0ldCh0d

I know I have not posted on here for a long time, but I thought that I would share my new daily wheels...
 
it’s a 2003, 53 (Facelift) S500 L (long wheel base)
just ticked over to 180,364 miles (I got it at 179,220 miles) 
What a car, it is NOT greedy on fuel despite everyone telling me before I got it that it would be, it’s not.
5.0 V8, 306bhp 7 speed Auto.
its seriously lovely, riding on the airmatic suspension.
barely above idle speed at 80mph & for it’s size, it’s seriously quick when it is needed.
Also, the silence inside is amazing, you can barely hear any noise, it’s so silent & insulated from the outside world.
Yes, I know that most people will tell me about the horrors of the W220 Mercedes-Benz S Class, but this is a good one, no rust or rot (early examples up until 2002 were notoriously bad for rot everywhere) the 2003 facelift model onwards were not as bad.
& my one is not blighted with any rot.
 
Here it is, after being fully valeted today.
 

I know I have not posted on here for a long time, but I thought that I would share my new daily wheels...
 
it’s a 2003, 53 (Facelift) S500 L (long wheel base)
just ticked over to 180,364 miles (I got it at 179,220 miles) 
What a car, it is NOT greedy on fuel despite everyone telling me before I got it that it would be, it’s not.
5.0 V8, 306bhp 7 speed Auto.
its seriously lovely, riding on the airmatic suspension.
barely above idle speed at 80mph & for it’s size, it’s seriously quick when it is needed.
Also, the silence inside is amazing, you can barely hear any noise, it’s so silent & insulated from the outside world.
Yes, I know that most people will tell me about the horrors of the W220 Mercedes-Benz S Class, but this is a good one, no rust or rot (early examples up until 2002 were notoriously bad for rot everywhere) the 2003 facelift model onwards were not as bad.
& my one is not blighted with any rot.
 
Here it is, after being fully valeted today.
 

I suspect the tales of doom mainly eminate from people who buy old cars for a few grand from auctions etc and imagine that an S500 won't be much more expensive to maintain than their previous "big car" which has probably been something like a Mondeo.
Shortly after, they discover an oil change using the correct oil is £100 in materials alone, that the V8 is twin spark and needs 16 spark plugs (and more often than not a new set of leads), that the exhaust system is expensive and cracked (because they didn't change all 16 plugs and ran it with a misfire for two months) and that the reason it was in the auction in the first place was because the suspension air pump was fked. They moan that the cheap Sandnail tyres that cost £150 less than proper ones don't grip as well as the factory Michelin or Continental jobs it is meant to be on.
Usual routine. If you buy a car that cost £100k new then it will cost more to maintain than one that cost £25k new. 
If you buy one that has been meticulously serviced and you continue to service it properly it'll go forever. The issue is when someone has bought it for £10k 10 years old, ran it for two years without doing anything to it, flogged it on for for £5k to someone else who just wanted cheap bling who gets his mate to stamp up the history with a blag service stamp and it eventually ends up being flogged again, three years after it last had an oil change to someone who then spends all their time slagging the thing off as being a "badly made piece of unreliable tat" on the Internet, thereby driving down the values of the good ones and making their owners think "it's only worth £3k, I'd be mad spending £1k maintaining it this year" and they all end up in car sales pitches in Alum Rock before being scrapped.
Then 10 years later someone finds one that has been properly maintained and declares them the best car in the world, driving the values of the good ones back up. 

I know I have not posted on here for a long time, but I thought that I would share my new daily wheels...
 
it’s a 2003, 53 (Facelift) S500 L (long wheel base)
just ticked over to 180,364 miles (I got it at 179,220 miles) 
What a car, it is NOT greedy on fuel despite everyone telling me before I got it that it would be, it’s not.
5.0 V8, 306bhp 7 speed Auto.
its seriously lovely, riding on the airmatic suspension.
barely above idle speed at 80mph & for it’s size, it’s seriously quick when it is needed.
Also, the silence inside is amazing, you can barely hear any noise, it’s so silent & insulated from the outside world.
Yes, I know that most people will tell me about the horrors of the W220 Mercedes-Benz S Class, but this is a good one, no rust or rot (early examples up until 2002 were notoriously bad for rot everywhere) the 2003 facelift model onwards were not as bad.
& my one is not blighted with any rot.
 
