It seems that the only real difference in the cost of ownership between these two 221s is in the cost of brakes and possibly tires. Fuel consumption would likely be close with the nod going to the smaller V12.

Am I wrong on this?

I checked out another S65 today. It was okay but I was underwhelmed by the driving experience. Being familiar with big inch turbo cars I expected a touch of lag and the looser converter but around town the car is so traction limited that hard acceleration finds you in higher gears at lower rpm to pull through. The ride was a bit stiffer than I expected, too.

There are fairly notable differences between the two cars. The hot rodder in me likes the idea of the S65 but I'm trying to figure out if they're truly worth the extra coin.

 

I am willing to go out on a limb here and say I think the S65 is probably more down your alley.
Years ago I use to work on cars(American) and try like hell to make them faster and stronger within my means. My previous car was a 2003 S55 which has nearly 500hp and it was fantastic. The only problem is I couldn't help myself from day dreaming about the S65 with that V12TT and I had never ever driven or even heard one in person.
I finally decided to go for it and purchased a 2007 S65 site unseen from California and I live in Maine. I never looked back. It was hands down the best decision I could have made in my view.
I have since had the ECU and TCU tuned by Eurcharged. I also had the rear mufflers removed to really make the car sing the way she should. The best way to describe the power these cars can make is I tell people this car is on the edge of out of control.
Once the turbos spool up you need to watch it since the amount of power it produces is crazy. Even on a slight curve if you punch the fuel and it drops a gear the rear can kick out at anytime. The feeling of a huge car like this loosing traction a 40mph is unreal. It is completely and totally ridiculous but I love it! It is also an amazing feeling when the car keeps pulling like a locomotive at any speed since it has crazy amounts of torque to keep pulling like no other.
Sometimes people ask me about how much gas it uses and my only real response is with 700+hp I don't really care. I drive the car only a few thousand miles a year and it never gets old.
With this all said you also need to be mentally and financially prepared to drop a few grand here and there if needed. Wanna play gotta pay!
Before you start to think I am some power freak, I sometimes go from driving my S65 and then jump into my 1969 280se coupe with the 6 cylinder and it also puts a giant smile on my face. She is slow and a bit smelly but it is old school cool in my eyes.
Good luck either way you decide to go.
Johan

 

OP the S-600 is a different animal VS S-65.

S-600 is about quiet comfortable power that does everything well without drawing excess attention to itsself.

S-65 being the range-topper AMG car makes more noise.... GOES enough better to justify it, has bigger more expensive brakes, bigger tires and wheels + much nicer interior then S-600 after 2007 and has more sporting looks then the S-600 which without the V-12 badges looks as any six cylinder S-Class.

Fresh tires will do wonders for traction. Expect to replace them annually.
You a savage while driving? One can burn a tank of fuel quickly indeed when thrashing a force-fed bent-12. Dollars burned into smiles that do good things for a man's soul.


Again..... S-65. /thread

 

I beat my C55 mercilessly. In all seriousness, there are more drives where the pedal goes to the floor than drives where it doesn't. Assuming the conditions allow it, I rarely slow more than necessary for corners.

Here's the strange part:

I built my 1965 Plymouth into a serious stompin' snortin' machine. The car weighed 3650 lbs, had the engine set back 2-1/2 inches, wore S55 brakes at all four corners, and was packing a 440 (7.2 liter) twin turbocharged V8 with distributorless fuel injection. Early in the build it put down 657 hp and 742 tq at the wheels. That was before the cylinder head and intake manifold updates. I have no idea what it made afterwards. Strangely enough, after the engine received its last round of updates I just puttered around town and frequently found myself cruising below the posted speed limits. Put me in my old SRT6 coupe or the C55 with a fraction of the horsepower and I'm a friggin maniac whenever possible. Figure the odds on that one.

I currently have another 440 on the stand awaiting completion (as a much milder/boring build) and installation into my 1972 Chrysler Imperial. Yes, the car is nearly 2 feet longer, 6 inches wider, and a tad heavier than the W221 S65. It even has a longer wheelbase (127") and rides like your couch. So, I have the big car thing covered.

