1995 Mercedes S600 Armored

February 8th, 2010

This is one battle ready S class. If you are just looking for regular luxury transportation this is not for you. If your ride to work may lead you through an area known for IEDs or near that former business partner you screwed over who happens to also own a collection of sniper rifles, this may be perfect. This car was built for the Sultan of Brunei by TRASCO a company that was known for building the ultimate in specialized urban protective vehicles. TRASCO is now one of the companies that falls under the Centigon nameplate. The original cost, and you can be sure no expense was spared, was $400,000 you also can be sure that whatever this sells for now it will include a lot of priced in depreciation, the buy-it-now price is $85,000.

With 3″ thick glass and 1/2″ steel plating the car meets European level B6 armor standards, or in other words it’s capable of fending off 7.62mm rounds from the guy parked next to you with a machine gun. Naturally all that armor is going to add a literal ton of weight, the car weighs 7600lbs, but thankfully you have Mercedes’ 6.0 liter V-12 helping put plenty of power through run flat tires and also an upgraded suspension. The car comes with the stock rims as well as a nice set of big Carlsson wheels.

With 20,000 miles the car looks brand new. It even is coming off of a year long stay as an exhibition car in the Petersen Automotive Museum. Here is a link showing the car at the museum.

This is not really a collectible car and should not be seen as an investment, but should go to someone who will use it for what it was built for. Someone who has a chauffeur and is genuinely concerned for their own and their family’s  security.

~Evan

Posted by Evan in Famous Owner, Mercedes Benz | No Comments »

1993 Mercedes 500SL for the Superbowl

February 7th, 2010

For the Superbowl I thought this car was appropriate.
A 1993 Mercedes 500SL formerly owned by NFL player and broadcaster Pat Summerall. I don’t really think there is much value added in the former owner status though, no offense to Pat.
67,000 miles is not much at all. With so many of these 5.0 Benz engines out there parts should not be outrageous. The seller says the car has a brand nw convertible top and another $1600 in recent tuneups. I kind of like the blackberry color on this car.
It is nice that it comes with both tops as I think if you aren’t going to drive topless the hardtop on the SL is a much better look than the softtop.
The $11,700 ask should have some play in it if the owner wants to sell.

~Evan

Posted by Evan in Famous Owner, Mercedes Benz | 1 Comment »

BMW E39 M5 Theme Week Closes

February 6th, 2010

Our first theme week has come to an end. Looking back it seems to that our finds fell into these categories:
Evan with the Lowest Mile
Aaron with the Best Modified / Most Expensive
Ben with the Worst Modified
And a few other nice ones thrown in the mix to match our reader request.

Do you have a request for a specific car or a theme week? Let us know, dan@motoringblogs.com

~Evan

Posted by Evan in BMW, Theme Week | No Comments »

‘02 M5 with 30k miles on eBay

February 5th, 2010

Continuing E39 M5 theme week, I found one that closely matches the requirement of our fellow M-lover over at the M5 Video Guide.  It’s an ’02 instead of an ’03, but it’s a clean Carbon Black version with just 30k miles.

With 9 days left on the auction it’s just under $18k.  Depreciating at almost $2/mile has to hurt for the original owner, but it’s all good for the buyer.  The gray interior isn’t as striking as the Caramel we saw on one the other day, but getting one of the best sport sedans ever made with so few miles for around $20k will probably help you get over the interior color pretty quickly.

My main realization of M5 week thus far is how amazingly accessible these M5s have become.  THIS WEEK ONLY, M5s 75% off! (until next week, and the week after that…)

-NR

Posted by Nate in BMW | No Comments »

2003 Dinan BMW M5 S3, Badge # 18 for sale

February 5th, 2010

In keeping with the spirit of E39 M5 week I found this 2003 Dinan car on the M5 Board.  This silver Dinan M5 is loaded with only the best upgrades money can buy and has only traveled 15k miles.  At 12k the seller shipped the car off to the Dinan headquarters in Morgan Hill, CA.  At that point the car underwent a transformation that moved Steve Dinan himself to claim this as the strongest S3 motor they have ever built.

