2003 Mercedes-Benz S430, with ALL MAINTENANCE DONE

2003 Mercedes-Benz S-Class AMG Sport Package Description

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This is my silver 2003 Mercedes-Benz S430 with Alpaca Grey leather interior and AMG Sport appearance package. It is one of my two "daily driver" cars, the other one being my S600 V-12 of the same year (no, that one's not for sale!). The car is bone-stock, right down to the programming. I saw no reason to "trick out" a car like this; Mercedes already did a fine job of that from the factory.
Current miles on it are 145,688. As it is one of my daily drivers, this will continue to go up.
Since eBay has a # of pictures limit, the full list of pictures is here. https://pixhost.org/gallery/tin2o
NOTE: this car is also listed for sale locally, so I *DO* reserve the right to end the auction early if someone shows up with "Cash In Fist", as it were. Money talks...and we all know what walks. :-)
THE BAD:
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First, I'll get the "bad" out of the way. There's a 3/8 inch (0.75 cm) spot in the lower left of the COMAND's LCD display that doesn't light up. Looks like a black dot when the display's on. The rest is fine, and it doesn't affect functionality, but it's there.
There are a few parking lot dings, as is common here in the suburbs. Not excessive, but they're there.
OK, that's done. :-) Now for the good.
THE GOOD:
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All maintenance has been done on this car (see below). All the typical "trouble spots", like ball joints and AIRmatic, have already been addressed (again, see below). IT'S DONE. All you've got to do is get in the car, drive it, and do your periodic normal maintenance items--fluids, filters, brake pads, that sort of stuff--at the standard intervals. THAT'S IT.
This particular S430 has the AMG Sport appearance package from the factory (this was a stock option from M-B). That means the following.
- Staggered 18" AMG wheels (that means wider wheels and tires in the back, like a sports car)
- AMG front and rear bumpers
- AMG bottom side door trim
The 4.3L V8 engine has 275 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque, and it actually feels like it. The power delivery is smooth and moves this (admittedly big) sedan with some authority. The transmission is the 5-speed 722.6 automatic, which I personally prefer over the 7-speed 722.9 because A.) the 5-speed is built stronger, and B.) maintenance is easier. It does, of course, have the Tiptronic, or "Manu-Matic" mode where you can tap the lever left or right and shift the gears manually if you wish. I use this frequently, since I grew up driving a stick-shift.
Having a Costco membership, I always, ALWAYS use 93 octane "Top Tier" fuel with this car, even though it will work just fine with 87 octane regular. Actual, measured fuel economy--with a calculator at fill-up--is as follows.
Pure city driving: 15 to 16 mpg.
Combined city/highway: 18 to 19 mpg.
Pure highway: between 24 and 25.5, depending on how fast you go. On a recent road trip to Georgia and back (1,600 miles), I saw about 24.5 to 25. Yeah, seems slightly high for a performance V-8 weighing over two tons, but my Dad's S430 also saw 26.6 mpg at about 75 mph when I brought it out here (75 is legal in most of that route--Arizona, New Mexico, etc.), so apparently that's normal for S430's.
Turning radius on this big Teuton is about as tight as my Honda Civic. First time I tried a U-turn with it, I could hardly believe it.
Air conditioning is ice-cold, as you'd expect on a car like this. Seats are comfortable (and heated, great during winter). Leather is in pretty good shape; no rips or tears or any of that. I *think* it might've gotten refinished at some point in its history. As I mentioned, there are a few parking lot dings, courtesy of Suburbia. But the body is fine, no accidents, no dents, and NO RUST. Paint is original silver metallic, with one exception; that exception is the wheels. I did get all 4 wheels refinished, since it was time to do that. Hey, they're AMG wheels; gotta have 'em lookin' good, right?
MAINTENANCE:
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All the typical "maintenance areas" that these cars have? Already been taken care of. Here's what's been done to it.
- Valve cover gaskets and crankcase ventilation ("PCV") hoses
- Spark plugs
- Both front lower control arms on each side (total 4)
- Both ball joints
- Inner and outer tie rods, both sides
- Both upper control arms
- Both front AIRmatic struts
- AIRmatic pump, with new filter and intake hose
- Rear brake discs and pads (fronts are fine)
- Driveshaft flex discs, both fore and aft
- Complete transmission fluid and filter exchange (the full 14-liter "flush", not just drop the pan and put 3-4 more liters in)
- Transmission conductor plate
- Transmission electric plug connector
- Engine oil and filter, about 3,500 miles ago
- Fuel filter
- Differential fluid change
- Brake system fluid flush
- Power steering fluid flush
- Coolant system flush
- Engine air intake filters
- Cabin air intake filters, both paper and activated charcoal
- New tires
- Full detail cleaning
All parts used are Mercedes-Benz OEM parts; no "made in China" junk here. I have all receipts of what was put on this car.
Valve cover gaskets: Mercedes-Benz
Spark plugs: Bosch FR8DPP33+
Crankcase ventilation hoses: Rein
*All* front control arms: Lemfoerder
Ball joints: Lemfoerder
Tie rods, both inner and outer: Lemfoerder
Front AIRmatic struts: Arnott
AIRmatic pump, filter, and intake hose: Mercedes-Benz
Rear brake discs: Zimmermann
Rear brake pads: ATE Original series
Driveshaft flex discs: Febi-Bilstein
Transmission fluid: Febi-Bilstein Titan Series, 236.12-specification
Transmission fluid filter: Mercedes-Benz
Transmission conductor plate: Mercedes-Benz
Transmission electric plug connector: Mercedes-Benz
Engine oil: Mobil-1 European formula full-synthetic, 0W-40
Engine oil filter: Mann (the fleece filter)
Fuel filter: Mahle
Differential fluid: Mercedes-Benz 75W-85 Hypoid
Brake fluid: Pentosin DOT 4+
Power steering fluid: Pentosin 11S (the green stuff)
Antifreeze/Coolant: Valvoline Verex G-05 (the yellow stuff), mixed 50/50 with distilled water
Engine air intake filters: Mann
Cabin air intake filters: Mann
Tires: Bridgestone Potenza RE970AS Pole Position, 245-45-ZR18(Y) in front, 265-40-ZR18(Y) in rear
There is *one* concession to "made in Taiwan" on the car, namely the two front plastic undercarriage splash guards. Hey, they're plastic, and they work, so I didn't see a need to change 'em out. But that's it.
REASON FOR SALE:
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So, if this car is so good overall, why am I selling it? Why don't I just keep it?
Short answer: I've got two of 'em.
Longer answer: A year and a half ago, I got my Dad's gorgeous S430, and naturally, I'll never sell that one. That means I currently have two S430's. I also have the aforementioned S600 and a couple more vehicles. Basically, I've just got too many cars now. Dad's car will become my daily driver when this one sells.
I had bought this silver car originally to fix up and sell to a good friend, for his wife to drive the kids around. Turns out she really wanted an SUV (which she has now), so I kept this S430 and continued to drive it! Awww...poor me... :-) Like with any car, I would find little things here and there that needed maintenance (e. g. the glove box latch needed a little adjustment--yes, you can adjust those on these cars), and I'd take care of it. I do enjoy driving this car, and that's just how I do my cars.
So, whoever gets this car is going to get a really solid vehicle. I did the maintenance with my friend's wife and kids in mind, with all that this implies. Mercedes-Benz built these cars to last, and I maintain it as such.
And if you're thinking, "this guy likes Benzes, doesn't he?"....yeah, you're right. Can you blame me? :-)