I went this weekend to pick up a 2005 S600 with 54k miles on it. Pictures looked great. Car dealer assured me car was in excellent condition. Clean carfax with some service records. So anyhow......got there and the car was cosmetically OK. Exterior was good. Few minor dings, but good paint and showed nicely. Tires and rims in good shape. Started well (cold start) and ran nicely. Interior was OK. Leather and carpets in good condition. Missing 1 adjustment on the front seat and one of the ac vent controls was broken in the back seat (just the little handle part that sticks out of the vent). No big deal. Then the test drive. Drove straight and smooth, but when I stood on it from 20 mph, it just accelerated, would not break tires loose. Felt strong compared to my wifes 2014 land cruiser, but absolutely NOTHING like the 2006 s65 I drove last week. That 65 would light the trac light up when I was going 40. When I floored the s600 from dead stop, it did spin the tires and the trac light stayed on until i was going 20 or so, but i was expecting the car to be an absolute monster and spin the tires to at least 40 or so..... It had continentals with a 340 treadwear rating so shouldnt have been super sticky tires. I learned a painful lesson doing this as I wasted the whole weekend looking at this car. I know I will have to drive one of these cars rather than buy based on pictures. I also know telling how a car spins tires is probably a **** poor way to gauge power due to wide variations in traction under different circumstances, but I'm telling you that s65 was a monster and I thought the s600 should be monster lite.

We stopped and looked at another s600 on the way home that was a pos. Just took a chance and drove by. I don't know how you can beat a car up this bad in 90k miles. ripped seats, gearshift knob loose and keyless go didn't work. When driving the car it took off strong and then acted like it was out of gear and just revved. It went back into gear after shifting to neutral and then back into gear, I babied it back to the dealer (which looked like a junkyard). I was trying to get a feel for what a "normal" s600 should drive like. Still don't have a good idea as there aren't any down here in south mississippi.

Can anyone enlighten me as to what I should expect in a good s600. Thinking real hard about the s65, but don't like the color so much, but it is mechanically sound.

So anyhow, just sharing my experience and let this serve as a warning. Next one I buy, I will pimp the owner and ask more detailed questions, and not take "everything works" and "the car is very clean" and "you're gonna fall in love with this car" BS!

Thanks

 

Why are you looking into a Mercedes-Benz S600 as a car to beat the sh*t out of and drive like a complete maniac? You realize that these cars are made for the pure essence of luxury and extremely smooth and comfortable ride quality right? They are not made for people like you trying to get a thrill out of slamming the gas pedal. If you're looking into doing that for whatever reason, please don't do it to a 5,000 pound luxury yacht. Go do it to a mustang or some sh*t. Clearly, you do not understand how lucky it is to find a rare car like this in the condition you described it, so don't make it worse for anyone who is actually in the market for these types of cars.

 

It's on autotrader now and still available. My apologies if I offended anyone with the above post . Perhaps I can explain what I am looking for. I like fast cars. I don't go around spinning the tires like a high school kid. I am looking for a safe family car that is also high performance. I would get a mustang, but want something a bit safer for the family. I would argue that the higher performance mercedes are in part made for people that like to get on the gas and drive fast and what I would do with that car would in no way make it worse. I enjoyed watching videos of the renntech s600 accelerating on youtube.

If I wanted the pure essence of luxury and extremely smooth and comfortable ride quality, I'd get a lexus ls460. Wife likes it better than the S600 , more reliable (fact), better color selection(imho). Also quite boring to me.

 

Just like Alex pointed out, you are looking at the wrong car for what you have in mind. Spinning tires at 40 ?? If you don't mind me asking, how old are you ?? The S600 is not made to spin tires at 20 or even 40. So if I was you, I would be looking at different car, maybe some japanese or something. Good luck !

 

I am not looking to spin the tires for fun. I just thought the car would have enough power to do that. From watching the videos on youtube, when they are accelerating 0-100 the trac light is on until the car is doing over 40 mph. The preferred way to accelerate would be to keep out of the throttle as much and stay at the limits of traction. I know your s500 4matic should just hook up and go which is great.

