Big engined AMG/other V8 Merc, road to ruin?

Big engined AMG/other V8 Merc, road to ruin?

Author
Discussion

SFO

5,162 posts

182 months

Friday 20th November 2015
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this was a 1 day high speed dash from Northern Denmark to London with some long spurts of circa 140mph on the Autobahn ..

GreenArrow

Original Poster:

3,550 posts

116 months

Saturday 21st November 2015
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AMGSee55 said:
GreenArrow said:
Very good read

What would probably put me off this sort of car ultimately, is the MPG. Its going to be a daily driver/family car and I am not sure I could stomach 20/21 MPG...even at my modest annual mileage of around 11K....

A better compromise then is perhaps after all one of the V6 petrols, or, a C320CDI with a superchips remap, which will probably be as quick as a V8 in daily driving.....

..but then another part of me says, "what the heck, you only live once...!"
Your point on the fuel consumption is a fair one, but I can't imagine there is a huge difference compared to a petrol 320 if both were driven in a spirited fashion, perhaps 25-26mpg average?? the 320cdi would presumably crack 30mpg but what a remap would do to that I don't know.
People who've owned E320 CDIs reckon they're good for 40 MPH on the motorway, I guess low to mid 30s would be realistic, doubt a petrol 320 would get near that....but the honest answer is I don't know. The 398 LB Ft of torque on the post 2006 V6 diesels must make it feel punchy...

But you guys are doing a good job of convincing me on a C55 AMG....

Next question...they seem to be around £10 grand for one with 100K miles....I wonder if prices have bottomed out or if there is further to go. Everything is currently so inflated, its difficult to tell...

The very good article in the weeks Modern Classics actually did more to put me off an E55 AMG. The guy who owned one admitted to having trouble and a few big bills...too many complex bits that could go wrong aren't there?

edc

9,230 posts

250 months

Saturday 21st November 2015
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I bought my C55 in August. Paid the sort of money you think, bit off sticker price from a car dealer. I tracked some history and previous owner from an MB forum. There were a couple more for sale then. Of the 4 cars on Autotrader the 2 saloons have been for sale since roughly the same time. Advertised prices seem broadly the same.

If you want a C55 pronto as I did then you can't be too fussy hence I got a silver car with 82k rather than a black one with less than 70k. There simply isn't enough to choose from.

Edited by edc on Saturday 21st November 21:27

GreenArrow

Original Poster:

3,550 posts

116 months

Saturday 21st November 2015
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Yeah, I didn't appreciate how rare they are until I saw some figures, something like 150 in the UK? Although that may just be the estate version.

I reckon they might fall a bit further, after all, the less highly rated C32 is down in the 5-6 grand region now and is a few years older.....

Also shouting out "buy me" are the W210 E55AMGs.....I am not sure if you can get one without rust, but the few on Autotrader/EBAY with 1 or 2 owners around the 6 grand mark look like serious value to me, when compared with the E39 BMW M5...... surely at that price good ones can't drop further can they?

Even more leftfield than that, there is a clean looking W210 E430 for sale on Autotrader at the moment at a Wembley dealership for £995 with 12 months MOT....crazy amount of car for the money, assuming the underneath isn't rotted out. It does look tidy from the photos, but I guess they always do!!

edc

9,230 posts

250 months

Saturday 21st November 2015
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There are comparatively shed loads of C32 for sale. I think the C55 being rarer, a bit more unique, that bit more silly with the bigger engine, much less rust prone will hold its value better. 2002/03 C32s are being advertised as much as £7.5k so if your £10k C55 was worth that in 3-5 years time then it's cheap motoring.

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
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GreenArrow said:
W210 E55AMGs.....I am not sure if you can get one without rust
I had one and yes you probably could find one without rust (and will pay a premium). However, I can guarantee that it will start getting small rust spots within a year of ownership. You need to think of the bodywork on these as a consumable and budget each year to keep it in top shape.

GreenArrow

Original Poster:

3,550 posts

116 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
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St John Smythe said:
GreenArrow said:
W210 E55AMGs.....I am not sure if you can get one without rust
I had one and yes you probably could find one without rust (and will pay a premium). However, I can guarantee that it will start getting small rust spots within a year of ownership. You need to think of the bodywork on these as a consumable and budget each year to keep it in top shape.
Fair point, another one struck off the list then! I am not particularly a "hands on" type owner....

Maybe the C55 is more for me then....I think the rust was better sorted by the time the facelift C class of what vintage arrived. I am sure someone will be along shortly to correct me however!

..Or hang on wait for the W211 E63 AMG (my favourite AMG of all) to drop a bit into my price bracket...cheapest ones currently around £14K which Is where they were at in the EVO magazine buyers guide, exactly one year ago....

edc

9,230 posts

250 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
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There's a black C55 for sale on the mbclub forum. How about I buy that and you buy mine biggrin

S3_Graham

12,830 posts

198 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
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I have a C32 estate in black. Pretty rare! I've only ever seen one other black estate for sale. They are prone to rust, it needs to have had it done (like mine - twice!!) or budget money to get it done. Around £250 per panel/arch.