Here it is, after being fully valeted today.
 

I know I have not posted on here for a long time, but I thought that I would share my new daily wheels...
 
it’s a 2003, 53 (Facelift) S500 L (long wheel base)
just ticked over to 180,364 miles (I got it at 179,220 miles) 
What a car, it is NOT greedy on fuel despite everyone telling me before I got it that it would be, it’s not.
5.0 V8, 306bhp 7 speed Auto.
its seriously lovely, riding on the airmatic suspension.
barely above idle speed at 80mph & for it’s size, it’s seriously quick when it is needed.
Also, the silence inside is amazing, you can barely hear any noise, it’s so silent & insulated from the outside world.
Yes, I know that most people will tell me about the horrors of the W220 Mercedes-Benz S Class, but this is a good one, no rust or rot (early examples up until 2002 were notoriously bad for rot everywhere) the 2003 facelift model onwards were not as bad.
& my one is not blighted with any rot.
 
Here it is, after being fully valeted today.
 

I know the AMG 722.6 in the C32 is the same as the one in the SLR, so 354 bhp is unlikely to ever trouble it. 
A pal has a 2007 911 auto. That uses the "cooking" version of the 722.6 rather than the AMG one, so it doesn't have Speedshift or the AMG spec torque converter. 

I love Range Rovers and I respect the craftsmanship in a Rolls Royce, but basically these are the best cars in the world.

I know I have not posted on here for a long time, but I thought that I would share my new daily wheels...
 
it’s a 2003, 53 (Facelift) S500 L (long wheel base)
just ticked over to 180,364 miles (I got it at 179,220 miles) 
What a car, it is NOT greedy on fuel despite everyone telling me before I got it that it would be, it’s not.
5.0 V8, 306bhp 7 speed Auto.
its seriously lovely, riding on the airmatic suspension.
barely above idle speed at 80mph & for it’s size, it’s seriously quick when it is needed.
Also, the silence inside is amazing, you can barely hear any noise, it’s so silent & insulated from the outside world.
Yes, I know that most people will tell me about the horrors of the W220 Mercedes-Benz S Class, but this is a good one, no rust or rot (early examples up until 2002 were notoriously bad for rot everywhere) the 2003 facelift model onwards were not as bad.
& my one is not blighted with any rot.
 
Here it is, after being fully valeted today.
 

I know I have not posted on here for a long time, but I thought that I would share my new daily wheels...
 
it’s a 2003, 53 (Facelift) S500 L (long wheel base)
just ticked over to 180,364 miles (I got it at 179,220 miles) 
What a car, it is NOT greedy on fuel despite everyone telling me before I got it that it would be, it’s not.
5.0 V8, 306bhp 7 speed Auto.
its seriously lovely, riding on the airmatic suspension.
barely above idle speed at 80mph & for it’s size, it’s seriously quick when it is needed.
Also, the silence inside is amazing, you can barely hear any noise, it’s so silent & insulated from the outside world.
Yes, I know that most people will tell me about the horrors of the W220 Mercedes-Benz S Class, but this is a good one, no rust or rot (early examples up until 2002 were notoriously bad for rot everywhere) the 2003 facelift model onwards were not as bad.
& my one is not blighted with any rot.
 
Here it is, after being fully valeted today.
 

I know I have not posted on here for a long time, but I thought that I would share my new daily wheels...
 
it’s a 2003, 53 (Facelift) S500 L (long wheel base)
just ticked over to 180,364 miles (I got it at 179,220 miles) 
What a car, it is NOT greedy on fuel despite everyone telling me before I got it that it would be, it’s not.
5.0 V8, 306bhp 7 speed Auto.
its seriously lovely, riding on the airmatic suspension.
barely above idle speed at 80mph & for it’s size, it’s seriously quick when it is needed.
Also, the silence inside is amazing, you can barely hear any noise, it’s so silent & insulated from the outside world.
Yes, I know that most people will tell me about the horrors of the W220 Mercedes-Benz S Class, but this is a good one, no rust or rot (early examples up until 2002 were notoriously bad for rot everywhere) the 2003 facelift model onwards were not as bad.
& my one is not blighted with any rot.
 
Here it is, after being fully valeted today.
 

I know I have not posted on here for a long time, but I thought that I would share my new daily wheels...
 
it’s a 2003, 53 (Facelift) S500 L (long wheel base)
just ticked over to 180,364 miles (I got it at 179,220 miles) 
What a car, it is NOT greedy on fuel despite everyone telling me before I got it that it would be, it’s not.
5.0 V8, 306bhp 7 speed Auto.
its seriously lovely, riding on the airmatic suspension.
barely above idle speed at 80mph & for it’s size, it’s seriously quick when it is needed.
Also, the silence inside is amazing, you can barely hear any noise, it’s so silent & insulated from the outside world.
Yes, I know that most people will tell me about the horrors of the W220 Mercedes-Benz S Class, but this is a good one, no rust or rot (early examples up until 2002 were notoriously bad for rot everywhere) the 2003 facelift model onwards were not as bad.
& my one is not blighted with any rot.
 
Here it is, after being fully valeted today.
 

I know I have not posted on here for a long time, but I thought that I would share my new daily wheels...
 
it’s a 2003, 53 (Facelift) S500 L (long wheel base)
just ticked over to 180,364 miles (I got it at 179,220 miles) 
What a car, it is NOT greedy on fuel despite everyone telling me before I got it that it would be, it’s not.
5.0 V8, 306bhp 7 speed Auto.
its seriously lovely, riding on the airmatic suspension.
barely above idle speed at 80mph & for it’s size, it’s seriously quick when it is needed.
Also, the silence inside is amazing, you can barely hear any noise, it’s so silent & insulated from the outside world.
Yes, I know that most people will tell me about the horrors of the W220 Mercedes-Benz S Class, but this is a good one, no rust or rot (early examples up until 2002 were notoriously bad for rot everywhere) the 2003 facelift model onwards were not as bad.
& my one is not blighted with any rot.
 
Here it is, after being fully valeted today.
 

Because it’s a facelift model, it’s a 7g transmission, I also thought that it was a 5 speed when I first bought it, but I had the VIN number decoded on a Mercedes website & it is a 7g transmission, which was a pleasant surprise. That’s when I also found out that it was an L (long wheelbase) model also.

I am a Mercedes licker, I love them, more so big Mercedes like the E class (W210, W211 etc) I was originally looking at E55 AMG’s, but the W211 E55 are still pricey despite their age now, so I then looked at the E500 W211, but I only seen one late model & again, that was pricey. I had not thought of a W220 S Class until this one popped up on my search radar, So I decided that it was well worth a look after asking the seller lots of questions about it (suspension working as it should etc) when the seller told me that it was working as it should, I arranged to go view it & when I seen it in the flesh & got taken out a run in it, I knew then that I was buying it & I am so glad that I did.
 
Regarding your C32, One of my friends had one of these around 10 years ago now & took me out for a blast in it, it was seriously quick, the supercharged V6 engine in these are something else, I remember being pinned back into the passenger seat when he nailed it. 
I agree with you, all the naysayers about fuel economy & being a money pit etc are just scared of the thought of running a big engined car. 
Mercedes & High Mileage go hand in hand if they are looked after, even Sprinter vans do gung ho mileages. 
I like your C32, they are an appreciating classic now, with Values only going to go one way & that’s up.

I know I have not posted on here for a long time, but I thought that I would share my new daily wheels...
 
it’s a 2003, 53 (Facelift) S500 L (long wheel base)
just ticked over to 180,364 miles (I got it at 179,220 miles) 
What a car, it is NOT greedy on fuel despite everyone telling me before I got it that it would be, it’s not.
5.0 V8, 306bhp 7 speed Auto.
its seriously lovely, riding on the airmatic suspension.
barely above idle speed at 80mph & for it’s size, it’s seriously quick when it is needed.
Also, the silence inside is amazing, you can barely hear any noise, it’s so silent & insulated from the outside world.
Yes, I know that most people will tell me about the horrors of the W220 Mercedes-Benz S Class, but this is a good one, no rust or rot (early examples up until 2002 were notoriously bad for rot everywhere) the 2003 facelift model onwards were not as bad.
& my one is not blighted with any rot.
 
Here it is, after being fully valeted today.
 

The fibre optic cables are the orange ones, they plug into each part of the stereo system, so one will be plugged into your amplifier & then so on, they can be unplugged & checked fairly easy. 
when you unplug the fibre optic plug, have someone turn on the radio & you look at the plug, you will see a little red light flash inside the plug as you are looking at it, if it flashes red, this is working, so plug it back in & then follow the orange cable to the next part & do the same thing, if you come across one that doesn’t flash, this will be your problem.
It sounds confusing, but it’s genuinely fairly straight forward to check. 
if you have any doubt, just look up Mercedes Fibre optic cable check, there is a wealth of information on how to check the cables & trouble shoot them.
again, I am not saying 100% that the fibre optic cabling is your problem, but it is certainly worth checking incase it is. 
& if it’s not, then sack my advice ???
 

I know I have not posted on here for a long time, but I thought that I would share my new daily wheels...
 
it’s a 2003, 53 (Facelift) S500 L (long wheel base)
just ticked over to 180,364 miles (I got it at 179,220 miles) 
What a car, it is NOT greedy on fuel despite everyone telling me before I got it that it would be, it’s not.
5.0 V8, 306bhp 7 speed Auto.
its seriously lovely, riding on the airmatic suspension.
barely above idle speed at 80mph & for it’s size, it’s seriously quick when it is needed.
Also, the silence inside is amazing, you can barely hear any noise, it’s so silent & insulated from the outside world.
Yes, I know that most people will tell me about the horrors of the W220 Mercedes-Benz S Class, but this is a good one, no rust or rot (early examples up until 2002 were notoriously bad for rot everywhere) the 2003 facelift model onwards were not as bad.
& my one is not blighted with any rot.
 
Here it is, after being fully valeted today.
 

I am not saying that it is the fibre optic cabling for certain, but it is worth a look, someone has previously been messing around with the fibre optic cabling in my S500, I got the radio & sat nav etc working for about 3 days & then it went back to what it was doing when I first got the car, no sound, nothing, just the head unit turning on..doing it’s checks & then saying system unavailable, then turning itself off. I plan to investigate it further soon.

I know I have not posted on here for a long time, but I thought that I would share my new daily wheels...
 
it’s a 2003, 53 (Facelift) S500 L (long wheel base)
just ticked over to 180,364 miles (I got it at 179,220 miles) 
What a car, it is NOT greedy on fuel despite everyone telling me before I got it that it would be, it’s not.
5.0 V8, 306bhp 7 speed Auto.
its seriously lovely, riding on the airmatic suspension.
barely above idle speed at 80mph & for it’s size, it’s seriously quick when it is needed.
Also, the silence inside is amazing, you can barely hear any noise, it’s so silent & insulated from the outside world.
Yes, I know that most people will tell me about the horrors of the W220 Mercedes-Benz S Class, but this is a good one, no rust or rot (early examples up until 2002 were notoriously bad for rot everywhere) the 2003 facelift model onwards were not as bad.
& my one is not blighted with any rot.
 
Here it is, after being fully valeted today.
 

I know I have not posted on here for a long time, but I thought that I would share my new daily wheels...
 
it’s a 2003, 53 (Facelift) S500 L (long wheel base)
just ticked over to 180,364 miles (I got it at 179,220 miles) 
What a car, it is NOT greedy on fuel despite everyone telling me before I got it that it would be, it’s not.
5.0 V8, 306bhp 7 speed Auto.
its seriously lovely, riding on the airmatic suspension.
barely above idle speed at 80mph & for it’s size, it’s seriously quick when it is needed.
Also, the silence inside is amazing, you can barely hear any noise, it’s so silent & insulated from the outside world.
Yes, I know that most people will tell me about the horrors of the W220 Mercedes-Benz S Class, but this is a good one, no rust or rot (early examples up until 2002 were notoriously bad for rot everywhere) the 2003 facelift model onwards were not as bad.
& my one is not blighted with any rot.
 
Here it is, after being fully valeted today.
 

I know I have not posted on here for a long time, but I thought that I would share my new daily wheels...
 
it’s a 2003, 53 (Facelift) S500 L (long wheel base)
just ticked over to 180,364 miles (I got it at 179,220 miles) 
What a car, it is NOT greedy on fuel despite everyone telling me before I got it that it would be, it’s not.
5.0 V8, 306bhp 7 speed Auto.
its seriously lovely, riding on the airmatic suspension.
barely above idle speed at 80mph & for it’s size, it’s seriously quick when it is needed.
Also, the silence inside is amazing, you can barely hear any noise, it’s so silent & insulated from the outside world.
Yes, I know that most people will tell me about the horrors of the W220 Mercedes-Benz S Class, but this is a good one, no rust or rot (early examples up until 2002 were notoriously bad for rot everywhere) the 2003 facelift model onwards were not as bad.
& my one is not blighted with any rot.
 
Here it is, after being fully valeted today.
 

I am a Mercedes licker, I love them, more so big Mercedes like the E class (W210, W211 etc) I was originally looking at E55 AMG’s, but the W211 E55 are still pricey despite their age now, so I then looked at the E500 W211, but I only seen one late model & again, that was pricey. I had not thought of a W220 S Class until this one popped up on my search radar, So I decided that it was well worth a look after asking the seller lots of questions about it (suspension working as it should etc) when the seller told me that it was working as it should, I arranged to go view it & when I seen it in the flesh & got taken out a run in it, I knew then that I was buying it & I am so glad that I did.
 
Regarding your C32, One of my friends had one of these around 10 years ago now & took me out for a blast in it, it was seriously quick, the supercharged V6 engine in these are something else, I remember being pinned back into the passenger seat when he nailed it. 
I agree with you, all the naysayers about fuel economy & being a money pit etc are just scared of the thought of running a big engined car. 
Mercedes & High Mileage go hand in hand if they are looked after, even Sprinter vans do gung ho mileages. 
I like your C32, they are an appreciating classic now, with Values only going to go one way & that’s up.

No, I have not done that yet, but I will give it a go over the weekend. I have not done that on it since I’ve had it.

Have you reset the throttle and transmission adaptations on it yet? 
Takes 5 minutes and no tools and is worth doing every now and then. 
Get in, close door, ignition on (engine off), foot fully down on throttle so kickdown engages for 20 seconds, keep foot on throttle and switch off ignition (keep key in, don't touch anything or open doors etc), take foot off throttle, wait for approx 2 minutes during which you'll hear (very quiet) clicks and clunks from the gearbox solenoids as the transmission resets.
It'll go like the clappers next time you drive it as it'll have to relearn your driving style, but after a few miles it'll calm right down and be nicer to drive. 

Great looking car, hides it's miles well. I would have thought a Merc 5.0 V8 of this era would have been a five speed auto.