I drove a W220 S320 today...

[Bert_W164]

Its been an interesting day. I went to see a C240, the chap didn't know what ISOFIX points were and asked me to pop down and look for myself, car didn't have them, so we came home.

I then found a S320, the seller is/was a genuinely lovely human being who was also a Mercs enthusiast. I joked on the phone that he's the worst seller I could have bumped into as this means I'm buying a car I really don't need. It even had ISOFIX mounts, though more on that later.

Context:
My daily has been my ML63, where the ML has down time (it had a fair bit after I bought it as I went on a spending spree refreshing a lot of stuff in it) I even bought an Audi A4 Cab which is surprisingly comfortable and smooth. The Audi was meant to offset fuel costs and save the day when Bert needed work carried out.
I soon moved in with the wife, so I had access to her Evoque and occasionally would take my old CLK350 (which belongs to my elder brother now) out for a blast...

On top of that I've spent a fair bit of time in newer Mercs like E classes, friends vehicles and so forth. I've been fortunate to have access to comfy cars/have a good idea of comfort personally as I've owned over 20 cars in the last 12 years...

The drive:
- I got into the S320, immediately my wife was like wow this is spacious and really nice back here...She's 8 months pregnant so picky at the moment too!
- I took a seat and forgot this isn't my own car!
- It felt like I was being hugged along the drive, it felt like sitting in a cloud...
- Barely any road noises, it had double glazing.
- Power delivery, sure its no M156 but god damn was it smooth and refined with a surprisingly elegant engine note. It felt faster than it was, I was on a 60mph country lane, I floored it, it dropped down a gear, heard a growl and off we go...
- I thought to myself, okay this is naughty going so fast in this chaps car, looked at the speedo and I was only doing 50...
- It wafted along the country lanes, I really didn't want the drive to end...Just wanted to waft along but knew its not my car...

Did I buy it?
No, unfortunately it didn't have ISOFIX mounts, the seller thought it did, but he made a genuine error and apologised profusely, but didn't have to, I was just happy to meet a fellow enthusiast and get my first S-Class experience!

What has me conflicted:
- As my wife and I walked back to our car, I was like "that's one car I genuinely don't want to walk away from, I've never felt so comfortable, in fact I found it more comfy than my ML"
- I absolutely adore my ML, to the extent where I've dumped women over him (my wife passed the ML/Bert test, so she's cool and the reason she's my wife)
- I'm sat wondering whether its time to trade the ML in for a S class of the 07-12 era
- I don't want to let go of M156
- I miss the way the W220 felt
- I wonder if I'm being selfish by living my M156 V8 dream and not switching to a more humble S class
- I love you S class

No real point to this thread other than to say, wow I have a new deep founded respect for W220s!

 

[LTD]

I ran a 2003 W220 S500L for just under 4 years and it was a sublime experience.

Yes, I replaced discs and pads and airmatic valve block and some suspension bushes but I bought it with 100k on the clock and stuck another 40odd k on top of that.

The only thing that made me change was rust. I could see that it was going to start to become a world of pain so I decided to change into a C207 E220

To quote one forum member when he took my W220 for a run one day - it was a sybaritic experience

Everyone should strive to own an S Class at some point in their life. It changes their view on motoring forever afterwards.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Why the obsession with Isofix?

Get a normal baby seat and go buy a W220 S55K and job done!

 

[Bert_W164]

Why the obsession with Isofix?

Get a normal baby seat and go buy a W220 S55K and job done!

Because I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to child seats, the Mrs asked me to buy some numa numa mix thingy set that is a 3 in 1 and I dared not question anything as it would have meant I have to look at push chairs and car seats.

I'm hindsight it's bitten me in the ass, I just realised non isofix baby seats are a thing, this opens up options

 

[219]

Its been an interesting day. I went to see a C240, the chap didn't know what ISOFIX points were and asked me to pop down and look for myself, car didn't have them, so we came home.

I then found a S320, the seller is/was a genuinely lovely human being who was also a Mercs enthusiast. I joked on the phone that he's the worst seller I could have bumped into as this means I'm buying a car I really don't need. It even had ISOFIX mounts, though more on that later.

