C55 Amg estate, 2003 vintage, any good?
Discussion
Folks,
I'm after some views if possible, and maybe a comparison.
I'm definately buying a dog carrier with oomph at the end of the month, and have asked on views going from Range Rovers to touaregs...
But.....
My son has hit me with a couple of corkers.
1. Audi RS6 of 2003 vintage, which are in price range.
2. Mercedes C55 AMG Estate.
I'm here obviously for views on the AMG. It will be a daily driver, not that many miles and house a large german shepherd most of the time.
I'm off to the Audi forum to ask the same about the RS6.
kids
Good lad...
I'm after some views if possible, and maybe a comparison.
I'm definately buying a dog carrier with oomph at the end of the month, and have asked on views going from Range Rovers to touaregs...
But.....
My son has hit me with a couple of corkers.
1. Audi RS6 of 2003 vintage, which are in price range.
2. Mercedes C55 AMG Estate.
I'm here obviously for views on the AMG. It will be a daily driver, not that many miles and house a large german shepherd most of the time.
I'm off to the Audi forum to ask the same about the RS6.
kids
Good lad...
They didn't come in until 04 by the way. The earlier model was the C32 Kompressor, which is also very well regarded. Keep an eye out for rust by the way.
This refers to the saloon but also gives a good flavour of the car....
http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarreviews/4460...
This refers to the saloon but also gives a good flavour of the car....
http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarreviews/4460...
Edited by slippery on Wednesday 4th April 15:21
I own a C55 saloon. Its great fun, never fails to put a smile on my face. In for its major service atm. A fellow ph'er owned an RS6 before an SLK55. I won't say who it is but I will point out that they are a nightmare. In the 6 months that they owned it they spent £9,000 on maintaining it. They are hypercar money to run. So my advice is go for a C55 Estate 
.
.Mate of mine had an A6 4.2 then an RS6. He loved both of them but got landed with some serious bills for the 4.2 and vast ones for the RS. Including the seemingly-inevitable RS6 suspension bills.
The C55 is a much simpler car but has still got oodles of character. The guy I bought my second C43 from had moved onto a 55 estate and loved it. He was a dog owner.
The workshop manager where I take my current car (E class 211 V8) runs one. He specifically chose the C55 over the E55 to avoid some of the potential complexities and costs that come with the E55 - lots more electronics + air suspension on one of them.
The C55 is a much simpler car but has still got oodles of character. The guy I bought my second C43 from had moved onto a 55 estate and loved it. He was a dog owner.
The workshop manager where I take my current car (E class 211 V8) runs one. He specifically chose the C55 over the E55 to avoid some of the potential complexities and costs that come with the E55 - lots more electronics + air suspension on one of them.
angusc43 said:
Mate of mine had an A6 4.2 then an RS6. He loved both of them but got landed with some serious bills for the 4.2 and vast ones for the RS. Including the seemingly-inevitable RS6 suspension bills.
The C55 is a much simpler car but has still got oodles of character. The guy I bought my second C43 from had moved onto a 55 estate and loved it. He was a dog owner.
The workshop manager where I take my current car (E class 211 V8) runs one. He specifically chose the C55 over the E55 to avoid some of the potential complexities and costs that come with the E55 - lots more electronics + air suspension on one of them.
Ah but the C-class lacks a supercharger!The C55 is a much simpler car but has still got oodles of character. The guy I bought my second C43 from had moved onto a 55 estate and loved it. He was a dog owner.
The workshop manager where I take my current car (E class 211 V8) runs one. He specifically chose the C55 over the E55 to avoid some of the potential complexities and costs that come with the E55 - lots more electronics + air suspension on one of them.
How has your 211 v8 been? Any expensive problems? It's an e500 I guess?
Pentoman said:
angusc43 said:
Mate of mine had an A6 4.2 then an RS6. He loved both of them but got landed with some serious bills for the 4.2 and vast ones for the RS. Including the seemingly-inevitable RS6 suspension bills.
The C55 is a much simpler car but has still got oodles of character. The guy I bought my second C43 from had moved onto a 55 estate and loved it. He was a dog owner.
The workshop manager where I take my current car (E class 211 V8) runs one. He specifically chose the C55 over the E55 to avoid some of the potential complexities and costs that come with the E55 - lots more electronics + air suspension on one of them.
The C55 is a much simpler car but has still got oodles of character. The guy I bought my second C43 from had moved onto a 55 estate and loved it. He was a dog owner.
The workshop manager where I take my current car (E class 211 V8) runs one. He specifically chose the C55 over the E55 to avoid some of the potential complexities and costs that come with the E55 - lots more electronics + air suspension on one of them.
Pentoman said:
Ah but the C-class lacks a supercharger!
AgreedPentoman said:
How has your 211 v8 been? Any expensive problems? It's an e500 I guess?
Yes a 2005 E500. A late pre-facelift with the 300bhp engine.It's got a massive spec, is on 106k miles and everything still works. All I've had to do in the two years is basic servicing.
