how bad is this idea?

http://desmoines.craigslist.org/cto/3621026360.html

I know its a bad idea but just how bad is it?

16 year old german luxo-barge, with rust, a new water pump probably because the engine over-heated, and new transmission oil to try and cure a transmission that's playing up?

Well yes it is a bad idea, but you came here for the enablers didn't you, so....

Do it.

Didn't the v12 mercs of that time eat transmissions?

12 cylinders for $3500

This is GRM, there are no bad ideas

You missed the biodegradable wiring and the fuel consumption too. I probably wouldn't, if you must have a w140 a v8 one would probably be better, and a lot cheaper.

On a scale of 1-10, 1 being a nicely running stock-ish Corolla/Civic and 10 being a BiTurbo that hasn't been fired up in a decade (or some old Europas in parts, if you prefer ) I'd say this is about a 4.

^^^This needs to be standardized as The Bad Idea Scale(TM). Anybody want to suggest where other projects would fall on that continuum?

You'll never recover from such a purchase.

It depends on what you want to do with it;

Just to say "Yeah, I have a V12 Merecedes" - go for it

Challenge Car - Friggin great idea

Engine swap for your T-Bucket kit car - hells yeah

Your DD - meh

Your 16 daughters first car? - Not so much

Your 16 year old sons' first car? - even worse

DD for your mother in law to get to her Dialysis appt, 1 hour each way? - well...How much do you like her?

Well if you dont actually NEED that 3500 it would be hard to lose as im sure you could get it back out of it in parts sales and scrap if you felt like taking it apart when it breaks down for good.

Id rather have a dead biturbo than a V12 w140. At least biturbos look easy to work on.