The S Class - Dad Tank II

[Alex225]

I'm pretty sure my E Class had similar things done for it's MOTs as always needed something done with the front suspension or steering. I'm not entirely shocked really. Realistically if you discount the cost of the tyres, it's about £900. Not cheap but then again it's not ridiculous either.

Fingers crossed next year is a straight forward one.

 

[Alex225]

Nothing exciting to update, just wanted to keep the thread updated with some recent clean and shiny pics! haha

 

[Alex225]

I did a bit of playing around with some detailing products on the S today. Although it was washed and cleaned last week I fancied stripping off the protection and starting from fresh. Looked good at least...

But today I gave it a once over with a product I've never used before. Meguiars Wash Plus which is a shampoo which claims to gently polish and decontaminate. I was sceptical as to properly polish you need to rub and on a dirty car, even one washed last week and not moved, I'm not scrubbing the paint work. But what it did do was remove a good amount of the protection, left a cleaner surface to hand polish.

I went old school on the polish, with some Autoglym Super Resin Polish.

I finished up the paintwork with a new product. I can honestly say that I'd have never considered Turtlewax a brand I would go to. Much of the stuff in the last 10 years hasn't been much to speak of yet their Hybrid range that emerged a couple of years back has received rave reviews. Especially their spray sealant hybrid. So that went on, applied evenly by applicator rather than spray and wipe. I have had it has good longevity but also very resistant to chemicals.

I finished up giving the wheels a layer of Meguiars Hybrid Ceramic wax. It's great stuff but doesn't leave any real trace of itself so hard to spot where to buff, but otherwise super easy to use.

Overall pleased with how it came out. Next wash I'll apply another coat of the Turtlewax sealant and that'll last a while until a full detail.

Very productive day!

 

[SmartAmg]

Good, work Alex, as always, looks great!

 

[Alex225]

So I've had a quiet few weeks. Literally very quiet as the amp in the car decided to die. I'd noticed an issue with the stereo but it was very intermittent. The sound would fade in and out and the stereo would respond incredibly slowly. Typically there are no aftermarket options and it's part of the radio module so not just an amp.

There's the little b*stard hiding in the corner of the boot!

Fortunately I posted on an S Class group on Farcebook and two different people recommended the same guy. I got in touch and arranged to send it off. Slightly hesitant but he came recommended so off it went. But today I received a package and I was very excited.

In this miracle box was my new repaired amp!!

Now I admit it doesn't look hugely different from how it did before but I am assured inside it is quite different. I have been given quite a list of what the refurbishment consists of..

1. Carbon clean
2. Replacement of blown resistors and transistors
3. Testing of Oasis chip and replacement if necessary
4. Main PCB and daughter PCB power flow and connections
5. 2x RAM, testing for bad sectors and replacement if necessary
6. Laser soldering of any worn/replacement components
7. Lacquer seal the unit to prolong it's life
8. Final test and prepare for return

Now I can't claim to know what all that means but I do know it's got a 2 year warranty and the chap or did the repair has never had a repaired amp brought back to him. Considering I've heard of new replacement amps only lasting 2 years and failing again, I'll take that as a good sign. Plus despite being £350 +VAT it was still substantially cheaper than a replacement.

So yes I'm very pleased that the stereo is back in business!

And since I was fiddling in the boot, I bought a replacement pair of boot hooks as the original screw heads has gone a bit rusty.

But OCD but that's all in the number plate!

 

[TomF]

So I've had a quiet few weeks. Literally very quiet as the amp in the car decided to die. I'd noticed an issue with the stereo but it was very intermittent. The sound would fade in and out and the stereo would respond incredibly slowly. Typically there are no aftermarket options and it's part of the radio module so not just an amp.

There's the little b*stard hiding in the corner of the boot!

Fortunately I posted on an S Class group on Farcebook and two different people recommended the same guy. I got in touch and arranged to send it off. Slightly hesitant but he came recommended so off it went. But today I received a package and I was very excited.

In this miracle box was my new repaired amp!!

