Have you heard about the Nepalese mountaineer Nimsdai Purja? There’s a Netflix documentary about him that, if you want to be inspired by human endeavour, is well worth watching. Purja conquered the summits of fourteen of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks in just seven months, which, to me, is the very definition of stoicism. I was thinking about him as I scoured the adverts looking for an interesting car for the High Mile Club this week. Is there a car out there that could bear comparison with him?
The answer is no, of course. Purja’s achievement is beyond comparison, but my interest was ‘peaked’ (sorry, pun intended…) by this W221. Mercedes takes a bit of a kicking these days about the way it builds its cars – and quite rightly, if some owners’ stories are to be believed. I for one mourn the passing of the panzerwagons that use to roll out of Stuttgart and rack up mile after unfaltering mile. But credit where credit is due, this S 350 d’s heady total of 337,000 miles is a solid achievement and deserves a doffed PH cap.
Now, we’re not privy to its service bills throughout that journey, but we can see its MOT history and, well, it’s faultless. Things started off sedately. The first MOT was at 37,000 miles in 2014 and for the next couple of years it kept racking up an ordinary 10,000-miles a year or so. Then in 2016 it went on a mission, covering 72,000 miles. It did similar the following year and it’s never covered less than 25,000-miles a year since. You might reasonably expect an MOT failure somewhere in there, but no. Its scorecard is as unbeaten as Floyd Mayweather Jr’s.
It’s also weathered the mileage well. The interior looks heathy with hole-free hide and sag-free seats. The armrest and switches aren’t battle-scared, either. Indeed, if you can find something that depicts its mileage, I’ll give you the money myself. The bleaching on the half-wooden steering wheel doesn’t count, by the way, because that could happened while it was parked up.
I’ve never thought of the W221 is a particularly pretty S-Class – that award goes to its processor, the W220 – but it’s not as blunt as the W140. The flared wheel arches are an interesting addition, but I have never been able to accept that ‘Bangle’ boot, which is still an abomination on any car. I do like the interior, though. As a fan of art deco, there’s some 1920s charm in there that manages to come to the fore despite the S-Class’s ever-advancing technology count. The COMAND system played its part by removing vast swathes of buttons.
This facelifted 2011 model also brought with it an enlarged V6 diesel for the S 350 CDI BlueTec. As well as proving capable of big miles, you should find this a fittingly smooth motor and, with 398 lb ft available from just 1600rpm, is S-Class effortless, too. Nothing beats fourteen peaks in seven months, but over 300k in a decade is definitely not bad going.
1 / 6
Keyword: Mercedes-Benz S350 Bluetec | High Mile Club