It was nice, guys...
09-18-2021, 03:13 AM
#26
MBWorld Fanatic!
After I bought mine, I explored the cost of a service plan (commonly called an "extended warranty", but they're really not). The best price I got, from the VERY few places that would write one on a car of that age, was about $3500 and didn't cover basically anything suspension related. I passed. In 40 years of vehicle ownership, we have never once had one that required enough service or repairs to make a service plan or extended warranty worthwhile. That was a large assortment of Ford products, a few GM, a couple of Hondas and Toyotas, and a Volvo. Call us lucky, we'd never had one try to bankrupt us before.
Had I bought it for the Mercedes, I'd have taken it to the dealer for a lot of things I fixed myself, and I'd have had them fix the transmission and air. Under those circumstances, I'd have gotten far more than $3500 of benefit from the service plan and saved a lot of hassle. By the time I realized that it would pay off, there was no one who would even sell a plan for a 2007.
I'll be perfectly honest, the S600 experience is why I didn't even look at the CLS550 that was available locally. I just felt like it was time for a change of marque. I will say that the quality and workmanship of the BMW is outstanding, easily the equal of the Mercedes, so we're not giving anything up there. Materials and fit & finish are superb. I'm getting 19+ MPG in town, not babying it, so that's nice. The inline 6 is really smooth, nearly V12 smooth, even under load or near redline. I have no idea how long I'll keep this car, but almost certainly not until it's 15 or more years old. Will it hold up better than the S600 did? I'll never know, I'm sure. I'll let the next guy find out.
Had I bought it for the Mercedes, I'd have taken it to the dealer for a lot of things I fixed myself, and I'd have had them fix the transmission and air. Under those circumstances, I'd have gotten far more than $3500 of benefit from the service plan and saved a lot of hassle. By the time I realized that it would pay off, there was no one who would even sell a plan for a 2007.
I'll be perfectly honest, the S600 experience is why I didn't even look at the CLS550 that was available locally. I just felt like it was time for a change of marque. I will say that the quality and workmanship of the BMW is outstanding, easily the equal of the Mercedes, so we're not giving anything up there. Materials and fit & finish are superb. I'm getting 19+ MPG in town, not babying it, so that's nice. The inline 6 is really smooth, nearly V12 smooth, even under load or near redline. I have no idea how long I'll keep this car, but almost certainly not until it's 15 or more years old. Will it hold up better than the S600 did? I'll never know, I'm sure. I'll let the next guy find out.
Before I bought my first MB in 1010 I had an Audi Q7. I went to the dealer a few times for regular services under warranty time and when I had some option added to the car. This was about 10 visits total.
This dealer sells Audi and BMW and these dealerships are side-by-side separated by about 200 feet. When I waited for my car from service I noticed how flat beds brought BMWs in every time during my visit. Often two of them and one day even three.
I asked the SA what is going on with this as I thought they had to be bringing in some used cars for sale or but he said all of those cars on flat beds are broken, i.e. the cars were brought in for repairs.
I had a little difficult time to believe this but I saw it happen and most of them cars on flat beds looked brand new.
This experience about 11 years ago is burned in my brain and keeps me from getting in the BMW as I will not be buying a new car with factory warranty any more so if there are so many issues on new Bimmers how can you trust them after warranty is over.
I have been in my Mercedes dealers (two dealers) numerous times (well over 10 times) waiting for my car to be serviced and I remember only two Mercedes brought in on a flat bed one of them being my own when it would not start that mysteriously fixed itself as the dealer said it fired up fine when they first went to start the car.
I wish you happy driving with your new "rocket". Let us know how your new ride reliability turns out so perhaps some others can join you...I don't think I will though as S-Class for me is the Holy Grail.
Thanks for your expert posts over the years.
Good Luck!
