Inital review of my S211 Brabus E320 CDI

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Beautiful car.

Chris Harris (Autocar/Evo) ran a car just like yours (minus the body kit but with air suspension) and loved it.

It turned my head (finally) towards a diesel.

I tried a boggo 280 and was amazed by the grunt off the line.

When I replace my 500 in few years' time I'll be looking at Brabused 320's :)


I'll keep the mileage low and the paintwork shiny and when I go for a S212 with the new Brabus chip (313bhp) in a few years I'll give you 1st option :)
 
Having driven the new car for a while I feel I can answer some of the questions asked of me about it, albeit keeping it brief.

My previous car was a pre facelift 2004 IL6 S211 E320 CDI Avantgarde with 204bhp and the 5 speed gearbox. I loved it with a passion for every day of the 3 1/2 years I owned it.

The new model is based upon a post facelift 2008 S211 E320 CDI Sport, so there are some significant differences in the spec, which I will deal with first.

Engine
Undoubtedly the V6 engine is smoother than the IL6 across all driving conditions (town, fast A road and motorway). However, as with the IL6, there's more vibration through the seat and steering wheel at idle than the equivalent petrol. I remind myself it's a diesel and just live with it.

Gearbox
Though some members have said the 5 speed is better than the 7 speed box I have to disagree so far. Changes are silky smooth and there's always a gear available whenever you need to downshift. With the 5 speed you could sometimes fall inbetween ratios and end up with a less than smooth take up.

Performance
Ah well, it's not really a fair comparison because of the Brabus chip giving 272bhp vs 204bhp of the IL6.
However, the combination of the (almost) 600Nm torque and the smoothness of the gearbox make for an intoxicating brew - hours of point and squirt fun.
You can imagine what it does on the motorway slip road.

Steering
One of the facelift upgrades was to quicken the steering by 10% and it certainly takes less input for the same turn - it makes for a more sporty drive through the twisties. The steering wheel is thicker and more sporty and the paddles add to the fun.

Seats
The sport seats have additional side bolsters and they are very supportive. My last seats were uncomfortable over a long distance and despite many adjustments I never got it right. I've not been far enough to tell how these will be yet, but initial impressions are good
The seat heat function is fab on these cold days.

Suspension
The car has 3 position air suspension, one comfort and two sport settings.
The comfort setting isn't the silky cushion of air ride you might expect, but don't forget, it's running 18" wheels and 35/40 profile tyres so in fact, it's very compliant. At speed it lowers itself to the sport setting - very trick.
The stationary rise function is good for showing off but will probably never get used.

AMG body kit
People are complimentary about how the car looks. When outside the house it sits on a slightly elevated position sideways to the road and it sure looks mean. How long the Brabus badges will last before they disappear is anyone's guess.

Options
Too many to bore you with, but the keyless go is excellent and more useful than I thought.
The auto tailgate is already proving worth it's weight.
Again, despite some bad press here, the linguatronic is easy to use, accurate, and amazes everyone who sees their address appear before them. The "individualisation" process (the initial set up to familiarise the car to my voice pattern) did make me look a bit of a prat as I sat there talking to it!
I've not set the distronic yet so can't report.


Being black it's hard to keep clean and with it's black windows and Brabus badges I'm sure I'm gonna get regular "tugs" from the boys in blue - ho hum.

Rewind a week or two - would I do it again - you bet
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Great write up on your car,although mines a petrol(cls500)i have to agree about the 7 gtronic autobox,always in the correct gear,smooth & seems to change up & down faster than a 5 speed box.
 
Oi - there's nothing boggo about a 280 CDi, thanks very much....:mad:;)


Sorry! poor use of English - I meant it hadn't been chipped/remapped.

It seemed to produce several hundred lb/ft of torque from walking pace.

Quite remarkable.

And made a nice growl with it.

I liked it!
 
I'll keep the mileage low and the paintwork shiny and when I go for a S212 with the new Brabus chip (313bhp) in a few years I'll give you 1st option :)

Perfect :)

Meanwhile, keep the reviews coming.

I'd agree with your Airmatic comments. Comfort mode on 17's is still a tiny bit harsh on broken tarmac - I think it's because the air springs can't cope with short sharp imperfections as well as steel springs. 18's would just accentuate that. But the extra suspension travel in Comfort more that makes up for up for that for me. Plus of course you have all the benefits of Sport I and II.

What I really love is the almost complete lack of pitch at speed. And minimum roll. Body control when fully laden at speed on, say a twisty motorway in high winds is ridiculously good.
 
Great write up!! Your car sounds excellent! You're right about black S211s being hard to keep clean! Something about the shape at the rear seems to let it get very dirty, very quickly - - but don't they look great when they're clean! :)

Look forward to seeing the album!
 
Sorry! poor use of English - I meant it hadn't been chipped/remapped.

It seemed to produce several hundred lb/ft of torque from walking pace.

Quite remarkable.

And made a nice growl with it.

I liked it!

You're quite right, of course. I got mine after running a 535d and was a bit concerned about performance, and looked into getting a brabus chip. But after a few weeks with the car I decided I just didn't need it.

Personally, I think if I were to upgrade to the kind of figures mentioned above I'd want a few suspension/handling mods as well.
 
Personally, I think if I were to upgrade to the kind of figures mentioned above I'd want a few suspension/handling mods as well.

Air suspension. Sport II. Job done.

