The Silver Elephant: A Journey of Restoration and Reliability

As I sit here with my trusty 2007 Mercedes S600, affectionately named "the silver elephant," I am reminded of the incredible journey that brought it back to life. The car's original price tag was a staggering $149,000, but after years of neglect, it had depreciated to an unthinkable $4,500. I knew I had to act fast to restore this beauty to its former glory.

My first challenge was finding a used motor for the silver elephant. After scouring the market, I finally found a complete unit, including all accessories and computers, for a mere $4,500. This meant that the motor swap was more of a "drop-in" affair than a giant jigsaw puzzle. With the help of my mechanic, we were able to get the new engine installed for an additional $1,450, along with fresh fluids and preventative maintenance. The total cost so far had reached $5,950.

As I took the silver elephant out for its first spin in months, it became clear that there was still work to be done. The auxiliary cooling fan was dead, costing another $375, while both batteries were flat, adding $325 to the bill. The right lower control arm was worn out, which had caused uneven tire wear, so I spent an additional $100 finding a lightly used matching tire. An $80 oil change rounded out the total cost of ownership for the silver elephant, now sitting at a whopping $11,110.

The next task on my list was to tackle the cosmetic issues that plagued this once-beautiful car. Replacing the cracked windshield was a shocker, setting me back a staggering $11,400. An aftermarket replacement for the cracked fog lamp was a reasonable $85, while fixing the cracked bumper and touch-up work on the scratched wheels cost an additional $800. Finally, I spent $200 finding a matching tire to top off the repairs, bringing the grand total to $2,290.

Despite the significant expense, my trusty silver elephant has proven itself to be completely reliable over the past year. With over 5,000 miles on the clock, I've been impressed by its performance and durability. The V12 turbo engine, which once seemed like a recipe for disaster, now purrs smoothly under the hood.

One of the coolest features of this car is the keyless go system. While not uncommon in modern vehicles, it's still impressive to see such advanced technology in a 2007 model. The system is also surprisingly user-friendly, with plenty of shortcut buttons to make navigating the complex interface easier. My favorite feature, however, is the LCD cluster display, which boasts an array of useful features and menus.

But what truly sets this car apart is its comfort and luxury. The seats are the most comfortable I've ever sat in, thanks to the adjustable knob that allows for deep-seated adjustments. The massage modes are a personal favorite, providing a much-needed respite after a long drive. And with the panoramic view of the sky above me, I feel like royalty whenever I'm behind the wheel.

Of course, as with any complex machine, there are still some quirks to be found. One thing that's left broken is the charcoal filter canister for the fuel tank, which refuses to bend properly when filling up. This means I have to hand-operate the nozzle at a slight trickle, taking forever to fill up. It's my sacrifice to the German car gods of reliability.

As I celebrate my one-year anniversary with the silver elephant, I've decided to treat myself to a Euro-charged ECU tune, which will raise the horsepower to over 600 and the torque to over 7,100. With this upgrade, I'll be able to push my reliable car to its limits, raising the speed limit somewhere over 200 mph. But as an idiot, I know that's not going to happen.

