Here we are showing you the goings on of running a Mercedes Specialist garage, real life problems, fixes, no BS Hopefully giving you an insight as to what goes on next time your car goes into a garage and what we are up against.
Really enjoyed the video and a nice s class fully loaded, a lot of motor to take on and would need deep pockets for the maintenance cost for parts and labour if things go wrong. Fortunately, you guys did my om642 common faults with the diesel v6 engine of which I am glad you sorted for me. Keep up the good work you and your team do.
Really enjoyed this video Sam. I have been a passenger in an S class, and had a few opportunities to have the wheel. Nothing can describe the effortless way the car moves off and the superb suspension ding its job. Now retired I could afford to buy one, but it would be totally impractical for my needs . May see about hiring one occasionally to satiate my cravings. Keep up the great work on the channel.👍😎
It's a systemic fault. The friggin o ring! Used everywhere in automotive today, designed to fail. The sheer amount of work caused by this feature is mind blowing.
If I bought this car and a 1996 A124 today, which do you think would cost more in maintenance over 5 years? Is it a bit of a show stopper if you see an MOT with ‘corrosion - not bad enough to affect rigidity’ etc? I feel compelled to buy an A124 but my head is screaming at me not to. I have visions of you putting it on the ramp and a pile of rusty parts fall on the floor with a biodegradable wiring loom on top.
$17k in maintenance over 8 years for such an amazing car is pretty reasonable but a lot more reasonable if you buy the car now for $5k not 8+ years ago for $20k+
A great lesson learnt today, you want luxury be prepared to pay😀. Great video as always, very interesting in what’s needed in an S class as you say it’s more of a maintenance guide which is extensive on a car such as this.
I might have asked already, I'm trying to get this breather hose for an r170 M111 seems to be impossible to get hold of Mercedes tell me it doesn't exist on my car! clearly they've got it wrong! They tell me it is it's not the right hose??? it goes from the bottom of the oil filter housing to underneath into the head near the Block, where the bracket underneath the head is attached to the Head block as well not just a hose seems a strange fitting, its split and it's leaking oil the only thing i can do is Super Glue it?? Any idea what this part number is supposed to be? mean for this hose? 2.3L supercharge suppose to be but I'm not sure if that's the case either! the engine has been changed they've rubbed off the engine numbers I believe it's not near the bell housing where it should be on the top. So could it be a 2L???
I have owned a facelifted W221 S350L for 10 yrs. For the longest time, it had a vibration at around 80km/h. It was finally cured when I replaced the entire propshaft which is surprisingly inexpensive at around GBP450 excluding labour. I wonder if this is a common problem for the W221 or was I just unlucky? The problem started when the car was 4 yrs old and I only fixed it at year 7 or 8.
I own an S600 w221 , it's a great car. I had a few minor issues . Maintenance is the key word here. The harman kardon amplifier likes to die when you're least expecting it. Just had mine refurbished, waiting to arrive tomorrow. It also has the ABC suspension which I just flushed the flyid.with the AGA tool.
Great video guys. Thank you… Let’s give ol mate S Class a bit of a chance at redemption. Replacement parts such as radiators, airmatic, heater blower fans, door locks and switches ect. Those parts I would imagine is most likely the original parts fitted to the car. That’s 17 years of wear and tear, with a bit of abuse on the side from previous owners, and there aren’t too many manufacturers out there that can make that claim on the quality of their cars sighting those parts lasted 17+ years. I have a friend who owns a 2017 Nissan Patrol and he’s replaced the radiator 5 times because it keeps splitting and losing its guts all the time, and there genuine parts he’s used. So let’s not throw ol mate S Class on the rubbish heap just yet. Regardless of any car, when you buy and older car it’s to be expected that things go wrong. The only difference is what you’re willing to pay for parts will determine what car you want to buy.
LOL "What do you expect to spend guide" XD anytime a new SPR vid comes out I instantly have to stop what I am doing to watch! You might've brought an interesting thought experiment to my mind. Personally, I would rather pay 10k for a used S-Class + 17k in maintenance than buy a brand new 2024 POS Kia/Hyundai for 30k. Every 10 years cars seem to get cheaper and cheaper built despite going up in price. Money is losing it's value and I think this S-Class is just a sign of things to come with all of these newer cars having cheap electronics EVERYWHERE. Germany is getting in bed with a lot of Chinese suppliers and manufacturers too, I sincerely hope Mercedes stays away from that trend.
Great vid which I have enjoyed watching. I came to this straight from the CL500 vid. I have always loved the look of the CLs but always considered them too complicated. However, I do have a 2002 CLK320, which has just clicked over into the 64K miles. It is about as modern and complicated as I want to go. I call it my 'inter city' car and these days rarely do more than 1500 miles in it. Every year when It comes out of winter storage I always have the oil and filter changed and always have something else done at the same time. During my 5 yrs of ownership I've had the spark plugs changed, aux drive belt, brake fluid, coolant changed, and the gear box fluid & filter done at least twice. Going back through it's MOT history, the only things it has ever failed on have been lamps and tyres. Latest MOT was a pass but a couple of advisories I'll be having looked at. Roll bar linkage pins or bushes. I sometimes wish that I had looked a little harder for a 500, but I'm happy with this one. My 'other' car is a slightly different kettle of fish. A 1973 Citroen SM, fitted with a Merak SS 3l engine, recently imported form Sweden.
