Hey everyone! Exciting times, I've just bought my 4th merc.
Previously had an R170, R171 SLK55 and a junk E class.. Now, W220 S600 biturbo... something I've been chasing for a long time.

Firstly, I have a youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/QUICKSHIFTtv) where I'm covering the build of a V12 twin turbo Supra... and the idea was to grab this S600 as a tow car for taking it to events... why not?? We are going to cover a heap of things in videos about the S600 too, in case anyone is interested in following along with the journey. I expect the car to arrive next week (it is being transported ~4000kms to get here)

The purchase itself was a fun story. I bought it non-running... had it towed to the depot but the ABC suspension had sagged too far and they couldn't load it onto the truck. So I had MB send a new genuine (omg $$) ignition voltage transformer to the depot as that was my best guess for getting it running, and whooo it worked! So now my broken S600 is fixed before I even receive it.

Naturally I'm already planning what to do with it but theres so little information out there about how they're built.

First question, can anyone tell me if the transmission differs in internals / strength to the S65 models, or are they the same? I'd like to know how much torque I can push without being worried.
Second question, do they have a limited slip differential or is it one of those fake LSDs that squeeze the rear brakes like my SLK55 did? I saw ONE video of an S600 taking off abruptly on youtube and it left a single line, which makes me assume the latter

My VIN for reference is WDB2201762A352608

Should be some fun things going on. I own a workshop with a dyno and tuning, modification and fabrication facilities ... so the first thing I'll do is shove it on the rollers and see how much power it puts down. Then start playing.

Thanks for your time!
ps. God damn blue is ugly.

 

Welcome! Nice looking S600. Keep us updated with the progress. Please post your VIN as it will help others answer your questions.

 

Thanks, have updated the original post with VIN

 

I’ve always wanted a horizon blue s600! I think it’s beautiful . Want to trade for a black cl600?



the best tune module is the kleemann tune on eBay , kleemann sells direct

where is the car located ? I’m in California. Seems like you might be in Europe which would make a trade impossible lol

 

Thanks for the tip on the kleeman tune! I'm in Australia, even harder maybe haha. I love black but I've never had any love for the CL chassis.
Amusingly, this car was imported from the UK to Australia. Why not send it on a world tour? lol

 

Also, how many people are running remapped ECUs on this forum? Any experiences of driveline failures, turbo failures etc as a result of the increase?

 

Welcome to S600 ownership! It's going to be a very rough journey for you, as all of us s600 owners have had, but at the end when everything has been sorted you'll get to experience one of the best cars ever made for its time.

Regarding an ecu remap - if the coils haven't been replaced, they will most likely blow shortly after tuning the ecu. The added stress to the ignition system is enough to cause an old coil pack to start to fail. I had to go through this and would recommend buying reman coil packs from v12icpack.com - their coils even hold up better than the original ones!

 

The coils will blow even without a tune if they are older , that’s the weakest link of the v12. But yeah a tune just exacerbate the failure . Other driveline components are stout

 

Thanks for the tip. Given I just blew AUD2k on this ignition transformer (I know they can be had cheaper, but I needed to solve it fast and it does have a 2 year dealer warranty as a bonus).... I have been considering replacing both banks of coils 'just because'.

The journey is already rough, but I got it so cheap that I can afford to be a little reckless. And my current car (Lexus GS) has not been well behaved.. lots of faults... I figure it's gotta be better than that.

 

Is it evident if one coil on a cylinder is dead? I mean, the other will still ignite the charge so it'll still run just fine... does the ECU throw a fault?

 

Also, has anyone tried these Chinese coils?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/163481120250

Sending my coils to USA to be reconditioned is quite difficult, delivery from here to there and back is either slow or expensive.

 

You’ll get a check engine light and individual cylinder misfire obd codes . Usually not all 1-6 or 7-12 will have a misfire code

never tried the Chinese coil . Like everyone else I bought from Clark at v12icpack.com

but buying from Mercedes for the 2 year warranty is good too if you are going to push it hard. From time to time some auto parts retailers like fcpeuro offers a lifetime warranty but I think they stopped selling it due to warranty costs

 

Please, for the love of god, do not go with the chinese coils. Or used ones. You don't want to go down that rabbit hole. I've had to go through 5 different pairs of coil packs before I finally settled on getting them from Clark which has never failed me.

Clark from v12icpack offers an option for if you don't want to deal with returning cores back and forth. If you just want a coil pack sent to you with no back-and-forth returning of cores it will run you 900 per coil pack - where it would usually be 700 if you return your core. If you would rather pay an extra 400 just to not deal with the hassle of returning cores then that is up to you, but still at 900 per side it is a very good option so I would recommend it.

 

Thanks very much, I wil l scratch the chinese option off my list. I did notice the option on clark's website last night. Mint!