2003 Dinan BMW M5 S3, Badge # 18 for sale

“Color titanium silver with two tone sport interior. Mileage is 15000.  Toyo tires (new rubber) Stop tech BBK (red) with drilled discs and 2 extra new in its box front red calipers.  Stainless steel brake lines filled with AGIP Ferrari brake fluid.  Vorsteiner GTR hood.  Custom BMW OEM fog lights with Angel I Bright V3.0 lights for angel eyes.  ACS front splitters and Alpina rear trunk lip spoiler.  Illuminated door sills at all 4 doors, BMW M5 logo.  Dinan aluminum pedals and Dinan short shifter kit.  UUC weighted selector rod.  Center arm rest converted into lift up storage compartment and TEC aluminum cup holder installed.  Schroth (red color) race harness belts.

Stereo speakers upgraded to MB Quart speakers with 2 8” JL subwoofers mounted in place of the M audio woofers.  Woofers powers by Alpine amp with Sirius Sat radio operational with subscription.  Alpine 6 disc DVD changer/player plays on plays on Nav screen with wireless remote control OEM 6 disc CD player remains connected/operational.

The interior of the car still smells like new! The car was converted at Dinan’s Morgan Hill Ca facility when the vehicle had approx 12000 on the clock. The car was transported from NJ to Ca and back to NJ via enclosed trailer transport truck.  The car has been garaged since day one point of purchase. The motor oil changed every 3000 miles, just because……

Note: the car has NEVER been exposed to any inclement weather. The car is typically garage year round, but goes into hibernation for the winter from October through May. I averaged approx 2000 miles per year on the clock. The car was a summer pleasure car. Never a primary use vehicle!

The sale of this vehicle is not an emergency type situation. The car for me was a project car and now I am done with its transformation. I am interested in getting into something different.  Sale price is 85,000″

My initial response to this ad was of the “you must be nuts variety.”  At $85k  you can nearly have all three of the cars featured in Dan’s post earlier in the week.  Then I went on to read all five pages of the for sale thread, each comment was in awe of the car and supportive of the price.  This came as quite a surprise as automotive boards can be ruthless in the valuation of fine automobiles.  The Dinan upgrades to this vehicle are in the neighborhood of $70k, that is like getting an 15k E39 for another $15k.  The fact is this car produces 621 horsepower and 502 lb-ft torque compared to 394/360 in stock form.  This is not a modded M5, this is a super car!  Good luck with the sale.

~Aaron.


Posted by Aaron in BMW, Dinan | No Comments »

Insane 1990 Syncro Westfalia for Sale

February 4th, 2010

I know we usually restrict our posts to German autos of the sporting variety, but people are doing such insane things with Vanagons these days I got clearance to post them every once in a while.  A utilitarian beast at heart, Vanagons have a unique following, a following so diehard that they go to extraordinary lengths to restore, modify, and improve their vans.  Some create cab-forward boxes with performance to shame a lot of the cars we post here, many with increasingly common Subaru WRX and STI engine-swaps.  Others, like the one we have today, have been completely redone to be unstoppable adventure-mongers.  GoWesty (as in Westfalia, the camper edition of Vanagon), has the process down and churns out some incredibly capable and well-built vans.  With a plethora of modification and restoration possibilities, they can clean up your van and fix the sink, or you can have them do a ground-up build with the only limit being the size of your wallet.

This 1990 Syncro (4WD in VWspeak) explores the latter option to the extreme.  New everything and more, they have created a no-holds-barred adventure machine with a coffee-spitting price: $80k.

1990 Vanagon Westfalia Syncro for sale at GoWesty.com

The insane worklist:

This is all the stuff we did for Doug:

