R63 AMG The Unicorn of my Destruction

It concerns me that you effectively own a minivan with 3-7 more HP then my first viper.

I don't want to pee in your Cheerios or anything, but the combination of "Pro Athlete" and "Bald 22s" would have had me heading back to Texas with the rental car bouncing off the rev limiter so fast it would make your head spin.

One owner car with full dealer service made me feel better. The underside of the car is as clean as any I've seen. Floor mats have wife's initials in front and the two daughters in back. I have reason to believe the van was treated well.
Having said that, there are some things that need looking after. I'll get into those as I deal with them.
As the title suggests, there is a great likelihood that you'll see me expend an absurd amount of time/effort/money on this. I knew that coming in. Now we see how long it takes to break me.

Once again, I am rooting for your success and happiness.

Thanks Woody. I think we're right as the cusp of figuring out whether the M156 engine cars are going to become enthusiast cars or not. The first of the AMG 63 cars came out in 2006 and there are enough of them off warranty now for DIYers to see if we can figure them out.

Dusterbd13 wrote: I actually don't hate the chrome wheels.

Found a buyer

Are bonus points being awarded for figuring out the prior owner? Even if they aren't, I'm looking forward to this one.

Well, I know who it was, but I really just think of it as interesting history. I'm making the assumption that the guy values his privacy as much as anyone. My first task after dropping the kids off today is reading through the insanely large radio instruction book to figure out how to erase the addresses and phone numbers that were left in the memory. I'm so out of touch with football I had to Google search the guy.
It's my van now, and quite frankly, a GRM builds thread vehicle has WAY more cachet to me than some sports star nonsense. The ultimate car guy fame, of course, is to get in GRM Readers Rides.

So...what's it like to drive?

It passed inspection! Yay! I was warned that I'll almost certainly get a ticket for the windshield tint if I get pulled over, but my inspection guy likes the weird E36 M3 I bring in so he ignored it.

Driving impressions: it's two cars. Drive it normally and it's just comfortable. Shifts below 2k, compliant, quiet, high enough to not scrape. Kids like it. Wife likes it. Adaptive cruise is pretty neat though it sets off people's radar detectors.
But when you ask the motor to go, it goes. It drops three gears instantly and takes off. Starting from a 10mph roll it will hold first and second to 7k. Even with 500tw tires and carrying 1000lbs more, it's probably faster to 60 than the V Wagon. And the noises above 4k. Oh my god the noises. Angels stop to listen.

Here's the thing, if you drive it rationally it's not any better than an optioned up three year old Odyssey. In a lot of ways it's worse. Mileage is going to be crap, it only seats six, and the storage isn't anywhere close to a modern minivan. You really have to be an enthusiast to like it. You have to stomp on it every now and again to hear the motor. You need to be the type of person who opens the hood and looks at all of the AMG engineering and packaging and thinks it's cool. You have to want to talk to people about it when they ask.
I think it's awesome in the same way that using a Corvette for a commuter instead of a Camry is awesome. I'm happy I bought it.

Here's the thing, if you drive it rationally it's not any better than an optioned up three year old Odyssey. In a lot of ways it's worse. Mileage is going to be crap, it only seats six, and the storage isn't anywhere close to a modern minivan. You really have to be an enthusiast to like it.

Makes sense to me. I guess you won't know how much you'll really like it until you use it for the pragmatic purposes that had you 'looking' in the first place, but i'll be interested to see if it being 'boring' under normal use ends up being a big ownership problem or not.

Kind of sounds like my S8. Very sedate and boring at normal speed and school girl giggles when you mash the peddle. Works for me.

It's not that it's boring per-se, it's just that once you reach a certain level of competence at daily tasks, where do you go? We're really dealing with intangibles at this point. The little things that make a fairly idiotic car fun to car guys.
The 911 always feels special. Just running to the store in it makes me happy, but that's a pretty high bar.
I did have fun running errands today. The usual around town slogs were way better than in the truck, so we'll see.

mazdeuce wrote: Driving impressions: it's two cars. Drive it normally and it's just comfortable. Shifts below 2k, compliant, quiet, high enough to not scrape. Kids like it. Wife likes it. Adaptive cruise is pretty neat though it sets off people's radar detectors. But when you ask the motor to go, it goes. It drops three gears instantly and takes off. Starting from a 10mph roll it will hold first and second to 7k. Even with 500tw tires and carrying 1000lbs more, it's probably faster to 60 than the V Wagon. And the noises above 4k. Oh my god the noises. Angels stop to listen. Here's the thing, if you drive it rationally it's not any better than an optioned up three year old Odyssey. In a lot of ways it's worse. Mileage is going to be crap, it only seats six, and the storage isn't anywhere close to a modern minivan. You really have to be an enthusiast to like it. You have to stomp on it every now and again to hear the motor. You need to be the type of person who opens the hood and looks at all of the AMG engineering and packaging and thinks it's cool. You have to want to talk to people about it when they ask. I think it's awesome in the same way that using a Corvette for a commuter instead of a Camry is awesome. I'm happy I bought it.

This is exactly how I feel about my CLS63, except sedan and lighter. This motor really does make glorious noises.

The little things that make a fairly idiotic car fun to car guys. The 911 always feels special. Just running to the store in it makes me happy, but that's a pretty high bar.

Yeah, i was thinking the same thing about your 911 (even vs the CTSV) as i typed that. I tend to enjoy special/weird/unique over actual performance at this point. But on the other hand i have yet to stop appreciating how great of a car our Prius is even though i rarely drive it, and when the Lexus isn't being floored it's just a mid-lux sedan and i like it for all the reasons that that's a thing like ventilated seats and memory seats/mirrors/column etc. So you'll probably be fine as long as it doesn't start asking for a bunch of upkeep money.

I fixed my first thing. The front cigarette lighter outlet wasn't working. Took a few minutes to track down a fuse diagram, but once I did that, it led me directly to a blown fuse. Replaced and it works. Small victories!

Mileage for the first three tanks.
16.83
17.37
14.21
The first two are solid freeway driving at 77mph and the third is some freeway, some running the kids around. If I could keep these mileages (abysmal as they are) I'd be extatic.

What! I thought Texans had it good with cheap gas? Up here that would be like getting 4-7 mpg on a tank cost wise. Guess I was mistaken, shoot there goes my dream to find a place to retire to with lower living expenses. Still not to bad with all the moving parts on that big bad boy.

I'm paying just under $2 gal for premium. It's stupid cheap. If oil goes up so I'm paying $4 I would be much much happier. I've had more than one person thank me for keeping them drilling new wells. I do what I can.

mazdeuce wrote: Mileage for the first three tanks. 16.83 17.37 14.21 The first two are solid freeway driving at 77mph and the third is some freeway, some running the kids around. If I could keep these mileages (abysmal as they are) I'd be extatic.

That's pretty damn close to my 01 XJR. I can eek out about 2mpg better at 75mph. While weighing less, driving only the rear wheels, much smaller frontal area, carrying significantly less, and having 130 fewer HP.

Wow. I knew I wanted a R63 for a reason.

Yeah, I get about the same mpg in my Previa.

My truck gets about that.... Thats damn good for that rig IMO

I'm starting to get used to the electronic menus. One of them is a persistent miles and time menu. This is today. Drop off at two schools. Orthontist appointment for two kids. Pick up and one school. Pick up at another school later because of after school stuff. Not every day is this busy, but a lot are. The van is better than the truck for this type of day.

I need a minivan that has a speedo that goes to 200...

Does yours have the AMG menu with oil temp and lap timer? If so, in a minivan, that would be awesome.

In reply to Sonic:

Yes, yes it does.

The 200mph speedo is cool, but the van is limited to 155 and the current tires are only speed rated to 149. I will say it's still pulling very very hard at 110.