Context:
My daily has been my ML63, where the ML has down time (it had a fair bit after I bought it as I went on a spending spree refreshing a lot of stuff in it) I even bought an Audi A4 Cab which is surprisingly comfortable and smooth. The Audi was meant to offset fuel costs and save the day when Bert needed work carried out.
I soon moved in with the wife, so I had access to her Evoque and occasionally would take my old CLK350 (which belongs to my elder brother now) out for a blast...

On top of that I've spent a fair bit of time in newer Mercs like E classes, friends vehicles and so forth. I've been fortunate to have access to comfy cars/have a good idea of comfort personally as I've owned over 20 cars in the last 12 years...

The drive:
- I got into the S320, immediately my wife was like wow this is spacious and really nice back here...She's 8 months pregnant so picky at the moment too!
- I took a seat and forgot this isn't my own car!
- It felt like I was being hugged along the drive, it felt like sitting in a cloud...
- Barely any road noises, it had double glazing.
- Power delivery, sure its no M156 but god damn was it smooth and refined with a surprisingly elegant engine note. It felt faster than it was, I was on a 60mph country lane, I floored it, it dropped down a gear, heard a growl and off we go...
- I thought to myself, okay this is naughty going so fast in this chaps car, looked at the speedo and I was only doing 50...
- It wafted along the country lanes, I really didn't want the drive to end...Just wanted to waft along but knew its not my car...

Did I buy it?
No, unfortunately it didn't have ISOFIX mounts, the seller thought it did, but he made a genuine error and apologised profusely, but didn't have to, I was just happy to meet a fellow enthusiast and get my first S-Class experience!

What has me conflicted:
- As my wife and I walked back to our car, I was like "that's one car I genuinely don't want to walk away from, I've never felt so comfortable, in fact I found it more comfy than my ML"
- I absolutely adore my ML, to the extent where I've dumped women over him (my wife passed the ML/Bert test, so she's cool and the reason she's my wife)
- I'm sat wondering whether its time to trade the ML in for a S class of the 07-12 era
- I don't want to let go of M156
- I miss the way the W220 felt
- I wonder if I'm being selfish by living my M156 V8 dream and not switching to a more humble S class
- I love you S class

No real point to this thread other than to say, wow I have a new deep founded respect for W220s!

I wouldn’t be hung up over isofix : it isn’t a must have . None of my cars had it .

When my son was born , I had a 190E 2.6 and she had a Hyundai Coupe , we’d never heard of isofix , but after looking at it I don’t think it is a great engineering solution putting all the stresses of retaining the seat down to the one point . To my mind it is better having the seat secured by the three point belt , and once the child is older you do away with the internal harness and the child sits in the seat held by the car belts which , remember , are designed to hold a full grown adult .

Looked at many infant carriers then child seats ; in the end we went for a Graco infant carrier which had a base that went in with the seat belts and held securely , then the carrier locked into it ; I bought a base for each car .

After a couple of weeks I realised a 190 wasn’t big enough , at least the door opening , to get the carrier in and out easily , so looked for a bigger car ; this was 2008 , and I also looked at S Classes - bought a W126 500SEL - getting the LWB version made a huge difference, the extra 6” length in the doors made it so easy to get the carrier in and out , and what safer place to be than an S Class .

When Harris was older I got two Recaro Young Sport seats , one for each car ; again they strap in very securely with the seat belts ( folded thick white bath towels under the seats to avoid marking the leather - the electric reclining rear seats in the S Class were also good for tightening the belts further once the seat was strapped in - no movement at all .

I currently have a W140 S320 ( predecessor to the W220 ) which is even bigger and more wafty , also a very nice place to be and surprisingly good on fuel : for a £90 fill up I typically get around 400 miles . I was lucky to find a low mileage , 2 owner car , which is now just about to hit 80,000 miles - it really does drive like new . Mind you , even the 500 returned mid 20s mpg , and I would see 27 on a run .

