R63 AMG The Unicorn of my Destruction

In reply to PNW_Dude:

Holy cow. The E63 wagon is even more rare than the R63 I believe. At least in the US. Here's to hoping your head bolts are solid and you never have to rely on any of my experience.
Thanks for following along, much appreciated.

Isn't that the F1 medical car? Love that wagon.

In reply to mazdeuce:

I know there were 67 made for the US in 2007 so I think the R63 is a little more rare but not by much. Ya I hope the headbolts are solid too. It only has 53k miles on it. Wondering if preventative head Bolt replacement would be worth it.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

Not sure about that but it wouldn't surprise me the car is huge.

mndsm wrote: Slipperys tool is rather magnificent.

OMG.

PNW_Dude wrote: In reply to mazdeuce: ...Ya I hope the headbolts are solid too. It only has 53k miles on it. Wondering if preventative head Bolt replacement would be worth it.

Back several pages, I believe there was a statement that it is, in fact, recommended.

I sure would.

Talking to a couple of people with these cars has them suggesting this. (Note: this is just an opinion) Change oil more frequently than suggested, 3-5k miles. Get an oil analysis done every time. If coolant or excessive metal show up then you need to fix things (head bolts, cams) before more bad things happen. If you need to pull the cams for any reason, do the head bolts too. If you decide to do the head bolts, change to updated lifters at that time. If you do the work proactively it will be much cheaper than waiting for something to fail first.

MazD....having said all that, if you were casually observing all this(not an owner), would you even entertain this ride for your stable?

759NRNG wrote: MazD....having said all that, if you were casually observing all this(not an owner), would you even entertain this ride for your stable?

I've been thinking about answering this all day. I'm 100% sure I'm the kind of person who would read a thread like this and still want one, but I'm also the kind of person who looks at 80's Rolls Royces and 15 year old Ferraris. I'm not well.
That pretty well frames my opinion on the follow-up question of "would you recommend one". I would, to the right person.
Maybe I'm still wearing rose colored glasses, but it's a special car. It's worth owning and experiencing because it's just so good. I don't think you can say "I'll buy this instead of a new Odyssey and I'll be fine!". You might, but you also might suffer a failure (or a string of them, let's be honest there is a LOT more outside the motor that can still break on this) that will cost considerable money and downtime. Nobody who is hauling a bunch of kids around in car seats needs inevitable tow truck rides if they can avoid it.
But, if you're the type of person who accepts that gutter surfing the depreciation curve of luxury cars comes with some compromises, you open yourself up to a world of cars usually reserved for people who buy $800 shoes and Eastern European girlfriends.

so $800 dollar shoes will get me a european hottie?

mazdeuce wrote: it's a special car.

This is the key, IMHO. No car can be everything, all are compromises. Cars that are supremely reliable are rarely stupidly overpowered and tend to be built in very large numbers. If you want a special car, one that's outside the norm, it's going to have character flaws. As long as you know what those are, go at it with your eyes open, and are able to manage the situation it's fine.

...but then I have a history of owning big fast Audis and I recently bought an FD, so my judgement may be questionable. :)

In reply to JOsworth:

Alright so did anyone else do some checking around in China's model lineup?

They have a CLS wagon! It looks pretty slick, eerily similar stature to the cts wagon but with Mercedes Body lines.

http://m.mercedes-benz.com.cn/content/china/mpc/mpc_china_website/zhng/home_mpc/passengercars/mobile/mbp/new_cars/model_overview/cls-class/x218.html

Alright so a couple updates from Minnesota life here, I had found a black r63 at a penske Mercedes dealership in Virginia asking 24k, had 154,xxx. Sold it like 2 days though and I missed out.

And I took the wife on an 1800 mile round trip last weekend for a r500, pulling a car hauler but got burned on it. It had some pretty significant issues that weren't disclosed by the dealer or the place I paid for inspection. Rough break after driving from Roseau, Minnesota to Springfield, Illinois.

Still looking for a r500 but they're slim picking being only 06 and 07. Sure not a 63 kind of rare but definitely a limited market.

They are rare and unfortunately more likely to be scrapped if something significant happens, so their numbers are going to go down.
It took me four years of looking to find my R63. I wasn't obsessively looking, but keeping my eye on things. I still see a few R's around, one in that champaign color with no badges (but the non R front) just yesterday.

759NRNG wrote: so $800 dollar shoes will get me a european hottie? Yes. As long as you have a spare billion to back them up

In reply to oldtin: way short here on the benjamins for that action .....shucks

The ML55 is likely as cheap as they will get now too for anyone who wants that type of thing, they are going for $2500-5500 here. I think a diesel R class would be fun too, but they are still a bit expensive.

In reply to Tk8398:

Sold one of those once when I worked at CarMax. Poor guy called me 4 hours after he bought it and said none of the electronics worked. After that it came back countless times. To the point of 9 months later when I worked in the buyers office I appraised the car and ended up putting a hilariously overpriced offer on the car to help the poor guy out.

759NRNG wrote: so $800 dollar shoes will get me a european hottie?

He said BUY European girlfriends.

You have to buy the shoes and the GF.

MazD are we in a parts, time, limbo, continuum ?

onemanarmy wrote:

759NRNG wrote: so $800 dollar shoes will get me a european hottie?

He said BUY European girlfriends. You have to buy the shoes and the GF.

To buy the cars new, yes, but you can be a Vans and asking cute girls to coffee guy and still afford the used versions. If you're brave or foolish enough.

759NRNG wrote: MazD are we in a parts, time, limbo, continuum ?

Life is happening. My wife has a new job. Huge step up and a fantastic opportunity, but it also moved her to a different part of town. It would take a very long explanation and a couple of diagrams to fully explain how this affects my kid hauling duties, the the short version is, more time in the truck, less time at home.
My sister is also visiting from Belgium for a week so I'm hanging out with her and my niece.
The plan is to get things as properly in order as I can and start back to work sometime next week. We'll see if life agrees with that timeline or not.

mazdeuce wrote:

onemanarmy wrote:

759NRNG wrote: so $800 dollar shoes will get me a european hottie?

He said BUY European girlfriends. You have to buy the shoes and the GF.

To buy the cars new, yes, but you can be a Vans and asking cute girls to coffee guy and still afford the used versions. If you're brave or foolish enough.

I'm thinking 15 year old Ferraris might be less dangerous.

Tk8398 wrote: I think a diesel R class would be fun too, but they are still a bit expensive.

My R320 is a 2009 and has a tad more torque than the earlier ones. I have to say, the performance from the little V6 diesel is impressive. Not the horsepower necessarily, but with 398 lb. ft. of torque at 1800 RPMs this thing pulls hard (not R63 hard, but still...). As I mentioned previously, if I drive it in a sane manner, I get over 28 mpg on the highway.

Chuck

MazD, if SWMBO is having to do the 'corridor' for gainful employment, yes I definitely see your shuttling logistics dilemma. Plus it's not everyday you get to visit with Sis.........enjoy this spectacular weather. Will wait patiently for the coming onslaught