EuroMerch

Hello guys,
I was recently very interested in the 07-09 S600's and I've been searching on CarGuru's, Cars, Craigslist, Autotrader, etc..

I found a 2007 S600 w/ 81k miles.

How much would you think it would be worth? or a fair deal atleast?
I am located in Cary, NC and I'd have to pick it up in California.

Shoot your suggestions/thoughts

Thanks!

DaveW68

Don't do it....unless you can somehow obtain exclusionary warranty coverage or have very deep pockets for repair costs.

I have warranty coverage on my 2007 S600 that I purchased in Nov, 2014 with 24k miles. I'm currently at 45k miles and my warranty has already paid out over $11k. At 81k starting miles, I can't imagine the expenses that you'd be looking at in the future.

IMO, it would be much cheaper in the long run to purchase a newer, low mileage S600 that you can obtain reasonably priced warranty coverage on. Sure, you might spend $15k or so more on the car and warranty coverage, but that $15k extra is likely a lot less than you'd spend on repairs over 3 or so years on a non-covered 2007.

gotthebenz?

Around $20k.

Polar Bear

There are several schools of thought on this... The S600 is a premium sedan. It does everything wonderfully. But as usual, premium=expensive even way after depreciation. Although it is $130k off sticker, parts have not come down, nor has labor.

Most things that were going to fail probably have been remediated by now I would think. But, if something does fail, it can get expensive it you don't do some of the work yourself.

Many people think the higher mileage examples are more reliable than the garage queens, and there are some truth to this.

Mine has been very reliable, however I do a good amount of my own work. I am not going to pull the engine to replace the turbos if they fail, however. With that said, turbos are reliable if you 1) change your oil often with recommended MB approved synthetic oil and not skimp on that. To really protect yourself, change your oil two times as often as the maintenance book recommends. and 2) allow the engine to idle for 30 seconds or more before shutting it off which allows the turbos to spin down and not continue rotating after oil has stopped being circulated.

This really applies to all fluids in the car - ABC, power steering, brake fluid, etc. It will save you money in the long run.

Is this your first W221? What draws you to this model?

DaveW68

1. It is completely unnecessary to change the oil in these cars more than once per year or 12k miles....unless driving all the time in a very dirty and dusty climate. By the time 12k miles has rolled around, the synthetic is usually still in very good shape and could probably go much longer under normal conditions. The only time you should change the oil sooner is if you're running the old dino oil, which is obviously not recommended for these cars.

2. This "turbo cooling" by letting the car idle before shut down is very old school and not applicable to modern turbochargers. If you're doing it, then you're needlessly burning gas and polluting the air.

3. There is no need to change any of the other fluids prematurely either. That would be another waste of money.

Polar Bear

I would have agreed that turbochargers have come a long way since the 1980s, and oil has as well. There is less likely of the chance of oil "coking" on the bearings and wearing them prematurely as well as seal damage. So taking into account this and 30+ years later, I subscribed to the same theory that you wrote here. I personally don't change my oil twice as often, but I don't drive it often either.

I decided to ask a friend that I have known virtually all my life who works for BorgWarner Turbo Systems as an Application Engineer for 18 years. Many of their turbos are OEM for Mercedes-Benz, particularly in the older days, and they are a German company. I have went in the plant on a tour with him witnessing stress testing turbochargers glowing bright red for extended periods. I asked him how important it was to "idle down" a turbo to prolong its life as we did when Grand Nationals were new, and I assumed it no longer applied. He assured me it did indeed apply. I don't run my S600 hard or my Grand National on any regular basis, but if I had just been into either of them hard, I will certainly not turn them off immediately after parking.

It's safe to say all aspects have advanced, but this still does apply, particularly after racing or "spirited driving."

ABC is something people generally ignore unless it fails. If it is not maintained, it will fail. If maintained, it will have a long service life.

I change my oil based on time as I don't approach 12k /yr. I have also owned many turbocharged cars, and have never had one to fail.

Based off of your statements, where do you get your data to back up this?

In regards to "to polluting the air" I respectfully must say that is almost a moot point considering we are driving biturbo V12 powered vehicles.

I know others at the same plant, and the feedback I have received from them has been consistent.

If you have not run your car hard the lat few minutes, it's not as important, but to run hard and shut down is not recommended.

Polar Bear

To add to that, ABC is generally a pain point in these vehicles because of failure, and it causes people to lose confidence in the product and have a poor ownership experience. If serviced timely, this failure rate would significantly drop.

tusabes

If you are a serious buyer interested in a s600 I can make you a much better deal than $20,000 on a much better car , as it has the complete s65 appearance psckage

here it is , last time it was sold for $37000
http://www.2040-cars.com/Mercedes-Benz/S-Class/2007-mercedes-benz-s600-full-s65-amg-body-kit-supe-860929/

its also in California . Needs nothing .

DaveW68

How many miles on yours? And do you have all of the service records since day 1?

tusabes

Current mileage is 118000

i have the service history since day 1 but not the actual receipts

Welwynnick

Life is too short to argue with everything you say, and I honestly try to avoid it, but I'm with Polar Bear on this.

Engines are so expensive and oil is so cheap that I wouldn't push services with any oil. I never go more than 5-6000 before changing even with MB 229.3/5 oils, and even then they look like something I wouldn't want lubricating MY engine. I've read all the arguments and I'm not convinced. If other people want to save money on their engines, that's their choice.

Despite the benefit of water-cooling, my turbos cooked a few years ago. All they needed were a few $$ of seals and bearings, and to clean the carbon out, but the amount of grief is way out of proportion compared to the totally inconsequential trouble of letting them cool down (which you can do by driving slowly for the last mile or two).

Finally, changing ABC oil and filter at similar intervals to transmission, brake and anti-freeze intervals is money very well spent. Annual inspection of every flexible hose is also absolutely essential IMHO.

Regards, Nick

Nuru

Definitely agree on the more frequent maintenance ops. It can definitely save one some money in the long run.. Especially if the car is intended tio be your daily driver.