Note this S600 (does have an ecu tune)


I probably need to drive a few more of these cars at road speed to get a better idea of the norm, but that s600 just seemed a lot weaker compared to the s65 than i expected. It certainly did not act anything like the s600 in the youtube video. Just saying.

If you have any recommendations on a better high performance luxury family wagon, I am all ears.

 

This car has been modded, the fact it went past 155mph is a dead give away

 

I would love to help but unfortunately I do not know any family wagon that would spin tires at 40

 

You've obviously never driven an s65!

 

S65 is not a wagon my friend and my prior car was a V10 M5

 

Touchè good sir.

 

You can't compare a tuned s600 to a regular s600. Regular s600 was designed by the factory for smooth acceleration not breaking grip at 20 or 40mph. If you get it tuned then yes it can do that


Sounds like you are really looking for a tuned s600 or s65 so you'd just be wasting your time looking at stock s600 and seeing if they'll light up the tires while rolling

 

Ironically, my S600 DOES have the Renntech ECU upgrade. Previous owner beat the hell out of the car. I couldn't put it down though, was the only W220 I've ever seen with all options on it (including four place seating with rear massage). The car still runs like a champ, I barely drive like a maniac with it even with the added 130+ horsepower from the ECU tune. I do like the sexy custom exhaust the previous owner did, sounds orgasmic to the ears. But yeah in short, don't look at an S600 as a car to do things like this to (coming from a Renntech tuned S600 owner). I would suggest an E63 AMG. Big enough for the family, and mightily fast at the same time.

 

Maybe it is me but I can't seem to understand why there are so many haters here? It seems like LAHOMEBUYER asked a legitimate question about power and traction for a S600. Then a few jump on him saying he should go buy a Japanese car instead and what not.
If it makes you feel better great, have fun.

Now I have never driven a S600 myself but I feel I am in the same boat as you when I am looking for a car. I am a MB person and proud of it. I loved my S55 but felt I NEEDED the V12TT. I did not even consider the S600 because I knew deep down I needed a car I can take my family in and it had to be able to kick *** just in case. I think that is the old Corvette and muscle guy in me. So the S65 was in my eyes my only option. I am sure the S600 is a awesome machine but I feel it was actually built for the older guys(I'm 42) that want smooth powerful and luxuriousness.
I would say just go and get the S65 you will love it!
My only problem now is I have already tuned my S65 and now I want more toys. I am thinking down pipes and cold air intakes. Maybe someday I will grow up but I will enjoy the ride until that never happens.
Good luck!
Johan

 

Thanks.... I have come to the same conclusion. The stock s600 was nothing like the tuned ones on youtube or the s65. I'll be looking for an s65. The s65 should hold its value better too since there were fewer of them made (just a guess here) and be the gorilla in a tuxedo that I am looking for . Thanks for all the input.

 

The 600s come from the factory VERY de-tuned, and are set up to do two things. First, they are set up to be smooth- like an NA V12, which is why the tiny turbos hit peak boost at around 2000 rpm (if not less) before leveling out. Second, they are set up to shift seamlessly- so they start off in second gear, take a long couple of seconds to down shift (even at 20 or 30 MPH, the car was probably already in 3rd or 4th gear if you got up to speed gingerly), and then they'll drop 1 gear, in most cases.

This is why so many people go for the ECU and TCU software- it un-de-tunes (that's a word now) the cars, then pushes them a few % points further. meanwhile, the TCU will shift more aggressively, hold gears longer, and move shift points to match peak torque and maximize acceleration, rather than "softness".

As for everyone telling you to go get a Mustang ... I dunno, man. I'd ignore that noise. Get the V12 you want and drive it how you want to. Anyone who has a problem with how YOU drive YOUR car is probably a communist, anyway.

 

Well said- the guys who are telling people how they should want to drive their own cars are completely beyond me.

Anyway, in re: the intakes, the "cold air intakes" won't do you much good if you don't address the factory intercoolers. If you look at how air is routed into them, it's a weird kink that narrows the effective opening that allows airflow in. That's a serious choke point, and anything done ahead of that (airboxes, bigger filters, etc.) will net you a few WHP.

 

Thanks for the heads up! I will dig into her in a few short months when the snow flies and see what is in there for myself.
Johan