However, I keep finding myself drawn to the W221 for some reason. A larger car would be far more comfortable during my long daily commute. My wallet likes the cheap, relatively efficient, and stone reliable C55 but my desires lead me towards the big fast pig.

Did I mention that I'm a single guy and only answer to myself on decisions such as these?

 

You only need convince yourself? It should already be done!

My S-65 is the daily driver that delivers. Be it the Costco run that fills up the big trunk or a trip to Artist's Point for a proper thrash.

 

When I spooled up the turbos on my 7.2 liter V8 it would pull far harder than the S65 I just drove. Then again, it was 1500 lbs lighter. Brake boosting at 60 mph would turn the tires and allow the rear to step out. I swapped the manual transmission for an automatic partly because of the tendency to break traction and go sideways on a 3/4 shift (80-82 mph).

Yeah, I'm familiar with big power.

 

On decisions like these, married guys only answer to themselves. Women don’t stay married by talking their car guy husbands out of cars. It’s just not a good strategy. To the original question, I find I don’t have room to let out my 55, and when I test drove the W221 65 it was worse. So given the extra weight, cost and maintenance, I decided against it. I rather like the light sprung weight of the W220 55 over the larger W221 65, although the diamond stitched interior had me open. And similar to feets, I find there’s nothing like a big fast car to make me putter around town — just knowing the power is there is enough sometimes.

GL

maw

 

feets buy my s600. it's been raised by mopars.

 

Sorry, but I'm not looking at 220s and I already own a 1972 Imperial.

 

It is a small difference, but the S65 has better fuel consumption figures than the S600. I had an S65 and had the numbers from the MB site, but can't find them. The higher compression and different fuel mappings gave it the edge in efficiency as well as that amazing torque. 500 lb-ft at 1,500 RPM. That one spec is what the S65 driving experience is all about.

 

how have you enjoyed your S65 AMG daily driver? any reviews or comments/feedback you can provide? pros/cons? do you regret your decision? looking at possibly getting one 2017 model with low mileage, gauging research to ensure it's happiness without too much hassle/cost nested in! THANK YOU!

 

I have been driving S65's since 2006 when I bought my W220. I had it tuned by Eurocharged, it made a big difference. I drove that car almost 80k miles then sold it in 2015 and bought a new W222 S65. I have driven the W222 about 35k miles. The W222 S65 with the 7 speed and better factory engine tune performs the same as the W220 S65 with the tune. These are fantastic cars. There is no noticeable turbo lag in daily driving. The 6 Liter engine is a high compression design and a V12 (obviously) has 50% more power strokes/revolution than a V8. The car will spin the rear tires from launch without the turbo assist. Contrast that with my wife's 2018 E63S with the 4 Liter, ultra low compression V8 that relies on high turbo boost to perform. Even with the 9 speed it needs turbo boost to do any more than spin the alternator and A/C Compressor. I put the turbo boost gauge display in the RH cluster, it is always showing some boost.
The V12 is an addictive engine. I have owned two SL600's with the 5.5L V12. No operating cost difference other than the cost of brakes compared to the AMG version. The 2005 SL600 and the 2006 S65 always needed something related to ABC, engine mounts or coil packs. The 2009 SL600 which we still own has needed only engine mounts, they were covered by the factory extended warranty just before it expired at the 7 year point. Nothing else has failed. I understand MB did significant upgrades for the 2009 model to the ABC. My 2015 S65 has need no repairs so far other than replacement of the auxiliary battery last year.
My alternate daily driver is a 2017 SL65. With 700 fewer pounds, a shorter final drive ratio and positraction that car is much faster than the S65. I really, really like the MB V12's. They are not bored and stroked twin turbo 440's in a 3,800 pound car. Different cars for different purposes.
Last summer I did a trip in the S65 from the west coast to Pa. and back plus a lot of local diving in Pa. Total trip was 6,000 miles. Best mileage on a fillup was Flagstaff to Albuquerque right at 24mpg. Very light traffic, cruise was set, lets say well above the 75mph speed limit. My interstate fuel mileage was always between 21 and 22mpg. Total mileage for the 6k mile trip including about 400 local city driving miles was 20.3mpg.

