Pic's of my new car.... S65AMG V12 Twin Turbo W221

[Cxly]

You take vehicle care to a whole new level. The undersides of each car look immaculate! Is this a mixture of ice blasting and powder coating?

Congratulations on the S65 - I was a fan of the previous S600 you had, I think it was 10/10. Can’t wait to see what you do to this.

 

[Sam87]

You take vehicle care to a whole new level. The undersides of each car look immaculate! Is this a mixture of ice blasting and powder coating?

Congratulations on the S65 - I was a fan of the previous S600 you had, I think it was 10/10. Can’t wait to see what you do to this.

Thank you, I appreciate your comment!

Unfortunately I don’t have an ice blasting machine. It would have been amazing if I could have that. I paint the parts one by one. It’s very time consuming and very tiring job. I always say I’m never doing it again but that only works until I buy a new project

I loved the way the S600 looked, it was perfect in my eyes. The facelift headlamps would have made it look even better.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Surely the first time its on the road in the rain its almost back to square one?.....looks great while its clean though.....not that anyone you are not running over will ever see it!!!!

 

[Sam87]

I guess I will never learn when to stop! Yesterday I spent all day taking all the under trays and inner wheel arches off to clean the underside of the car. I started at around 11am and I was cleaning until 10pm. Today I got a massive headache/muscle pain from sweating and working in the cold but it’s nothing new. I get carried away and forget about myself.

No painting has been done yet and I will only do some minor touch up, paint the brakes and maybe a couple of other things. I don’t want to go too far with the underside this time.

































I put everything back together. I'll take some better pic's once the car is finished

 

[Sam87]

Surely the first time its on the road in the rain its almost back to square one?.....looks great while its clean though.....not that anyone you are not running over will ever see it!!!!

It should last a while even if driven in the rain but I can't say how long it would stay like that as every car I've done this to, I have not used them winter time.
As nice as it looks, for me when getting a car this clean, it kind of ruins the experience because afterwards I'm always worried about driving the car unless it's a nice day. It's not like we get a lot of sunny days in the UK .
I'm working on this weakness and this is why I don't want to go too far with the underside on this S65

 

[Sam87]

Today I went and picked up a couple of things from Mercedes.

I had ordered one front shock absorber from Mercedes and it took over one month to arrive!
When I bought the car, I noticed the drivers front shock absorber was slightly wet and I mean very slightly but I lowered the car and I knew it would only get worse afterwards so I went to the dealer to order one. The guy behind the desk said, ''It's a good thing you are sitting down''. I was quoted £1700+ just for the shock
I was then told if I return the old unit, the price would be £1250+
I went ahead and ordered the part and while I was at Mercedes I ordered new engine mounts, auxiliary belt, some trims and 1L of ABC fluid.

Total price, £2052.66p.

All I could do was . Otherwise I’d start crying.









I couldn't wait until next week so I changed the shock straight away. Everything went smoothly or so I thought. After the job was finished I raised and lowered the car when it was on the ground about 20 times in case there was any air in the system. I checked the fluid level for the ABC and when the engine is off, the level is at the bottom line and when the engine is running, it's at the top line [ where it's meant to be from what I've been reading ].
When I went on a test drive, the ABC light came on [ yellow light ] and the car raised up but it went super high! I didn't know the car could go that high and the ride became very hard/bouncy. As soon as I turned the car off and back on, it went to normal height.
I noticed that this happens when I go over 30mph. I only drove the car twice and now it's parked up

The car never done this before. It happened after replacing the shock absorber. I plugged it in and it came with 4 unknown fault codes on the ABC system. Something new to sort out on the car now

Once the shock absorber was changed, I took the car out for a quick test drive and the fuel light came on…. Something I’m used to seeing on this car and my previous S600

 

[SmartAmg]

Jeez Louise, Sam .
Car car does look Awesome though.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Should they not be replaced in pairs?....like normal shocks.

 

[Sam87]

Jeez Louise, Sam .
Car car does look Awesome though.

I know! Believe me, inside I was crying when he told me the price! Had to be done though

Thank you . The 2 miles I did today to test the car put a smile on my face...... it's a shame I can't use it this weekend because now I have to bleed the system as there is an ABC fault

 

[Sam87]

Should they not be replaced in pairs?....like normal shocks.

It is recommended but the other shock was replaced not long ago so it should be ok.
One of the rears is brand new also. It was changed just before I bought the car

 

[ChrisHGTV]

Oh I would. Some parts MB take the absolute p*ss on, beyond ridiculous.

