[utkarshmohan86]

Forever is perhaps optimistic, given you have to pay a small fortune to renew car permissions every 10 years. But let not lose the forest for the weeds.


The genesis of this thread is my decision to retire from the corporate world at 37 so I can do my own thing. Yet
- I am a crazy petrolhead with a thing for German super saloons
- I live in Singapore, the most expensive country in the world for cars
- the kicker, we need two cars since my wife is a Realtor who needs one for her job.

How does this compute? Is it even possible. What is this two car portfolio?

The good news is that I did manage to figure out the solution. The low mileage 2014 W212 E400 in a beautiful Indigo Blue is one part of this portfolio. The other, I will cover later.

The video goes into more detail where I outline the reasons but in summary:
1) The W212 generation is probably the most reliable of the modern Es (post the W124). It's angular almost old fashioned facade with quirks like foot operated parking brakes isn't everyone's thing but I love how it throws back to what I thought Mercedes was in my childhood.
2) The E400 is an unknown and unloved model since it doesn't have any AMG badging. The 535 for example is much more sought after here and Mercedes owners usually want the comfortable, low road tax E200 here in Singapore

3) Lastly I detest screens and gadgets. The smartphone-ization of new cars over the last five years or so have really turned me off honestly. The W212 is the perfect blend for me with a very analog vibe yet with necessary modern features (mainly bluetooth , a good automatic gearbox, paddle shifters and a proper modern twin turbo engine)

Some pictures here. This first post is mainly on how the needle of early retirement in Singapore as a petrolhead was threaded. I will provide more updates on the car (which we have had since last year August) shortly. It has, fingers crossed, been bulletproof so far. We got it at about 60K km and have done about 9K on it. It has been the wife's car doing duties as she peddles property across Singapore and has been just perfect for those duties.

In case you have noticed, the car has been lowered by the previous owner. My plan is to take a decision on whether to return it to stock, once we have secured the permission for the next 10 years. This permission (COE) price in Singapore has been varying wildly so if it goes too high, there is an off chance it won't make financial sense to renew it. We'll see. Fingers crossd.

More to come. Here's the story

https://youtu.be/JvIpZX9ON8o

[svsantosh]

Wait, you have, not 1 but 2 cars in Singapore! Suddenly a 3 digit DXB G-Wagon number plated car looks average for me now. Congratulations

Beautifully lowered W212 and nice color too. Rims a little boyish may be? Is it a mod friendly car market?

[arihant jain]

Many congratulations ! I just bought the W212 2017 model. Looking forward to your posts.

[Asworstos]

As a Singaporean lurking here I did a double take when I saw the number plate! Nice ride and kudos to you for zagging where most of us tend to zig - getting a base model Merc just to emphatically show neighbours and bosses alike that one has arrived is sadly an endemic thing in Singapore.

There's this sentiment going around in the civil service that with the Singapore general elections looming later this year, a large bunch of COEs may well be released soon as sweeteners. How long can you hold out?...

[nitrogary]

I have an E400 cabriolet here in India. I totally get what you mean that it's not an AMG but makes one of the highest power in a non amg car.
W212 vs A207 are different. I would have indeed loved the E400 sedan here in India.
Many congratulations!

Here is my E400. I'm very glad that someone else also is able to enjoy the M276 3.0 engine.