Thursday 9th October 2014

Mercedes C-Class AMG: Market Watch

The new AMG C63 is close, so which is the best C-Class AMG from the back catalogue to buy? PH investigates

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C-Class AMGs have always been objects of desire. Part hedonistic boy's toy, part luxurious cruiser, even the estates are guaranteed envious glances. Starting in 1993 with its straight-six C36, AMG's C-Classes have evolved organically - each new model raising the performance bar one notch higher.

C-Class AMG story now more than 20 years old

Much more of a complete package, the W202 C43 AMG was the first to carry a normally aspirated V8 and although the subsequent W203 supercharged V6 C32 AMG wasn't universally admired it did offer more contemporary styling.

Mercedes returned to V8 power with its faster and more aurally pleasing W203 C55 AMG, before lifting the benchmark once again to produce its most recent W204 C63 AMG models.

Past masters of blending the sensible with the silly, AMG now sells thousands of cars - a far cry from the early days. But despite the huge increase in demand they remain bespoke high-performance driving machines, with price tags to match.

V8, V6, saloon, estate - spoilt for choice!

But though many aspire to own an AMG C-Class, relatively few have had the financial clout to do so - until recent times. A continued increase in production volumes has led to a decline in residual values of many AMG models as they age - including the C-Class. So buyers now have an appealing choice of relatively affordable used saloons and estates.

With asking prices ranging from just a few thousand pounds to over £100K there's an AMG C-Class out there to suit almost all budgets. But which models are appreciating in value? Which make the best track day weapons? And which C-Class AMGs are guaranteed to become future classics?

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Introduction
W202 Mercedes AMG C-Class (1993-2000)
W203 Mercedes AMG C-Class (2001-2007)
W204 Mercedes AMG C-Class (2007-2014)

Many thanks to Prestige Performance, Prestige Motor Company, Romans International, the Mercedes Benz Owners forum and the MB Club for their help with this feature

[C63 images: Tom Begley]

 

[Atomfire]

We PHers are really crazed over the C63 (which is a wonderful thing)

[Wills2]

I love the thought of a C63 but couldn't live with the MPG, pity.

[Leins]

"V8, V6, saloon, estate - spoilt for choice!"

The W203 C32 was also available as a hatchback, albeit in limited numbers and LHD only

And there was a C30 diesel...

Edited by Leins on Thursday 9th October 14:00

[GroundEffect]

I was so damn close to buying a C55 this year. Ended up with a 335i because I couldn't live with the MPG...it would make me not want to use it!

[Obiwonkeyblokey]

Recently acquired a C63 coupe, favourite car I've owned yet.

[k-ink]

I had a mere Mercedes CLS 500 for a year. That made a good sound with a modified AMG exhaust. The V8 waft was great too. However constantly putting £90 of fuel in the tank gets a pretty dull after a while. Also I had a constant nagging in the back of my head; "What if it goes wrong and costs me thousands?". I suspect a top end AMG would offer even more smiles, but also even more worry over real and potential future costs. Glad I did it and ticked the V8 box one last time. But equally I am glad I moved on to something I don't worry about at all.

[gumsie]

k-ink said:

I had a mere Mercedes CLS 500 for a year. That made a good sound with a modified AMG exhaust. The V8 waft was great too. However constantly putting £90 of fuel in the tank gets a pretty dull after a while. Also I had a constant nagging in the back of my head; "What if it goes wrong and costs me thousands?". I suspect a top end AMG would offer even more smiles, but also even more worry over real and potential future costs. Glad I did it and ticked the V8 box one last time. But equally I am glad I moved on to something I don't worry about at all.

I’ve not managed to shake the addiction. I’ve been lusting after another V8 for ages. Will hopefully pull the trigger on a W216 CL500 in a couple of years.

[k-ink]

^
I'd get one now if I were you. The UK is headed towards a huge financial black hole which will be filled in by ever rising taxes. Fuel prices will no doubt be multiples of todays prices in years to come. I am rather glad I've ticked all the different engine boxes all the way up to V12, had fun and got it out of my system. Now I'm ready for the st hitting the fan, as I downsized to a small turbo hatch instead.

[crosseyedlion]

k-ink said:

I had a mere Mercedes CLS 500 for a year. That made a good sound with a modified AMG exhaust. The V8 waft was great too. However constantly putting £90 of fuel in the tank gets a pretty dull after a while. Also I had a constant nagging in the back of my head; "What if it goes wrong and costs me thousands?". I suspect a top end AMG would offer even more smiles, but also even more worry over real and potential future costs. Glad I did it and ticked the V8 box one last time. But equally I am glad I moved on to something I don't worry about at all.

I've ran an e500 for over 10k now and haven't worried about it 1 bit. Not a jot. If it goes wrong I'll fix it.

