I am asking the owners of the S500 what they think about them, what problems you have had, experiences, was it worth it. So if you wouldnt mind just taking a few moments and telling me about your S500 or S-Class experience in general that would be appreciated.

We are looking into an 06 S500.

 

Mine is a '00, and the cars have improved since that first year of production. In addition, I understand from the forums that many things just work more smoothly, and are better thought out from '03 on. Before I bought mine, it was in the shop frequently, mostly for telematics problems and some recalls. An '06 should have more reliable telematics, and they should be somewhat less frustrating in their basic design limitations. For example, the Nav system in newer cars is DVD based, meaning only one disc is required for the whole country; you can record music files on DVD and play them; and you can play your CDs on it as well. You're not limited to the trunk-mounted changer. If you get the iPod option, the ID tag info (including song title and accurate track information) will display on your instrument cluster, and you don't give up use of your CD changer. These things aren't possible on my car without replacing the entire COMAND unit.

I have had relatively few mechanical problems; replaced a driver's side window because something inside the door scratched it deeply. More importantly, the airmatic suspension can be problematic. The mounts for the air struts (they attach the strut to the body, and have an air line and valve going into the center) on my car developed stress cracks (that I noticed 1 month out of warranty). The stress cracks were causing a small air leak already; I replaced them ($500 parts & labor) before they could completely fail, resulting in a $6000 repair job. The new mounts are of a different design, but I don't know if they're any better.

I did see a brand new '05 S500 completely collapsed on its front suspension on the dealer's lot a few months ago. No air pressure.

I am told that the relay for the airmatic pump is prone to stick, leaving the pump running until it burns itself out. Don't know if it also blows seals in the airmatic system - but replacing the pump is about $1000.

My mechanic also pointed out a split idler pulley for the accessory drive belt - it has 2 parts separated by a rubber bushing (for noise dampening?) - when the bushing gives way the pulley separates and usually takes out the oil pan. Hasn't happened on my car, but I check it regularly.

I have no idea whether Mercedes has redesigned those mechanical components (other than the air strut mounts) between '00 and '06. I hope so.

I haven't dwelled on my telematics problems, because the bus and components were redesigned from '04 on. I will say that Mercedes doesn't design its telematics for easy update. They put out a design, then just move on. Updating for new features (like more modern cell phones, even firmware updates) just isn't done easily, at least through dealerships. As to cell phones, they have been moving toward a better solution with UHI (everywhere but the U.S.) and MHI (U.S.) but so far it's still more difficult and more expensive than it should be.

My fight in telematics, in addition to reliability, has been to update my cell phone, add an iPod, and update my voice control module. I did it successfully with 3rd party retrofits (for the cell phone and iPod), and by just installing a newer voice control module despite the dealer repeatedly saying it couldn't be done. These updates were available for D2B fiber optic bus, but not available for MOST bus cars, which your '06 will be. There are other avenues for MOST bus cars, but again, it will require research and can be more frustrating than it ever should be. Local dealer support in telematics has not been good; they are very hesitant about things such as firmware updates, and state that if anything went wrong during one I may have to replace my entire COMAND - that is, they would not be able to recover from a problem with the update. In fact, when doing one under warranty for an audio dropout problem, that's exactly what happened. Even after doing that, they didn't program the unit properly and I had to take it back in and leave it for 3 days for them to figure out what they had done wrong.

That said, I love the car. As to driving, it is the embodiment of the fine luxury sedan. I drove a new Audi A8L last month, for comparison (I drove Audis for 20 years before buying my S500). I prefer the S500. Wish it was a 4-Matic; and if the right deal comes along, I will trade for one.

Good luck!

 

Hey Dancing.....

Is 06 the "total facelift" model or is that the 07. Would hate for you to get the 06, then have it look "outdated" in 12 months.

If not an issue then just disregard.....just some input.

Just Autoweek Computer simulation based on spy photos below

 

The '06 S-350, 430, and 500 aren't much different from the '05 (except the 350 is an engine option not previously offered, and I read that it has a short wheelbase). Photo of the S350 is at http://www.mbusa.com/brand/models/S350V.jsp

 

Just reading Slylaw's post (above) has reminded me of many of the problems I encountered on my 2000 S-Class that was delivered 3/30/99. I had EVERYTHING listed, happen to my car, plus other items that my mind wont let me remember. In hindsight, I had a lemon, but I just failed to exercise the "law" at the time the problems were occuring. The dealer service dept. managers were empathetic and took great care of me, even though they couldn't fix half the problems with the car. People who like their doctors tend not to file malpractice lawsuits, so I just kept hoping that maybe each time I returned to the dealer, that THIS would be the time that all would be fixed.

Even with all of the problems, I took delivery of a new 2004 S500 in October 2003. Let me begin by saying that virtually everything that was an issue on the 2000 has been corrected. The car has been almost problem free for the first 20,000 miles. The only item that seems to be a problem is the only item that was not on the 2000....the 7G-tronic transmission. The car is in the shop at this moment, having the transmission computer control module being replaced ( and maybe the entire transmission? ).

Moral of the story is Mercedes is a great car, except for the first year of production. I will probably get the new body style, but it will NOT be the first year of production. Good luck !

 

Thank you all so much for the replies. That was perfect. Also its not a problem that the new W221 is coming because im sure my dad will just replace this one when the W221 comes out. Im just trying to make sure he gets what he wants.

:edit:

In fact he told me he will get a W221 when it comes out. I know those are gonna be marked up to hell.

 

I have also been researching w220's for quite some time. Although the current market makes the 2000's quite attractive price wise (alot of S500's in the sub 40k range), I would avoid them and at least attempt a 01 or 02. From a pracitcal standpoint, you would probably be better served by a 01 or 02 430 than a 00 500 (even though you would arrive a couple seconds later!)

No matter which model you choose a good warranty IS A MUST!!!! Also as another member pointed out, staying away from a first MY example of a new chassis (w221) is probably a wise choice.

Good luck.

 

it will be an 06 model that we get. I would post pics of it, but i dont wanna jinx it. you know how that goes.