s212 e500

[Londonscottish]

Think the BMW's use run flat tyres as well don't they? Which makes the ride even harder.

Yes. I tried a Mini Cooper S a couple of years ago as I'd always liked the look of them and fancied replacing the wife's ancient Clio with something a bit more fun. After about 100 yards I decided it was undrivable in London (or at least to me). It felt like it had tyres full of concrete and completely rigid suspension.

I knew it would be firm in the Sport but I liked the colour and the spec and decided not to wait for an Avantgarde.

Totally. You did the right thing to grab it. I would have done exactly the same had I been in the market. It's a cracker. And you might have been waiting an eternity to see another one, let alone a "better" one.

Anyway, interesting to read everyone's feedback on comparisons between the set ups and wheel sizes, thanks

It was an interesting debate. Especially for me, stuck on an 8 day (8 day!!) training course in Washington DC. Well, when I say "in" DC I really mean in a Marriot hotel in the equivalent of Zone 5 or something.....

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

If my right foot wasn't stuck in an aircast boot for the next three months, I would have beaten you to that E500.

Your car is the second W212 I've seen sold in more than 18 months. (YouKnowWho above has the other one)

If you want to soften the ride, the easiest route is to switch to 17's.

But, as we've said before, "run it in" first and see what you really think of it on the roads you actually use.

"Stuck in an aircast boot for three months" or "stuck in a training course in Marriott Hotel on the edge of DC for eight days?" Maybe my situation isn't that bad after all - I'm even losing weight !!

 

[Londonscottish]

"Stuck in an aircast boot for three months" or "stuck in a training course in Marriott Hotel on the edge of DC for eight days?" Maybe my situation isn't that bad after all - I'm even losing weight !!

LOL. It's a close thing.

To be fair, as I said to my wife, I'd rather work for a company that overdid all the field enablement stuff rather than the opposite. They've spent $500k of flying a load of us here from all over the world to give us all the latest and greatest.

And they spent a whole load more fly the entire sales and marketing organisation to Vegas in January.

And my mates think they've nailed a bar to watch Scotland England tomorrow which is the most important thing.

Musn't grumble*

*although I am getting fat....

 

[Biglips]

Just checking in to make sure you are looking after those e500s for when I need to replace my s211 e500 ( ex- LondonScottish owned).

Pushing 160k miles in it now and still running really well. Hoping I will get 200k out of it before any major catastrophe!

My wife has a cooper S convertible, they are definitely a hard ride and also feel a bit ‘choppy’ and not v relaxing. I think because I am used to a much longer wheelbase the difference is very clear. She loves it. I think it is a fun car when you are pushing on but not very relaxing for the daily grind.

 

[E55BOF]

Which engine have you in the 211 E500?

 

[Londonscottish]

My wife has a cooper S convertible, they are definitely a hard ride and also feel a bit ‘choppy’ and not v relaxing. I think because I am used to a much longer wheelbase the difference is very clear. She loves it. I think it is a fun car when you are pushing on but not very relaxing for the daily grind.

The trouble I had was the test drive route was full of speed bumps. I must have gone over 50 and had to drop to walking pace for each and every one. And every time we came across broken tarmac the owner begged me to slow down. It was just the wrong environment for the poor Cooper. Shame as loves everything else.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Mutter mutter.. fit 16 inch wheels and/or ditch the run flats........mutter mutter.

I test drove a low mileage Works S - what a wonderful bonkers car - but it really was a go kart. So hard on the back. Great for a quick dash but you wouldn't want to every day.

Natures' way of telling us to build bigger garages to house "the Fleet."

.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Musn't grumble*
*although I am getting fat....

The food may be there but you don't HAVE to eat it....

But is it possible to stay in an American Marriott and not gain weight?

 

[Londonscottish]

The food may be there but you don't HAVE to eat it....

But is it possible to stay in an American Marriott and not gain weight?

Well at least the jet lag wakes me up at 5.30 and gets me in the gym. The trouble is the lack of salads during the day. Well that and the beers at night.

 

[Biglips]

Which engine have you in the 211 E500?

