MikeKerr7

You did many cool things with this build!

One thing that I have heard about but never seen done, you placed 2000-2002 seats in a 2003-2006 S class. I have heard people suggest it could be done, but your pictures confirm it works!

Hans Ertl

Yup. You just need to change the seat belt buckles to the 03+ model ones. Other than that, they drop right in. If you don't change the buckles, you will get an SRS warning light. The rear seats are a whole different story.

Hans Ertl

I paid $3700 for the car. I paid $1400 for the wrecked parts car. After that, it's just regular maintenance that any of them will need. So, buying one for $10k+ didn't make sense to me if I needed to do tires, brakes, etc. I do all of my own labor, so that's not really an issue. Chances are good that the parts I replaced on this car would need to be replaced on any of them that I would have had to pay for retail on. Even with a rebuilt title, it wouldn't make a difference. I'm not looking to resell it. I'm looking to drive the wheels off of it . Our ML500 has over 210k miles on it and keeps on trucking (and towing!). I just have a hard time seeing the value of financing something that's going to break, or pay cash for something that I can fix. I have the skills and facility to do so.

DrDoe

There are many ways to get to the finish product. Even with the skills and resources, it seems you are going about it the hard way.
The price seems to be a bit higher now but here is an example:
2005 S600 Mercedes Benz 77k miles
http://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/cto/5889122161.html
6 months ago you can pick one up for about $2k less than the current rate.
I guess I'm looking at $5k with labor and $6.5k without.

DrDoe

By the way I love the ML500. I got two but wrecked one. My current one is under 44k miles.

MikeKerr7

There may be a lot of issues with that 2005. First, it has a fake plate on it- huge flag. It does not have the AMG front spoiler, that alone is a very expensive part and very desirable for many buyers. Some people only want black, OP's S600 is black, the CL S600 is not. Not OEM rims, huge flag. **** retentive S600 owners usually keep everything OEM.

Hans Ertl

If I paid $8800 for that, I'd still need to do a bunch of maintenance to it. Just because someone says they took care of it, doesn't mean it currently needs nothing. People generally don't sell these things because they just did all of the maintenance and now are tired of it. It's usually because it needs maintenance and they don't want to throw more money at it. So, I buy that car and throw another $3k at it to replace all of the worn out items I needed to replace on mine. I'm at almost $12k for a non AMG packaged S600. Seems high to me.

Hans Ertl

The ML500 is definitely a workhorse. It's just unstoppable in the snow and pulls really hard. I was contemplating throwing the NA V12 from my parts car into mine. But the drivetrain in this one is perfect. It doesn't burn or leak a drop of oil and the transmission shifts like butter.

DrDoe

I think I made my point and it's time to move on. It comes down to individual references. Asian people avoid black and white. Some don't want the factory wheels.
How's about the silver one here for under $6k?

Hans Ertl

I haven't seen a S600 in the classifieds in a while. Got a link? I may have a friend looking for one.

DrDoe

The silver one in this picture was under $6k but it's not for sale right now. I'm in the market for a W221 S65 and will let go of this W220 S600.

DrDoe

Here's one for $4k. Some people want this year for AUX input
2003 Mercedes Benz S600, Twin Turbo, Fully loaded
http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/cto/5879715200.html

Jack_88

Cars where all the pictures are outside of a shop make me nervous. Screams car flipper, whom usually are not thorough. Still, there's a fair bit you could fix if you're handy and still stay out of the red.

DrDoe

2003 is a special year through. It doesn't hurt to offer lower for the miles.

DrDoe

Here's another 2003 but not AMG for $6k
2003 mercedes s600 amg
http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/cto/5854869835.html

MikeKerr7

Having owned a 2003 S-Class and 2006 S-class, the 2003 is not in the same world as a 2004-2006, simply because the audio in the 2003 is the old style. Upgrading the head unit is so tough and darn pricey, makes the 04-06 the way to go IMHO.

Nobody wants the 2003 for the aux feature, very nice to have but not a reason to ever select a 2003 over a 2004-2006.

Welwynnick

Bang on. ALL used S600TT need work. As they get old and need more repairs, they become unviable for those who depend on garages.

My first TT was proudly declared "fault free" by its reputable previous owner. That's probably an indication of how much time, effort and money was spent on dealing with interminable warning messages, as much as anything else, like the condition of the things you don't see. It took me years to get it running right.

My second was no trouble in comparison, with ordinary issues. Just noise. Yet there was nothing to tell from either listing to make anyone suspicious. You cant really predict what you're luck's going to be, so you have to hope for the best and plan for the worst.

There was a car listed above that had "$9k of ABC work" and was now being sold for half that. You don't need to have an accident to write off a V12TT. Imagine what the seller thinks of that car!

Nick

wallyp

I wondered if the shop seized the car for nonpayment, and is attempting to move it ASAP to get some of the repair cost.

DrDoe

Not quite understand you guys logic. ABC system will either work or doesn't work. There's no in between. It could fail tomorrow or it could fail 10yrs from now. Am I wrong?

Of course there are reasons for it to be listed for $4k and there are reasons for the same model year to be listed for $30k.
2003 Mercedes S600 - 9/10 Condition, under 100k miles
http://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/5892173943.html

Sounds like a running V12TT with a working ABC doesn't worth $4k. How much do you think it worth? I'm asking because I might follow Hans and pick up one for parts.

wallyp

I think that it is probably worth $4k to a competent DIY owner. Would I suggest that any non-DIY owner buy it? No.

And of course it is only worth that is you don't mind having a crappy-looking car. Peeling clear-coat or peeling paint is tough to fix. A decent body shop paint job costs more than this car does. A really cheap paint job costs at least half that. The materials for a DIY paint job will be $500 to $1000.

The car needs tires, so that is another $1000 to $2000 for that.

And all of that is hoping that there are no hidden failures waiting to bite you...

Hans Ertl

Looks like a perfect one to use as a drag car :p. Strip out most of the interior. Sell that off. You can probably recoup $500 ish from that. Make it run well and slap a tune and some drag radials on it. Probably go 10's in the 1/4 for under $5k :p

Jack_88

There are a lot of ways to get in the 10's cheap. Not that hard anymore, as long as speed is your only goal. Getting in the 10's comfortably is a different story. The M275 or the supercharged AMG are the cheapest ways to do that without sacrificing comfort. Cheapest to get there, not cheapest to stay there, if you know what I mean.

Hans Ertl

Yup. We build lots of 500+ hp Mitsubishi's here at my shop. We know all about cost of going fast .

Hans Ertl

For the past week, the car had been throwing a CEL for cylinder misfires. Generally on cylinders 5 and 12. Mainly, the misfire would only happen at idle. Once driving, it was totally fine. Then, even though it was firing on all cylinders, it felt sluggish. Slapped my scanner on and the fuel trims showed that they were pulling fuel. Not sure if that data was correct (since that would mean an intake leak) I figured I would start with doing the fuel pump and filter to try to cure the long/hard start issue. Also, I did a trans fluid swap and filter.

After all of that, it's back to normal again. Shifts great. Acceleration is right on point. Totally happy

Jack_88

I had the same two cylinders misfiring and after the third time the code came up and cleared, I changed the spark plugs. Turns out the original ones at 56,000 were not looking pretty. 2000 miles later and no more CEL. I do also have a tune on the car, don't know if that had any contribution to it.