Apparently, walking by this closed down dealership in east Beijing means that you too could shed a tear for these six homeless Brabus super sedans, based on the previous-generation W221 Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
Five of them are the V8-powered Brabus 50S 4M, while the sixth is the V12-powered Brabus 60S. Even though we can only see five models in total in these images, there is in fact a sixth one hiding behind the front row.
Judging by their surroundings, it’s pretty clear that the dealership was abandoned. According to Carnewschina, the billboards outside are advertising so called “parallel import” cars, which means these vehicles were brought in outside any official channels.
Parallel imported vehicles can indeed be registered in Beijing, though not always, mostly depending on the type of vehicle. Cars coming from tuning houses such as Brabus, Hamann and so forth are especially difficult to register, seen as how car tuning is not legally allowed in China. This might be why these Brabus sedans are sadly sitting there, gathering dust – somebody brought them in but then realized they couldn’t complete their registration.
One loophole does however exist; if a tuner buys a car from Mercedes (for example), modifies it and then registers it with a new VIN-number, it legally becomes a “new car” despite any modifications it may have undergone. Afterwards, it can be legally imported and registered in China, where customs will only check the car’s current VIN number.
The thing is, both the Brabus 50S 4M as well as the 60S are China-only models, making this whole thing even more confusing. Powered by a 4.7-liter turbocharged V8, producing 435 PS and 700 Nm (516 lb-ft), the all-wheel driven 50S 4M first went on sale in 2013, for the price of 2.35 million yuan ($350,000). The 5.5-liter V12-powered Brabus 60S on the other hand cost 2.29 million yuan ($340,000) back when it first came out in 2011.
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