Oh boy...buy an S65?
04-22-2015, 08:22 PM
#26
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Manhasset NewYork
Posts: 38
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
2008 Mercedes Benz S550 4Matic
I will say get s65,you are not only get less maintainance money,insurance and payment,but you got a real performance+luxury car.I think S65 is all go car since its amg and 4matic
04-22-2015, 10:25 PM
#30
Alex, I'm sure many of us appreciate your contributions to this board. You do seem to have more knowledge of these cars than the average browser of this board. But you come off with a certain brashness and your oft used hyperbole can be off putting. I certainly understand that the S65 is a different animal than the S600
04-23-2015, 02:58 AM
#31
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Honolulu, HI
Posts: 372
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
06' E500 Estate, '08 S65, '05 S430
04-23-2015, 03:08 AM
#32
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Honolulu, HI
Posts: 372
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
06' E500 Estate, '08 S65, '05 S430
My pleasure, the best thing is to go drive it as suggested above. For me, the car either feels special or it doesn't. As suggested above it either makes your skin tingle or it doesn't.
I've been considering a replacement for my wife's aging E500 Wagon. It's a difficult decision because there is no E550 (which would be easy) and my wife is not as aggressive as I am in driving. So the E350 is too slow the E63 seems over the top. So, I drove the E63 (MSRP around $118K+) and it was like "meh?"
When you really push it, it's amazing, but somehow not as special as an S65 or even my SL55 (old supercharged version). So, it's kind of hard to see oneself spending the extra dough, when it doesn't feel super special.
See what your feel is. When the roads were bad here in Hawaii, I can tell you there were many days were I wished I had bought a S600. Now that they've re-paved everything, I'm loving my S65.
Even going from the SL55 to the S65 is an amazing contrast. The SL55 is a little rough in the idle, really low to the ground, and pretty V8 burbly rumbly. It is a very refined car relatively, but then (as you know with the S600), the delivery and smoothness of the V12 plus the quietness and reduction in NVH in the S class in general makes the SL feel really un-refined.
Long story short, when I want to go in quiet and in smoothness I drive the S, when I'm feeling a little more feisty, I drive the SL.
Point is these AMGs all have different characters so you just need to drive the specific model and year you are interested in.
Also, BTW, depending upon how well taken care of and tuned the S65 is matters a lot as well. You need to give the adaptive throttle time to adapt to you. Also, when my injectors were dirty, there was significantly less power than after I got them power cleaned. Also, when one of my coils was going, it was a lot less powerful. The accelerator adaptation makes a big difference because the V12 (as you know) is bi-turbo, so if the accelerator is not adapted to your current style, the turbos will not spin up fast enough and you'll notice a lag before the full power kicks in (which is either bad or a rush depending upon whether your specifically trying to fit through a traffic hole). My point is, give it a good long drive and hope that your testing one that is well cared for because there is a lot of potential variation as they get older.
BTW, I have driven the S63 (new model) 4Matic and think it's amazing. The telematics are quite a bit nicer of course. The major downside to the new body style is the trunk which to look prettier is quite a bit smaller.
J
I've been considering a replacement for my wife's aging E500 Wagon. It's a difficult decision because there is no E550 (which would be easy) and my wife is not as aggressive as I am in driving. So the E350 is too slow the E63 seems over the top. So, I drove the E63 (MSRP around $118K+) and it was like "meh?"
When you really push it, it's amazing, but somehow not as special as an S65 or even my SL55 (old supercharged version). So, it's kind of hard to see oneself spending the extra dough, when it doesn't feel super special.
See what your feel is. When the roads were bad here in Hawaii, I can tell you there were many days were I wished I had bought a S600. Now that they've re-paved everything, I'm loving my S65.
Even going from the SL55 to the S65 is an amazing contrast. The SL55 is a little rough in the idle, really low to the ground, and pretty V8 burbly rumbly. It is a very refined car relatively, but then (as you know with the S600), the delivery and smoothness of the V12 plus the quietness and reduction in NVH in the S class in general makes the SL feel really un-refined.
Long story short, when I want to go in quiet and in smoothness I drive the S, when I'm feeling a little more feisty, I drive the SL.
Point is these AMGs all have different characters so you just need to drive the specific model and year you are interested in.
Also, BTW, depending upon how well taken care of and tuned the S65 is matters a lot as well. You need to give the adaptive throttle time to adapt to you. Also, when my injectors were dirty, there was significantly less power than after I got them power cleaned. Also, when one of my coils was going, it was a lot less powerful. The accelerator adaptation makes a big difference because the V12 (as you know) is bi-turbo, so if the accelerator is not adapted to your current style, the turbos will not spin up fast enough and you'll notice a lag before the full power kicks in (which is either bad or a rush depending upon whether your specifically trying to fit through a traffic hole). My point is, give it a good long drive and hope that your testing one that is well cared for because there is a lot of potential variation as they get older.
BTW, I have driven the S63 (new model) 4Matic and think it's amazing. The telematics are quite a bit nicer of course. The major downside to the new body style is the trunk which to look prettier is quite a bit smaller.
J
Last edited by jeffreyy; 04-23-2015 at 03:11 AM.
