JFDoering

I bought my 2006 S600 in August of 2014 with 59,819 miles on it. In the first year, I spent $14,839.19 on repairs (not maintenance) and the vehicle was in the dealer's shop 79 days. In year two, I spent $8,936.04 on repairs and the car spent 171 days in the shop. Up to May 16 of this year, I spent another $2,734.36 on repairs and it spent another 69 days in the shop. Total for less than three years on repairs is $26,510.09 and 319 days in the shop. The vehicle is still extremely unreliable, never reluctant to leave me stranded on a whim, so it is sitting in my garage. I am driving my uber-reliable 1994 Chevrolet Impala SS instead.

Welwynnick

Engine:
210 Rebuilt turbos with engine insitu
118 Engine mounts in situ
5 Long coil pack heat shields
1 Synchronised waste-gates
325 (MB Service)
46 Diverter valves
7 T-bolt clamps
109 Engine radiator
99 Engine fan
857 Coil pack
6 Throttle body gasket
295 (IgnitionSwitch)

Transmission:
395 Transmission rebuild
250 (Torqueconverterrebuild)
94 Conductor plate
8 TCM Connector
98 Oil, filter & gasket
34 Transmission mount
35 TCM Lock Lever

Suspension:
600 Wide front wheels & tyres
300 Compression jointed hoses
100 Fire sleeved hoses
10 Uprated front strut bushes
5 Uprated steering bushes
200 Rear struts
243 ABC pump
96 ABC accumulator
20 ABC heightsensor
74 Bottom ball Joints

Charge cooling:
99 Engine radiator HE
100 Engine cooling pump
140 Custom pump controller
12 Coolant temp sensor
32 Header tank
12 Charge Cooler Bleeders
7 Insulated Charge Coolers

Consumables:
5 Windscreen seal
1 Raised rear seat cushion
100 Front tyres
192 Front discs
56 Front pads
100 Rear tyres
109 Rear discs
34 Rear pads
28 Rear shoes
76 Ball joints
57 Battery
158 Spark plugs
33 Speed sensors
55 Lambda sensors
68 Temp sensors
37 Boost sensor
50 Rain sensor
30 Lots of O-rings

To-do List:
Intake pipe heat shields
ABC water cooling
Android Head Unit
Fuel pump

All costs are in GBP.
Some parts are new and some are used.
Many were imported.
These are the costs over 5 years and just 16k miles.
Apart from one quite reasonable MB dealer service and a few other tasks (in brackets) where I paid someone, all the work was done by me, and that was a lot of work.
If I'd had to pay someone, it wouldn't have been economically viable at all.

In summary the costs very roughly break down like this:

Consumables: £900
Modifications: £900
Repairs: £900
Coil pack: £900

Nick

hyperion667

Can we see the custom interior?

tusabes

wow was this at a Mercedes dealer or independent shop?

my Mercedes dealer "recommended " $20,000 of suggested work in my car that ran perfectly . I declined it all and it still runs perfectly . If yours stranded you multiple times what were the issues ?

Welwynnick

AlexMercedes

I'm surprised anyone has spent that much on maintaining their S600. I bought mine all beat up and neglected, but only put about $5k into it in the past 3 years with 20k miles. I haven't touched ABC at all, and it gave me no major issues. Only issue I have had with it is a bad ride height sensor and unresponsive height adjustment switch on the dash.

My main problems consisted of misfires, which were solved with two new coil packs and 24 new spark plugs, along with fully rebuilt voltage transformer. Oh and the usual W220 issues such as CPS, gas pedal, map sensors, and other minor electronic gizmos.

I am really curious how one fellow spent 26k in repairs when he bought a 3 model year newer, 40k less miles example around the same time I bought mine and spent 20k more than I have. Is it perfectionism? I can live with many things wrong with the car, but as long as the drivetrain is running properly I don't really care for much else.

ItalianJoe1

Without doing specific math, I paid 13.5k for my second CL600, 2003, 75k miles. Over the last 1.5 years and about 10k miles, I've spent about 8k in parts on repairs/maintenance, doing all the work myself. That does include a $1200 set of downpipes though. Nice part is, now i'm ahead of the curve, all the suspension works flawlessly and the car has no leaks. It's in far better shape and much more reliable than when I got it, and it's been expensive, but when it's working there is just no other car like it. From here I hope the expense curve smooths out.