They are a bit of a random one the C32. They don't have the V8 and the updated dash. You miss out on the V8 rumble but in my opinion they hardly sound rubbish! Supercharger whine + V6 is pretty good. Other good thing is that they are relatively easy to tune should you wish to improve on the performance. A £3-400 remap will see you beyond C55 power.

I'll be selling mine after Christmas as I'm moving and my commute is going to be 120 miles a day. MPG is actually almost identical to my CLK55, roughly 25 average.

jamie w

175 posts

170 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
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GreenArrow said:
AMGSee55 said:
GreenArrow said:
Very good read

What would probably put me off this sort of car ultimately, is the MPG. Its going to be a daily driver/family car and I am not sure I could stomach 20/21 MPG...even at my modest annual mileage of around 11K....

A better compromise then is perhaps after all one of the V6 petrols, or, a C320CDI with a superchips remap, which will probably be as quick as a V8 in daily driving.....

..but then another part of me says, "what the heck, you only live once...!"
Your point on the fuel consumption is a fair one, but I can't imagine there is a huge difference compared to a petrol 320 if both were driven in a spirited fashion, perhaps 25-26mpg average?? the 320cdi would presumably crack 30mpg but what a remap would do to that I don't know.
People who've owned E320 CDIs reckon they're good for 40 MPH on the motorway, I guess low to mid 30s would be realistic, doubt a petrol 320 would get near that....but the honest answer is I don't know. The 398 LB Ft of torque on the post 2006 V6 diesels must make it feel punchy...
The V6 diesel is I think thirstier than the earlier I6. My V6 S211 E320cdi is mapped to around 250bhp. I was hoping it would be at least as economical as before the map but reality is that it's a couple of mpg down on the pre map figures. c 32mpg for me on a 40 mile round trip A road/Motorway commute. Which I could easily reduce if I used the performance more. 40mpg would require some very restrained driving.

On my 10k a year mileage a V8 would cost me an extra fill up a month. Which is well within my budget. I should do it shouldn't I?

ZX10R NIN

27,490 posts

124 months

Friday 27th November 2015
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Yes you should do it, what are you waiting for smile

Miglia 888

1,002 posts

146 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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jamie w said:
GreenArrow said:
AMGSee55 said:
GreenArrow said:
Very good read

What would probably put me off this sort of car ultimately, is the MPG. Its going to be a daily driver/family car and I am not sure I could stomach 20/21 MPG...even at my modest annual mileage of around 11K....

A better compromise then is perhaps after all one of the V6 petrols, or, a C320CDI with a superchips remap, which will probably be as quick as a V8 in daily driving.....

..but then another part of me says, "what the heck, you only live once...!"
Your point on the fuel consumption is a fair one, but I can't imagine there is a huge difference compared to a petrol 320 if both were driven in a spirited fashion, perhaps 25-26mpg average?? the 320cdi would presumably crack 30mpg but what a remap would do to that I don't know.
People who've owned E320 CDIs reckon they're good for 40 MPH on the motorway, I guess low to mid 30s would be realistic, doubt a petrol 320 would get near that....but the honest answer is I don't know. The 398 LB Ft of torque on the post 2006 V6 diesels must make it feel punchy...
The V6 diesel is I think thirstier than the earlier I6. My V6 S211 E320cdi is mapped to around 250bhp. I was hoping it would be at least as economical as before the map but reality is that it's a couple of mpg down on the pre map figures. c 32mpg for me on a 40 mile round trip A road/Motorway commute. Which I could easily reduce if I used the performance more. 40mpg would require some very restrained driving.
C320 CDI is lighter than E320 CDI / S320 CDI, improving both performance and mpg relative to those.
Our 2007 C320 CDI has averaged 36.1 mpg since its trip computer was last reset 11,100 miles / 360h 50m ago.
Ave speed over that time shows 31mph, reflecting the 50/50 mix of in-town crawling & out-of-town fast dual carriageway work encountered on its daily journies to & from the centre of Cambridge while transporting the kids swiftly, smoothly & quietly, in decent luxury.

C320 CDI has as much torque as the C55 as standard, and indeed even more with help from Superchips: approx. 417 lbft / 566Nm.

Key difference is the C320 CDI has a 7 speed auto as opposed to the C55 with 5 speed auto.
The two extra ratios help the 320 CDI exploit its torque advantage really well, and minimise any real world differences vs the C55 on the road, as verified while enjoying a spirited drive through the countryside with edc in his C55... smile

Don't get me wrong, I love the C55 sound, however a C320 CDI allows you to have similar performance with mid 30's to the gallon in daily use, if that's what you'd prefer. HTH.