09-18-2021, 09:14 PM
#27
Member
Dale, sorry to see you go but, as any owner of a 14 year old car will probably agree, a newer car is always a welcomed change... until it, too, breaks. And, many thanks for all you've contributed to the MB community... I have your email and may tap your knowledge from time to time. I've seriously considered moving on-- to maybe a Lambo or Turbo Panamera-- but, for now, the S600 does just fine.
I've owned two "vintage" Bimmers; 6 & 8 series. So, I can state they are great drivers, although, not without their own set of nagging disorders. And, as the owner of a 21 year old Jag, a funny thing happened when it turned 20... The thing won't even hiccup anymore (spurious CEL's haven't even surfaced in about 2 years...)
And, for others new to the V-12, I'll add this: 6 + years owning and fixing, never seen a dealer or indy. Certainly not trouble-free but, on par with most other high-end cars at that age, IMHO. Also, sorry to hear of your tranny issues... The V-12, 5-speed was one of the things that drew me to the V-12. I've heard it's bulletproof compared to the 7-speed??? And, the V-12's torque just doesn't need those extra gears.
So, good journeys my friend.
Regards... Mark
I've owned two "vintage" Bimmers; 6 & 8 series. So, I can state they are great drivers, although, not without their own set of nagging disorders. And, as the owner of a 21 year old Jag, a funny thing happened when it turned 20... The thing won't even hiccup anymore (spurious CEL's haven't even surfaced in about 2 years...)
And, for others new to the V-12, I'll add this: 6 + years owning and fixing, never seen a dealer or indy. Certainly not trouble-free but, on par with most other high-end cars at that age, IMHO. Also, sorry to hear of your tranny issues... The V-12, 5-speed was one of the things that drew me to the V-12. I've heard it's bulletproof compared to the 7-speed??? And, the V-12's torque just doesn't need those extra gears.
So, good journeys my friend.
Regards... Mark
09-19-2021, 11:00 AM
#28
Super Member
Thread Starter
Thanks, Mark. I will say that the S600 engine itself has been internally mechanically perfect. Now, the cooling system (a couple of leaks, a bad pump), ignition system (coil pack, VT), transmission (conductor plate, solenoids, and some other unknown issue), and brakes (bad ESP module) have been another story. And there were the leaking valve cover gaskets, broken vacuum lines, and a few other minor things. The ABC system was pretty good, other than needing to replace the accumulators and damper and flush the system -- at least the struts hadn't failed. There are most certainly things I'll miss about the S600, but I paid pretty steep tuition for the lessons learned about it.
To @Arrie 's point, there have certainly been some BMW engines with poor reputations for things like timing chains stretching or cooling systems failing. The B58 isn't one of them, from what I can determine. In fact, Toyota chose it for the new Supra, so it can't be all bad.
But with less than 30K miles on the clock and "nearly new" compared tot he S600, I suspect it will be quite a while before age related issues start to become troublesome. One should never expect a cheap ownership experience from a German sedan toward the upper end of the spectrum, of course, but - "So weit, ist es gut". And there's two years left on the CPO coverage.
To @Arrie 's point, there have certainly been some BMW engines with poor reputations for things like timing chains stretching or cooling systems failing. The B58 isn't one of them, from what I can determine. In fact, Toyota chose it for the new Supra, so it can't be all bad.
But with less than 30K miles on the clock and "nearly new" compared tot he S600, I suspect it will be quite a while before age related issues start to become troublesome. One should never expect a cheap ownership experience from a German sedan toward the upper end of the spectrum, of course, but - "So weit, ist es gut". And there's two years left on the CPO coverage.
09-20-2021, 06:18 PM
#29
I don't blame you one bit. Mine is starting to wear me down at the moment. Nothing worse than not being to trust a car. On the other end of the spectrum is my wife's Navigator. Cripes, I feel ten times more at ease taking that somewhere. Only thing that has failed so far has been a heated/cooling seat ventilation module that was less than $100 and took about 20 minutes to replace. That and with a $50 code reader and forscan for free it is practically DIY bliss.
