My experience was just the opposite. Admittedly this was 9 years ago, but my 90 year old father didn’t want to be bothered shopping for a Mercedes at dealerships, so I was assigned the task.

MB-USA had (has?) a website where you spec out the car - color, options, and then by the zip code you provide, send it to the…

I have been changing brake pads on my W124 300E, 1st gen MR2, 1996 R129 SL500, and the last one, a 2000 W210 Mercedes E430. For over 20 years.

And I recently got a lesson on the E430.

The front pads, at least, have an outward spring and I managed to reverse the pads.

The car would “stop” but only half effective. It…

I drove a friend’s new S-Class and that thing has a whole lot of annoying features - from the seat bladder that constantly inflates when you are making a 30 mph turn to the instrument panel flashing like a pinball machine if you finish a turn near the edge of the road. Then there is the steering wheel that wants to…

I’m still gobsmacked that someone would take a nice new Corvette, have no idea how it is put together but start ripping it apart, then have no specific plan what they are going to do to make it a “supercar”.

It already is one.

Looking at that it is amazing GM charges so little. I’ve finally seen 2 on the road - fully…

Well, I can’t beat landmines. But occasionally in No CA we get a torrential rain - the kind you hear on national news where the Russian River has overflowed and some little town in Mendocino county is under water.

And when that happens the major highway arteries in the SF Bay Area flood under some overpasses rendering…

In the concours world, Patina got a cachet with a car with say original leather, a few minor cracks from wear, original paint that may have a crack here and there but shows the years. The leather and paint shows regular care, not neglect. They call it the preservation class.

I think that is all to the good because…

Yep. 

If it has had it done, the seller would usually be sure to note it. But you have to pull the engine so it isn’t a minor undertaking.

It’s the identical engine

I think Robb Holland agrees with you. 

When is the IMS bearing issue gone? If this is within that window (I think it is) and it hasn’t had that upgrade, you are driving a time bomb. If that bearing goes, the engine goes.

How much of a premium does the S bring?

If this falls within the IMS window, and it hasn’t had it done (I suspect it hasn’t as you…

Wonder where the engine went ;-)

I would say that guy is doomed to stay in F3. Probably not for long. A top driver has nothing to prove on a public road. And they know it.

Wouldn’t be a sleeper as soon as you heard the engine ;-)

I believe that these electronics are on the whole far worse. They make people complacent. Have a friend who wanted an S-Class for years. Finally got one. And almost rear-ended someone because he thought the distronic plus cruise control was on.

As for this guy - a complete maroon. 

The M116 engine - 1981-~1983, (380SL, 380SE/SEL, etc) for the US only (for the fuel economy mandates) had a single row timing chain that would break by 60,000 miles. That was not a recall but if you came in during a time frame...it would be converted to dual row. There are a few running around unconverted .

Then there…

Those look like the Mercedes guides, too. 

Interesting video. I changed a tensioner in my old Mercedes 300E and couldn’t understand the hesitancy. Took less than an hour.

It was built like a tank and the Saint drove one! In fact I think - now that I mention it - the production company let Roger Moore drive his own P1800.

Then there was Irv Gordon who put over 3,000,000 miles on his - original engine I believe. But I read somewhere on his claims for various components like a water pump…

One thing I have found about seeking help through the Net with enthusiasts: You have to separate the wheat from the chaff. And there is a lot of chaff.