Very nice E500 s211. High spec, rare colour

[Will]

Dennis is correct, it’s 844 for the seven seat option, not showing on this car - nothing amiss there, it was never a seven seater from the factory or otherwise.

 

[bolidemichael]

Both mine (and my second E55K; I don't have the datacard for the first) had Option 287 - 'Through Loading Feature', but only one had option 844 - 'FOLDING BENCH SEAT IN CARGO AREA'. That was the seven-seater E500.

Sunroof? Oh, FFS. It has a sunroof; end of. It wouldn't have a panoramic roof; they were offered on the facelift 211 in the USA, but not I think on the pre-facelift anywhere.

It has pre-facelift headlights.

It has facelift mirrors, grille and presumably front bumper.

(The seller doesn't claim it's a facelift, so he's not trying to fool anybody).

It doesn't have seven seats; the seller doesn't claim it has, and the datacard posted doesn't have Option 844, so it's not supposed to have them.

There's nothing much amiss with the MoT history; it covered very few miles in 2019, during the main Covid outbreak, but so did my cars, because I wasn't going anywhere.

We don't know anything about the service history, apart from v-belts and pulleys, recent front suspension work and brake pads, and a new water pump. If the engine mounts haven't been changed from new, it will shake like a b*****d at idle, but I'd bet they have. If the Airmatic works, that's had maintenance too, and the same goes for the SBC.

I think it's a perfectly genuine, very high-spec E500 estate and there's probably not much wrong with it.

I have checked the data card for mine (which has seven seats) once again and it does have "option 844 - Folding Bench Seat - Designo" too (in addition to 287 which is listed as 'Rear Bench Seat'!). I consider myself more informed now than at the beginning of this thread -- there's a lot of good knowledge on this forum about these models.

 

[bolidemichael]

I’m fairly sure you can just about make out the sunroof on the pics, coupled with the build sheet showing a sunroof, likewise in the advert description and 100% a sunroof switch panel on the dome light then it’s pretty likely that it does.

There is no reason why you would upgrade that part to a sunroof switch on a non-sunroof car unless I’m missing something?

Well, if it was part of the 'rebuild ringer' narrative that I was determined to pursue, it wouldn't be out of line. However, the evidence seems strongly in favour of this car being straight and facelifted with other mirrors, grille, steering wheel, 20" aftermarket alloys and front & rear bumpers. So it isn't a Sport, but an E500 Elegance that is highly specced.

There is still the discrepancy with the gov website recording this as a diesel, which has been noted by others on here.

 

[E55BOF]

I never for a moment believed it was a rebuilt ringer in that colour.

DVLA making a mistake? Surely not...

 

[Will]

As said, it’s certainly not that unusual for the DVLA to make errors or not update records correctly.

My old CLK (55 AMG) was listed as having a 54 litre engine on the V5C (they updated their mistake a few years later) and I’ve seen cars that have had plate transfers who have shown two sets of MOT records overlap online etc.

I’d be more put off by the cheapo tyres on that ‘500 I think, often stuff like that are good clues to the sort of ownership a car has endured

 

[E55BOF]

How can you tell they're cheapo tyres? I can't see enough in any of the pictures to be able to say.

 

[Will]

Accelera tyre on the OSR (photo 10)

 

[Phil1968]

It wouldn't have a panoramic roof; they were offered on the facelift 211 in the USA, but not I think on the pre-facelift anywhere.

Sorry mate but the '03 W211 E320CDI I had some years ago had a panoramic sunroof, it was one of the things that drew me to it. I think we can safely conclude this particular car does have a sunroof though
That does look like the factory option AMG styling kit on it, as it's very similar in style to the one on my W219 CLS that was optioned with it also, even down to the same oval AMG logo'd exhaust tips (didn't the standard pre-facelift ones exit before the bumper, unable to be seen from the rear?).

 

[Will]

Sorry mate but the '03 W211 E320CDI I had some years ago had a panoramic sunroof, it was one of the things that drew me to it. I think we can safely conclude this particular car does have a sunroof though

Was your 320CDI a saloon or estate though?

 

[Phil1968]

Was your 320CDI a saloon or estate though?

Ah it was a saloon. Did the early estates not come with the pan roof then?

 

[Will]

Ah it was a saloon. Did the early estates not come with the pan roof then?

Don’t think so, I’ve never seen one

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

£5850. But did it actually sell, or was it a shill ?

 

[Londonscottish]

(didn't the standard pre-facelift ones exit before the bumper, unable to be seen from the rear?).

Yes

 

[E55BOF]

I’d be more put off by the cheapo tyres on that ‘500 I think, often stuff like that are good clues to the sort of ownership a car has endured

In this particular circumstance, I don't think I'd be put off by that alone. Would you put a full set of brand-new premium tyres on a car you were just about to sell by auction on eBay?

 

[Fastcar155]

In this particular circumstance, I don't think I'd be put off by that alone. Would you put a full set of brand-new premium tyres on a car you were just about to sell by auction on eBay?

Hi , quite agree with your concerns re the tyres.

 

[bolidemichael]

£5850. But did it actually sell, or was it a shill ?

That's a good price and remains to be seen. The high bidder had a good rating, FWIW.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

My shill question was about the dodgy underbidder who had zero feedback.

 

[E55BOF]

His last bid, which was not an automatic bid, was placed five seconds before the auction ended. I suspect it was a genuine attempt to win.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

His last bid, which was not an automatic bid, was placed five seconds before the auction ended. I suspect it was a genuine attempt to win.

Yes, automated snipe software was used to drop in the bid at 5 seconds notice, but why does that mean that it wasn't an attempt to push up the price paid by the successful bidder?

As actually seen in the auction today?

If that was a shill bidder, under more normal circumstance it would have "earned" the seller £200. It didn't here, because the final bidder only went up to £5850, but if he'd placed a higher automatic bid he would have paid £6050.

 

[E55BOF]

Snipe software will bid in the last second, not the fifth-last second, and the underbidder first bid the day before the auction ended; the eventual winner only came in a few hours before the end.

You're assuming zero feedback must indicate a 'dodgy underbidder'; I'm not. We'll never know for sure - unless the car is relisted.