I’ve driven a few W220s , including a S320 . Because there was criticism the W140 was too big ( the chassis went on to become the basis for the Maybach ) the W220 was scaled down in size somewhat, so in comparison it is a bit more ‘cosy’ inside , but still very quiet and comfortable and not lacking in space anywhere .

S Classes also have huge boots ; if need be you can get a full size Silver Cross pram in there , never mind a baby buggy , I did in the W126 boot , the W140 boot is even bigger , and the W220 boot must be not far off .

I wouldn’t be put off by the lack of isofix , about the only advantage it gives is quickness of transferring a seat from one car to another , but I just bought a child seat for each car ( much handier where one of us would drop Harris off to childminder/nursery/school and the other would pick up .

The most important thing is having a big , solid car round about you in case the worst happens .

Oh , and an S-Class grows with you - this is Harris , now 12 and quite at home in the back of the W140

 

[219]

I ran a 2003 W220 S500L for just under 4 years and it was a sublime experience.

Yes, I replaced discs and pads and airmatic valve block and some suspension bushes but I bought it with 100k on the clock and stuck another 40odd k on top of that.

The only thing that made me change was rust. I could see that it was going to start to become a world of pain so I decided to change into a C207 E220

To quote one forum member when he took my W220 for a run one day - it was a sybaritic experience

Everyone should strive to own an S Class at some point in their life. It changes their view on motoring forever afterwards.

I agree , I’m on my fifth after a W116 , 3 W126s and now the W140 .

I had the 500 for 5 years and put over 100,000 miles on it , during which it never missed a beat ; I’m only 7,000 miles into the current one and still sorting minor issues that were there since purchase , biggest thing now is to replace front wings and have rusty rear arches repaired , which will probably now be next year . Only niggle just now is soft close on drivers door has stopped working, I expect it will be a vacuum leak somewhere.

 

[219]

Because I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to child seats, the Mrs asked me to buy some numa numa mix thingy set that is a 3 in 1 and I dared not question anything as it would have meant I have to look at push chairs and car seats.

I'm hindsight it's bitten me in the ass, I just realised non isofix baby seats are a thing, this opens up options

Choosing child seats , and for you right now , infant carriers is as complex as choosing a car .

I don’t know the one you mention , but it sounds like a ‘travel system’ where you have an infant carrier that can either be locked into the car , or into a baby buggy .

We looked at numerous ones , and after reading reviews got the Graco infant carrier .

Her ladyship chose a ‘Bugaboo Bee’ buggy , which wasn’t quite as easy to open up as the promotional video would have you believe , nor was it cheap .

Then my mum bought us this huge traditional Silver Cross pram , which only just fitted into the boot of the W126 !

When Harris was older , I looked again , and this time went for the Recaro seats which were very well designed , with lateral support for the head and adapted as Harris grew from an infant , where he was held in place by the seat’s own harness , until as a larger child , parts of the seat were removed and he sat in it restrained by the adult belt , until he grew out of it altogether.

The seats were then passed on to my nephew who by then was starting his own family .

 

[Deleted member 149005]

Let your wife choose your car - it’s much easier..

If you love your ML so much why don’t you use it more? It will cost the same to run whether you do 1000 miles or 10000 miles pa.

 

[Bert_W164]

@Pontoneer - wow, thank you so much for all that information, I genuinely enjoyed reading your posts. Harris looks so happy back there, bless him.

I also didn't realise child seats don't cost the earth, you're right it's a travel set we've bought, I totally butchered the name, and instead of being lazy, I could have had a look in the Conservatory to get the name right...

The Mrs has caught the S class bug too, so I think what I'm going to do, is get the ML sorted (needs a rear Sam), get the Audi into sellable a condition, and go find a decent W220, which will eventually turn into the Evoque's replacement too.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Just use the ML 63, the car will love you for it. Big, expensive, complex cars don’t like standing still, so take it to it’s happy place, strap your family in it, and then enjoy it.

PS It will have Isofix too

 

[horatio]

I’m pretty sure you can retrofit isofix into a w203 by buying a brackets from the dealer which bolt under the seat.

 

[Bert_W164]

Thanks everyone, the ML63 is on track to have it's rear Sam sorted.

