aren't (and have never been) performance bargains, even used. What they do do very well is combining performance with refinement, which is what you're paying the premium price for. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Jun 5, 2014 08:58
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HotCanadianChick posted:I AM AGGRESSIVELY making GBS threads UP EVERY THREAD. MY CAR / SYNTH / CAT IS THE loving BEST AND YOURS IS COMPLETE CRAP. MY OPINION IS THE ONLY OPINION YOU loving IGNORANT POOR
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Jun 5, 2014 13:10
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A used E55 runs about $20k, whereas the least-expensive ZL1 on cars.com is $43k which is not under anyone's definition "slightly more". This is pretty pro thread-making GBS threads HCC.
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Jun 5, 2014 18:32
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Cyrezar posted:
I too am utterly confused by the SS. It looks like a rental car, isn't that nice inside and costs a fortune. Its like they needed some homologation for a racing class and put zero effort into it. I like the understated sedan with a manual concept but it needs, at the very least, to look as cool as the Impala SS. Otherwise GM already has a better version of this car on sale for less money: The ATS sport/CTS.
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Jun 5, 2014 18:53
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The SS competes with the SRT8 Chryslers, not the CTS (Vsport with equivalent performance is 20k more), ATS (too slow/small) or anything Mercedes. It's not a bad option in that market, Charger/300C are not exactly beautiful cars and are still stuck with a 5 speed auto and worthless interiors.
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Jun 5, 2014 19:06
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Tai-Pan posted:I too am utterly confused by the SS. It looks like a rental car, isn't that nice inside and costs a fortune. Its like they needed some homologation for a racing class and put zero effort into it. It's the RWD full-size sedan that Chevy's been missing since the mid-2000s Impala, and kudos to them for trying to have a halo sedan on the brand. The 2015's getting the manual so yes there's that - as a side note I imagine that's going to squash the GXP manual used market, rather glad I got out of mine after driving it for almost 4 years with about $11k depreciation. The interior's actually significantly nicer than, say, the Charger SRT8 - not sure what the bash there is. $45k really isn't a fortune for a dealer-new performance sedan, which is still less than any ATS 3.6 Performance package you can pick up off a lot (easily $50k with options) and that's a significantly smaller sedan to boot. ATS wheelbase is 109.3" whereas the SS is 114.8", of which every inch can be found (or lost) in the back seat if you ever cart around adults or kids in car seats. I think for a couple reasons those cars cater to different buyers. Don't forget that the SS is faster. CTS is closer in dimensions but even more expensive. Same goes for a 335i, which is back in the more-like-the-ATS size. Overall the SS is, just like the G8 was, a great sedan with a too-humble exterior that will get remembered by enthusiasts as a fantastic sleeper but unloved by the market. I guess we can call it the Holden Curse, but considering they're stopping production (in what, 2017?) we won't have to worry about it anymore. 
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Jun 5, 2014 19:15
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At least you will be able to soon get the SS with a manual, but I have to agree the price is a bit steep. If you just want a big V8 muscle car, a couple year old Corvette (or brand new one if you can swing it) would be much more fun.
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Jun 5, 2014 19:40
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Last comment on fuel economy: with both cars tuned, my E55 averages about 14.8 mpg whereas my GXP (LS3, same motor and essentially the same car as the SS) averaged 18.1 and could get 23-24 mpg at highway speeds. I think real-world MPG of an SS would be somewhat better than the EPA estimates.
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Jun 5, 2014 20:09
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This is one of the greatest threads I've ever read: http://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w220/431985-ongoing-maintenance-repair-2003-s600.html A guy buys a 2003 S600 (Twin-turbo V12 w/ hydraulic suspension) with 80,000 miles, at least 2 crashes on the vehicle history, chrome trim screwed to the body panels, and about 15 error codes being thrown. He then painstakingly completes every repair himself and documents everything. Unrelated, but I went and test drove some new Hondas yesterday to see about getting a commuter car. Drove the new Accord V6, Civic SI, and Ridgeline. They are all nice cars and I especially, and somewhat surprisingly, really liked the Ridgeline. Getting back in the E55 made them feel like toys though; from the second you shut the door you can tell the difference even after 10 years. Tremek, did you ever get the LSD installed?
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Jun 6, 2014 13:43
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Cyrezar posted:This is one of the greatest threads I've ever read: Howard is either an idiot or a genius. There is no room for middle ground there.
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Jun 6, 2014 15:41
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EVERYWHERE 
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meatpimp posted:Howard is either an idiot or a genius. There is no room for middle ground there. By 2024 there are going to be like 3 S600s left on the road. His will probably be one.
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Jun 6, 2014 16:18
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blk posted:This is kind of inspiring: http://apidaonline.com/index.php/articles/life/item/5-things-no-one-tells-you-about-owning-a-used-luxury-car I think that most of his value proposition would be lost if he had paid market price for a running car instead of buying a non-running one from someone unable or unwilling to repair it himself. I also think that he got a little bit lucky in this case, when you buy a car non-running there could be more issues than are initially apparent. Still, this is a great writeup about the economics of owing depreciated luxury cars. I still don't swallow that it's actually similar cost to owning a new economy car, but I can buy that it's far less expensive than getting a new C250 or 328i!
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Jun 6, 2014 16:25
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Cyrezar posted:This is one of the greatest threads I've ever read: I did have both the LSD and 3.06 gears installed and now with my sticky drag radials you can hear a little chirp-chirp-chirp on slow corners.  POSI POWERDid it make much difference? Uh, well, not really. I still owe Weistec/BIP a log file of my car so they can figure out the shift points and send me a new TCU because I'm bouncing off of fuel cutoff at the top of 1st and 2nd at WOT which is not real awesome. But beyond that I think 2.62 -> 3.06 is pretty subtle overall, I didn't pick up much of anything yet in the quarter. I think headers are my next move and then a 3000 rpm stall torque converter after that. It's just money.. Re: Ridgeline, they're surprisingly neat trucks - the lockable trunk under the bed is badass - and they have been around since '06 MY so go find a cheap used one and beat it to hell.
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Jun 6, 2014 16:47
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Tremek posted:I did have both the LSD and 3.06 gears installed and now with my sticky drag radials you can hear a little chirp-chirp-chirp on slow corners. I'm modding vicariously through you. Looked at the trip computer this morning and have gotten a surprising 17.7 MPG over the last 3300 miles or so. Not sure how accurate the computer is, I've never verified it by calculating it manually.
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Jun 6, 2014 21:26
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