Also, Nick, is that really your car?

shooffnyc

I'm wondering the same here as well.

Welwynnick

I'm a little more down to earth than that.

This is my car:

AlexMercedes

The fitment on those wheels looks perfect. What's your setup?

Welwynnick

I'm particularly pleased with them. They're AMG ML wheels, 20 x 9.5 x 40mm ET, with 275/30 tires all round. They're more sensitive to broken surfaces than stock wheels, but the handling is fantastic, it feels like a lighter car.

As far as the looks are concerned, they fill the arches without over-filling them, if you see what I mean. I wanted to keep close to stock looks and usability as possible.

Nick

AlexMercedes

It looks incredible, is it lowered a bit too? My only concern is the front 275s. Are there any rubbing or scraping issues? Also, what's the advantage of this compared to a staggered setup? Thanks.

Welwynnick

I did tweak the ride height a bit. The front is 10mm lower. I wanted to get the wheels to sit centred within the arch. The width and offset also work out just right, so it's flush with the sides. I think it looks spot on.

The advantage is in handling. Staggered wheels might work well with a tail-heavy car, but the S600 is nose-heavy. A square configuration makes it feel balanced. When you turn the wheel, the front turns like you want it to, obediently but not over-enthusiastically. Grip levels are huge.

Basically, it doesn't roll, doesn't understeer, doesn't oversteer and maintains that ideal behaviour right up to enormous limits. How enormous? Well, according to the car tests, the best large SUVs like the X5, X6, GLE, GLS and even Q7 can corner faster than the S600 or S65, clocking 0.90 or 0.95g on the skidpan. The BMW X6M even managed 1.01g - better than an M3!. The best S-class manage about 0.86 / 0.87g.

How do they do that? Active anti-roll bars and big, fat tires - typically 295's. So, keep the tires flat on the road, and fit enough rubber, and you get huge grip, despite the weight and height. A W220, with less weight and lower cg can only be better, so the potential is great - it's just never been realised before.

Anyway, it still rides well, and hardly wears the tires out. What's not to like? It's a real pleasure to drive.

Nick

tusabes

that last part is crucial . My s430 with same size tires on all 4 wheels would barely wear its rear tires

my cl500 with staggered rear tires would eat up the rear tires every 12000 miles

im wondering if going same size all around will extend my rear tire life

wallyp

Michelin apparently thinks so - you will get double the wear warranty as with the staggered sizes.

amstel78

In hindsight, I paid too much for my S65. Bought it in January of this year with 55k on the clock for $27k delivered. Shortly thereafter, it needed a new passenger side coil pack, new plugs, sharkfin antenna cover, trunk struts, pulsation damper, front lower plastic engine splash tray, and fasteners. All in all, I've probably spent about $1500 on assorted parts, with all of the labor being done by me. Only dealer item was having both keys recoded so KG works.

Upcoming: new motor mounts and front end control arms and bushings.

TenZero

Dude, you got a 600 hp, 200k car, of which there were less than 500 imported, for the price of a new Camry.
SCORE.

TenZero

Jan of 2017, I see this craigslist ad. It seems to be a fairly nice 2004 S600 for $5k. But? total ABC failure, sacked out on the bumpstops and undriveable. I go look, with $4500 in my pocket, (for an absolute creampuff). It is a decent car, but not a creampuff. It has 78k miles.

Downside: ABC is dead, and has a $2900 quote from the dealer to fix. and it's been bonked in the nose and poorly repaired, Blue Book is 8k if it is perfect, and running. It is not perfect, and it is not driveable. It is a 10 footer, every panel has a mistake or scratch somewhere. Blue book is about $7500, to me, if it ran.

Upside: Interior is actually 78k mile perfect, leather is showroom, has a new Pioneer bluetooth touchscreen head unit with back up cam, and it has a set of S63 AMG 20" wheels and new tires on it. Starts and runs, but with check engine lights and dreaded misfire codes.