Now I admit it doesn't look hugely different from how it did before but I am assured inside it is quite different. I have been given quite a list of what the refurbishment consists of..

1. Carbon clean
2. Replacement of blown resistors and transistors
3. Testing of Oasis chip and replacement if necessary
4. Main PCB and daughter PCB power flow and connections
5. 2x RAM, testing for bad sectors and replacement if necessary
6. Laser soldering of any worn/replacement components
7. Lacquer seal the unit to prolong it's life
8. Final test and prepare for return

Now I can't claim to know what all that means but I do know it's got a 2 year warranty and the chap or did the repair has never had a repaired amp brought back to him. Considering I've heard of new replacement amps only lasting 2 years and failing again, I'll take that as a good sign. Plus despite being £350 +VAT it was still substantially cheaper than a replacement.

So yes I'm very pleased that the stereo is back in business!

And since I was fiddling in the boot, I bought a replacement pair of boot hooks as the original screw heads has gone a bit rusty.

But OCD but that's all in the number plate!

Wondering if you have an upgraded stereo that needs an amp, mines standard..

 

[BenA]

Such a great looking car, superb work in keeping it at it best. Enjoyed reading your whole thread, thank you for posting.

After owning a w220 for a terrible two weeks, of love and hate, one of these is on my radar for sure - The serenity is just unmatched, awesome.

 

[Alex225]

Wondering if you have an upgraded stereo that needs an amp, mines standard..

I believe all the W221's have an amp that's part of the whole system. As I understand it's an amp and radio module and notoriously unreliable. The chap that repaired mine had a family business with a number of S Class' and found the amps failing was common. Hence now offering this service.

There was a Harmon Kardon upgrade which I believe used a bigger amp but again had a reputation for breaking down too.

To be fair the sound quality is the best I've heard in a standard car. Not the most sophisticated for connectivity but for a standard set up it's really good.

Such a great looking car, superb work in keeping it at it best. Enjoyed reading your whole thread, thank you for posting.

After owning a w220 for a terrible two weeks, of love and hate, one of these is on my radar for sure - The serenity is just unmatched, awesome.

Thanks Ben, I tend to update these kinds of threads on my car for my own sake. Keeps a kind a bit of a scrap book on my cars.

Sorry to hear about the W220, I've not been in one but I can imagine they're lovely to be in. The 221 is a lovely car, definitely a step up from any of the other Mercs we've owned. Admittedly, you do have to be prepared to fix it if something goes wrong but totally worth it. Certainly worth betting from a trader so you get cover for 6 months on it.

 

[Alex225]

Well the radio is behaving itself perfectly. I'm ridiculously pleased it's working and the sound quality for a 13 year old system is excellent, I don't know how many speakers it is but that little amp is 300w and makes plenty of noise.

Managed to clean the car in the few dry hours we had at the weekend.

Really liking this stuff still. Doesn't bead like some other products but sheets the water better it seems.

Ironic name for the air freshner as the whole point of the S isn't to get the adrenaline going but actually quite decent. Doesn't smell like a teenagers gym kit at least!! haha

 

[Beagley1987]

Hi @Alex225 I’m having some trouble with my amp on my CL500 W216 which I believe is the same or similar to your S Class. Would you happen to have to details of the company that fixed your amp please. Mine is the big HK and I’m hoping there is something they can do.
Thank you

 

[Alex225]

Hey Beagley, I've replied to your other thread. Sorry for the slow reply.

 

[Alex225]

Good news, it was MOT day today and it passed with one advisory for slightly scored/worn front disks but otherwise it's all good. Had a service and brake fluid change at the same time. £330 at my usual specialist seems a lot more palatable than last year! haha

 

[S500Matt]

Amazing car, Those wheels look amazing. I really admire your dedication. Keep it up.

 

[Alex225]

I decided to take the S for a good run at the weekend. I was using this car every other weekend for 450 motorway miles but since buying my Shogun, I chose to use that for the winter. The S has been on charge and cleaned and fired up regularly just not driven a distance.

