s212 bi turbo! 24k

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In all honesty, the differences are unlikely to mean that there was something you couldn't live with on a pre-facelift car but depending upon your use pattern (and particularly if you do much night driving on unlit roads) they could be worth taking into account. I posted most of my thoughts on the differences in my Addicted thread, in post #35 and post #36 but after another couple of years I'd add in the Live Traffic on the sat-nav too which is much more responsive and reliable than the old TMC.

I'm sure you know this already, but if you're considering any W/S212 E63 then have a good look at the brakes which are ruinously expensive if it needs discs on the front. Think in terms of around a grand for front discs and pads if you get them from one of the eBay sellers, plus fitting unless you're going to do it yourself. MB dealer list price for the parts is north of £1,500(!) and there are no pattern discs available for the front. Rears are around £350 - £450 for discs and pads. Other pricey / time consuming maintenance includes plugs (4-year intervals), and the gearbox oil & filter every 37k. The AMG Locking Diff needs an oil change every two years (from memory). I've no idea at what sort of mileage the diff will need new clutch plates, but they are a wear part that people tend to forget. On the subject of the AMG diff, if fitted it's normal to feel the rear tyres scrubbing at low speed in tight turns such as pulling out of a junction.

Regarding price, as a marker my better spec'd 2012 pre-facelift PPP W212 (it really did have the Luxury Pack and the Driving Assistance Pack with Distronic+, plus the external carbon pack, yadda, yadda - it even had a factory-fit fire extinguisher!) with 45k miles on it in February 2016 attracted an offer of £27k from WBAC. I know the wagons fetch a modest premium, but I'm not sure a two year older wagon with nearly double the mileage, less spec and not in such good condition is worth just £3k less, so it's definitely worth some negotiation.
 
Thanks, Phil, very much for that; I read it with great interest (even the purple prose in the first post...). Good write-ups, and very informative.

Regarding the specific points you mention, I do very little night driving on unlit roads, and I don't drive for work or business, so my journeys are almost never time-critical. I don't use cruise control much, so Distronic is not even on my list of 'nice to haves' - I prefer to read the road myself; it helps me to maintain concentration.

Of course, there must be an element of "You don't miss what you've never had" here, but so what? I had a reversing camera on the facelift 212, and to be honest don't really miss that either; I'm well used to parking sensors at both ends.

I know about the cost of the brakes; ouch!, but that goes with the territory. I wouldn't expect it to be cheap to maintain; that, too, goes with the territory. Unless the engine needs to be at least lifted off its mounts to change the plugs, I don't suppose they're much more expensive to do than on a 350 CGI (and Terry Gates has a tech who can, God knows how, do those without moving the engine - probably Inspector Gadget in his day job). It's a shame they don't use long-life plugs, that will easily do 50K miles, in the M157 TT though.

More frequent gearbox oil & filter, and diff oil, changes I can live with. I'd never even considered that the diff plates might need changing at some point; best not to turn any corners, then...

Having a car like this is a bit of an indulgence, really, as I do at most about 10000 miles a year in a car, and I use the XK (another indulgence) for about 3000 of those. With that sort of annual mileage, routine servicing costs aren't all that significant.

So far as the price of a specialist car like this is concerned, I think WBAC are complete sh!te. I got nearly twice what they offered when I sold one of my AMGs, nearly half as much again as their offer for the E350 CGI, and most recently, fifteen percent more for the cooking E350 CDI, which I sold to a dealer. That same dealer (vary nice chap) offered to price any car I was thinking of buying, and he considers that this car is quite good value.

However, he also drew my attention to the fact that there's a 2014/64 on eBay for only £3000 more, and I should use that to beat the price down. When I rang the vendor, I mentioned that other car, and he agreed that the price of his is negotiable. Now to do some research on servicing costs, and see what more ammunition I can find... I'll look very closely at the service history to see what has been done, and when, when I go down to see it.

And yet, I still may not buy the car. I'll go down to see it in the W211 E500, which is in very good condition, on the same mileage as the E63, and for my preferences superb to drive, though of course lacking in power compared to my E55Ks. I could live with it, but what I really REALLY want is an E55K; see post 70.

If I don't like this car enough, I'll come home in the E500. But I'm sick of waiting for a 55K...

