gsfent

Thinking of downsizing a bit. Family is gone, kids have their own kids, so I really don't NEED the wagon. Have other toys to keep me occupied (although I love the older CL and Sl's!). Obs Black over Macadamia.. Supposedly 1 of 4 out of the North American production run of roughly 113 (according to sources here).

When/if the time comes, it will probably go to Cars and Bids since Doug Demuro loves these cars.

High miles (151k), but head bolts and complete top of the engine overhaul when I purchased (about 5 years ago). Maintained with open checkbook, the car does have a tune. Otherwise stock. Extras will probably go with the car (roof rails, cargo cover and 22 inch rims along with any spare parts).

This is just a feeler for anyone who might be interested. You can PM me.with questions and beat the crowd!.

When the time comes, I will try to post a heads up before it goes live if I can so anyone here can purchase without paying any Buyer's fee all the online sites charge if possible.

Regards,
Jerry

focalxplosion

Good Luck Jerry,

I also have an R63 with a recently rebuilt top end, open checkbook maintenance, and 151k miles! I've gone back and forth on selling it. I love the car for road trips but daily drive my E63 Wagon, so it's not getting as many miles now. I'll be keenly interested to see how it does on C&B. For whatever reason BaT seems to draw higher final sales.

Cheers,
Rich

gsfent

Thanks. I spend more time driving my supercharged E39 M5. But with the family shrunk, I really don't need the size anymore. Otherwise, the car is still a terrific vehicle and a great highway cruiser.

I was thinking of C&B just because Demuro loves these cars. I too think BaT is the better place. Best time is usually the spring, so if I go C&B, it would be as a test run unless my reserve is met.

Regards,
Jerry
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fricker66

I have a strong interest in adding a R63 to the family. Will be following here should any come available for sale in the coming months/year.

BerserkR63

If you do decide to list it don't do it at the same time as I list mine, otherwise the "Rare" factor won't pay out if you get my drift I've already posted feeler ads on the major sites and will be listing at auction in about a month. This car won't do well on Cars & Bids IMHO, just look at the last one they auctioned. Cheers!

gsfent

You think 2 out of about 110-112 cars in North America will create a "glut" on the market? LOL. I believe this is the rarest street production AMG car ever produced, with 200 units worldwide (legendary 300SL Gullwing had about 1400; Merecedes-McLaren SLR about 2100).

List when you like, other than private discussions, I currently have no plans to list the car before mid to late March or early April. Since BaT typically runs about 4 weeks behind, I will contact then in mid to late February if a private deal is not done here with a fellow enthusiast.

And if my car lists and doesn't meet reserve, I am happy to drive a classic Mercedes V8 for the foreseeable future, or at least until they take my keys away!! .

Good luck on your sale.

Regards,
Jerry.

BerserkR63

Well i was kidding kinda sorta… I have watched these auction listings over the years and depending on the vehicle, the first to auction in a sequence of these tends to benefit from higher sale price OR sets the bar for the rest.

Mine has 84k miles on it so my somewhat educated prediction would be that if i went first it would slightly influence your sale price positively. If you went first it could do the same for mine but you may not reap any benefit from being first in 2024…

Adversely, the last one auctioned on C&B’s is similiar in mileage to mine but modified differently and dare i say ruined with the matte black wrapping they did. So the condition affected the sale price negatively IMHO which lowered the market value for the next one that’s listed.

Also, the last string of 3 or 4 of these that were listed back to back on BAT you can definitely see the affects of each cars sales and timing on one another. First car selling higher in the market value band, last car selling lower within its band….

I know, it’s all mumbo jumbo at this point but needless to say interesting to think about.

GLWS!

BerserkR63

well someone else beat us to the market and listed theirs on BAT first. i know the car, it doesn’t have a great sales price history via online auctions. it’s changed owners twice and has been listed on BAT and C&B now going on the 4th time in the last 3 years. hope this car doesn’t ruin the start of the year for the rest of us…

focalxplosion

I think you raise some good points about the timing of auctions but given that there are so few sales it might be coincidental. I believe that some of these values are hurt as much by presentation and mods as by market timing. Though anyone who sold immediately after The Unicorn of my Destruction will no doubt have a bone to pick with me.