 

@Quadrobenz your information is SUPER helpful! A few questions:
1/ did you track this car at all?
2/ did small little maintenance repairs and knits ever come up? did it create hassles to fix and more than costs that you had originally budgeted for? in all honesty, it seems like monetarily you're quite cushioned (long tenured ownership of high-end MBs, forgive me if I'm mistaken, I'm just connecting the dots!), but did the s65 break down or have little dash-board things go awry that you couldn't fix yourself and had to have the shop fix up?

 

I have not tracked my personal cars. I did track all the non V12 AMG's two years ago at Laguna Seca as part of the AMG Performance Driving Academy.
I just took the cars to the dealer every 6 months for the normal service, usually nothing else was needed. With the 2005 and 2006 the coil packs and ABC failures needed immediate attention, but they were always driveable the short distance to the dealer, even in limp mode. The dealer found the motor mount leak down failures at the normal service intervals. The S65 otherwise was reliable, never stranded me anywhere. The Comand head unit failed around the 6 year point. The memory function failed so it would still work but it lost all its programming when turned off, really annoying. I had the dealer replace it with a factory rebuilt and warranted unit rather than a new one. One of the drivers seat air bladders failed and all the hood and trunk struts wore out and were replaced. That was pretty much everything over 9 years. I replaced the brake pads twice, they lasted between 30k and 35k miles each time. The rotors never needed replacing but they were right at the wear limit on the second pad replacement. Similar experience on the 2005 SL600. In place of the Comand unit failure it had a couple of retractable top issues. Otherwise totally reliable.
The 2015 S65 has been a great experience, nothing other than the Aux battery which is a normal service item. Lets not talk about the E63's, they have had many more problems that the S and SL class even though they do not have ABC. It also makes a difference when you own four AMG's, three V12's. I have long been one of the top 5 service customers at the dealer and do get "special" treatment. One thing with the V12's is that a repair may take a day or two longer than other cars because the dealer has fewer of the V12 unique parts in their inventory.

 

@Quadrobenz thank you so much once again!
1/ seems like the 2015 s65amg has been great for you as a general experience. despite wear and tear given age/driving over the last 4-5 years, the battery swap seems normal, as well as possible retractable top issues (constantly switching back and forth or even at high speeds can certainly/understandably create issues). Seems like minimal engine issues as well at the moment despite this being a daily driver / fun driving excursion. Is that right? On 6 month check-ins for normal service, is this dealer covered/under warranty check? is there a charge under this? do the oil/transmission changes make up significant prices? Some have quoted $1,000+ for oil/transmission changes, etc., just trying to understand yearly maintenance cost needed in addition to general fuel/car-wash, etc.
2/ given parts in germany/on special order, were any of these ever large cost item expenses? i assume for brake pads/rotors, etc., special care is taken in original parts. But with other fixes, were there big costs with labor + shipping of these parts? anything you could share about basic fixes and replacements that were done on cost/time in shop/etc.?
3/ despite these small hitches in your s65 amg ownership, your overall enjoyment of the ride seems super high! any regrets, pros/cons that come to mind? when you traded in/sold your '06 s65, were you able to get good enough retail value to whomever you transferred and sold the car to? was it sizeable (25-30K+) or minimal (<$15K)? do you anticipate holding onto your current '15 S65 for a while? what sort of mileage do you keep it to before swap selling to another model?

thank you for addressing these q's, excited by the v12 s 65 amg and starting on an adventure with the car, want to be sure how to drive/be in the car and understand it before anthing else to make sure owning this is a fun rewarding experience!

 

From my perspective the brake rotors and wheels on an S65 are high cost items and probably represent the biggest difference in price. On the S600, the rotors are cheaper and the wheels are smaller and less likely to crack. The rotors are $700+ each and I have cracked 3 AMG 20" wheels in the 4 years I have owned my S65, needing to shell out several hundred dollars to rebuild them.

Everything else seems pretty normal. I have not had ABC or engine problems, but I hardly think they would be less on an S600.