Shoot me down in flames

[Cotswold Pete]

Folks, after 16 years of pottering around in an LS I have made the decision to sell my LS, as it has become a restoration project and I do not have the space or time to do it up, and getting a garage to do all the work is something my missus is not keen on.

I must confess even writing this feels a little strange.

As to what I am going to be driving, I have acquired a Merc E Class E350 -  a mate of mine is now in his final months (maybe a year at most) and he has looked after his car, and much though I never thought I would buy a Merc, I feel it keeps his memory going as long as I keep it (and it has personalised plate which works for me as much as it did for him).

I have been to Lexus and had a good look around and had my mate been in fine fettle I would probably be teasing him by getting a 460, as although I liked the ES300h I do not have the cash to splash.

I have put details in For Sale, and I will not be giving up the forum, as it is a nice friendly place, and maybe one day I will be back in the fold.

I guess I better sign onto the Merc Forum (and my boss will love me as he is a CL and SL fan-boy - and having driven them the E Class is more my thing)

[Tinonline]

38 minutes ago, Cotswold Pete said:

Folks, after 16 years of pottering around in an LS I have made the decision to sell my LS, as it has become a restoration project and I do not have the space or time to do it up, and getting a garage to do all the work is something my missus is not keen on.

I must confess even writing this feels a little strange.

As to what I am going to be driving, I have acquired a Merc E Class E350 -  a mate of mine is now in his final months (maybe a year at most) and he has looked after his car, and much though I never thought I would buy a Merc, I feel it keeps his memory going as long as I keep it (and it has personalised plate which works for me as much as it did for him).

I have been to Lexus and had a good look around and had my mate been in fine fettle I would probably be teasing him by getting a 460, as although I liked the ES300h I do not have the cash to splash.

I have put details in For Sale, and I will not be giving up the forum, as it is a nice friendly place, and maybe one day I will be back in the fold.

I guess I better sign onto the Merc Forum (and my boss will love me as he is a CL and SL fan-boy - and having driven them the E Class is more my thing)

Glad you will stick around…these cars do require age related repair and it feels like the Forth Bridge paint job keeping up…even if you don’t run it much.

Im on Merc forum too but have laid off it as the design is not as good as this one so doesn’t encourage interaction. The vibe ain’t a comparison.

My wife actually stated the CLK350 AMG style pack does not drive as well as the Lexus…that was a watershed moment I can tell you. 😂

[Las Palmas]

55 minutes ago, Cotswold Pete said:

Folks, after 16 years of pottering around in an LS I have made the decision to sell my LS, as it has become a restoration project and I do not have the space or time to do it up, and getting a garage to do all the work is something my missus is not keen on.

I must confess even writing this feels a little strange.

As to what I am going to be driving, I have acquired a Merc E Class E350 -  a mate of mine is now in his final months (maybe a year at most) and he has looked after his car, and much though I never thought I would buy a Merc, I feel it keeps his memory going as long as I keep it (and it has personalised plate which works for me as much as it did for him).

I have been to Lexus and had a good look around and had my mate been in fine fettle I would probably be teasing him by getting a 460, as although I liked the ES300h I do not have the cash to splash.

I have put details in For Sale, and I will not be giving up the forum, as it is a nice friendly place, and maybe one day I will be back in the fold.

I guess I better sign onto the Merc Forum (and my boss will love me as he is a CL and SL fan-boy - and having driven them the E Class is more my thing)

Cars can get so worn that it is not worth keeping them.

Nothing wrong with the SL. My mother loved the car.

[dutchie01]

Wow, this wakes up a memory etched on my harddisk. Some 15 yrs ago hot summers night in paris around 23.00 hrs going from terrace to terrace from bar to bar until i saw a silver 300SL convertible hood down parked in front of a terrace. Red leather and definately in original never restored shape. Patina as they call it now. I convinced my mate to have a drink at this terrace as i wanted to look at the SL. And i will never forget what happened next. Out from the cafe came a 60 plus years old playboy type character wearing a fur coat, t shirt, jeans and cowboy boots. Full whisky tumbler in his right hand and clearly inibriated. He walked to the SL, got in fired it up waved his hand to upcoming traffic and just drove off like he did for decades not giving a f*ck. I just could not believe it. A scene straight from a movie and what a car.

Anyway, i like Mercs and truly understand your choice for an E class i do expect this to be one of my future cars as well

 

[Malc1]

Traitors ........... 🤩  ....  hahahahaha, ............  wishing you well with the Merc .  ............. have you upped your credit card limit yet ?

Best wishes

Malc

[Cotswold Pete]

19 hours ago, Tinonline said:

Im on Merc forum too but have laid off it as the design is not as good as this one so doesn’t encourage interaction.

Signed up on MB Forum, and not as good is IMHO an understatement.  I liken the Lexus forum to being in the Club or First Class Lounge at Heathrow (relaxed, informative a nice place to spend an evening or works time, and easy to navigate [to the drinks and food]). The MB forum is a bit like The Works - that high street book shop (a bit confusing, probably informative but not the kind of place you would strike up a conversation while sampling a fine whisky).

Having said that it is 20 years since I last enjoyed the BA lounges so they may be less enjoyable than the Lexus forum.

Anyway off for a run to Heathrow in 2 hours to fetch the wife and daughter after Yoga break in Goa - wont have time to pop into any lounges

[Malc1]

34 minutes ago, Cotswold Pete said:

wont have time to pop into any lounges

nor the spare cash to pay the Heathrow parking fees ........... I don't know but i suspect is mega £££

Malc

[Tinonline]

7 hours ago, Malc1 said:

Traitors ........... 🤩  ....  hahahahaha, ............  wishing you well with the Merc .  ............. have you upped your credit card limit yet ?

Best wishes

Malc

I’m not going anywhere Malc 🤣 looking after the Merc as it’s my sons and wife uses it. I’ll buy it when opportunity arises as it’s worth keeping.

[Tomtit]

I went from a money pit S class W220 to the LS430 and never regretted it. The LS does need occasional work, but so does virtually every other 20 year old car.

[Cotswold Pete]

15 hours ago, Tomtit said:

I went from a money pit S class W220 to the LS430 and never regretted it. The LS does need occasional work, but so does virtually every other 20 year old car.

For sure you would not find me near an S Class, have been in a few of them, and rather large for my needs.  As you say any 20 year old car needs ££ spent on it, and the 13 year old Merc just bought, I cannot see me keeping it for ever, it is likely to be my last 'big' car before I start trading down size wise and relying on my good lady more and more to ferry me about.

I take a view with the E class money saved on fuel will be spent on work on the car (probably), but the paintwork on this Merc is really good, even better than the LS when I got it 11 years ago (when it was a mere 12 years old), so looks like my mate knew how to keep a car spick and span.

If it does become a money-pit, maybe that is time to get an e-bike and just stay local ???

[Tomtit]

It sounds like you have acquired a car which has been well looked after. That counts for a lot. Enjoy it.

[donkmeister]

Which bodystyle is your E-Class? I always thought the E-Class wagon with one of the V8 options was close to perfect as a do-all car. Much as I love my LS460 the boot is smaller than what I really would like... Fortunately I have another car for load lugging but it's not a luxurious V8 waftmobile.

Noting that your new Merc is a 2010, thankfully by this point they had dropped the SBC braking system! It's a great system, but as it was new tech and longevity was unclear Bosch took the (understandably) risk averse step of building in a pre-defined life. When I had my pump replaced the quotes varied from £1500 at a good Indy up to £3000 at the dealership.

They're good cars, the E-Class of that era - I think they get a lot of flack because of the 90s quality issues and the Daimler-Chrysler merge but TBH that seemed to be more about Chrysler benefiting from Mercedes tech than Mercs being rebadged Chryslers.

[Cotswold Pete]

48 minutes ago, donkmeister said:

Which bodystyle is your E-Class?

I have the saloon, and not a waft-mobile like an LS much firmer on the road and steering gives more road feel.  Boot looks big enough to get two bodies in with having to cut feet or heads off (so useful mafia car if I ever get the call). 

Even to me it seems to have way too much tech, and not got used to all the beeps it makes (though less than my wifes Mazda does), and the only thing missing is DAB radio, but that mean sometimes I will have to do without Radio 6 or Jazz FM, but has Bluetooth and I have 10,000 tracks on my phone so music never a problem.

On the braking I suspect it does have SBC, as it was not until 2012 (I believe) they stopped putting into E-class.  The braking does feel totally different to most cars I have driven but if things start going west on the complicated tech then cross that bridge when we get there.  I do know that nothing will ever beat the 16 years of LS costs, given I paid £2K for each LS, and then it was just general maintenance (one cam belt change) and nothing major, on the other hand the V6 diesel does nearly twice MPG of LS on way to work and is (and feels) a darn sight quicker when you put the foot down.

I did think of an Volvo as option, but could not find Swedish factory one to go for, as Volvos IMHO are very comfortable to drive.

At some point I will post what I miss about the LS and what I like about the Merc, and if I won the lottery I would be up for a new ES or well sorted 460

[donkmeister]

You can easily check if it has SBC - the pump actually has SBC on the casting, and there's a little pressure sphere (like an old Citroen hydropneumatic sphere) with a warning label ("this has got loads of pressure inside, just don't muck about with it" IIRC) attached. Front driver's side of the engine bay.

The SBC Stop mode is a one pedal drive mode that is pretty cool. SBC Hold is essentially the same as Hold on the LS.

[Dippo]

On 4/7/2023 at 1:20 PM, Cotswold Pete said:

Signed up on MB Forum, and not as good is IMHO an understatement. 

Have you joined the official MB owners club, or mbclub.co.uk? In my opinion, the latter is the better one.

[NemesisUK]

1 hour ago, Cotswold Pete said:

On the braking I suspect it does have SBC, as it was not until 2012 (I believe) they stopped putting into E-class.

SBC was discontinued in the W211 E class and W219 CLS mid 2006. Only the SL had it until 2011. (ignoring the SLR and Maybach models)

[Malc1]

2 hours ago, Cotswold Pete said:

LS on way to work and is (and feels) a darn sight quicker when you put the foot down.

I use mine in constant PWR mode and it ain't no slouch for sure !   like ******* off a hot shovel maybe.

Malc

[Cotswold Pete]

On 4/12/2023 at 4:00 PM, Dippo said:

Have you joined the official MB owners club, or mbclub.co.uk? In my opinion, the latter is the better one.

MBclub seemed much better to me, though IMHO not as well laid out as this site, but certainly seems to be lots of useful stuff that I will no doubt be surfing at some point.

Having been a member over the years of Jag Owners, Honda, Vauxhall, Volvo, they all have (had) their good points for sorting out problems as usually someone would pop up with ideas and answers.