Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

E63 is very much the sensible choice.

Why exactly? Just because the M5 is older/rarer? Not really familiar with that end of the car spectrum tbf.

M5 Touring was last made in 2006 IIRC, they’re almost all high mileage now.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010074718147

I assume you've seen that. Definitely noticed that there's not many for sale.

Or just buy this. LHD for the continent and sexy as hell.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011095948276

I’m having to strongly resist getting an M5 Touring

C6 RS6 Avant. You know it (doesn't) make sense. But you know you want to...

Does the R Class count as an estate? They even did an AMG one.

I came very close to buying an AMG R-class. Eventually I decided I couldn't bring myself to buy a car based on a lowered SUV chassis, which makes no sense at all. Even with the glorious AMG 6.2l V8. And after I decided that my desire to put bikes in the back of the car upright wasn't really that important after all.

In A2 news, one car owner seems to have disappeared and suspect he may have passed as he was ill and failed a covid test so was isolating. Phone hasn't been turned on for a while...

Go and have a look at another one.

If the panda had aircon I would have kept it.

Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake.

Much as I love an E class estate, I think the Jaguar is nicer. And has that whole Tour de France thing.

Ooh, a good left field suggestion. I've seen a total of 1 in aus. Pity.

A neighbour has a tidy looking 18 plate 540i m sport touring, and it looks to be just as quick as the 07 m5 but without the frisson of it spontaneously burning itself to death (or any of the accompanying warbley fun).

Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake.

Much as I love an E class estate, I think the Jaguar is nicer. And has that whole Tour de France thing.

I think the only petrol ones they made were the demo machines for motoring journalists, I've never seen a non-derv version for sale.

A neighbour has a tidy looking 18 plate 540i m sport touring, and it looks to be just as quick as the 07 m5 but without the frisson of it spontaneously burning itself to death (or any of the accompanying warbley fun).

2018 540i M-Sport touring

Almost the same price as the E63, but gives away 200 horsepower.

Two years younger though.

The ones I hastily googled were sub-5 second 0-60s, wonder why that one isn't. But yes, no comparison on the horsepower.

Well, I got my Certificate of Conformity from Porsche to try to register my old 911 for the ULEZ.

Got it in the post this morning - apparently the 'Abgasverhalten' for Nox + HC is 0.187g/km, and Nox alone is 0.035g/km. I'm not actually sure which the ULEZ measures, but the figure to beat for a petrol car is, I believe, 0.25g/km. So either way it should be compliant.

On to the TFL side of the operation, which I suspect will be less simple...

The supercharged V8s were petrol. As you say, all the others (in the UK) were derv.

Yes, and in a few years of sporadic looking I’ve never seen one for sale.

My C55 is now for sale- it’s on 99,001 miles, it’s in the best condition that I can achieve by throwing lots of money at it, two sets of wheels (18” summer, 17” winter).

If I get the £16,000 asking then I’ll replace the rear Pirelli P-Zero tyres on the summer wheels and leave the Thule aero-bars on the roof rails.

5.4 litre petrol V8, 380 bhp and monstrous torque, fantastic stereo, OCD maintenance regime.

I had some minor paint correction stuff planned for next year, and maybe upgrading the stereo so that it has Bluetooth streaming and DAB. Other than that it should be standard maintenance stuff for a good few years.

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So hard to value, especially with so little stock for sale in the second hand market right now to be able to compare. If I wasn't piling money into a knackered old e34 I'd be interested.

I know you've spent a boatload and I'm not sure there's a better person to buy a car from so good luck with the sale. Does this mean you're set on the E63?

I hired a red one of these in aus and was surprised at how much better it was than the commodores i remember.

oops - catching up. sorry

Good luck with the sale.. An E63 Estate is a lovely thing. Are you going to tune for more power? 800 bhp seems possible!

So hard to value, especially with so little stock for sale in the second hand market right now to be able to compare. If I wasn't piling money into a knackered old e34 I'd be interested.

I know you've spent a boatload and I'm not sure there's a better person to buy a car from so good luck with the sale. Does this mean you're set on the E63?

There are a couple on eBay right now, both on 150,000 miles and both at £9,000.

One of the members of MB Club UK had one of those inspected - the inspection came back as "do NOT buy this car, the odometer reads 125,000 but the onboard computer says 260,000".

And, for your £9,000, you get this lot:

Battery negative loose - refitted
Pollen filter case incorrectly fitted - refitted
Battery clamp missing
Heater flap clicking on start up
Parking sensors inop
Top rocker covers leaking oil
Headlights clouding over and have condensation inside
Both front fog lights showing water ingress
N S F jacking point missing
O S inner arch panel not fitted correctly
Headlight level link broken (previously been cable tied)
N S F arch liner damaged
N S R brake binding
Rear arches rusting
Both front torque arm bushes psplit
O S R box joints splitting
Outside temp sensors inop - no plugs visible
General rust to rear end - see photos

Then you move onto Japanese imports - lower mileage and (crucially) no rust underneath to the floor and the subframe, they're £14,000 landed, but then you need to sort the stereo, fog-lights, and of course get it thoroughly undersealed to survive in the UK, and they'll never be worth what a UK car is.

Which is why I initially thought £16,000 sounded fair.

I reckon £16,000 is more than fair - you are just going to have to be patient. IT is always going to take the right buyer at that end of the market.

No, tempting as it is I’ll keep it 100% stock and likely get it serviced by MB- so that it can be fixed by MB anywhere in Europe using stock parts, should it have an issue whilst I am for e.g. in Austria.

quoted

Deffo sounds reasonable. It’s the fucked thing about selling cars second hand - it’s hard to convey that something has actually been looked after. Because even people who totally fuck their cars often think they’ve looked after them.

Guess it’ll just be someone who understands that it’s got plenty life in it.