 

I messaged Kleeman and they at least had this to say about the driveline:

"The gearbox and diff are the same in 600 and 65, so not to worry there."

If that's true, then we should have no issue pushing 1000nm reliably. We just have to deal with achieving it on smaller turbos and displacement.

 

The driveline parts are very tough, and will not normally break from power. The Diff is open, no LSD, and the 65 parts are slightly different, they have bigger axles and different output flanges to match, but i've yet to see a 600 tear up anything that far back. Internal trans failures are usually no more than a function of age/lack of maintenance, and there is everything you need out there for the 722.6 as it is a very common trans, look into the Chrysler guys running them as the NAG1 for upgrade parts without the 'MB tax'.

 

Hi, I asked clark to rent a coil pack left side . He asked to pay 1400 first and packed it up even though I said ok to pay. So I had to cancel it. And I asked to send my VT that i asked him to check which he said good. He sent it in usps mail . Post office confirmed it delivered to my house . But it's gone ,lost. Better have it certified. Is 1400 the price he charges for rent a coil pack up front ?

Thanks , john
03 s600 175k mi.

 

He charges full price plus shipping and tax upfront in case of the event you never return it

sounds like your problem is with the post office

 

I can tell you from personal experience a lot of that is going around right now. It took a 16 days for a check to travel five miles where I live.

 

Thank you, So prices is 1400 for 1 coil pack? I thought 900. Post office got all the record by timely manner until dropped off at house. It shows dropped off at house.
I should get a security camera .
Thank you , john
03 s600 TT 175k mi.

 

A coil pack lists for a bit over $1,400 at the Dealer, about $700 from Clark at https://www.v12icpack.com/ - but he has a $300 core charge.

Check out Clark's site - for $700, you get a rebuilt coil that works perfectly. He will let you rent one for $90, which can be very valuable for troubleshooting. So, call him up, get one shipped to you for $90 + core. Install it. IF it doesn't fix your problem, you're out the $90 + shipping when you return it to Clark.

If it fixes your problem, refund the $90, pay the $700, and ship him your old one. It's a great service.

Or, go pay $1,400 at the dealer and hope your diagnosis was good...

 

Definitely go with Clark!

 

To be clear , You do have to pay all the money upfront as a deposit to rent with Clark , to protect him against people who don’t return it

you can’t just pay $90 and rent a coil pack . Too much risk of people never returning it if he didn’t hold deposit upfront

 

There is on this forum a very well researched 'engineering' analysis of WHY the Mercedes coil packs routinely fail. The parts are not properly designed and manufactured.

Several hundred turns of very fine copper wire are tightly wrapped around a cylindrical iron tube to generate some 60,000 volts used to 'fire' the primary spark plug in a cylinder (which has dual sparkplugs) A few milliseconds later a much much lower voltage (1,000 volts) is applied to the second spark plug and the current that flows is measured and compared to that of a 'perfect combustion event'. Perfect' combustion will have a higher current consumption across the secondary coil because the residual gas from combustion is hotter and has much lower electrical resistance. The Mercedes system 'recognizes' a lower current consumption as a 'misfire,' and after a small number of these will 'turn-on'' the ''Check Engine" error light which will stay on until reset by a suitable 'code-scanner.'

Unfortunately, the iron 'cylinder', around which the very fine copper wire is tightly wound, RUSTS in service. When iron rusts, it physically EXPANDS, and the iron cylinder increases in diameter, causing the very fine copper wire to stretch and break. The location of the break is uncertain and different in each failure, sometimes causing the power supply circuitry to also fail.
The recommended U.S. manufacturer uses a different, non-rusting iron alloy and his coils do not fail.
I do not have ANY information showing or claiming the Chinese manufacturer also improves the original design to prevent the rusting caused failure.

 

A comment about the differential - they are strong, but they can fail. My wife and I were driving down a straight, smooth Interstate one Saturday evening, when the 2003 S430 suddenly thumped and jumped slightly, as if I had run over something in the road. About fifteen miles later, we exited from the Interstate, onto a smoothly curving ninety degree ramp. As we started turning, the diff suddenly got very noisy, and the horrible grinding and crunching noises continued as we straightened out on the cross-street. A couple of hundred yards later, I coaxed it into a restaurant parking lot, where the flat-bed picked it up Sunday morning. I didn't bother doing an autopsy. To my amazement, I was able to purchase an exact replacement on eBay for $95, including shipment half-way across the US!

And a really weird addendum - three or four months later, on the same Interstate, same direction, within two miles of the exact spot, the rear diff on my wife's Chevy Suburban did exactly the same thing! In this case, when it quit wanting to move, I just put the Suburban into "Four-Wheel - High" and drove it home. The local diff replacement was $135 from a junkyard...