Same with some of my other borktastic cars, and you know what...not much has gone wrong. They've all been considerably cheaper to own than the modern hothatch I ran this year.

[jamespink]

k-ink said:

I had a mere Mercedes CLS 500 for a year. That made a good sound with a modified AMG exhaust. The V8 waft was great too. However constantly putting £90 of fuel in the tank gets a pretty dull after a while. Also I had a constant nagging in the back of my head; "What if it goes wrong and costs me thousands?". I suspect a top end AMG would offer even more smiles, but also even more worry over real and potential future costs. Glad I did it and ticked the V8 box one last time. But equally I am glad I moved on to something I don't worry about at all.

So the Jaguar XJS V12, Jaguar XJR, VW Golf R32, VW W8 didn't worry you subsequently?

[court]

Dammit, that really makes my search for a C55 estate not in silver or black much harder now I know there was only 55 of them!

[k-ink]

My car history is not in order!

The Jag was owned by my Dad from new and so I knew it well when I took it on. Also we have some top old Jag enthusiast guys near us who can fix them cheaply.

The VW W8 was a mechanical pile of st. Worst car ever made. Fixed it, lost a heap, sold it on.

No hot hatch worries me, or ever will. They cost bugger all to fix in comparison.

My Mercedes was perfectly reliable. I had no real reason to worry. But I just could not help it after a while. I just started thinking "what if...?" kind of thoughts. Odd little noises would make me wonder if it was ok, etc. Paranoia I guess.

[jamespink]

crosseyedlion said:

k-ink said:

I had a mere Mercedes CLS 500 for a year. That made a good sound with a modified AMG exhaust. The V8 waft was great too. However constantly putting £90 of fuel in the tank gets a pretty dull after a while. Also I had a constant nagging in the back of my head; "What if it goes wrong and costs me thousands?". I suspect a top end AMG would offer even more smiles, but also even more worry over real and potential future costs. Glad I did it and ticked the V8 box one last time. But equally I am glad I moved on to something I don't worry about at all.

I've ran an e500 for over 10k now and haven't worried about it 1 bit. Not a jot. If it goes wrong I'll fix it.

Same with some of my other borktastic cars, and you know what...not much has gone wrong. They've all been considerably cheaper to own than the modern hothatch I ran this year.

People say "what if it goes wrong" but in 50,000 miles of M5 ownership I have only had the usual oil changes, tyres, discs and pads. Only a Vanos resistor burn out has been unexpected, the quote to fix it from Oxford BMW was £1700 parts and £1300 labour. Mr Vanos did it for £60... The reality is these cars are beautifully built and economically repairable if you do the research. I paid £10k for her 50.000 miles ago, enjoyed her every day, she returns 20.4 mpg and is far and away the best car I have owned. What else can you buy for £10k with near 400BHP?

[W124]

The official stats for the supercharged C36 are 'cautious' to say the least. That car has way more than 360 horsepower. It's faster than the later 5.5 V8.

[f328nvl]

Wills2 said:

I love the thought of a C63 but couldn't live with the MPG, pity.

Mine has done 25mpg over the last 5k miles, which is fine.

[Crackie]

W124 said:

The official stats for the supercharged C36 are 'cautious' to say the least. That car has way more than 360 horsepower. It's faster than the later 5.5 V8.

I looked at C32, C55, CLK55 and CLK500(382) earlier this year, they are all fairly quick. Merc claimed 349BHp for C32 (and 362BHp for the 55s.) The figures Autocar recorded for the C32 they figured suggest that car was making 10% more than Merc claim.

Edited by Crackie on Friday 10th October 08:31

[RicM5]

Owned a C36 AMG good cruiser but not a drivers car
Have owned 3 M3's E39 M5 Z3 M coupe 2 911 carrera 2's but now own my 5th B5 RS4 with a custom MRC map . this country with sh#t weather all needs covered (too old to need to come out of every roundabout sideways now)

[Spoof]

'Even' the estates? For me it's only the estates. The 63 coupe isn't a well proportioned car at all, the saloon better but the estate has it just right I think.

[ghibbett]

f328nvl said:

Mine has done 25mpg over the last 5k miles, which is fine.

Having owned a C63 (2013MY) for 2 years, I find that figure extremely hard to believe, unless you only ever drive like Miss Daisy (and even then...).

[devnull]

Leins said:

The W203 C32 was also available as a hatchback, albeit in limited numbers and LHD only

I would love for you to show us a picture one, because I'm pretty sure the it doesn't exist.

The only other place that engine sat was in the SLK32.

Also fun fact - the C55's front end is derived from a W209 CLK as the W203 couldn't (apparently) accommodate the v8 engine.