Considering W210 E55... Experiences?
Discussion
ErnestWorthing said:
I'm looking at an E55 estate, £4000 isn't a lot of money for such a lot of car. I'm just hoping that it isn't made of rust and the gearbox doesn't explode :
What year is it ? You need to verify the transmission has had the oil and filter replaced. Put it this way if you really want the car budget for the bits I noted. The cats and cam cover gaskets may be fine.ErnestWorthing said:
amokwa said:
What year is it ? You need to verify the transmission has had the oil and filter replaced. Put it this way if you really want the car budget for the bits I noted. The cats and cam cover gaskets may be fine.
1998. And consider it noted 
ErnestWorthing said:
170k on the clock, cause for concern? Any big things need doing around then?! It's only 14k a year, but it seems a scary number for someone used to cars < 30k!!
R129sl has posted a reply to an E430 Estate query on the link below all the things that need to be done is logged here :http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
i bought a facelift E55 estate for my wife back in 2004 and still have it; reason for this is because it has been a fantastic car, and never let us down.
i suppose it is like everything else; i bought the best i thought was available at the time, and it has paid back in spades.
maintenance wise, it goes into MB when the service indicator dictates, and that has been 3 times since we bought it (48k miles when bought, 75k miles now).
services are reasonable assuming you haggle with the dealership ( i negotiated my last 'b' service down to £280 all in with me supplying mobil 1 ), likewise, only twice has the car needed attention when EGR valve ( exhaust gas relief valve ) failed and also last year a grommit at the bottom of the steering rack failed which allowed engine noise into cabin, but again on both cases negotated the hourly rate; you might say 'tight scotsman', but only a mug would not try to haggle!
rust is a serious issue, however, with the mobilo life warranty as long as the car is still maintained by MB, they should rectify the issues.
it was originaly a 30yr warranty, which then got reduceded to 8 years, but mines just had approx £5.5k lashed on it in november last year by mercedes as small areas of corrosion started to appear on the rear quarters, tailgate handle area, and bottom edges of the doors. this meant they required to rectify the corrosion issues and paint both sides blowing into the bonnet, but they gave me a fantastic offer of me contributing £500 and the painted the roof, bonnet and front bumper also, so in effect the car looks like brand new. i must also point out that they had already spent a wee bit more than that in 2005 when i first noticed the corrosion, so it lasted approx 4 years before it started to come through again.
i suppose what i am saying is, get the most dosh together and buy one that has been looked after, not a cheap one and have a contingency fund; if it is a dog, it will just be spend, spend, spend.
i generally keep cars for 2 years or so, and fully expected to have replaced this long ago with a supercharged E55 estate, but it really is too good to sell!
that is my experience of E55 ownership....hope it helps!
i suppose it is like everything else; i bought the best i thought was available at the time, and it has paid back in spades.
maintenance wise, it goes into MB when the service indicator dictates, and that has been 3 times since we bought it (48k miles when bought, 75k miles now).
services are reasonable assuming you haggle with the dealership ( i negotiated my last 'b' service down to £280 all in with me supplying mobil 1 ), likewise, only twice has the car needed attention when EGR valve ( exhaust gas relief valve ) failed and also last year a grommit at the bottom of the steering rack failed which allowed engine noise into cabin, but again on both cases negotated the hourly rate; you might say 'tight scotsman', but only a mug would not try to haggle!
rust is a serious issue, however, with the mobilo life warranty as long as the car is still maintained by MB, they should rectify the issues.
it was originaly a 30yr warranty, which then got reduceded to 8 years, but mines just had approx £5.5k lashed on it in november last year by mercedes as small areas of corrosion started to appear on the rear quarters, tailgate handle area, and bottom edges of the doors. this meant they required to rectify the corrosion issues and paint both sides blowing into the bonnet, but they gave me a fantastic offer of me contributing £500 and the painted the roof, bonnet and front bumper also, so in effect the car looks like brand new. i must also point out that they had already spent a wee bit more than that in 2005 when i first noticed the corrosion, so it lasted approx 4 years before it started to come through again.
i suppose what i am saying is, get the most dosh together and buy one that has been looked after, not a cheap one and have a contingency fund; if it is a dog, it will just be spend, spend, spend.
i generally keep cars for 2 years or so, and fully expected to have replaced this long ago with a supercharged E55 estate, but it really is too good to sell!
that is my experience of E55 ownership....hope it helps!
