V12 twin turbo? Here I come!

So, I know the horror stories, but I've also bought cheap Porsches, not cheap Porsches, british cars, british bikes, italian cars etc, so what I'm trying to say is....I never learn.

I'm picking up my new to me 2003 Mercedes s600 tomorrow. This one is loaded up with almost all the options and stock has 493HP and 590 lb-ft of torque and currently has 134k miles. I will try and resist the urge to tune it, but I doubt I can since a tune will get me around 593hp and 695 tq.

I have a long commute, which is usually shared between my 12 k1300s bike and 85 300sd benz, so this will take the place of the 300sd for now. I realize this is not an ideal commuter car from a mileage perspective, but I care more about not completely hating what I'm spending my time in VS the mileage.

It looks to be in great shape, but the plan is to spend some time with it and fix any issues that bug me, then dyno it in the fall for a baseline, then maybe ecu and tcu tunes.

I imagine fueling upgrades, a pair of EFRs and a tune could flirt with 800 safe horsepower on that block.

Amazing. I look forward to the tales. I hope they are all (or at least mostly) good.

In reply to dculberson:

I'm excited about it, but I'm also trying to prep myself for some sort of epic failure. This thing is crazy complicated, but I work on my own stuff, so with forum support etc I should be able to keep this beast going.

All things considered it's pretty cheap though, under 3 challenge cars, so will be a hell of a lot of car for the money if it isn't a complete pain in the ass....we shall see.

Are you serious - ~$6000 for 500hp?

In reply to dculberson:

I'm thinking interior bits and body panels could make that back allowing for a V12 twin turbo miata by 2018.

Oh boy.

dculberson wrote: Are you serious - ~$6000 for 500hp?

yeah, there are a couple of reasons. The biggest one is this car has a salvage title. The fuse box got fried due to a drain stopping up, so the box and assorted wiring was replaced. I'll have to look at the docs to see what year this was, but it wasn't too long ago, and with MB parts and labor the costs add up quick. The other reason is this is a friend deal and the car isn't advertised. He got a good deal on it and is just passing it along. Still these cars aren't that expensive without a branded title. I have seen them for around 12k or so, but after seeing and driving this one I just couldn't say no to a sub 6k price. I'll post pics when I get it....it's a very clean car and even has some nice AMG wheels.

Edit: it also has "dynamic seats" that massage you....should be interesting. The front seats are also heated and cooled, the rear seat is power, the doors will shut on their own one you start to pull them too.....it's unreal the stuff this car does for you.....I'm sure it will all break.

hmmm, what about twin superchargers.... as 590#/ft isn't enough

I read an Edmunds long-term review of one of these. The maintenance costs for routine items was eye watering.

A fuse block was expensive enough to total the car huh? Nope, nothing to worry about here.

Mister Fister wrote: I read an Edmunds long-term review of one of these. The maintenance costs for routine items was eye watering.

yeah I read one too, probably the same one. It was for a CL65 that also has the v12tt. They were going to the dealer for repairs though iirc and the costs were insane. I think it was 2-3k to change the 24 spark plugs.

What worried me more was reading on a forum the need to "pull the engine" to replace certain style engine mounts....now I've never pulled a v12tt, but I can't imagine it's a good time.

gearheadmb wrote: A fuse block was expensive enough to total the car huh? Nope, nothing to worry about here.

Tell me about it! This has bad idea written all over it, but I'm trying to think of it as an adventure. I looked it up and the total was done in 2012 at 81k miles. I know where the shop is in Atlanta that did the repairs, so I plan to road trip up there at some point and talk to them about exactly what all they replaced.

@ The OP

I saw absolutely no reason why you need a twin turbo V12. Then I drove my friends Bentley Super Sport. I am now convinced that ever car needs a Twin turbo V12 Option.

Oh and it needs exhaust cut out things in the mufflers. An uncorked V12 will make you tingle in places you did not know you had.

Oh, and don't sell the 85 300sd. You will be needing it.

2 turbos on a V12?

Seems two too few.

dean1484 wrote: Oh, and don't sell the 85 300sd. You will be needing it.

I should probably trailer the 300SD behind the s600, so I can make sure I always get to my destination. Seriously though the 300SD is just a tank. I have around 340k on it and just cranked the boost up to 17 psi last year and it's taking it like a champ. Well, technically I plugged the wastegate and it will climb as much as it wants, but I try not to let it go past 17psi. Regardless, it's still slow, but a little less so.

The s600 does have the muffler bypass mod or whatever done....sounds wicked. I just never expected a big ol 4 door benz to sound like that.

Did you turn up the fueling on the 300SD to go along with the extra boost? If not, that's why there's not much extra power there.

rslifkin wrote: Did you turn up the fueling on the 300SD to go along with the extra boost? If not, that's why there's not much extra power there.

I removed alda, but that's all. Is it pretty easy to turn the fuel up on those? I honestly haven't looked into it that much since it has so many miles. I messed with the wastegate because it got to where pulling hills was hell. I found I was only getting about 5psi due to the weak wastegate spring, so just plugged it.

I saw a v12 biturbo s600 sit on local CL for $4300 (major paint issues and been sitting but claimed to run well and have some major repairs already done) for a while, and i just barely resisted the urge to go check it out. I even called and agreed to try to schedule at a later date, just never followed up.

Now that i've seen that F1 exhaust vid, i am full of regret.

In reply to dean1484:

That thing sounds amazing even at what seems like 40 mph

dean1484 wrote: Some inspiration for you. https://www.youtube.com/embed/oN8pHJ3sQ0Q

Yeah, but isn't that like a $10k exhaust?

03+ S600 is way way way high on my list.

It looks like the f1 sound vid is from an earlier non turbo s600. It has headers and on the 03 and up TT the turbos and manifolds are integrated. Mine sounds good, but not that good. I'll have to get the gopro out and make a vid.

24 sparkplugs. have fun.