Although it's got the least-powerful V8 option it still shifts, helped by the Ayers Rock torque curve
silverback mike said:
Thanks HF. That's the impression I'm getting, the RS6 albeit marvellous is a killer on the wallet.
Thanks for the input folks.
No problem Thanks for the input folks.
. I also like the fact that they're rare cars. According to www.howmanyleft.co.uk theres only 134 on the road. I've only ever seen one other one and that lives in Torbay. Hopfully I'll see you at some local meets as I see you're in Clevedon!High flier said:
No problem . I also like the fact that they're rare cars. According to www.howmanyleft.co.uk theres only 134 on the road. I've only ever seen one other one and that lives in Torbay. Hopfully I'll see you at some local meets as I see you're in Clevedon!
Clevedon indeed, hope to meet up . I also like the fact that they're rare cars. According to www.howmanyleft.co.uk theres only 134 on the road. I've only ever seen one other one and that lives in Torbay. Hopfully I'll see you at some local meets as I see you're in Clevedon!
Bit of a contrast to the above, my RS6 never really let me down in the 3 years i owned it. I took it from 70k to 100k and overall it was pretty sound. The only things i needed to do were:
DRC failed at 85k. Admittedly it had failed 3 times previously in its history but £1800 on a set of Bilstein PS99s cured the problem.
Couple of air hoses and new recirculating-DV's
Intercooler repaired at MRC for £500
Alternator failed at 80k requiring new oil cooler and hoses as the alternator job normally results in the the oil cooler getting damaged. Cannot be repaired. £2000 all in for that.
I had mine remapped to 508bhp/550lbft by MRC (the gods of RS tuning) including having the box mapped to give the most reliable power delivery possible. I also insisted that my gearbox oil and filters were changed which helps extend the life of the gearbox. Audi say that the box should be sealed for life but its a fact that if the gearbox oil and filters are changed every 20k the box will last a lot longer. At £8k a pop for boxes in todays money thats a big help.
With the mapping done the car returned improved mpg with an average of 24mpg on the road. I did manage to get a 32mpg average on the 550 mile trip from my house to glasgow, and all that way on a single tank too. Its a massive tank (85 litres) so range is not an issue.
My advice is, if youre looking to buy an RS6, dont buy cheap. Go for the best you can afford and ensure its been owned by someone who knows what they are doing. If you are limited to the cheaper examples then i wouldnt touch one with a barge pole. Chances are they wont have been maintained correctly and you'll be the one forking out to undo the troubles. The bills i experienced were pretty mild in all honesty but thats because i bought carefully and an im anal about maintenance and general upkeep. Thas the sort of car you should be looking to buy.
Good luck.
Eddie
DRC failed at 85k. Admittedly it had failed 3 times previously in its history but £1800 on a set of Bilstein PS99s cured the problem.
Couple of air hoses and new recirculating-DV's
Intercooler repaired at MRC for £500
Alternator failed at 80k requiring new oil cooler and hoses as the alternator job normally results in the the oil cooler getting damaged. Cannot be repaired. £2000 all in for that.
I had mine remapped to 508bhp/550lbft by MRC (the gods of RS tuning) including having the box mapped to give the most reliable power delivery possible. I also insisted that my gearbox oil and filters were changed which helps extend the life of the gearbox. Audi say that the box should be sealed for life but its a fact that if the gearbox oil and filters are changed every 20k the box will last a lot longer. At £8k a pop for boxes in todays money thats a big help.
With the mapping done the car returned improved mpg with an average of 24mpg on the road. I did manage to get a 32mpg average on the 550 mile trip from my house to glasgow, and all that way on a single tank too. Its a massive tank (85 litres) so range is not an issue.
My advice is, if youre looking to buy an RS6, dont buy cheap. Go for the best you can afford and ensure its been owned by someone who knows what they are doing. If you are limited to the cheaper examples then i wouldnt touch one with a barge pole. Chances are they wont have been maintained correctly and you'll be the one forking out to undo the troubles. The bills i experienced were pretty mild in all honesty but thats because i bought carefully and an im anal about maintenance and general upkeep. Thas the sort of car you should be looking to buy.
Good luck.
Eddie
hi, i own a C55, its a great car with brilliant engine. make sure you check all the electrics before buying as did have a couple of issues with mine. Thankffully bought from merc so repairs under warranty. Common probs are the heated seats bases not working (£600 fix through merc) and a small motor in the dash that requires the whole dash removed. That failed within 1 hour of the car being delivered! 4 years on, no mechanical issues. Car is great to drive. i get around 210 miles to a tank town driving. do not commute though.
silverback mike said:
High flier said:
No problem . I also like the fact that they're rare cars. According to www.howmanyleft.co.uk theres only 134 on the road. I've only ever seen one other one and that lives in Torbay. Hopfully I'll see you at some local meets as I see you're in Clevedon!
Clevedon indeed, hope to meet up . I also like the fact that they're rare cars. According to www.howmanyleft.co.uk theres only 134 on the road. I've only ever seen one other one and that lives in Torbay. Hopfully I'll see you at some local meets as I see you're in Clevedon! be good to see another C55 around!Gassing Station | Mercedes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff