My situation boils down to this: Nice car, well cared for, everything works. I have the stuff required to perform diagnostics on it and make most repairs. It has needed nothing since I bought it. I’ve put about 10k miles on it, mostly due to the trip from Houston and a round trip to Mobile. Otherwise it would be more like 7.5k. It currently has 106k on the clock. It’s nice to drive, handles relatively well and gets pretty good gas mileage considering the size - I typically average over 20 mpg a tank in a 50-50 highway/city driving cycle.
I am terrified that something is going to break. I can relate this to the paranoia over the W140 and how it was so “sophisticated” that it would cost a fortune to repair and maintain. Of course that’s not the case, as the W140 is fairly simple to maintain and the systems are nowhere near as complex as the W220. The W220 has a CANBUS system where everything, and I mean everything, talks over it. There are critical choke points, called “SAMs” that act as the network switches, for lack of a better description. If one of these SAMs fails, and they do as the cars age, you’re screwed. It’s a unique part that’s MB only, to the tune of a grand or more. Without it the car is scrap metal. Then you have the air suspension, which, I’ll admit is nice, but problematic. When it’s working it’s great, but if one strut/airbag goes out, again, the car is pretty much flatbed material. A rebuilt aftermarket strut/airbag runs around $600, and they’re supposed to be replaced in pairs. That’s a $1300 bill as a DIY job, far more if you’re paying someone to do the work. It’s stuff like this that makes me long for something simple, as even a W140 is simple compared to these cars. And lastly, as I’ve said before, this car has no soul. I can’t pick it out of the parking lot with all the other Asian and domestic jellybeans. I enjoy driving my car, even for utilitarian purposes, and one of the reasons I’ve driven Mercedes besides the obvious is their uniqueness and panaché. You know a W140 is a Mercedes - there’s nothing else on the road like it. Same for a W123 or W126, or any other MB model made prior to 2000. While this isn’t a major deal, it’s a nagging issue in the back of my mind. I really like the S-class cars, regardless of vintage, so ideally I would like to go to a W126 or W140. Diesel would be great, but it’s not absolute. My bucket list car is a (go ahead, Kaleb, thrash me for it) W126 300SEL, which isn’t the easiest thing to find. What really hangs this whole thing up is that I have nothing to cover for me if I sell. I would have to rent a car in the interim or scramble to find a replacement, which is not the idea way to be looking for a car. Whatever…. Dan > On Jan 16, 2016, at 8:35 PM, clay via Mercedes <[email protected]> wrote: > > I may be tempted to get rid of the W220 and all its computer issues for a > reliable W123 > > clay > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