More modern vehicles with sculptured sealed beam lights can fail mot but each front light on Audi or BMW can be over £1K whereas on older car a replacement top quality bulb less than £20. Great video thanks.
I so like your channel. Just, what I did to my 648 straight 6 cdi was removing the flaps altogether. The whole system is just to vulnerable. Oh, also disconnecting the egr. Life is good. But I’m living in Texas. Probably not possible in the UK. I feel so sorry for all the regulations you have to deal with. And just to get some more oomph I had my ecu remapped by Renntech. You got to love these diesels. Pretty rare in the USA.
£17000 in maintenance, but you're still driving about in an £80,000 car , that you've only paid £6000 for . Plus someone else has paid a percentage of that £17,000 . Mmm think I'll stick to my piccanto .
Just found your channel and looks like I've got a lot of good videos to catch up on. As a fellow S210 E55 owner, it's good to see one here. Mine is just over 143,000 miles, and going strong. Cheers.
Wise words. I've had one for the last three years and the costs pretty much align. Gorgeous car but not cheap to maintain. Avoid main dealers unless you want to pay a lot more.
I've had my front ABC Valve block done as my SL was throwing "ABC Visit Workshop" message on the dash. $4,968.37 CAD before VAT; this was done at a Merc Indy Shop in Vancouver, BC using genuine parts. Another potential ABC expense on top of the other common ABC issues.
Great video as always Sam. My best friend had a diesel 221 a few years after launch, bought used from a main deal£r. A few months out of warranty and a window spontaneously broke when winding it, someone keyed it, then the engine went wrong and would have cost £5500 to mend, and something else I forget…all in 2 months. I told him the last person to leave an S class in that state was Princess Diana. He got a dodgy guy in Blackpool to clear the warning message and traded for a new E class cabrio at the main dealer that sold it. We both miss his 221 though… beautiful inside with a light nappa interior, felt solid, lovely to drive at motorway speeds, quiet, perfect front seats. I remember him being made up that the designo wood they used was discontinued because it was becoming extinct.
I love the dour Northern tone to the dialogue... Should have been an undertaker..😂 Still if I had a Mercedes then I would be taking it to SPR and spending what they told me to .
The takeway is that you need deep pockets to run a W221 unless you can do your own repairs. Genuine Mercedes parts are pricey but they're always money well spent. Genuine parts are not always the mot expensive. I had to replace one of the intercooler hoses on my W204 and a genuine part was cheaper than some of the aftermarket ones and my local dealer had one on the shelf.
Interesting video and nice to understand the costs. Around £2000 per year seems reasonable to maintain a car like that? I have a 2004 Porsche 911 and it has similar maintenance costs, including tyres etc….. best never to add up the bills😂
Our 221 air con has a fairly substantial leak, regas only lasted 1hr. What would be your favourite for leak location? How on earth did it passed the vac test for the garage to proceed and fill?. !!! 😡
You need to Have a nitrogen test carried out this can take a few hours btw cover the system Ina puppy water until you locate the leak, might even need to take The bumper off to inspect the condenser which is the usuel culprit or the dryer in the wheel arch , a vac test is not reliable way to determine a leak.
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I haven't got the bottle (or deep pockets) to run one, but kudos to the chap that does. I do love my 190 though and after 3 years and routine servicing has had very little spent on it. (Touch wood it stays that way).
Very interesting as always. Especially the cash side of things. I've owned a 2011 C180 GGI car for just over 11 years. It's a 13 year old car. I recently itemised all expenses in 11 years of ownership excluding MOT, tax and insurance. The total was £2,400. About 63% of this on standard servicing. 23% on tyres - 5 tyres - two of which fresh on in March so really only 3. The balance of total relates to two issues - screenwash pump failed during Covid lockdown and I had the thermostat replaced and coolant.
@@sprautos thanks. I'm quite chuffed with it. I should have mentioned the mileage which is currently 61k (bought at 17k). I bought it privately 11 years ago at two years old for £14,250. Current value about £4k. I must admit I did run a 3 series BMW concurrently for 8 years - had quite a few issues - nothing major but niggly things. Put me off BMWs big time. I always buy petrol vehicles - not diesel.
Interesting what you said about the cost since 2016 on the car but that only works out at £2125.00 a year which for such a car is not bad. I know that is not including what you will charge him for the current service and his costs for tyres but in truth for such a nice car it is not unreasonable. The fact that most of the parts you fit are Mercedes should help if someone sells it on.
Great video. I do hope Jack at No 27 here on RU-vid does get in touch with you. In his latest Mercedes recent purchase video enough of us have recommended SPR Autos to him, before he launches into fixing his expensive suspension!
Was that a silver CL500 with the failed active body control pump? Watched one the other day but wasn’t a channel I follow and couldn’t get invested in it as I had the w220 S class and think that era isn’t worth saving
Great video. I have owned my "08 S550 for about a year. Changed the oil and transmission fluid. Replaced the spark plugs (the easiest car ever to change). Arizona car, garage kept, like new. Everything works. So far so good. Timing chain cog was changed by Mercedes for a better one after December of "07, so shouldn't be a problem now.
