1999 Mercedes-Benz S500L

The Mercedes first owner was Mansour Ojjeh, the CEO of TAG Group and majority shareholder in McLaren. (We love the parking sticker for the McLaren Technology Centre, parking reference number 0.)

As well specified as any S-Class we’ve seen, this long-wheelbase S500L is finished in Onyx Grey Metallic and has been in the care of the vendor since November 2020.

Options of note include all Designo Edition extras such as: napa leather ventilated seats, Alcantara headliner, double glazing coloured glass, leather: dashboard, steering & trim, electronic rear AC controls, 2 Motorola phone sets (front & rear), wooden steering & gear knob, rear reclining heated seats, Bose sound system with remote control, fully automatic sunroof. The vendor states the plate 'S711 CPC' is also included in the sale.

Costing £101,000 when new and showing just 85,000 miles, it is being offered with no reserve, so will be selling from the very first bid!

The S500’s bodywork is in a decent condition, with a good shine to the paint and nice panel alignment. Peering down the car’s flanks doesn’t trigger any warning bells either, and the overall fit and finish seems to be good.

The huge glass sunroof opens and closes at the press of a button, the light lenses are undamaged, and the badging and glazing is all as they should be.

It’s a simple, clean shape with little in the way of extraneous decoration. Clearly, the super-rich prefer their everyday wheels to allow them to travel incognito.

The AMG alloy wheels were professionally refurbished in April this year.

Work to do? Well, the nearside door mirror has a cracked secondary indicator lens and the headlamps are milky and opaque.

Aside from that it has the odd dink (i.e. #96) in addition to the usual stonechips and marks all cars collect. These are part ‘n’ parcel of city life but those on the wheelarches and corners would benefit from some attention.

As befits a car of the S-Class’s status, the S500’s perforated leather seats are heated and air-conditioned, therefore keeping your buttocks at the optimum temperature no matter what the conditions outside.

The rest of the interior is equally lavish, with its vast expanses of walnut veneer broken by yet more leather and what look and feel like NASA-grade switchgear.

There are separate air-conditioning systems for the front and rear of the car plus drop-down, illuminated mirrors in the ceiling for the backseat passengers to admire themselves in. Oh, and there’s a Mercedes-Benz/Bose sound system for all to enjoy.

Of course, the S500’s long-wheelbase means there is a vast amount of legroom back there and those lucky enough to be thus seated will be able to occupy themselves by pretending to make phone calls on the period mobile telephone that’s hidden in the armrest. (Oh, and there’s no need for the front passenger to feel left out because there’s a matching phone in the front armrest…)

As for its condition, while the ruched leather on the door trims and headrests might give the game away, you’re going to struggle to find many other signs of its 23 years on the planet. Yup, it’s nearly a quarter of a century old and yet it still looks and feels fresh.

The car is with its owner in Southampton so we haven’t been able to test everything ourselves but we are assured that everything works with the following exceptions: the offside door mirror doesn’t adjust from the cabin; the offside rear door lock sometimes doesn’t unlock as it should, although it can be unlocked from the main switch on the dashboard; a bulb has gone in the light for the sun visor; and the air-conditioning system needs re-gassing.

The boot contains the spare wheel with a good tyre and the original tool kit, jack and warning triangle. It also comes with an indoor car cover.

Other faults and flaws? Well, as you’d expect it has picked up the odd mark here and there and could do with a valet but it’s still a fine example of the model that put the ‘over’ into the ‘over-engineered’ cliché.

As you can see, it starts well and revs and ticks over as it should.

The seller tells us that it “drives very well” but there are a couple of faults that will need sorting.

The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that there is a warnimg light illuminated in the dashboard. He tells us that this is for the ride height, which needs calibrating following the replacement of all four suspension spheres.

The front suspension also drops if the car sits for a couple of days, so there’s clearly a small leak somewhere.

The underside is rusty and could do with wire-brushing to clean it up. As you can see, it benefits from new suspension components though.

Major welding on both sills and rust treatments on various other areas completed in 2021. Pictures included

Other recent repairs include replacement of all 4 air suspensions, all 4 discs/pads, rocker cover gasket, all (pollen + carbon + engine) air filters, new MB original battery (2020), new FOB key (2020), ABS sensor, fan relay and 3 new tyres.

MoT’d until November 2022, the Mercedes comes with plenty of old invoices for maintenance and repair over the years plus a bunch of expired MoT certificates.

There’s also a stamped service history booklet plus a printout of main dealer services; it’s clear the S500 has had an awful lot of money spent on it over the years to keep it running sweetly.

It also comes with the Mercedes-Benz S-Class book pack plus the CD-ROM for the sat-nav system.

There is a recent Vehicle History Check.

Full list of items included is as follows:

- Mot history

- Service history

- Invoices

- Up to date service history booklet

- S Class owner’s manual

- Command owner’s manual

- Motorola car phone manual

- Mercedes Benz marketing book (1999)

- Mercedes Benz price guide booklet (1999)

- Navigation disc

- Ownership history (1999-2010)

- Transfer of membership at Mercedes Benz club

- All previous membership paperwork & magazines

- Premium car cover

This is a model on the cusp; it could either be revived as a well-provenanced example of late 20th century over-engineering or nursed along as it is, in which case it would still provide some of the most luxurious transport known to man – and more toys than even a Smarties-fueled grandchild could ever hope to find.

Either way, it’s a low-mileage example of one of the most expensive new cars on offer at the time and comes with wonderful F1 historical connections. With a six-figure price tag in today’s terms, we think you should be able to pick this up for a four-figure sum, maybe as low as £7,000 stretching perhaps towards £13,000.

Better still, it’s being offered with no reserve, so will sell from the very first bid, no matter how contemptible.

The Mercedes is with its owner in Southampton; please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button to arrange an appointment to view.