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I’ve been doing some research on switching away from my 06’ Lexus LS430. It’s a great car and I love it, but it’s just a bit boring of late and I’ve been wanting to switch over to something with a bit more wow to it and the S600 seems to be just what I’ve been looking for. I know they can get expensive maintenance wise and you have to stay on top of that but that isn’t too much of a concern for me. The one thing I’ve been wondering about though that I haven’t managed to find is if the 2007 model year should be avoided like on the S550 because of the gear that destroys engines. Should I avoid an 07’ or are they free of that issue and pretty much fine to go with and just gonna have the usual S600 issues. The other thing I’ve been wondering is if anyone has had success with changing out the ABC suspension for something else whenever it starts to cause problems simply for future proofing the car or is it easier and cheaper to just keep the ABC and fix it as it needs?
2007 S600, 2007 Chrysler 300 SRT8, 2000 C5 Corvette, and 2017 Mustang GT, and just got a 2023 300C
I have a 2007 S600 that I bought at 55K miles in 2019. I also bought a 4 year +50K more miles of warranty. I now have 80K miles on it and use it to on long trips to FL each Winter. As a cruiser it is comfortable safe and reliable. When I bought it, it needed a radiator, ABC fluid and filter, a big battery in the trunk, and an ABC valve block. Since then I used a starter battery, a starter motor, a sunroof shade motor, water pump, idler pulleys, a left side coil pack cassette and a voltage transformer (I used Clark Rupp's V12icpack.com with great results). I am pretty good at changing ABC fluid and filter every 20K miles, oil and filter using Mobile 1 every six months, and I did a rear diff fluid change.
The only real problem I had was when I had the dealer flush and fill the automatic transmission. Apparently, they under-filled it and the trans failed. Warranty covered a Mercedes OEM transmission but not the TC. I paid for the TC because I wanted to keep the car long term and I wanted it done right.
On balance, the car is not cheap. I love it and don't mind the maintenance costs because I think the S600, when properly maintained, is one of the finest automobiles in the World. It will drive way better than anything Japanese. But you need a warranty.
I have a 2007 S600 that I bought at 55K miles in 2019. I also bought a 4 year +50K more miles of warranty. I now have 80K miles on it and use it to on long trips to FL each Winter. As a cruiser it is comfortable safe and reliable. When I bought it, it needed a radiator, ABC fluid and filter, a big battery in the trunk, and an ABC valve block. Since then I used a starter battery, a starter motor, a sunroof shade motor, water pump, idler pulleys, a left side coil pack cassette and a voltage transformer (I used Clark Rupp's V12icpack.com with great results). I am pretty good at changing ABC fluid and filter every 20K miles, oil and filter using Mobile 1 every six months, and I did a rear diff fluid change.
The only real problem I had was when I had the dealer flush and fill the automatic transmission. Apparently, they under-filled it and the trans failed. Warranty covered a Mercedes OEM transmission but not the TC. I paid for the TC because I wanted to keep the car long term and I wanted it done right.
On balance, the car is not cheap. I love it and don't mind the maintenance costs because I think the S600, when properly maintained, is one of the finest automobiles in the World. It will drive way better than anything Japanese. But you need a warranty.
Hadn't even considered getting a warranty but that’s definitely a great idea. I’m already prepared for the cost of maintenance after being able to save up so much from how little the Lexus cost to maintain. Still need to do a ton more research to actually make sure I’m ready before diving into anything and want to make sure I find one at the right price and mileage. Just gonna take awhile with this stupid car market jacking the price of everything up
Since I don’t own a s600, consider this an outsider opinion from a longtime MB owner. When I was looking to upgrade my Infiniti, the w221 quickly rose to the top of the list for what I wanted, primarily a road trip car with plenty of power and luxury, and in my case 4matic, which excludes s600.
I searched for 6+/- months to find an s600 type car with an s550 4matic drive train. I bought a 2012 s550 with m278 twin turbo engine, Designo interior,rear seat package, Bang and Olafson, plus. Might be worth a look, S550 Designo.