If you think that's bad i think Ferrari are far worse for ridiculous markups. Ive just bought two new "Disegno Pininfarina" badges for my Alfa to replace the old ones. Official Alfa Romeo part, £23 each. Came in the normal Ricambi Originali Alfa packaging etc. The exact same badges but in the official Ferrari packaging £80 each.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Check if any level sensors have been disturbed or bent. Ours got stuck in the high position and it was a result of the sensor. There was an updated part in our case, as it was a known issue.

 

[Sam87]

Check if any level sensors have been disturbed or bent. Ours got stuck in the high position and it was a result of the sensor. There was an updated part in our case, as it was a known issue.

Thank you... I will check the sensor out too

 

[C43AMG]

Today I went and picked up a couple of things from Mercedes.

I had ordered one front shock absorber from Mercedes and it took over one month to arrive!
When I bought the car, I noticed the drivers front shock absorber was slightly wet and I mean very slightly but I lowered the car and I knew it would only get worse afterwards so I went to the dealer to order one. The guy behind the desk said, ''It's a good thing you are sitting down''. I was quoted £1700+ just for the shock
I was then told if I return the old unit, the price would be £1250+
I went ahead and ordered the part and while I was at Mercedes I ordered new engine mounts, auxiliary belt, some trims and 1L of ABC fluid.

Total price, £2052.66p.

All I could do was . Otherwise I’d start crying.









I couldn't wait until next week so I changed the shock straight away. Everything went smoothly or so I thought. After the job was finished I raised and lowered the car when it was on the ground about 20 times in case there was any air in the system. I checked the fluid level for the ABC and when the engine is off, the level is at the bottom line and when the engine is running, it's at the top line [ where it's meant to be from what I've been reading ].
When I went on a test drive, the ABC light came on [ yellow light ] and the car raised up but it went super high! I didn't know the car could go that high and the ride became very hard/bouncy. As soon as I turned the car off and back on, it went to normal height.
I noticed that this happens when I go over 30mph. I only drove the car twice and now it's parked up

The car never done this before. It happened after replacing the shock absorber. I plugged it in and it came with 4 unknown fault codes on the ABC system. Something new to sort out on the car now

Once the shock absorber was changed, I took the car out for a quick test drive and the fuel light came on…. Something I’m used to seeing on this car and my previous S600

Does the Reg read V12 OCD ? If so it's coming up on the MOT check as a 2006 Astin Martin DB9

 

[Doodle]

Look closely, there's some very subtle MS Paint action between the 2 and O

 

[Sam87]

Does the Reg read V12 OCD ? If so it's coming up on the MOT check as a 2006 Astin Martin DB9

No, there’s another number/letter but I covered it as I thought I’d follow the advise on here to cover the number plates

I did check if V12 OCD existed and I saw that it was on an Aston Martin but the mot expired a few years ago.

Look closely, there's some very subtle MS Paint action between the 2 and O

Good spot

 

[c16rkc]

What an amazing car, has given me some very good ideas for my own S class... I wish I have a V12 like yours rather than the Diesel though!

I had already seen pictures of your last one in Google images, and it was following them that led me here, I am looking forward to seeing what you do to this one.

As others have said, I really love the standard 5-spoke AMG alloys you have on there; I am curious are they 20" size?

 

[Sam87]

What an amazing car, has given me some very good ideas for my own S class... I wish I have a V12 like yours rather than the Diesel though!

I had already seen pictures of your last one in Google images, and it was following them that led me here, I am looking forward to seeing what you do to this one.

As others have said, I really love the standard 5-spoke AMG alloys you have on there; I am curious are they 20" size?

Sorry I forgot to reply to your post.

Thanks a lot, appreciate your comment!

At least you get good mpg on yours. I drove mine for 13 miles yesterday to test the suspension and I wasted at least £20 on fuel as I put my foot down a couple of times. You can see the needle drop .

The oem wheels are one of my fav design and they look good on the S class but I just can’t help myself but still look at the 21”

Yes, the wheels the car now has are 20”

 

[c16rkc]

Well in that case the 20" look great, and I am looking forward to seeing my own same ones on the car. I think your old car with the 21" alloys did look better.... but the 20's are more than enough for me

For you Petrol is probably much better, as you do low miles. I intend to do a lot of miles eventually, and given I'm not wealthy Diesel is a better option for me. I'm also not that bothered about performance now I'm in my 40's

I'm looking forward to seeing what you do to this one, how do you find the audio? I find the Harmon Kardon a but disappointing next to other cars I have owned.

Have you considered improvements to the in car entertainment? I'm thinking an Android box and surround cameras for mine eventually, so I can have a bird view system.

 

[Alex225]

Great thread OP and some lovely machines. I recognise that you first W221 from a certain detailing forum!!