The E63 I now own.

[Hakon]

I think the Swiss and maybe the Austrians are opening but there are ongoing talks with the rest of them. Cancelled our Italy Jan trip.

There are still grooves on the disc surface, so you're fine

 

[Steve84N]

Discs and pads all round should be a 2hr job, so it's pretty obvious that £1,000 is excessive. They are probably charging more for the parts.

 

[AMGeed]

Some excellent advice above and the one I'd repeat is, go and test drive the car, don't buy it blind. It's all very well taking the dealers word and seeing internet photos, but for a car of that value I just wouldn't take the chance.
As I mentioned previously, offer a refundable deposit, take time off work and go and test drive it. Don;t risk £28k on a lemon.

There are one or two negatives with the services not being done correctly (A/B//A/B etc), the wear on the discs which should either be attended to or negotiated into the price and the dealer warranty which is quite frankly a waste of paper.

A Mercedes warranty will cost you around £2850 for 1 year (that's what I was quoted for a year older but 30k mile E63) and ridiculously expensive IMHO.
Good luck.

 

[Deleted member 149005]

Flexibility really - I love skiing*, and if it looks like we might get the chance to dash over and get some time in the Alps I'd like to be able to do it. Hire cars are tricky when you say "we might want to extend the hire for two weeks and drive to a country that at the moment I couldn't tell you what our relationship with is going to be like".

*Not that I'm any good at it

By law, won't you need snow chains in the Alps? Or at least winter tyres

 

[Dammit]

I'll head up on Saturday, it's three hours on the train each way and whatever the journey is to the dealers, 4 or so hours in the car so I think the train wins.

 

[Dammit]

^^I would run winter tyres.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I agree. I think that would (for some) disqualify it from "full MB Service history", would there be repercussions with Mercedes themselves if one needed their goodwill to get something repaired/a recall/etc?

I’m a stickler for service history being absolutely spot on, but in truth - and in this specific circumstance - I wouldn’t actually worry to much about it having had the A-service in place of a B-service.

In reality the the difference between an A-service and a B-service, and it was several years ago now, so any issues missed in year 2 would have been picked up during the B-service in year 4.

At this age you’re probably towards the end of any period where you could hope to receive a good will gesture, especially at the end of the 3 month mandatory period or 12 month optional warranty.

Also the Mercedes breakdown cover is renewed upon each main dealer service, and so even if the prior history isn’t spot on then you should still be able to use the Mercedes breakdown service.

So on balance I think the only hit might be future potential buyers spot that it had an A-service instead of a B-service and low ball you or walk away. Allow for that mentally and you’ll be fine.

All of the above applies if the car and the dealer checkout. If not, just walk away, there will be another.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Those brake prices do seem pretty punchy, especially for an independent. Use it to your advantage now when negotiating with the vendor but I’m sure you’ll find it cheaper elsewhere if you shop around or consider quality aftermarket parts like Brembo.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I’m a stickler for service history being absolutely spot on, but in truth - and in this specific circumstance - I wouldn’t actually worry to much about it having had the A-service in place of a B-service.

On any second hand car, there will *always* be at least one thing that you feel you have to swallow - the out-of-sync service would initially irritate me - but, in the grand scheme of things, it can be excused.

Lovely colour too, I think it's "Lazurite Blue"

 

[pmcgsmurf]

Those brake prices do seem pretty punchy, especially for an independent. Use it to your advantage now when negotiating with the vendor but I’m sure you’ll find it cheaper elsewhere if you shop around or consider quality aftermarket parts like Brembo.

Not aware of Brembo doing the front discs but they would certainly do the pads P50127, P50110 & 09.A822.11 for rear discs.

 

[Hakon]

Strictly MB speaking Brembo don't but you can use the floating Brembo front disc from the C63 and I think earlier versions of the E63.
Dimensions are exactly the same as the franken-hybrid disc as fitted as standard to our cars and may well be superior in isolating the bearing from disc heat.

 

[Dammit]

I admit I am a sucker for floating rotors, I’m having a full set of four discs and bells custom made for my 911 project.

 

[Hakon]

They do look better .

When the time comes, I'm toying with brackets to allow the usage of the 390mm front Brembo discs, from the SL, I believe.

 

[Dammit]

I had a full set of 360mm rotors, bells and brackets drawn up to enable six piston front and four piston rear AP Racing brakes to go on the 911 under some BBS LM's, then it turned out to be literally impossible to get BBS Japan to provide the wheels - I spent a year waiting, then cancelled the order and got a refund.

 

[sgregory124]

By law, won't you need snow chains in the Alps? Or at least winter tyres

For the French Alps, you are required to carry snow chains in the winter months, even if you don't use them, the police will ask you to put them on if required and have the power to stop your journey and send you back down the mountain if they feel you're a danger without them.

Winter tyres in France are completely optional (although recommended).

 

[Dammit]

I'll make sure to have some chains in the boot.

I spoke to MB Brooklands yesterday, just exploring whether I could stretch to the latest E63 (I can't), sales person's approach to convincing me to find the money from somewhere was to tell me that the older car (W212) was all over the place under power and that the 4WD of the newer car was basically transformative, turning it into a car that you could actually drive.

 

[Hakon]

The open rear diff is a surprise but £1500 is able to address that.

 

[sgregory124]

I'll make sure to have some chains in the boot.

I spoke to MB Brooklands yesterday, just exploring whether I could stretch to the latest E63 (I can't), sales person's approach to convincing me to find the money from somewhere was to tell me that the older car (W212) was all over the place under power and that the 4WD of the newer car was basically transformative, turning it into a car that you could actually drive.

My humble recommendation would be get yourself some Konig/Thule K-Summit's, no part of the chain ever goes behind the wheels and no part of them touches the face of your wheels either (aside from the mounting bolt). I happen to have a pair for sale too which may fit an E63 #JustSaying

 

[Dammit]

Hah, roger that - but let me find a car first!

 

[350cls]

Open diff is for real AMG enthusiast's