With the car currently for sale on BaT I think it has two major auction flaws that are going to hurt its value:

1. Presentation
   1. Low Quality Photos - The pictures just don't present this car in the best light. If you want top dollar the pictures really matter and if you're not sure what I'm talking about go take a masterclass from a 911r auction. I have an identical car to this E63s Wagon and saw it go at least $10k above market. When you look at the auction photos it's not hard to see why; they don't hide anything and they look straight out of a magazine shoot. A lot of pictures in this R63 auction suffer from the lighting conditions and color saturation issues.
   2. Poor video - Maybe they intend to add clips as the auction goes but the one video doesn't really show much in the walk around. Everyone auction has at least one commenter ask for a cold-start, why not just give it to them from the outset and throw in a driving video while you are at it. You want to rev up your auction, this is how you video your
      R63
      !!! Also, WTF is with the puddle of water coming from under the car?
   3. Needs a detail - I'm constantly amazed at the time and money people will throw at a car and then put only a minimal effort to clean it up when it comes time to sell. The auction where I bought my R63 is a great example. That engine bay looked about as cared for as a 17 year old minivan, which it is, but also isn't.... Popping the hood on one of these should elicit week knees and thoughts of engine bay buffets, not the underside of my last budget hotel bed. At the very least, steal the feather duster from home and knock the cobwebs off. A little Armor All on those underbody panels would go a long way to making this thing look fresher.
2. Mods
   1. Wrap - Sorry, I'm just not into it at all. I know this is my opinion and others may love it but I don't thank many would deny that it's polarizing. If you are looking to maximize your sales price you either get rid of the customizations that are only to your taste or prey you have a couple of bidders that way to into F&F.
   2. Dyno? - Asked in the last action to. If you are going to do major engine mods you had better come with a dyno and it better have AF ratios too. If I'm buying someone's project car I want to know that they knew what they were doing or the mods were done by a reputable shop like Weistech or Renntech.
   3. Cats - Y can't bring this thing to a Carb state without a whole lot of hassle and money. We don't have to like it but it is the reality and there are a lot of wealthy bidders in those states. There are probably more bidders for an obscure high horsepower Merc minivan in Carb states than Non-Carb states.

I hope that I'm proven wrong. I want to believe in the collectability of these and I'll also need to sell mine sooner or later. I also know the seller is on these forums and they poured a lot of money into this project. However, I just don't think its well positioned to go high. If I were a buyer I think I'd be hoping I could snag this for about $40k given the current auction. If it were perfectly presented and with some issues addressed I think this could go close to $60k. Let's see what the BaT community brings us. I can see that comments have already come in about the wrap and dyno which were also made in the previous C&B auction.

gsfent

Are you talking about the supercharged one? Completely different. And who cares? Really doesn't affect the market for stock cars and as noted, very few of these were produced.

The other supercharged R63 I have seen is owned by Barry in California. Full blown upgrades including SC done by Weistec Engineering in Cali. Immaculate build. Seems he listed it somewhere about 2 years ago and it was a no sale around $90k.

Relax. The car will sell for whatever it is worth. If your car doesn't meet your price, just keep it! I can think of worse cars to be "stuck with"!

Regards,
Jerry

BerserkR63

@focalxplosion ageed 100%, well written.

@gsfent well i suppose if anyone doesn’t care they could just stop reading and responding but that’s what a forum is all about isn’t it? I wish i could keep them all but unfortunately i haven’t achieved Jay Leno’s wealth status….suppose i should open a dealership or museum front to write it all off. 🤔

I’ve kept my R probably a year longer than i should have at this point for just because I don’t want to let it go but there’s too many great autos out there on my bucket list.

Anyhow, for me, it’s always very interesting to see each persons perspective on a car and the market.

gsfent

I understand about trying lots of different cars. I tend to keep my cars at least 5 years but will trade out for similar reasons: lots of great cars to drive.

But don't obsess over selling price of the R63. It will sell for whatever the value is at the time. If I don't feel comfortable with the ending bid, I can always pull the extras and negotiate just the sale of the car. Heck, I can even sell my vintage Italian sports car and keep the R63.

The current BaT auction comments show the car is very well regarded. {most people on BaT know what this car is). My thought in starting this thread was simply to save a board member her the 5% premium if they had an interest in a car like ours. Otherwise, BaT is probably as representative a market as there is right now.

Regards,
Jerry

BVC23

I would love to learn more about the car. Been looking for the right R63 for a couple years now!

gsfent

Sure. Shoot me a PM with your email for a private conversation. If you can't PM, then my email is my board name at the mail place that is not hot.

Regards,
Jerry

gsfent

Thanks to all those who contacted me.

Some enthusiasts wanted to just talk about the car. Others had some interest, from mild to serious. To all you folks, it was a pleasure chatting with you across the forum. I can say we have some great MB enthusiasts here (along with a few car guys across various automotive brands).

As I noted in my original post, I no longer really need this much car (3 row station wagon). With the idea of preferring a board member here to take custody of the car, I am leaving this open for another week. After 2-15-24, I am closing this down and will place the car with a third party service (most likely Bring-a-Trailer) to sell the car.

So if you have a serious interest, let me know. If you can't decide, you can always bid when it comes up on BaT (expect about 4-6 weeks from now). Other than having a lot more competition and having to pay the Buyers fee (5%, which I was trying to save our members), you can still have a second chance at what is Mercedes Benz RAREST production car ever made.

Again, thanks to all those who have reached out to chat!! It was fun!!

Regards,
Jerry