• Stripped down completely to the bare body
• Collision damage repaired back to factory exact specification
• Complete repaint inside and out to factory color
• Black texture treatment all around the bottom
• GoWesty plate steel bumpers, rear with integral hitch
• Skid plate up front
• Double swing-away carrier for rear
• Full size spare wheel
• Fuel and water cans
• New hemp/cotton 3-window pop top tent
• All new interior panels with matching Recaro material inserts
• New Recaro front seats
• Rear seat and bed cushion recovered in Recaro fabric to match front seats
• All typically discolored and shrunken vinyl around windows removed, and all surfaces painted to match exterior
• Undercarriage stripped clean
• Steam cleaned thoroughly
• Undercoated thoroughly
• All fresh suspension and steering
• Old Man Emu shocks
• GoWesty progressive lifting springs
• All new brake system
• Big brakes up front
• All new brake and clutch hydraulic systems
• All new cooling system
• Fuel and electrical systems all gone through thoroughly
• GoWesty super duper ultra major maintenance service
- All maintenance items back to zero miles
• 16″ wheels with 225/70-16 BFG tires
• Fresh GoWesty 2.5 liter engine with 48/48 warranty
• Fresh transaxle and front differential, 48/48 warranty, with:
- 12% lower 5.43:1 ratio final drive gearing
- Triple knobs, which means:
- Driveshaft decoupler and solid shaft instead of viscous coupler
- Locking differential front
- Locking differential rear
• Deluxe 3 auxiliary battery system
• 50 watt solar panel on roof, quick-release style
• All-electric Engel fridge/freezer installed quick-release style
• Old fridge space turned into more cabinet space
• New LP tank assembly
• Propex built-in 7500 btu furnace
• Over $2800 worth of “just in case” preemptive reliability enhancing items
• Killer stereo with iPod, XM, and sub woofer
• Dashboard removed and all systems rebuilt
• All new power windows with centrally located switches
• All new power door lock system with remote entry
• On-board compressed air system for easy air-up of tires after off-roading

Basically: Just about everything we offer for a Syncro, Doug ordered for this puppy.

Is it all necessary?  No, probably not.  Is it awesome?  Definitely.  Doug, the guy who had it built, obviously wanted to pull out all the stops, and it shows.  It’s beautiful and simple inside and out, and while the parts list is excessive, every piece seems well thought out and useful.  If it means anything, it’s $25k less than it would cost to build from scratch and has only done 9k miles since its rebirth.  No, it’s not a bargain, but it is unquestionably valuable to a specific group of German car lovers.

-NR

Posted by Nate in Volkswagen | 5 Comments »

2002 BMW E39 M5, 72k miles, $17,500

February 4th, 2010

Carrying on with this week’s focus on E39 M5s, here is an example that could fall into the cheap buy category. We are all familiar with this car and its stonking performance, so on with the details…

2002 BMW M5 on Craigslist Philadelphia

The seller has this to say:

Silver 2002 BMW M5 with Black Leather Interior -72Kmiles

I am sacraficing my 2002 BMW M5. This beast has a V8 400h engine, 6 speed transmission. The M5 has all the standard options including Xenon headlights, M5 Sports Suspension, dynamic stability control, power sunroof, heated power M5 Sports seats, 6 CD changer in the trunk etc, etc. The Titanium Silver body is clean. There are some roadchips near the grill and a couple scratches on the bumpers. The 18 inch performance tires and rims have alot of life left in them.

The black leather interior with suede lining has been a non smoking auto with minimal wear. I put in a new OEM clutch and rear brakes about 6K ago. Clean Title. Well maintained. Maintenance records available. Disclosure: the Navigation cd-rom drive needs to be repaired, but all other computer functions work properly. This a great deal for an amazing car.

The one thing I would like to know more about is why this car needed a new clutch at 66,000 miles. Also, it is quite odd that the rear brakes, not the fronts, were the ones replaced. An uncle of mine, who owned many BMWs as well as some M models, always said he was hesitant about buying used M cars, as they are often driven hard and put up wet. A clutch replacement at 66k is making me lean towards this assumption. Another thing to be careful of is cars in the Philadelphia/NYC/Boston corridor often lead hard lives.

Depending on how well this example drives and the extent of the maintenance records, this could be a good deal. Retail values of clean M5’s in this mileage range seems to be runnin in the low to mid $20k range on average these days.

-Paul

Posted by paul in BMW | 1 Comment »

Fast and Furious BMW 5-series Drift Car

February 3rd, 2010

As I was searching for e39 M5’s for our M5 Theme week I came across this unsightly Fast and Furious 1998 540i posing as a M5.  My last post was a beautiful that I think deserved the “Best Modified” M5 of the week.  Taking a different tack, I want to nominate this for “Worst Modified” and fake e39 M5.

Of the seven stunt cars that were used in the “big race scene” from Fast and Furious 4, this is one of the two survivors.  Most of the interior has been ripped out and replaced with a rusty roll cage.  The other “Furious” mods include an after market exhaust, Eibach suspension, Monet rims, hydraulic drift/cutting hand brake and racing seats.

My issue isn’t so much that this 540 is trying to pass for an M5 but the fact that it’s sporting a “Tangelo Pearl” paint job, fake carbon fiber hood/trunk and most likely was thrashed mercilessly for the movie.  Did I mention it was in one of my least favorite car movies ever, Fast and Furious?

If Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are your idols then this might be your car…and you might be on the wrong car site.  I don’t want to speak for everyone but my guess is that most of the people who regularly visit this blog are going to agree with me and say no thanks to this Bimmer, even at the current $5K price point.

-Ben

Posted by Ben in BMW | 1 Comment »

2008 Mercedes-Benz CLK63 AMG Black Series

February 3rd, 2010

Autotrader is listing a 2008 Mercedes-Benz CLK63 AMG Black Series that I’m in love with.  I was never a huge fan of the CLK until my friend’s father bought a 2005 CLK55 coupe.  I remember hearing him rev it in front of the restaurant I worked at and loving the deep growl coming from the twin chrome pipes.

The Black Series is ultimate iteration of the CLK (besides the CLK-DTM, which never made it to the states).  You know it’s something special just by looking at those sexy fender flares that give it the DTM look.  Unlike other MB’s where beauty is only skin deep, this AMG also has the heart of a lion.  The 6.3 naturally-aspirated AMG V8 puts out a healthy dose of 507hp and 465 ft·lb of torque.  Not only will the Black do 60 in just 4 seconds but it will actually go around corners when you ask it to.  It’s proud to display its racing pedigree by leading F1 cars as the Official safety car of the Formula One.

2008 Mercedes-Benz CLK63 AMG Black Series – 6,464 Miles!

Kelly Blue Book has the Suggested Retail Value of this MB at $107,700.  At the asking price of $89,700, you are getting a whole lot of Mercedes for the cash.  Call me old-fashioned but carbon fiber, fender flares and big V8 horsepower just do it for me.

Out of the 500 built only 370 came to the U.S.  This Iridium Silver example has only seen 6,464 miles and needs a new owner to help break her in.
-Ben

A note from Evan:
Being the Benz guy that I am and having this car on my list of cars I hope to someday own I thought I’d chime in here on Ben’s post. The CLK Black series is awesome. I was at the world premier of the car’s unveiling at the New York Auto Show in 2007. At first glance it is much more subdued than its older brother’s, the CLK GTR or CLK DTM. It also appears to be much more drivable. For any of those folks who are still out there that think Mercedes only makes sedate highway cruisers, one listen to this car’s exhaust note and that misconception should be dispelled. You don’t have to take my word for it, Jermey Clarkson said he was “completely in love with it” and that it was his “new favorite car.” The Stig called it the most entertaining car he has driven in years. The car even comes with a warning letter from the factory cautioning new owners that the beast is “savage.” You can view the Top Gear episode where all this was said and take a listen to the might Merc here:

~Evan

Posted by Ben in AMG, Mercedes Benz | No Comments »

1974 2002 Touring Tii with Alpina Goodies for Sale

February 2nd, 2010

Found this 1974 BMW 2002 Tii Touring on eBay.  This is a great looking car that comes with several hard to find Alpina goodies including the throttle body, steering box, gear box, and other appearance items.  The car has 72k miles and has been owned by a couple of renowned Alpina enthusiasts.

“We present one of the most desirable BMW 2002s to all enthusiast individuals who would like to have far better, respectful, classic and state of the art automobile, compared to Turbo/s or any today’s showroom toy/s with uncountable electronic gadgets!  This is the Touring, a car that is versatile, fun to drive and beautiful. What makes this car very special is the addition of the ALPINA A4 single throttle body set-up that is now days well sought for as well as having other ALPINA hard to find goodies.

We were informed by German sources that there are less than 16 survived Touring ALPINAs!  This car was featured in the September 2003 BMW CAR magazine and also in the ALPINA book written by James Taylor. This car was also owned by Gianni Faccini, the great ALPINA lover and enthusiast.”

You can also find a description of the car here.  The seller states above that there are only 16 surviving Touring Alpinas, the problem is that is car is not one of them.  While the Alpina accessories are wonderful, the value of which may surpass that of the car itself, the buy it now price of nearly $50k is not in touch with reality.  In fact, I find it suspicious that there is a bid of $30k since this car has been up for auction several times with high bids in the $15k-$20k range.  Regardless of the seller’s unrealistic pricing this is a neat little car with some very rare Alpina parts.

~Aaron

Posted by Aaron in Alpina, BMW | 4 Comments »