You will be lucky to find a decent warranty on any older Benz. As the saying goes, check the fine print.
Good luck in your search. I just brought mine down 1000 miles to enjoy warm weather in FL yesterday for a few weeks and I'll be all over the state down in Key West back up to Clearwater, Tampa, etc. and have not 1 worry. This car never lets me down on any long distance road trips. I'm on my 2nd S600 (3rd W221) because I ended up regretting selling my first one. Take your time in the search and find the right one. It's an amazing car, gets tons of looks and people asking questions and they always have their jaws drop when I tell them it's 10+ years old.
The cost of parts can be sourced cheaper online than going to a dealer and a good indy will charge much less than a dealer if you can't DIY. I'd go with the 10+ if you can find one.
I do have a warranty that covers everything except normal maintenance and wear and tire items. It's 5 years or 125k miles and I'll never hit that but it's worth having.
Since I don’t own a s600, consider this an outsider opinion from a longtime MB owner. When I was looking to upgrade my Infiniti, the w221 quickly rose to the top of the list for what I wanted, primarily a road trip car with plenty of power and luxury, and in my case 4matic, which excludes s600.
I searched for 6+/- months to find an s600 type car with an s550 4matic drive train. I bought a 2012 s550 with m278 twin turbo engine, Designo interior,rear seat package, Bang and Olafson, plus. Might be worth a look, S550 Designo.
You will be lucky to find a decent warranty on any older Benz. As the saying goes, check the fine print.
Good luck and keep us posted.
I’ve also been looking at S550’s with the designo interiors but haven’t found too many that aren’t overpriced or been barely driven which kinda terrifies me even more than one with higher miles from what I’ve heard about ones that have barely been driven. I’ve still got to go out and drive them both to see which one I like the feel of more and whether I want a preface lift or after facelift since I heard the facelift cars have an electronic steering system that feels different. Gonna be using it pretty much the same as you. Road-trips and since I also have to travel across the whole city for work having a better cruiser will be huge. I doubt I’d be able to find a warranty as well but it’s always worth checking around to see if there’s anything that’s actually worth considering. Definitely gonna keep updating as the search goes on and any questions arise I can’t find the specifics on
Good luck in your search. I just brought mine down 1000 miles to enjoy warm weather in FL yesterday for a few weeks and I'll be all over the state down in Key West back up to Clearwater, Tampa, etc. and have not 1 worry. This car never lets me down on any long distance road trips. I'm on my 2nd S600 (3rd W221) because I ended up regretting selling my first one. Take your time in the search and find the right one. It's an amazing car, gets tons of looks and people asking questions and they always have their jaws drop when I tell them it's 10+ years old.
The cost of parts can be sourced cheaper online than going to a dealer and a good indy will charge much less than a dealer if you can't DIY. I'd go with the 10+ if you can find one.
I do have a warranty that covers everything except normal maintenance and wear and tire items. It's 5 years or 125k miles and I'll never hit that but it's worth having.
Thanks! Hope you’re having a fun time down there in Florida. Great to hear it’s been good for long road trips reliability wise, might take a bit of convincing for the family to trust a 10+ year Mercedes going cross country but it sure as hell would beat a 17’ Ford Expedition. I’m taking lots of time looking for one, I’ve seen too many friends and family members rush into a car and end up hating it cause they couldn’t look at it objectively. Luckily being in the southwest there tends to be a lot popping up for sale so it’s just a waiting game for the one to pop up
I’ve also been looking at S550’s with the designo interiors but haven’t found too many that aren’t overpriced or been barely driven which kinda terrifies me even more than one with higher miles from what I’ve heard about ones that have barely been driven. I’ve still got to go out and drive them both to see which one I like the feel of more and whether I want a preface lift or after facelift since I heard the facelift cars have an electronic steering system that feels different. Gonna be using it pretty much the same as you. Road-trips and since I also have to travel across the whole city for work having a better cruiser will be huge. I doubt I’d be able to find a warranty as well but it’s always worth checking around to see if there’s anything that’s actually worth considering. Definitely gonna keep updating as the search goes on and any questions arise I can’t find the specifics on
I have a 2011 S550 4matic with 125,000 miles and just got back from a trip to Orlando with my daughter. Alternating drivers cruised mostly at 80+ mph and got 23.5 mpg. Great, comfortable drive imho you can't beat it for a cruiser. At 10k oil changes it's down about 1/2 quart. Have followed maintenance per factory recommendations and it's been a great car - best I've ever owned!! I wouldn't shy away from low mileage vehicles in your search. Some people don't drive much. Good luck - hope you find a great one. Have you checked out "bring a trailer" website?
Point of reference from a former S600 owner. It's quite likely I'd still have mine if I had bought a prepaid maintenance plan when I bought the car 3 years or so ago. Right now I don't think you can even buy one on an '07, though I could be wrong. I spent a lot of time and money addressing things on the car that either were wrong when I bought it (seeping head gaskets, underfilled transmission, bad ABS electronics) or broke after I'd been driving it for a while (coil packs, voltage transformer, vacuum lines, suspension accumulators, leaky coolant tank, dead washer pump, leaky power steering pump, leaky coolant line, and so on). Not a big deal, I expected a lot of that. Parts are not cheap, but hey - it's a turbo V12, what do you expect? But the transmission dying was the last straw for me.
If I were buying again I would not buy an '07, as much as I loved mine. There are too many minor annoyances that I wouldn't want to go back to. Remember that this is a 2007 model year, many or most of which were built in 2006 with 2003-2004 technology at best. No HD radio. The early Sirius satellite radio - well, it sucks, and there's no way to fix it. Frequent dropouts and dead silence no matter where you drive. We stuck with FM. The radar cruise control is great most of the time, but has its occasional interference issues on the highway. There is no Bluetooth music streaming (this can be fixed if you're not afraid to do some wiring). No USB power points in the car, it's too old for that. Parking sensors will set off a noisy beeping alarm with annoying frequency when coming to a stop in city traffic due to other cars' park and blind spot sensors. If you care about blind spot warning, auto parking, lane departure warning, etc. - well, it's not there. If you can live with all of that, and coming from an '06 Lexus maybe you can, then it's an awesome car to drive. On long highway trips it's just a dream. We could drive 900 to 1000 mile days and still feel decent when we arrived. It's quiet, smooth, comfortable, and supremely powerful. You can pass semis on a 2-lane highway in seconds with no drama, not even flooring the accelerator. It cruises quite comfortably and stably at triple-digit speeds.
All that said, If I were buying an S-class again, I'd be looking for a 2010 or newer S600 or maybe an AMG. And I wouldn't look now; the used car market is insane. Almost as bad as the housing market. It's a terrible time to be buying. I overpaid for the BMW 540i I bought to replace the S600, and that was the better part of a year ago - it's gotten progressively worse since then.
Parking sensors will set off a noisy beeping alarm with annoying frequency when coming to a stop in city traffic due to other cars' park and blind spot sensors. If you care about blind spot warning, auto parking, lane departure warning, etc. -
note I have a set of these people's TMPS sensor on the car - they work just like Merc originals but are US$100 for a set of 4. Last weekend checking out the best after-market diagnostic kit you can get I suddenly spotted a new section on their website called Radar Sensors.. thinking WTF - clicked and had a look, seems they now do replacement radar units (I guess far better, more reliable and at realistic costs vs the joke rubbish fitted originally...) and noticed one very intriguing number - "The 77GHz front radar, designed for automatic driving...." I'm left thinking 77Ghz isn't that the new frequency that has far less issues? So maybe it bounces off the right info (rather than the early 2004 to 2011 junk - but to the car it doesn't know its any different ???
02-25-2022, 05:53 PM