The Evoque and Audi have to go, they're both two doors and not very practical at the moment, once that happens we will get a S class to replace them, as we so need at least two cars. We both really like the W220, I've always had a thing for older cars, I think it's just not wanting to give up the 90s era for me

 

[Flyinspanner]

If you really liked it, you could go to these guys and get them to sort any solution you require.

Seat Belt Repairs | Seat Belt Replacement | Seat Belt Refurbishment Quick Fit SBS Ltd

Seat belt repairs, fitting and refurbishing from the UKs oldest seat belt manufacturer.

www.quickfitsbs.com

I used them years ago with my classic Saab Turbo convertible- the early ones only had rear lap belts, they sorted 4 point harnesses for our children.

And it’s entirely possible that isofix anchorages could be retrofitted.

 

[219]

If you really liked it, you could go to these guys and get them to sort any solution you require.

Seat Belt Repairs | Seat Belt Replacement | Seat Belt Refurbishment Quick Fit SBS Ltd

Seat belt repairs, fitting and refurbishing from the UKs oldest seat belt manufacturer.

www.quickfitsbs.com

I used them years ago with my classic Saab Turbo convertible- the early ones only had rear lap belts, they sorted 4 point harnesses for our children.

And it’s entirely possible that isofix anchorages could be retrofitted.

Yep , they are a good company: I got the rear three point belts for my SL from them .

 

[clk208]

I have a couple of classic V olvos and managed to get baby and then infant seats that had a great safety rating and were non iso fix. Which? was quite good for research. My CLS bizarrely also doesn’t have isofix so made sense to go down this route. The wife’s car does have isofix so got different seats for that. You don’t really want to have to swap them over on a regular basis if you can avoid.

Reusing them currently for our second born.

 

[219]

@Pontoneer - wow, thank you so much for all that information, I genuinely enjoyed reading your posts. Harris looks so happy back there, bless him.

I also didn't realise child seats don't cost the earth, you're right it's a travel set we've bought, I totally butchered the name, and instead of being lazy, I could have had a look in the Conservatory to get the name right...

The Mrs has caught the S class bug too, so I think what I'm going to do, is get the ML sorted (needs a rear Sam), get the Audi into sellable a condition, and go find a decent W220, which will eventually turn into the Evoque's replacement too.

Thanks , yes Harris has grown up to be quite a petrolhead - he’s been go Karting for a couple of years and I now have to work hard to keep ahead of him ; has been driving cars for a couple of years and his instructors now comment on his speed ! In the photo he is perusing the latest issue of Top Gear Magazine , and he changes his mind monthly whether his first car is going to be a Lamborghini/Ford Mustang/Dodge Charger .... What have I created ??? He also constantly reminds me that Lewis Hamilton ( his hero - he corresponds and has autographed photos in his bedroom ! ) and Michael Schumacher both started off Karting at his age !!! Harris also states that his all time favourite car is a Mercedes 300SL Roadster ( not Gullwing ) , with the 190E EVO2 a close second . Wonder how he got those ideas ?

I was going to get an air cooled Beetle for his first car , but a 190E might be an option ... He can enter motorsport events in two years ...

 

[Bert_W164]

That's so amazing to read, you may have the next Hamilton in your hands I hope he does well and his interest remains, its much better than what the kids of today are into, their bleeding Instagram accounts, spending 18 hours a day on CoD shouting all sorts of nonsense and simply growing up too fast and dabbling in the adult world too early!

I want my daughter to get into cars and carry the torch - I guess its cementing it, if I pick her up and bring her home in an AMG hopefully that'll get her started.

Harris will be in for a shock with insurance, I remember being 17 and dreaming of owning a Honda Prelude H22a vtec as my first car...Reality was a Vauxhall Calibra 2.0 16v Ecotec, which as a first car wasn't actually bad at all. 140bhp, leather seats, a volt meter and oil gauge, I also destroyed 3 clutches in 11 months...I can't believe as I write this how the time has passed, by the time my daughter is of driving age, fossil fuel cars will probably be outlawed, the pesky youth won't know what a V8 of the glorious days are, and will probably be in totally self driven cars.

