BAWC Forums

The S65's and CL65's are right in the same price range. Mostly because they are at the point of needing the most maintenance. So people are looking to offload them before sinking $8k in maintenance on a car they paid $130k+ for and already drove it for 10 years. Usually at this point, they are on their 2nd owner and are up for sale looking for their 3rd. The first owner is typically a lease type of person and flips through cars every 3 years. At least that's how it usually seems to happen with 6 figure cars.

So what's the 8k worth of maintenance?

Things I had to do at 100k miles.... on my thread. Fuel pump, fuel filter, spark plugs, valve cover gaskets, heat exchanger pump, suspension pressure reservoirs, accessory belt and pulleys, maybe a water pump etc. That's if you are paying a dealer to do that work. Which, in all honesty, is extremely easy to tackle yourself. It's around $1900 in parts to do that list. Water pump is fairly optional, but was something I did just because I was in there. I try to knock out all of the common failure items so I don't have to touch the car again for a while. I just have an oil leak I need to track down and one other gremlin that occasionally robs me of boost power (got to replace this MAP sensor). But, the drivetrain is really good on these cars. They definitely overengineer that part of it.

Also, if you are fairly competent with electronics, you can rebuild those ignition cassettes yourself. They sell the parts on ebay. Just buy the coil/mosfet set together. I think it's around $60/coil. There is also a website you can buy them from that warranties their parts for life. I've never had to buy them, but I can dig up the website info if it becomes relevant for you. Also, there are companies out there that rebuild them as well. For around $400-700 per cassette.

Probably not too bad to buy, as long as you go into it knowing what the potential problem areas are and are willing to tackle those yourself (or just have cash to throw at a mechanic).

[quote=""Hans_GZP""]The S65's and CL65's are right in the same price range. Mostly because they are at the point of needing the most maintenance. So people are looking to offload them before sinking $8k in maintenance on a car they paid $130k+ for and already drove it for 10 years. Usually at this point, they are on their 2nd owner and are up for sale looking for their 3rd. The first owner is typically a lease type of person and flips through cars every 3 years. At least that's how it usually seems to happen with 6 figure cars.[/quote]
Exactly. Was talking about this with my boss just last week since I'm currently in the market for a 6-10 year old 100k suv

I've rebuilt ECUs, network switches, and some other stuff. I doubt a Mercedes ignition unit could be that bad.

It's all academic though. I'm not buying this car. I'm mainly making conversation.

[quote=""vr4""]Exactly. Was talking about this with my boss just last week since I'm currently in the market for a 6-10 year old 100k suv[/quote]

Land Rover?


Coop

[quote=""DCIV""]Land Rover?


Coop[/quote]

You wouldn't catch me dead with one of those

He wants a Cayenne.

[quote=""Jeff V.""]He wants a Cayenne.[/quote]



Gotta have sufficient horsepower. It'll probably cost close to that just to get the explorer to 550hp reliably and then I'm still in an 01 explorer

Hans wrote:That's not the fix for the hydraulic ABC system either . That's for the stupid air ride owners that are cheapasses.

Steve wrote:This is exactly why they get branded as heaping piles of shit. They get to an attainable price for the average person to finance but they either have to scrape to get the financing or just can't fathom the cost to maintain a 180k car. Take it to their local shop, get bent over and crap parts are installed, wash rinse repeat.

Or Mercedes just straight up stops making the replacement parts.

http://mbworld.org/forums/sl55-amg-sl63 ... -game.html

I have a 2007 SL55 030 package car, very nice low miles condition. I took it in for an annual service and shop determined that one of the hydralic shocks was leaking lightly. In replacing it, the new one failed during the test procedure. Local dealer sent away for a replacement and ....there are none of these units available.

Blows me away, no such part available. MB assures me they are trying to expedite the situation but can give me no e.t.a. on having one made.

I got rid of my Spyder because I couldn't get certain parts for it. But at least that car shared basic shit like struts with a standard VR4.

Hmm thought a manufacturer HAD to have parts for up to 10 years?

I think that's only for safety and emissions parts.

If you watch any of the videos about the budget Lotus Evora, the owner keeps commenting about how difficult it is to get parts from Lotus because they simply didn't bother manufacturing a pool of service parts. His car is a 2014.

Wow I didn't realize that. Interesting.

[quote=""alienviking""]Wow I didn't realize that. Interesting.[/quote]

I didn't either until I started working for a dealer and came across a discontinued part for a 2 year old vehicle.

That is nuts! And sounds like one argument in favor of leasing haha.

[quote=""Jeff V.""]Or Mercedes just straight up stops making the replacement parts.

http://mbworld.org/forums/sl55-amg-sl63 ... -game.html



I got rid of my Spyder because I couldn't get certain parts for it. But at least that car shared basic shit like struts with a standard VR4.[/quote]

ABC suspension parts are still available, although they are from an aftermarket source. They are rebuilt to the tune of around $500 each plus a $300 core.

Would that be Arnott? Further down in the thread they mention that Arnott is showing dwindling stock as well.

So now we're back to 'cap the lines and install coilovers'

Yea. Arnott. I show a full set in stock locally.