Impending S211 purchase

[minemapper]

Morning all,

I'm about to pull the trigger on a 'new to me' S211 in the next week or two. I've been researching somewhat obsessively for a month or two, and it seems the 320cdi is the model to go for. Looking for one under 150k, and preferably under £6k. Post 2006 facelift is a must. Seems to be a lot of cars that hang around on the market for a long time, and very few good quality private sales appearing.

The wealth of knowledge in the forums here is impressive, so I'm hoping for a little guidance. I found a 2006 car with slightly higher miles (171k) that is close to me. Seller claims it has a Brabus chip, but knows nothing about it. He's only had the car a couple of months. I'm going to go and see it tomorrow, so apart from the badge on the back, what can I look for to prove the chip is present? I've only driven a 2003 W211 with the small petrol V6, so won't be able to tell a difference in power from driving.

Second question relates to the 3rd row seats. Given the travel sickness tendencies of my kids, there's no way any of them will be travelling back there, so I'd prefer one that doesn't have the seats. However, all the decent ones I find seem to have the seats. How hard is it to remove them and retrofit the storage box under the boot floor? Once removed, are the 3rd row seats worth anything, or should they just be stored and sold with the car in the future?

Third, any members with a 2006-2009 S211 that they are thinking about selling, please get in touch. I've always had good luck buying a car off a forum member in the past, and would far rather buy from an enthusiast than some random that hasn't got a clue about cars.

Many thanks in advance,

Matt

 

[Timster]

Couple of alarm bells there if it was me purchasing.

Only had the car a couple of months - whys he selling?

Doesn't know about the brabus chip? What else doesn't he know about the car?

Good luck dude. Awesome cars. I love mine. It's a 2003 S211 320cdi with 217k on the clock and going strong!

 

[minemapper]

The story is that he's renovating a house up in Aberdeen. Sold his old S211 and bought a Focus to free up cash. Thought he was near the end of the renovation and sold the Focus to get back into a MB. Now he's run into some unexpected extra renovation costs. Car was bought from the Peterborough area and is apparently a 1 previous owner. Supposedly has a full MBSH.

Sounds a bit fishy to me also, but he's only 50 miles away, so if it smells too much, I'm only out a few hours of time.

 

[GordonTarling]

I would have thought that there ought to be some sort of paperwork for the Brabus chip - you might well need that for insurance purposes anyway. I think the Brabus 'chip' comprises a small box that plugs into the wiring loom on top of the engine - others may be better placed to confirm.

As to removing the third row of seats - I had the same problem on my previous S211 - my advice is to forget it. In parts alone, you're looking at 1k or more and it'll be even more than that if you want to do away with the seatbelts and change the trim panels. I know the feeling, but there are 5 seat versions around, so keep looking.

 

[minemapper]

Thanks for the input. Good to know on the 3rd row, because it would be annoying to cart the seats around all the time and never use the space.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

The Brabus box should be under a box on the near side of the engine bay near the window.

If you can't get to that, take the engine cover off and look at the wiring at the top of the engine, you should be able to see three way joins.

How much is the 171k mile car?

 

[minemapper]

It's up for £6495, which I think is somewhat optimistic, with those miles.