Did I mention that I'm a fan of Airmatic? :)
 
Apologies for resurrecting this after such a long time, but I get long periods where I can't get onto this site (admin are helping me with it).

Anyway, for those of you who asked for some pictures/album I've put some on my profile - I hope you enjoy them and apologies to those of you who I've already bored the pants off.:)
 
..joining the debate.

Just joined the club as I saw the postings on D6s and thought I'd let you know......

I also run a Brabus D6 Avantgarde Estate E320 cdi in Designo Black Metallic with full AMG bodykit and the works!! It's a 54 reg/55 car bought out of a private collection. Full engine conversion, quad exhausts and it goes like the wind - so quick compared to standard. Full AMG body kit and monster wheels and tyres. Biscuit interior with everything extra including DVD player - but no TV! Not a mark on her except tiny 0.5 inch scratch to rear bumper. :)Looks a million, discreet dollars - uber Q. 45K miles.

I also drive (in summer) a SL500 "Silver Arrow" in immaculate,original and cherished condition (except a couple of kerbed alloys by previous owner). Approx 40K miles with full SH and only covered 700 miles or so in last 18 months.

Owned 2 x W124 estates/ CLK 55 AMG in past so got the MB bug bad!

Am considering selling both, so any advice on prices would really help; it's difficult to price these rare beasts and just been insulted by a so called "friendly high end brand dealership" . Would rather they went to enthusiasts
 
Nice car! I've had two 211 estates and thought they were excellent. I'm on to my fourth V6 diesel Mercedes now and haven't managed to leave any of them standard.
I can say that the difference is very marked between standard and 'enhanced'. In every respect. Torque, power, drivability, smoothness and economy. I currently have a Brabus unit on the CLS and it is almost as good as the very best custom remaps and how the engine should have been standard.
In fact, it now is with the CLS Grand Edition.


Speaking of which, do you have any opinion or knowledge of the effect a remap would have on a Grand Edition? Do you think that the 300+HP and increased torque would be achievable without too much of an adverse effect on MPG? (not much point in having a CLS55/63 rivaling diesel if only getting the same MPG) A 5.5 second (or less) 0-60 with a 30mpg average would be good.
 
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Speaking of which, do you have any opinion or knowledge of the effect a remap would have on a Grand Edition? Do you think that the 300+HP and increased torque would be achievable without too much of an adverse effect on MPG? (not much point in having a CLS55/63 rivaling diesel if only getting the same MPG) A 5.5 second (or less) 0-60 with a 30mpg average would be good.

I have never had a V6 with more than about 270bhp and 600Nm. The best remap was done on the S Class by Superchips, but that started in standard spec at about 235bhp. The Brabus 'add on' kit is almost as good.
Superchips have a remap for the 350 BE engines, but looking at the graphs I'm guessing that it is just a boost pressure increase and little or no change to the lower end drivability.

http://www.superchips.co.uk/curves/E350CDi2010.pdf

I've timed my current CLS getting to 60mph in just under 6secs (I'm not very heavy!) but it is the response and ability to overtake slower traffic safely which is the real benefit.
MPG? Well here is what my car says over the last few months. And yes! I have checked it with the tank to tank fills and it is within 1%. So unless they have started moving towns around in Britain and the distances have shrunk :rolleyes: I believe it to be genuine.
I don't expect everone will see this as most of my journeys are long distance and I do drive with the mantra that if I have to brake in normal driving it is because I have failled to anticipate the traffic or road correctly.:eek: I like smoooth!
 
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Just joined the club as I saw the postings on D6s and thought I'd let you know......

I also run a Brabus D6 Avantgarde Estate E320 cdi in Designo Black Metallic with full AMG bodykit and the works!! It's a 54 reg/55 car bought out of a private collection. Full engine conversion, quad exhausts and it goes like the wind - so quick compared to standard. Full AMG body kit and monster wheels and tyres. Biscuit interior with everything extra including DVD player - but no TV! Not a mark on her except tiny 0.5 inch scratch to rear bumper. :)Looks a million, discreet dollars - uber Q. 45K miles.

I also drive (in summer) a SL500 "Silver Arrow" in immaculate,original and cherished condition (except a couple of kerbed alloys by previous owner). Approx 40K miles with full SH and only covered 700 miles or so in last 18 months.

Owned 2 x W124 estates/ CLK 55 AMG in past so got the MB bug bad!

Am considering selling both, so any advice on prices would really help; it's difficult to price these rare beasts and just been insulted by a so called "friendly high end brand dealership" . Would rather they went to enthusiasts

Hello Silver Arrow,

Welcome aboard - can you get some photos up (using photobucket or similar). They all sound great :thumb:.
 
Just joined the club as I saw the postings on D6s and thought I'd let you know......

I also run a Brabus D6 Avantgarde Estate E320 cdi in Designo Black Metallic with full AMG bodykit and the works!!...

I also drive (in summer) a SL500 "Silver Arrow" in immaculate,original and cherished condition (except a couple of kerbed alloys by previous owner). Approx 40K miles with full SH and only covered 700 miles or so in last 18 months.

Owned 2 x W124 estates/ CLK 55 AMG in past so got the MB bug bad!...

Sounds like a nice set of cars you have there. Would be keen to see some pictures of both, especially your D6 E320, sounds nice, especially like the colour combination, makes such a difference from Black on Black...
 

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