Don’t know the engine code I am afraid, others may be able to enlighten us. Pre facelift car and less power than he one in the s212. Plenty for me though

 

[Londonscottish]

Don’t know the engine code I am afraid, others may be able to enlighten us. Pre facelift car and less power than he one in the s212. Plenty for me though

I don't know the codes either but the short hand is that yours has the 5.0 engine. The last (facelift) 211's had the 5.5 as do the 212's.

 

[E55BOF]

Thanks for that. It's the 5.0, so the same as mine; I couldn't recall whether it was a facelift or not. There was a black facelift Sport, '08 I think, in the trade near Bath, with about 80K miles on it, for about £9K for ages. I was tempted, but it just didn't look good in black. I'm still looking out for one with the 5.5 engine, either (and preferably) a facelift 211 or a pre-facelift 212, but I won't have a black one.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Comfortably counted on the fingers of one hand

 

[SW18]

The engine codes are the M113 for the 5.0 litre - which is a similar engine to the one in the E55 and E55k and according to internet lore I t seems to be almost unbreakable. There was a US one (E55k) on YouTube at more than 400k miles! The only thing I’ve been told about them is that the cost of changing all 16 spark plugs is a bit scary.

The 5.5 was an updated version of the M113 called the M273. It doesn’t seem to have the same cast-iron reputation as its predecessor but that said I have seen no major complaints when searching online except for the timing gear issue that affected a minority of them in the first couple of years before the design was modified. So (I hope!) the 5.5 should also be a good reliable engine too. It ought to be given how unstressed it is in all legal road conditions . And it only has 8 spark plugs so that solves that problem as well.

Then after that came the M278 4.7TT engine which may be the best of them all due to a huge torque hike courtesy of the turbos. Shame it never made it to these shores in anything other than the coupe and cabrio.

 

[PaulXC]

Then after that came the M278 4.7TT engine which may be the best of them all due to a huge torque hike courtesy of the turbos. Shame it never made it to these shores in anything other than the coupe and cabrio.

This is what you need.

Embrace the LHD and ignore the price.

 

[SW18]

This is what you need.

Embrace the LHD and ignore the price.

Oh, yes! Nice colour and spec too. Surprisingly expensive; I reckon that’s as much as a similar aged E63 5.5TT here. Do they hold their value well over there, or are there high taxes on new cars that force up the second-hand market?

 

[PaulXC]

Cars are noticeably more expensive in Germany and so the used market is also. Of course for us it depends on the exchange rate which ain’t what it used to be ….

I’ve been looking at S212 350 diesels on Mobile.de and Mercedes.de with a view to buying something a bit newer to replace my S211.

A 2015 / 2016 model seems to retail about £10,000 more than a UK car - thought often higher spec, 4Matic and if you buy from Merc they come with a two year warranty.

My S211 gets used 50/50 UK / Europe so it makes no real difference to me which side the steering wheel is on but, I prefer LHD cars.

I reckon Mercedes, particularly the S211 & S212 are better in LHD. The driving position - steering wheel relative to accelerator pedal - is correct rather than offset and the general ergonomics of the cabin feel more logical to me.

My head keeps getting turned by the E500 4Matic - My thought process goes …

I already have an E500 Cab which I don’t want to get rid of.
But, it's because I have the E500 Cab I know how nice the 4.7 TT motor is.
But, then it would be silly to have two E500’s.
But then again, would it?
So I should just buy a S213 220d as my load lugger and enjoy the cheap running costs and enjoy my E500 cab for the performance.
But then again I could buy a E500 4Matic for about the same sort of money,.
But then my fuel bill would be higher.
And so on …

So …

I’ll probably end just keeping the my current LHD E320cdi and throwing more money at it…..

 

[E55BOF]

This is what you need.

Embrace the LHD and ignore the price.

]

If it was half the price, I still wouldn't, I'm afraid; I don't care for any of the silvers except Brilliant, and that front end is just too ugly. I'd prefer a W211, but a pre-facelift 212 in the right colour combination would do at a pinch. It all depends what comes on the market and who gets there first. Then again, if the right E55K came up...

 

[Londonscottish]

But, then it would be silly to have two E500’s.

No, not at all. Brilliant idea. One great engine, two very different cars.

 

[SW18]

No, not at all. Brilliant idea. One great engine, two very different cars.

Yes, who could pass up having 9.4 litres and 816hp of Mercedes on the drive? One for practicality and one for fun. Sounds great!