Thank you again for the input; it was very useful indeed.

PS: Forgot to mention the most important factor - it's dark metallic blue!
 
Thank you very much for the information. I've found the XENTRY document, and if necessary mine would only need the check valves. Is this a heads off job, or can it be done with the heads in situ? I wouldn't do it myself either way, but I'd like to have some idea of the potential cost; is it an armannaleg, or a sacrifice first-born child job?

Could be a deal-breaker; I still need saving from myself...
Think it’s around £3k.

At the mileage of this car I “think” that if it had had the issue, then it would have been fixed as most experience this anywhere up to 50k ish miles. The other probability is that it hasn’t had the issue and never will, as whilst the XENTRY covers all engines to Dec 2012 when a revision was introduced, it doesn’t mean all engines will experience the “fault”.

The car would have been covered with a Warranty initially and then may have had an extended warranty, therefore you could ask the current owner to check via MB what work was ever carried out under warranty.

Jules
 
You can change that for not a lot of money!
No thanks, I purposely bought a standard car with 1 previous owner of 12 years for a reason...plus I like going quickly nowadays ( not this week) on 2 wheels...
 
Think it’s around £3k.

At the mileage of this car I “think” that if it had had the issue, then it would have been fixed as most experience this anywhere up to 50k ish miles. The other probability is that it hasn’t had the issue and never will, as whilst the XENTRY covers all engines to Dec 2012 when a revision was introduced, it doesn’t mean all engines will experience the “fault”.

The car would have been covered with a Warranty initially and then may have had an extended warranty, therefore you could ask the current owner to check via MB what work was ever carried out under warranty.

Jules

Thanks Jules. I reckon you're right that this car doesn't have the secondary timing chain tensioner problem, but even if it did crop up, the good news is that as it was fitted with the modified tensioners from the factory, all that would be needed would be the check valves. The better news is that Terry Gates reckons that £450 labour, plus the parts and VAT, would be the cost of the job, so it's definitely not a deal-breaker.

The even better news is that Terry would do the gearbox service, the diff oil change and the plugs for £573.

Even if the whole lot was needed, and it shouldn't be because the service history is all MB, the damage wouldn't be too great. I'll check the service history very carefully before I agree a price, but realistically, if it drives faultlessly the only big-ticket unknowns (apart from the front discs, which I can check visually myself) are strange noises, and smoke from the exhaust.

Looking good at the moment; now for the test drive...

Dennis
 
And there's more... The gearbox, plugs (early) and diff were done at 48000 miles in November 2015; the plugs only need changing every 60000 miles, so only the diff and gearbox will need doing at the next service at 90000 miles. I can live with that.

Bizarrely, arranging temporary insurance cover online is proving a problem, because I'm so old I still have a paper driving licence! 'The computer says no' to the number. I'll be on the 'phone in the morning to sort it out, and if I don't buy it I can always cancel the cover.

Stlll looking good at the moment; now for the test drive...
 
Just one tip re the plugs. Don't leave them more than 4 years between changes as they tend to seize in the heads if left longer.
 
Good luck with the viewing.......if you have any questions or queries during the viewing, then post on here or pm.

Remember that gut feelings are normally an indicator to walk.....

Jules
 
It's not far off Tanzanite, and I'm seriously tempted

I think it looks gorgeous in that colour with the privacy glass.

God, I'm tempted. Quick, someone hit me with the sensible stick! Again!! HARDER!!

I've found the deal breaker;

190 DISCONTINUATION OF COLLAPSIBLE CRATE

I'd walk.

:)
 
Did I buy it? Of course I did. I gave it the full beans - only once (so far:devil:...) - and was heard to invoke the name of a Chinese friend of mine...







Ho Lee Fuk
 
Excellent Dennis. Lets be having some of your own photos sometime soon.
Glad it turned out well:thumb:
 
Nice work...well done. Looks cracking in Blue.
 
Well done, it looks fantastic. Designo Mystic Blue is possibly THE best colour, and what a cracking car to apply it too. Enjoy
 
Excellent news!

Enjoy your new toy :thumb:
 
I've been following this story with interest as I'm also looking for an E63 estate.

Well done, the car does look the business. Keep us posted with your thoughts.
 
Excellent. Looking forward to the updates.
 

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