Color me blue. This 2004 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG is finished in Bright Blue Metallic, which is a shade I’ve never seen on the W211 E55 before. Almost every E55 of this generation was painted is painted in some sort of silver, grey, black, or beige, and bright colors like this are very rarely ever seen. Nary a green or navy blue to be found. Even better, wait until you see what is inside! There is one problem however…I hope you speak Dutch.
As I get older, the less and less I want to deal with cars that aren’t comfortable. I adore my 1983 240D with nearly 300,000 miles on it, but when its 22 degrees out and I’m de-icing locks, barely getting any heat out of the vents, and woefully accelerating, I’m not all that happy. Every time I’m in this situation, I yearn for a car I get in, turn on, and drive away in total comfort. Not necessarily a soulless appliance, but a car that satisfies my inner needs for a machine that is “special.” What car could do that job exceptionally well? The Mercedes-Benz S-Class, of course. But not just any S-Class. An S-Class with a designo interior just to be extra “special.”
After that last Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, I thought I’d get back on the right track with another SLS that is much more special. This 2012 up for sale in Germany starts out tame enough in Obsidian Black Metallic, but when you open those doors you get hit with a color combo that I’ve never seen before and didn’t even think was possible. It is worth the click.
In terms of depreciation of the W221 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, we are probably near the bottom. A little bit of a double-edged sword as prices are well in to affordable range, but that means they are also getting into the hands of those who maybe aren’t staying up on the maintenance. On today’s car, a 2007 S600, maintenance is a way of life. Believe it or not, a twin-turbo V12 from 14 years ago isn’t the nightmare fuel you’d guess it to be. Outside of a few small things, Mercedes really did an outstanding job making these V12 durable in terms of what disasters V12 in general can become. However, this isn’t all roses. We are talking about large sums of money to drive a 14 year-ago car that probably isn’t impressing anyone outside of a handful of people and of course, me.
For as bland and as boring as Mercedes-Benz can be with some of the color combinations, every once in awhile they’ll give us something that shows they still have a little bit of style. The W210 E-Class was pretty notorious for being offered in nothing but earth tones, especially the beige on beige examples. What we have here today is a 2001 E430 from the swanky minds at the designo department who offered up a color combination of Mocco Black Metallic over a Nappa Nubuck leather interior with natural elm wood trim. Even better, it has the classic 18″ Monoblock wheels and just 75,000 miles. To top it off, it’s had a single family ownership and service records from new.
The new second-generation W463 (Not called the W464. Don’t get me started on this.) Mercedes-Benz G-Wagens have been have been on dealer lots for a few months now and as expected, they are selling so fast that the lot attendants don’t even have a chance to swirl the paint up by trying to “wash” them. They’ve been selling at a rapid pace because in addition to looking nice and fresh, they ride more like a new Range Rover than a military vehicle from the 1970s. This however has the last of the first-generation W463 not selling so hot because even with offering a little discount on them, a person who can spend $140,000 on something can probably spend $150,000 to get something that is much better. Mercedes knew this, so they tarted up the last of the first generation cars in fancy paint and today’s vehicle is exactly that. This 2018 G63 AMG is painted in Agate Green that is a color I can say I’ve never seen before. Normally I love green, but I’m not sure about this color on this hulking SUV. This color on a 911? Absolutely. On a G63? Well, what do you think?
As fun and quirky as my two daily drivers, a 1980 Mercedes-Benz 300SD and 1983 Mercedes-Benz 240D, are to have, they are borderline miserable to drive in the northeast during the winter months. Since I don’t own a four car garage, they sit in the driveway 99% of the time while my W210 E55 AMG sits under a cover in my garage with empty boxes piled on top of it. As a result, it is always a surprise to see if the locks or door handles are frozen when I walk outside in the morning. From there, the 240D is pretty good about starting in any temperature but the 300SD isn’t having it unless the coolant heater has been plugged in for a while despite me just replacing the glow plugs a few months ago. Once I do get one of them fired up, really hot heat is a pipe dream in the 240D while it’s a crap shoot in the W116 because of the god forsaken Chrysler servo system. Compare all this to a normal car that you simply press a button on a key fob, put it in gear and drive away in total comfort. This all has me dreaming about a more modern daily driver and when you comes to dreams, you know what they say, dream big.
This 2010 S550 4Matic up for sale in Brooklyn might be one of the nicest W221s outside of any S600 or AMG variety. Painted in Designo Magno Platinum Matte Finish on the outside, the inside is even better with Designo Sand Leather seats with Oak Grain Designo Natural Matte wood sprinkled about. Add in some other neat options like the rear seat entertainment package and you have a really loaded up S-Class. But even with the depreciation at around 25% of its original cost, is it worth it?
The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG had the nearly impossible task of being the spiritual successor of the legendary 300SL Gullwing. I say ‘nearly impossible’ because if one car could measure up to the 300SL nearly 50 years later, the SLS AMG somehow managed. Jeremy Clarkson raved about SLS AMG calling it “the greatest car in the world” at the time and that ”this is the thinking man’s supercar”. I agree completely. The team at AMG managed to make a beautifully contoured car with Gullwing doors and somehow engineered it to get to 60 mph in the mid-three second range and top out at 200 mph. All of this is possible in a car so comfortable and easy to live with that you could use it as a daily driver. It was the ultimate grand tourer with doors to die for. Granted, if you were the kind of person to buy a SLS you almost certainly had other vehicles in your fleet and that seems to be the case with today’s car. This 2011 painted in the sleek Obsidain Black checks in with just 4,500 miles and looks every bit the part. The even better news, once you swing open those doors, the car only looks better.
Last week I looked at a 2006 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG Estate that drew quite of bit of reaction from the comments. I say that as a good thing because most were pretty happy with the condition but thought the price was a little high (which I can say I don’t really disagree with). Well wouldn’t you know it, another W211 E55 AMG Estate popped up for sale with even fewer miles, in the same area and an even a cheaper price. I thought this might be an answer to what everyone was looking for. There’s just one slightly big problem with this one though: it is by far the worst condition E55 Estate I’ve ever come across.
I love flagship Mercedes-Benz and all their uniqueness that they bring. From last weeks Adenauer to today’s car, a 2011 S600, I enjoy all of them. (Except the W220 S600 with the 5.8 V12, that thing is garbage.) This W221 up for sale in Texas has everything you’d expect a flagship Mercedes to have with its radar guided cruise control and 510 horsepower that does 0-60 is 4.5 seconds. On top of all the normal goodies, this S600 has the extra special designo interior option. Problem is, I don’t know if I’m in love with it.