For now, the silver elephant remains my trusty steed, a testament to the power of restoration and reliability. And who knows? Maybe one day it'll be back on the road, faster than ever before.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis is my 2007 Mercedes S600 I have named the silver elephant it has a V12 vturbo engine that puts out 510 horsepower and 6 13 foot PBS of torque a little over a year ago I purchased this car for $4500 with a bad motor and in this video I will detail what it took to bring this car back to life and the cost of ownership over the past year last year I found the sad looking sale ad for this car at 149,000 M the longtime owner claimed the engine was severely overheated in needed replacement they were originally asking $10,000 for this car but with few potential buyers crazy enough to take this on I was able to negotiate down to 4500 I then drove 200 miles to Oklahoma to tow the silver elephant home certainly testing the maximum load capacity on my/ ton GMC pickup the seller claimed not to know why the engine overheated he also didn't mention a number of other issues like the cracked windshield and bumper scratched wheels or that the motor was already partially disassembled parts and bolts were everywhere and some parts like A1 th000 coil pack were destroyed by a careless mechanic putting the Humpty Dumpty motor back together again seemed expensive and impossible so I began shopping for a used motor I was fortunate to find a complete unit including all accessories and computers for only $4,500 this meant the motor swap was just a drop in Affair rather than a giant jigsaw puzzle with $99,000 into my car now my mechanic build me $1,450 to drop the used motor in along along with fresh fluids and preventative maintenance with the car running the issue that caused the overheating was obvious a cracked radiator that had been repaired with JB Weld yes JB Weld on a car that cost $160,000 new is What boat anchored this thing $660 later I had a new radiator installed bringing the grand total of 11,110 invested I could finally Drive the car for the first time turns out the auxiliary cooling fan was also dead costing another $375 both batteries were flat costing $325 and the right lower control arm was worn out costing $300 this had cost the uneven tire wear so I spent another 100 bucks finding a lightly used matching Tire to top it off I did an $80 oil change bringing my new Total to $2,290 next I moved on to the Cosmetics replacing the cracked windshield was a shocker setting me back a whopping $11,400 an aftermarket replacement for my cracked fog lamp was a reasonable $85 and I spent $400 to fix a cracked bumper and touch up to repair the scratched Wheels I spent another $200 and finished off with a professional detail for $75 combining the purchase price mechanical parts and labor and cosmetic repairs the grand total for a mostly like new 2007 S600 was $4,450 yeah I spent more than 10 grand fixing it but I still own this bturbo beauty for less than 10% of its original MSRP during the past year I put over 5,000 miles on the silver elephant and the maintenance and repair cost has been nothing zero NADA despite being a V12 car with hydraulic suspension and a th000 gizmos and doohickeys this car has been completely reliable it yeah totally shocked me too let's go over some of the coolest doohickeys while I'm in here starting with the keyless go system now I know a keyless go system isn't too unusual for a 10-year-old car Priuses had them but Mercedes is funny in that they planned for their system to break because they made the push button removable so that you can put your key in when it breaks Mercedes mercifully didn't make the same mistake BMW did with their iDrive system relying solely on the knob to control pretty much everything in the car there are plenty of shortcut buttons all over to accomplish any task you need but the knob is cool as it goes deeper my favorite part of this interface is adjusting the seats and I do have the normal adjustments on the door but with the knob I can go a lot deeper making this the most comfortable seat I have ever sat in and they get even better when you select one of five different massage modes fast and vigorous please my favorite Gizmo is with the LCD cluster display which has a lot of useful features and menus but the magic really happens when you press this button night vision mode engaged and the cool technology extends to the back seat as well I love this soft closed doors back here I have tons of my own seat adjustments as well and a panoramic view of the sky above me which I can close but my favorite feature is with the back window say I'm stopped at the light and really want to look like a snob so I look out to one of the pedestrians give them a nasty look and roll up my window like this if I really want to show my disgust I can do this while this is a fantastic car to be chauffered around in with its silky smooth V12 in hydraulic suspension it's even better to drive with over 500 horsepower and 600 TS this is by far the fastest vehicle I've ever owned and gives a superar sensation when you hit the on-ramp jeez so what's my secret to Reliable V12 ownership Superstition always leave one thing broken because once you fix it then the next thing will break one thing that I have left broken is the charcoal filter canister for the fuel tank it does not bent properly when filling up so I have to hand operate the nozzle at only a slight trickle taking forever to fill up this would cost me about $500 to replace but it's my sacrifice to the German car gods of reliability and it seems to work you can find a nice sorted S600 of this era in the low 20,000 range which is an incredible deal considering it's depreciated more than what a nice house cost in Kansas it also seems like an especially good deal when you stop by a Mercedes dealer and price out a new v12 by Turbo to celebrate my oneye anniversary with the silver elephant I've decided to give it a present a Euro charged ECU tune which will raise the horsepower to over 600 and the torque to over 7 100 I just can't leave anything alone oh and it's supposed to raise the speed limit somewhere over 200 milph so I'm going to take my reliable car and probably break it because I'm an idiot\n"