12k budget - large coupe.

megakid

megakid

megakid

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My friend is shopping in his E46 318i auto :o in the near future and is hoping to have approximately £12,000 to spend on a large coupe of some sort. He is particularly fond of the 6 series.

* He has a auto-only licence.
* He is currently looking at 630is

I've tried telling him to get the 645i or larger but nothing to base it on apart from 'more powah'. Are there any more advantages?

Also, any alternatives would be great - I have the CL down as a main rival but are there others?

Cheers,

James
 
I've had an '05 630i for a year now. I paid £12k for a mint example with 45k on clock.
I nearly purchased a 645i as they are normally cheaper than the 630i - i assume due to petrol costs. In the end I didn't, as I was familiar with the engine from the 130i I owned previously, which wanted for nothing in three years of ownership. Since purchasing the 630i there have been no problems to report either. Tyres are the only killer which are £350 a corner.
 
Does he have deep pockets for running the thing? £12K will get you a great example of a previous generation CL500, ropey examples of which can be had for half of that. However it still costs the same to run as the £80K car it was when new. Expect 20mpg, big bills for routine stuff, epic bills for complicated things like the electrics and suspension etc. however the reward is probably the finest and most luxurious big coupe of its generation. I ran one for a couple of years and never tired of heated, ventilated massaging seats, old school phone, TV, 17 way adjustable seats, Alcantara head lining, full leather dash, rear electric blinds, fridge between the back seats etc. That car could crush continents effortlessly. It was built like a proper Merc when at the time they were going through a bit of an iffy stage with most of their other models.
 
[TW]Fox;22180362 said:
It's better.
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Good to know, thanks.

BurningHorse, having the same (the same?) engine in a 130i then a 630i, did you notice much difference given the extra weight?
 
This is just the type of car which i am into;

1) Your budget will actually just about stretch to an R230 SL-class. The best car for twice this budget let alone just £12k which would net you a 2002 SL500. The Vario roof system gives you the best of all worlds. Its a large pillar-less coupe when you want it to be, and a GT convertible when you fold the roof down.

2) I would not even consider a 6-series at this budget for the above reason. Although very nice cars they are really just a 5-series coupe and definitely not in the same class as the CL/SL class mercs.

3) BigT mentions a W215 CL-Class, amazing cars, but personally i do not see the need to spend the entire budget on one. I would buy a ~2004/5 CL500 7G-Tronic model. Again, a much much better car than the 6-series.

4) BurningHorizons - your tyres are not £350/corner unless you are buying specific runflats. My preference would be to never replace any RFT's and to switch to standard tyres. The 19" tyres which either a CL or SL would require will stretch to around £300/corner at the very most. My last set of rears on my SL500 were £600 fitted which are at the higher end of the scale.
 
My girlfriend and I are currently on the hunt for a 630i to replace my old S500, and all I can say is that having ran a W220 S500 for over two years now and looking at the potential for huge bills with the CL/SL I would say these are in a different league than the 630i in terms of maintenance cost, for one the horrendous prices that an MB dealer will charge you to maintain MBSH, secondly the ABC suspension system, and complex fibre optic systems which have their foibles from time to time. Plus having driven a CL and 630i back to back the 6 feels a far nimbler car, but as said before it is not quite as opulent.

Don't get me wrong I have enjoyed owning my S500 (economy is quite amazing also, I average around 24 mpg in mixed driving) but you really have to love big mercs to buy one, and have a good contingency fund as they have huge potential to generate bills - in the last month I have spent almost the value of my 2001 S500 just to keep it going including 2 x lovely airmatic struts - so make sure you have plenty of cash in reserve!
 
Deep said:
My goodness, there's a name I haven't seen in a while!
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I still get linked to the forum occasionally by people who post here more often :)

117 said:
in the last month I have spent almost the value of my 2001 S500 just to keep it going including 2 x lovely airmatic struts
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Out of interest why did you have to replace these? It is very rare these days to need to replace a strut entirely when there are patch kits and rebuilds available?
 
Hi Jez,

The metal shock absorber part below the air bellow had basically broken up badly on one side, and signs of going on the other - Took car in for a ball joint replacement, came back with a godawful noise meaning car was undrivable, after replacing pretty much whole front suspension to try to eliminate only thing left was the struts themselves, when they were unbolted they just fell apart in mechanics hands! Anyway it drives like new now, just got the ever present rust and gradual delamination of the double glazing to try to fight now - ill probably just end up keeping it forever for less stringent duties as i'd be lucky to get 10p for it!
 
Ouch thats very bad luck. I dare ask how much that lot ended up coming to :(

The rust and the water ingress into the double glazing is inevitable unfortunately on the early models (Mine was a '99). The later ones seem OK but that obviously doesnt help the situation with yours. You may as well just keep it now as you say, especially with new front struts & suspension components. You should find most of the rest of the car fairly bulletproof.
 
Considering every thread normally descends into mondeo - have a mondeo coupe

ford-cougar.jpg


You'll even have loads left over for repairs :p
 
Came to a good few grand in total, to be honest if I had have known what the problem was initially I would have cut my losses, but it was in stages, first a B service, then MOT where ball joint was advised, £200 odd for first ball joint, then another £350x2 for each arm, then around £1300 for the airmatic in the space of a few weeks - It only takes a bad month with one of these cars to get expensive quickly!

How has your SL been to run so far?
 
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