Call it my smile car, seems to bring out the best in people !
30 Likes
Looks fantastic!
Are you the first owner being a 22 plate? How was the spec’ing/buying experience? Did you visit the factory?
1 Like
Gorgeous. As a Brit over in the US, I’d love one to blast around in here, and they’re more common here than you’d expect. This one’s owned by a frequent visitor to our local coffee shop
8 Likes
The V12 Aston Engined version of the new Vantage, yes
I am delighted with it picked up from the factory last July,
Real old school craftsman with a BMW 2 litre engine and manual gear box, so no slouch and no traction control 
Couple of built pics, worth a visit always!
14 Likes
That’s what I call a bucket seat!
Fab car 
2 Likes
Yep, not a robot in sight, just blokes with big hammers 
1 Like
Superb! Hope you get many years of enjoyment from it.
3 Likes
Thank you
1 Like
Does this BMW engine come from Hams Hall, or overseas?
I really don’t know sorry .
What a machine - it looks like a lot of fun and so beautifully built. The Plus 4 looks pretty quick. The B58 engined 6 must be a monster 
Roll on Summer !
1 Like
I understand the +6 is a car not for the faint hearted
The turbo kicking in makes a great noise, the plus 6 only comes in auto as you would expect !
1 Like
Driving a Lexus 450h. Had two Mercs previously. The first developed a problem which Mercedes wouldn’t or couldn’t solve under my warranty. After the warranty ended Mercedes found the problem. I said it should have been covered by the warranty but Mercedes would only give a partial goodwill refund. The County Court judge ordered them to pay in full and wanted to bring the case to a higher court to create a legal precedent! The next Merc (yes glutton for punishment) kept draining the battery in a few hours and I decided to sell. Bought the Lexus simply because I wanted a reliable car with reliable dealers. After the car is out of the three year warranty Lexus extend it by a year (for most mechanical parts) and I believe this goes up to ten years. The hybrid battery is guaranteed for 15 years. I enjoy the car. It is not particularly attractive but is comfortable and having a reliable car is a top priority for me.
6 Likes
It saddens me to say this but as a Merc owner, the sooner I can exit, the better. If the market had not been so dislocated I’d have traded in already. It’s not just the amount of stuff that has gone wrong, or the sheer cost of fixing it, but that the dealer doesn’t know how to fix it and doesn’t really give the impression of caring. Two different dealers, same story. I’ve owned my car from yr 1 to 5 years. It’s only done 42,000 miles. It was quite expensive but that seems to have no bearing.
2 Likes
My court case was over 10 years ago. The turbo needed replacing. I did a bit of detective work and found out by asking a mechanic that it would have had to fail three times before it would be replaced under warranty. The car went into a mode where the car would not accelerate and we just avoided a head on crash. In court I mentioned that a failure would have to happen three times and the judge asked the Merc warranty guy if this was correct. He said ‘yes’. The judge then said ‘so Mr C could have been killed on the first or second occasion’ and the Merc guy said ‘yes’.
It actually makes me cross to read that story. I didn’t feel that a ‘like’ was quite the right response!
I’m saddened by my Mercedes experience because I still think of the sturdy Mercs of the pre 1995 era where the parts and the cars were expensive because of the way they were engineered. I don’t usually like to name manufacturers with build or servicing problems either because I’ve had poor experiences across the board except for one marque. I’m making an exception here because the experience is so far off what Mercedes is supposed to stand for.
I will make one other exception however because we also have a Land Rover that over 180,000 miles and nearly 10 years has been exemplary. I appreciate that sometimes I feel I have the only exemplary car they made based on others’ feedback and I think I’ve benefited from using and authorised independent service agent rather than a main dealer. I’d not say our Land Rover has been pampered, far from it, but rather seems to thrive on constant use.
1 Like
I had a rare day off today so whilst out and about, I nipped into my local BMW dealer and had a look at this M2 Competition.
Yes, I know the future is electric, but I’m not quite ready to go there yet. The new M2 looks like a real dog’s dinner and is just a bit too big for my liking. This just looks perfect to me.
Unfortunately I didn’t have my licence with me as i hadn’t planned a visit, but I’m very tempted to book a test drive later this week.
12 Likes
Yes the future is electric and sooner than you think
Go for it James. I found the M2 Competition to be an adrenaline fuelled ride. You feel like a hero for controlling the engine’s barely tamed fury at the end of each drive.
There’s a post on this thread from about 3 years ago (gosh, that long?) when I drove the M2 Comp and the Toyota Supra. Great fun!
Best regards, BF
1 Like