[holyshash]

Originally Posted by JunkyardHunter

As an owner of a W221 Biturbo myself, go for it! A seamless blend of comfort, great looks and bucketloads of power make it an amazing deal. We paid ~19 lakhs for ours.

Hey, that's great. Could you maybe give some insight on your purchase? How many owners and kilometres did the car have before you got it? Were there any errors that you had to face as soon as you got one?

I heard that (i know it defeats the purpose of the mighty S-Class) you can replace the airmatic suspension with coils. It could be a good option if comfort is not the topmost priority for somebody.

Anyways, the search for a good whip is still on for me.

[JunkyardHunter]

Originally Posted by holyshash

Hey, that's great. Could you maybe give some insight on your purchase? How many owners and kilometres did the car have before you got it? Were there any errors that you had to face as soon as you got one?

It was a single owner car, with around 35k kilometres. The Massaging seats, the video screens and a few other items had failed.

The most recent critical problem was a carbon leak, but that got fixed.

Side note - The COMMAND screen is a bit dated, so you might want to change it. Ours has an aftermarket AppleCarplay touchscreen.

As for the second part of your questions, I have not heard about this. Once I get info I will PM you.

[JunkyardHunter]

Originally Posted by holyshash

I heard that (i know it defeats the purpose of the mighty S-Class) you can replace the airmatic suspension with coils. It could be a good option if comfort is not the topmost priority for somebody.

While yes, it does improve the overall reliability of the car, you will lose the 'magic carpet ride' of the AIRMATIC system.

This would be a good option on the W220, but the system in the W221 is heavily updated.

Overall, if you really want to improve the reliability and dont mind sacrificing comfort, get an E class.

Hope this helps.

[holyshash]

Originally Posted by JunkyardHunter

It was a single owner car, with around 35k kilometres. The Massaging seats, the video screens and a few other items had failed.

Oh wow! That sounds like a good purchase.

Lets see if i can acquire one, then I can worry about the issues.

Originally Posted by JunkyardHunter

This would be a good option on the W220, but the system in the W221 is heavily updated.

I do know that, it kills the purpose of the s class, but it might be a good option if you are somebody like me who is okay with sacrificing the comfort for some wallet friendly up/downgrade.

I intend to get myself a CLS. Its the perfect balance between an S and an E.

[V0rtex]

You will spending quite a lot on the maintenance on that A8 for sure. The RS5 is a better option in my opinion. Also if possible try to check out certified cars that Audi is selling, and if odometer is suspiciously low then there is a very high chance that odometer has been tampered and many other things have been tampered as well. I've heard of dealers doing the shady practice of disconnecting certain sensors to stop the Christmas lights on the gauge.

[schumi_pete]

I would be wary of purchasing a BMW with the N54/N55 block. The N54 is a highly tuneable block, but it has very poor reliability compared to the newer B58 engines. It comes with a piezo injector that was expensive and had many known issues, and it had a litany of parts that could cause issues including the HPFP, water pump failures, blown gaskets etc. It will be cheap to buy, but expensive to run and maintain.

The N55 had a slightly better reliability perception as BMW switched from a true twin turbo to a larger twin scroll single turbo, but a lot of the other issues from the N54 were carried over into this one as well.

Unless one is prepared to foot hefty repair and maintenance bills, I would steer clear of the older BMWs with the N54/N55 blocks. Like with a lot of things in life, it is also a matter of luck because you can get an example that runs faultlessly, but the odds are small on that on these old German cars.