W163 or W220?

[Mike210]

w202 as a daily is always a good choice

I daily'd several w140's 10 year ago as bangers when you literally couldn't give them away, as well as stripping one as a track toy. The s320 was the favourite though, even over the 500se v8 - enough power with that lovely m104, and a genuine 35mpg when needed. Really very good cars.

But sorry, taking your thread off topic...

I have my eye on an 1997 W140 s320 with 84k on the clock. 6k tho..

 

[91dm]

Talk to me about the virtues of the W163 so.

Well... (all in my opinion of course)
+Great tow car, generally can throw into/at anything, hasn't got stuck yet
+Good to work on, very reliable once you know the common issues
+Great for long journeys, comfortable drive with lots of space
- Likes diesel around town, wouldn't like to be paying someone else to look after it or have to swerve at high speed

 

[E55BOF]

An ML350 will be a petrol V6; if you find a low-mileage ML320 petrol, that's very similar in performance. If you should chance on a decent ML500 (M113 engine), that's noticeably thirstier, but much more torquey and never feels a touch underpowered.

The W163 ride on springs is quite hard, with Airmatic much less so, but of course Airmatic is more likely to have problems and will cost more to repair if it does. The driving position is very comfortable, high up and gives a superb view, much better than any saloon, but if your wife is a small lady it's quite a climb up into it. (I'm 6ft 1in, and I basically just shift my backside sideways and I'm in.) It's a big, roomy, solid-feeling thing, but it doesn't encourage 'spirited' driving; definitely more stately than sporty. It's quite wide and the steering is quite low-geared, so it's not ideally suited to tight supermarket car parks; it's easy enough to judge where the front corners are when parking, but for the rear either a reversing camera (will be aftermarket, not OE) or parking sensors is highly desirable.