355spiderguy
Uplifting post for this model. Had mine less than a year and was planning on selling but it has been fantastic touch wood.
Took it to Mercedes for a health, check currently no rust issues. I do a lot of motorway driving which suits the engine Jekyll in traffic and Hyde on the motoway :-)
Uplifting post for this model. Had mine less than a year and was planning on selling but it has been fantastic touch wood.
Took it to Mercedes for a health, check currently no rust issues. I do a lot of motorway driving which suits the engine Jekyll in traffic and Hyde on the motoway :-)
amokwa... thanks!
i could be even more controversial by telling you my daily runner is a W163 ML55 AMG, and i have had the exact same luck with that as the wives E55; has been nothing but a pleasure to own, and once again have held onto that way longer than i should becuase it has been so good and problem free! in fact; think it deserves a post on the ML55 topic!
no-one will believe me though.....
i could be even more controversial by telling you my daily runner is a W163 ML55 AMG, and i have had the exact same luck with that as the wives E55; has been nothing but a pleasure to own, and once again have held onto that way longer than i should becuase it has been so good and problem free! in fact; think it deserves a post on the ML55 topic!
no-one will believe me though.....
355spiderguy said:
amokwa... thanks!
i could be even more controversial by telling you my daily runner is a W163 ML55 AMG, and i have had the exact same luck with that as the wives E55; has been nothing but a pleasure to own, and once again have held onto that way longer than i should becuase it has been so good and problem free! in fact; think it deserves a post on the ML55 topic!
no-one will believe me though.....
I almost did not believe it when I saw your other post on the ML55 ! I do now lol ! Any Merc. dealers reading ?i could be even more controversial by telling you my daily runner is a W163 ML55 AMG, and i have had the exact same luck with that as the wives E55; has been nothing but a pleasure to own, and once again have held onto that way longer than i should becuase it has been so good and problem free! in fact; think it deserves a post on the ML55 topic!
no-one will believe me though.....
I used to have a w210 e55, i sold it about 8 months ago, it was a 98 model in silver with the black and silver leather interior and had around 115k on the clock.
I must admit that car cost me more money than any other car i have had, ive had bmws, lexus, supra, audis etc.
First problem i had was the throttle pedal sensor go on me, about £150 for the part and a 10 min job to fit, front ball joints needed replacing for the MOT, main dealer wanted £276 to sort this however i managed to get it sorted at a specialist for around £170 i think it was. 3000 miles later the car started to have some more issues with power loss, took it to the mercedes specialist who i feel mis-diagnosed the problem as a dodgy coil pack and maf sensor, got these replaced at a cost of £210, still had the same issue. The latter problem came at the time i was looking to sell the car, anyway to cut a real long story short it ended up being 2 of the cats that needed replacing according to the new owner, and if they go your looking at 1k-1.5k from the main dealer and that's just for one side, im sure you can get these done cheaper.
Main areas of trouble are rust, mine was bad around the arches and boot lock, front cross member rusts, corroded wheels, leather wear on the steering wheel and gear knob, also find out when the cats where replaced, i expect at around 100k they will be due to fail, maf sensors are common fails. The E55 likes to drink oil to and the cost of mobil 1 isnt cheap. Find out if your car is an import too, mine was imported from dubai i didn't know this until i took to Mercedes main dealer.