I offer half the ask, we haggle, and eventually seller accepts $2700. I have it towed to my house on a super low race car hauler after being refused by normal flat bed tow truck driver fro being too low.

Wife freaks the f*ck out at a dead Mercedes in the driveway. She does not care at all that it was a great deal, and "I can fix it".

I didn't even try to fix ABC, I order both Strutmasters (get here quick) and Yellowspeed (way better all around) kits to delete ABC.

I ended up with the Yellowspeed coilover kit, plus the Strutmaster warning light module. works great.

Car is now a daily driver, but Power steering tandem pump failed after 5k miles of running ABC side dry. Successfully converted V12 to V8 PS only pump for about 200 bucks all in. Works great!

CAR: $2700
YSR struts $1300
SM module $ 200
washer tank $ 49
radiator hose $ 78
spark plugs $ 160
Valve cover gaskets $ 84
V12/V8 PS pump cnv$ 200
Oil change $ 50
Coolant/Pentosin $ 100
WORK: aprox 40+ hrs

At about 85kmiles now, and everything is pretty much sorted. So I have a 500bhp luxury car for around $5k invested, or about the price of a beater Corolla. My Daughter drives it to school. Pics below, you can also see how she sits on the Yellowspeed kit with the S63 AMG 20's:

Welwynnick

Your daughter drives it school?!?!

My daughter drives a 1300cc Ford Ka.

Nick

wallyp

(Nick, This is not criticism of you, nor an attack on your choices as a father! This is simply an effort to point out a virtue of the W220 that is often overlooked in the many "Is it really worth it?" threads.)

TenZero, you can be really happy about how much safer your daughter is in the S600 than she would be in the beater Corolla that she could be driving. I don't know how the traffic is on your area, but here it is an everyday adventure, and not a fun one. It is a rare short trip when some idiot doesn't pull directly out in front of me, or tailgate, or cut me off.

amstel78

Well done!!!

I'm sure your daughter must love it! Who wouldn't?

TenZero

I was seriously shopping for an inexpensive but safe car like a Corolla or Civic for my daughter when I found the S600 ad on Craigslist. The wheels started turning in my head, and I concluded that the 600 met and exceeded basically all my criteria for a great car for my kid:

1 It was cheap!
2 She could not be driving anything safer! (I feel sorry for whoever she hits though)
3 She loves it! (So it is a very powerful incentive to do whatever Dad says)
4 It was a fantastic lesson in buying a rundown castoff and doing all the work necessary to resurrect it. She worked hard on it with me, learned a lot, and has great pride in the result.
5 Because it's not an only vehicle, dependability is less of a concern, although so far, it's been quite reliable.
6 I vicariously get to have the coolest car in the high school parking lot, finally.

*I will add that I consider my daughter to be a very, very good driver, and this was not her first car. She's had a few years of racetrack time in Miatas before she got her license, and she is proving to be very responsible with a 500 bhp V12.

wallyp

A perfect list of considerations.

Great bonding time, and great training! I am especially glad to hear of a daughter who is learning about how to do things. I always wonder how people manage to live who can't do any basic repairs - home or cars - and have to hire someone to come in to replace a light switch.

Welwynnick

My daughter loves her little car, and wouldn't have anything else. Even my wife avoids driving the Benz - maybe we have much smaller roads over here?

Anyhow, I do have a second S600, and my son will be learning to drive soon....

Nick

TenZero

Thanks for the compliment. With my children, I always try to remember that while of course I'm responsible for their safety and well being, I'm also somewhat responsible for the kind of adult they will become. What i mean is this: Want your kid to become a car enthusiast like you are? Help get them set up with something they can be enthusiastic about, whether it's a S-class rescue, a Miata, Jeep project, or whatever. As they develop enthusiasm, skills, and pride in what they accomplish, I think they become more capable, well adjusted adults. My daughter can drive fast laps in a real Miata, rather than on Xbox. I'll bet there aren't 5 other kids in her whole school who even know what a V12 is, but she actually works on one, drives one, and understands why it's so unique. Those are lessons and skills that she's worked hard to acquire, and will serve her throughout life, long after I'm gone.

We are responsible for raising the next generation of car enthusiasts. It doesn't just happen.

Anyway, back to topic.