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

[GreenArrow]

So leaving my job with a chunk of money in 5 weeks time, I keep getting drawn to big engine V8 Mercs, which are some of my dream cars, tbh....have always fancied either a C55AMG, or E55/63 and they represent a huge amount of car for the cash. Heck, even the rare E500 appeals, £8K buys one with 40K miles on it. However, I cant help thinking I would end up being bankrupted by the running costs...aside from MPG (I only do 12K miles a year), what are they like in terms of bills as the miles rack up?

[GreenArrow]

ArmaghMan said:

Hi GA,
Was very much in the same boat as you, this time last year. Had an M5 but wanted an auto so was in the market for an AMG.
At first I was going to go for an E55K but after reading many articles (Google is your friend) I was put off by the stories of supercharger problems.
It seemed quite common and expensive to rectify.
So I plumped for an original E55 and love it. Bought the absolute best one I could find. Lovely motor, sounds great and is a real joy to drive.

interesting..as I was looking at an Autotrader ad earlier for a nice looking E55 AMG that's been for sale for ages in ayshire. They want 5 grand for it and to be honest at that price I cant see it ever depreciating as these cars are surely rock bottom price.

Equally the C55 I saw earlier for £12K looked tempting at a trader not too far from me. Apparently they only imported about 250 of these cars...

I love the CLS55AMG too.....! worry that being more complex it could cost a bit and also it might be just a little bit toooo fast for me!

[GreenArrow]

ZX10R NIN said:

GreenArrow said:

interesting..as I was looking at an Autotrader ad earlier for a nice looking E55 AMG that's been for sale for ages in ayshire. They want 5 grand for it and to be honest at that price I cant see it ever depreciating as these cars are surely rock bottom price.

Equally the C55 I saw earlier for £12K looked tempting at a trader not too far from me. Apparently they only imported about 250 of these cars...

I love the CLS55AMG too.....! worry that being more complex it could cost a bit and also it might be just a little bit toooo fast for me!

I'll be selling my CLK55 AMG soon PM mr for details, it's had some of the choice mods already carried out, only selling as it looks like I'm going to my 06 one back.

That'd be tempting, but sadly, I really do need four doors for my family wagon. If it were a C55 I'd be extremely interested!

[GreenArrow]

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...!"

[GreenArrow]

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?

[GreenArrow]

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!!

[GreenArrow]

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....