Performance, very quick mid range. I had a supra twinturbo which was standard 320-330bhp and i must say the E55 is as quick at 60mph+. The supra had a different power delivery and you felt the power more in the supra, however when you looked at the speedo on the E55 when you have put your foot down you think to yourself s
t i got up there fast. I have left subarus, evos in the E55 from 50mph onwards no problems. Torque wins races. I find that you need a really hot day and some real good tyres to actually get a consistent and fast 0-60 time otherwise the back wheels just spin for fun and the traction control is a pain in the ass. Very comfortable car but i wasn't a fan of the dash compared to say a bmw or audi, it just looks tacky. I was getting around 200 miles on £50 with about 40% motorway driving and a lead foot, i think that's around 20 mpg.
I wouldn't trust buying one with over 100k on the clock unless key issues have been addressed and it has a full service history, if you are going to buy one with over 100k on the clock then i would keep a grand or two in the bank just in case something does play up, however i think that's standard procedure when buying a Mercedes anyway
I must admit that car cost me more money than any other car i have had, ive had bmws, lexus, supra, audis etc.
First problem i had was the throttle pedal sensor go on me, about £150 for the part and a 10 min job to fit, front ball joints needed replacing for the MOT, main dealer wanted £276 to sort this however i managed to get it sorted at a specialist for around £170 i think it was. 3000 miles later the car started to have some more issues with power loss, took it to the mercedes specialist who i feel mis-diagnosed the problem as a dodgy coil pack and maf sensor, got these replaced at a cost of £210, still had the same issue. The latter problem came at the time i was looking to sell the car, anyway to cut a real long story short it ended up being 2 of the cats that needed replacing according to the new owner, and if they go your looking at 1k-1.5k from the main dealer and that's just for one side, im sure you can get these done cheaper.
Main areas of trouble are rust, mine was bad around the arches and boot lock, front cross member rusts, corroded wheels, leather wear on the steering wheel and gear knob, also find out when the cats where replaced, i expect at around 100k they will be due to fail, maf sensors are common fails. The E55 likes to drink oil to and the cost of mobil 1 isnt cheap. Find out if your car is an import too, mine was imported from dubai i didn't know this until i took to Mercedes main dealer.
Performance, very quick mid range. I had a supra twinturbo which was standard 320-330bhp and i must say the E55 is as quick at 60mph+. The supra had a different power delivery and you felt the power more in the supra, however when you looked at the speedo on the E55 when you have put your foot down you think to yourself s
t i got up there fast. I have left subarus, evos in the E55 from 50mph onwards no problems. Torque wins races. I find that you need a really hot day and some real good tyres to actually get a consistent and fast 0-60 time otherwise the back wheels just spin for fun and the traction control is a pain in the ass. Very comfortable car but i wasn't a fan of the dash compared to say a bmw or audi, it just looks tacky. I was getting around 200 miles on £50 with about 40% motorway driving and a lead foot, i think that's around 20 mpg.I wouldn't trust buying one with over 100k on the clock unless key issues have been addressed and it has a full service history, if you are going to buy one with over 100k on the clock then i would keep a grand or two in the bank just in case something does play up, however i think that's standard procedure when buying a Mercedes anyway
Edited by blitzed007 on Tuesday 9th February 23:13
Edited by blitzed007 on Tuesday 9th February 23:19
I have had my 1998 E55 W210 for over 3 years,in that time i have replaced the crank,cam and water sensors,had new front disc,s and front and rear pads.I have done 30k miles in the car and apart from these parts the car has been very reliable.I had a problem with the ignition key not turning which cost me £230 for a new key.The car had just had a 100k service when i got it,new plugs,exhaust manifolds and cats and there,s no rust in any of the arches as im sure it would have come through by now and after 3 years of being used every day and being parked outside.The performance is on par with my C5 corvette,i did advertise the car for sale before xmas as i lost my job but i only received 1 call on the car.I advertised it for £5000 although i paid £8k for it 3years ago,i know these cars are worth more mony but there arn,t many buyers that will pay good mony for them.I still need to sell mine which i know i will sadly miss as its been a great car.
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