Being an S it decided to have a bit of a tantrum initially and threw up the EML. With the codes read it related to the DPF. Despite the last 12 months driving, it's always motorway drives but I think having not done a regen in 4 months or so it had a hissy fit. Cleared errors and driving fine so on my way to Bristol (120 miles) and stuck in a massive jam, as in M25 closed and sitting still for 40 minutes or so. EML back on and this time when I do start to pull away, limp mode. Marvelous, only 100 miles left to go and 120 back!

Thankfully I had my iCarsoft code reader with me so pulled over somewhere safe, read the codes and cleared them. Then got on my way, did a length cruise with some 'Italian tuning' style moments, drove perfectly all the way there and back. Seemed to start up no problem and no errors so hopefully the DPF has done what's needed.

Naturally gave it a clean and made it pretty yesterday, that's what you do on a bank holiday right!

 

[TomF]

How many miles on it?
What happens when it goes into regen mode, mines never done that but its only got 29,000 on the clock.
I saw a couple of videos recently about washing out the DPF.

 

[S500Matt]

Great update.
I took my V8 for a run only to findout when getting there that my starter battery was goosed. Engine management light on, ABS, ESP errors all kinds of scary errors relating to a low voltage that soon went with a quick clear of the errors on iCarSoft and my booster connected. I went for a Bosch S4 005 starter battery (£66 next day delivered( battery from Tayna and all is good.

These W221's need to be driven.

 

[Alex225]

How many miles on it?
What happens when it goes into regen mode, mines never done that but its only got 29,000 on the clock.
I saw a couple of videos recently about washing out the DPF.

To my knowledge of DPFs, which is fairly limited, diesel cars do a regen every X number of miles (and I assume of time frame) but I understand they need to be doing 50mph+ for 20 minutes or more. You likely won't know when the cars doing it and I've never noticed any of ours when they do. The car has 75k on it, so averaged about 5k a year. Low for a diesel but I do all my driving on the motorway, when it does move that is haha.

Low mileage diesels aren't ideal but motorway driving is good for them.

Great update.
I took my V8 for a run only to findout when getting there that my starter battery was goosed. Engine management light on, ABS, ESP errors all kinds of scary errors relating to a low voltage that soon went with a quick clear of the errors on iCarSoft and my booster connected. I went for a Bosch S4 005 starter battery (£66 next day delivered( battery from Tayna and all is good.

These W221's need to be driven.

I learned from the drain on my old W211 E Class that these cars don't like a flat battery, it used to run out quick so bought a C-Tek. I've kept it on this car in-between uses so thankfully never had a flat. But I have heard the same, errors and dashboard lights galore.

 

[TomF]

To my knowledge of DPFs, which is fairly limited, diesel cars do a regen every X number of miles (and I assume of time frame) but I understand they need to be doing 50mph+ for 20 minutes or more. You likely won't know when the cars doing it and I've never noticed any of ours when they do. The car has 75k on it, so averaged about 5k a year. Low for a diesel but I do all my driving on the motorway, when it does move that is haha.

Low mileage diesels aren't ideal but motorway driving is good for them.



I learned from the drain on my old W211 E Class that these cars don't like a flat battery, it used to run out quick so bought a C-Tek. I've kept it on this car in-between uses so thankfully never had a flat. But I have heard the same, errors and dashboard lights galore.

Ahh, mine only goes out on long runs. Took it out tonight with DPF in mind so went up n down on the paddles, the thing only revs to 4000 or so tho haha. Ended up doing silly speed in blink of an eye

 

[Alex225]

Ahh, mine only goes out on long runs. Took it out tonight with DPF in mind so went up n down on the paddles, the thing only revs to 4000 or so tho haha. Ended up doing silly speed in blink of an eye

Definitely all about that DPF, a necessary evil. I bought mine specifically for the drives I do to Bristol and back so it's luckily all motorways for it but I suspect it has an expectation to do a regen within a certain time frame too. Seems to be behaving at least now.

I had mine mapped which I think brings the power up to roughly the same as the 2013 S350cdi. The silly amount of torque suits these cars no end!

 

[S500Matt]

I have a C-Tek for mine too, just need hook it up permanently as I hate using crocodile clips.