AMGSee55

629 posts

101 months

Monday 7th December 2015
quotequote all
Miglia 888 said:
jamie w said:
GreenArrow said:
AMGSee55 said:
GreenArrow said:
Very good read

What would probably put me off this sort of car ultimately, is the MPG. Its going to be a daily driver/family car and I am not sure I could stomach 20/21 MPG...even at my modest annual mileage of around 11K....

A better compromise then is perhaps after all one of the V6 petrols, or, a C320CDI with a superchips remap, which will probably be as quick as a V8 in daily driving.....

..but then another part of me says, "what the heck, you only live once...!"
Your point on the fuel consumption is a fair one, but I can't imagine there is a huge difference compared to a petrol 320 if both were driven in a spirited fashion, perhaps 25-26mpg average?? the 320cdi would presumably crack 30mpg but what a remap would do to that I don't know.
People who've owned E320 CDIs reckon they're good for 40 MPH on the motorway, I guess low to mid 30s would be realistic, doubt a petrol 320 would get near that....but the honest answer is I don't know. The 398 LB Ft of torque on the post 2006 V6 diesels must make it feel punchy...
The V6 diesel is I think thirstier than the earlier I6. My V6 S211 E320cdi is mapped to around 250bhp. I was hoping it would be at least as economical as before the map but reality is that it's a couple of mpg down on the pre map figures. c 32mpg for me on a 40 mile round trip A road/Motorway commute. Which I could easily reduce if I used the performance more. 40mpg would require some very restrained driving.
C320 CDI is lighter than E320 CDI / S320 CDI, improving both performance and mpg relative to those.
Our 2007 C320 CDI has averaged 36.1 mpg since its trip computer was last reset 11,100 miles / 360h 50m ago.
Ave speed over that time shows 31mph, reflecting the 50/50 mix of in-town crawling & out-of-town fast dual carriageway work encountered on its daily journies to & from the centre of Cambridge while transporting the kids swiftly, smoothly & quietly, in decent luxury.

C320 CDI has as much torque as the C55 as standard, and indeed even more with help from Superchips: approx. 417 lbft / 566Nm.

Key difference is the C320 CDI has a 7 speed auto as opposed to the C55 with 5 speed auto.
The two extra ratios help the 320 CDI exploit its torque advantage really well, and minimise any real world differences vs the C55 on the road, as verified while enjoying a spirited drive through the countryside with edc in his C55... smile

Don't get me wrong, I love the C55 sound, however a C320 CDI allows you to have similar performance with mid 30's to the gallon in daily use, if that's what you'd prefer. HTH.
I had the opportunity to drive a 2010 e350cdi estate last weekend - it was partly driven out of curiosity from reading this thread, but more seriously, knowing that one day I will not be able to justify 20mpg any more with man-maths (c55 estate) - I approached it expecting to agree with other contributors about real world performance, torque spread, extra gears etc but I have to say it left me completely cold - granted it's a heavy car (1925kg) for 265bhp to pull along but the acceleration just seemed flat - in all other respects it was lovely - refined, smooth, superb ride quality, totally cosseting but being 200kg + in weight and 100 horses down can't be overcome by a big fat torque curve alone!

Each to their own of course but my v8 addiction remains intact for now smile

DKL

4,479 posts

221 months

Tuesday 8th December 2015
quotequote all
AMGSee55 said:
I had the opportunity to drive a 2010 e350cdi estate last weekend - it was partly driven out of curiosity from reading this thread, but more seriously, knowing that one day I will not be able to justify 20mpg any more with man-maths (c55 estate) - I approached it expecting to agree with other contributors about real world performance, torque spread, extra gears etc but I have to say it left me completely cold - granted it's a heavy car (1925kg) for 265bhp to pull along but the acceleration just seemed flat - in all other respects it was lovely - refined, smooth, superb ride quality, totally cosseting but being 200kg + in weight and 100 horses down can't be overcome by a big fat torque curve alone!

Each to their own of course but my v8 addiction remains intact for now smile
This was my plan. We set a figure to buy a new car and the e350 estate was top of the list. You can get them remapped to about 300bhp. I drove one and it was thoroughly capable but oh so dull. So we split the money and bought an e55 estate and a 2 yr old Fabia vrs estate for bombing around in. Seems to work so far!

Mr E

21,580 posts

258 months

Tuesday 8th December 2015
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We looked at a 350CDI.
Bought a 500.

Current costs are tyres and routine servicing. And fuel.

GlenMH

5,203 posts

242 months

Friday 11th December 2015
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St John Smythe said:
I had one and yes you probably could find one without rust (and will pay a premium). However, I can guarantee that it will start getting small rust spots within a year of ownership. You need to think of the bodywork on these as a consumable and budget each year to keep it in top shape.
Yup - mine is currently costing £3-400/yr in the body shop....