I guess its the age old thing of the elder generation always moaning about their day and how wonderful things were...I'm starting to feel middle aged now, great

 

[219]

That's so amazing to read, you may have the next Hamilton in your hands I hope he does well and his interest remains, its much better than what the kids of today are into, their bleeding Instagram accounts, spending 18 hours a day on CoD shouting all sorts of nonsense and simply growing up too fast and dabbling in the adult world too early!

I want my daughter to get into cars and carry the torch - I guess its cementing it, if I pick her up and bring her home in an AMG hopefully that'll get her started.

Harris will be in for a shock with insurance, I remember being 17 and dreaming of owning a Honda Prelude H22a vtec as my first car...Reality was a Vauxhall Calibra 2.0 16v Ecotec, which as a first car wasn't actually bad at all. 140bhp, leather seats, a volt meter and oil gauge, I also destroyed 3 clutches in 11 months...I can't believe as I write this how the time has passed, by the time my daughter is of driving age, fossil fuel cars will probably be outlawed, the pesky youth won't know what a V8 of the glorious days are, and will probably be in totally self driven cars.

I guess its the age old thing of the elder generation always moaning about their day and how wonderful things were...I'm starting to feel middle aged now, great

Children are so impressionable .

My ex isn’t at all into cars , and thought of all my cars as wrecks , even though they lasted me longer than hers and I did at least 10 x the annual mileage she did , so to begin with Harris didn’t like my cars , until one day I picked him up from school in the SL , with the roof down . He did his usual , got in and hid down out of sight ... until he heard all the boys saying ‘ look at that cool car ‘ .... then when he looked up it was ‘Harris’ !!! . Next day in school all the kids were asking him about it , including this girl he liked

From there he was sold : cars are cool , and , alas , the word of Clarkson was the word of God ,

It did no harm that one day I borrowed my mate’s W123 Limo ( funeral car ) and picked him up from school in it . The following day all his schoolmates were insanely jealous that he’d been picked up in a limo !

Now it’s NASCAR , Hamilton , F1 ....

Like me , he was saddened when Sir Stirling Moss passed away .

He still listens in disbelief when I tell him of my meeting with Rudi Uhlenhaut , and my shot in the Cw111 , knowing full well who he was and all his achievements.

Harris looks forward to his eligibility into motorsport.

Will it be a Polo ( as I suggested ) or an air cooled Beetle ? Harris has already told me that if I get him a Beetle he is going to put a Porsche engine into it !!!

When I croak , he will have to get all my garage equipment and tools

My daughter will get all my camera equipment , hi-fi and record collection .

Both of them wish they could have got my Ponton, at least Gillian has the memories of being driven around in it ( if not of being brought home from hospital in it , which she was ) .

I hope you are able to pass your interests onto your daughter, and further children , but they have to be their own people , we can only be an influence, although a powerful one ,

 

[Bert_W164]

Hahaha, daddy saves the day with his SL.

I often joke with my wife saying imagine how cool I'd look picking up kid/s from school in a Porsche 911 (ooo is that a naughty word on this forum) unfortunately I'm not winning that argument so family friend SUV it is for now

I get a feeling my daughter will like cars, when I last drove in the ML she was busy dancing or kicking away in my wife's tummy, it was funny as my wife was worried baby had not moved much that day...V8 growl and a bit of the loud pedal sorted that out.

We've noticed she is rather active when I drive, so I keep telling myself that's because she enjoys torque...

 

[219]

Porsches also came from Stuttgart , and are thus also in the upper echelons of car makers . besides , Dr Porsche got his start as an engineer with Mercedes-Benz ( he designed the S , SS, SSK , SSKL , the 130H and 170H before working on chancellor Hitler's KDF Wagen : the VW ) before starting out on his own .

Yep , kids are more impressionable than we know .
This is the only bit of video I have of my Ponton ( shot by one of my mates from the back seat ) ; embarrassingly , I am not sure which girlfriend is sitting up front with me , although I have narrowed it down to two possibilities , but it was about 40 years ago !

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