E63 W211 - how ruinous?

[The Stiglet]

One of the estates caught my eye on Autorader and they seem interesting but how expensive are they to run?

The brakes and rotors - £2k not including fitting (not tracking, how long would they last roughly?)
Weak air suspension - £2k per strut? How does the suspension work/how often does it fail?

Other than the above and the fuel consumption/tyres - anything else to worry about?

Finally, is it worth spending an extra £4-5k to get in to the C63?

[Egbert Nobacon]

Sold my 07 E63 estate just before Christmas having owned it for 18 months.

It had an MB warranty but nothing went wrong whilst I had it.

Had to replace front brake pads @ £300 ish and servicing costs at MB were very reasonable for the type of car.

Front Discs are expensive but seem to last a long while unless abused.

Not fantastically economical and must be run on super unleaded, but if worried about fuel don't buy one.

Mine was low mileage and well looked after - I suspect a high mileage one could be a complete money pit if it's led a hard life.

If you want a small coupe buy a C63, if you want a discreet family car that can comfortably show most things a clean pair of heels yet be equally as happy pootling to the shops or full to the brim with kids, dogs and stuff get an E63 estate.

Edited by Egbert Nobacon on Thursday 2nd January 15:31

[goldblum]

The Stiglet said:

Finally, is it worth spending an extra £4-5k to get in to the C63?

I tried both and plumped for an 08 W211 E63 saloon. The 10 C63 was too small and manic for me. The very low mileage E63 I found was lazier and more comfortable with a less aggressive soundtrack. Same engine but a quick remap will give 540/45 bhp. They're both hilariously fast. Mine has cost very little in the last 9 months bar fuel. It is under warranty, which I will probably extend.

[developer]

E63's are significantly larger, better trimmed, potentially better equipped (more available options), and much rarer than C63's.

C63's will inevitably be more nimble though, being smaller/lighter.

Whatever you choose, the M156 engine is epic.

[kevinpsw]

I believe most E63 mechanical items are the same as the CLS63.

Mercedes 63 composite front discs and pads can be bought for as low as £1250 (incl VAT) on ebay. Fitting might be less than £100 at specialist. There are aftermarket single piece discs that are much cheaper.

I have a CLS63 and the discs are now at 50k miles with about 1mm of life left (1.5mm worn). So I'd guess at 75k of normal driving life from new. I think the car must be on second set of pads.

Rear discs are much cheaper than the fronts.

As far as I can tell from the previous owner's paperwork, aside from a failed parking sensor and a damaged brake sensor, mine has had only servicing in its 6 years and 9 months.

I have no warranty so I have put aside the money it would have cost for a future big bill.

I find it odd that a C63 08 will likely cost more than an E63/CLS63 08. New, it might have been £20k less to buy.

Edited by kevinpsw on Thursday 2nd January 18:33

[ghibbett]

Try PH'er Jackwood as he had a C63 over 60k miles and now runs an E63 (albeit the new TT version).

[goldblum]

kevinpsw said:

I find it odd that a C63 08 will likely cost more than an E63/CLS63 08. New, it might have been £20k less to buy.

08 E63s are pre-facelift, 08 C63s are facelift. Also the most expensive Cs are ultra low mileage and PP. Compare the 08 non facelift to the 09 facelift E63 and you'll see a huge difference in price. 09 facelift E63s cost more than 09 facelift C63s. Don't know about the CLS63

[kevinpsw]

goldblum said:

kevinpsw said:

I find it odd that a C63 08 will likely cost more than an E63/CLS63 08. New, it might have been £20k less to buy.

08 E63s are pre-facelift, 08 C63s are facelift. Also the most expensive Cs are ultra low mileage and PP. Compare the 08 non facelift to the 09 facelift E63 and you'll see a huge difference in price. 09 facelift E63s cost more than 09 facelift C63s. Don't know about the CLS63

You are quite right about 09 E63s. So, if you can live with the older shape, a 06-08 E63 is a very good deal. The same applies to the CLS63. A 08 CLS63 will have had a very mild facelift (no more than a shot of botox) but, if around the same mileage, it will cost no more than a C63 of the same age; it may even be a little cheaper.

I did go to see a 10 C63 at Mercedes in Ipswich which seemed well priced at below £30k (recently reduced). It was only 18k miles but it was a disappointing base model spec, nothing added at all. I suspect it was an ex-lease car, although the salesman professed not to know. According to other threads, there will be a good number of ex-lease C63s coming on the market soon so maybe that will make the C63 range a better price. I like the somewhat under-stated look of the saloon and estate.

[Lefty]

I've driven both but actually preferred the w211 e55k... Proper bargain these days too!

[The Stiglet]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Re the suspension issues, is this something that fails often? Is it down to mileage or age? My mechanic said they were great cars but you need to re-mortgage when they go wrong...

I'm not necessarily going to buy one of these as I was looking for a Z4MR but haven't found anything in the spec I want over the past few months. Over the last week I've veered back to fast estate searches (as you do when looking for a sports car!) and they do certainly offer fantastic value if they don't bleed you dry with repairs.

The suspension worries me as that's why I discounted a B7 RS4.

[ecain63]

You could just take the £2k hit early on and fit coilovers. I fitted PSS9's to my RS6, problem solved!

[The Stiglet]

ecain63 said:

You could just take the £2k hit early on and fit coilovers. I fitted PSS9's to my RS6, problem solved!

yep, could do but DRC seems to be rated quite highly when it actually works. Seems a shame to mess with the thing.

[Babw]

I'm also considering one in estate guise to change from my 550i saloon.

Can an owner tell me what sort of MPG I can expect from cold? I live in a valley and work is 6 miles up and down a hill (550i shows 16mpg) I expect the E63 to be about 10 mpg?

Can you buy an extended warranty through the main dealer network? If so what's the warranty like?

[BigBen]

The Stiglet said:

ecain63 said:

You could just take the £2k hit early on and fit coilovers. I fitted PSS9's to my RS6, problem solved!

yep, could do but DRC seems to be rated quite highly when it actually works. Seems a shame to mess with the thing.

You can get remanufactured struts for about £600 from Arnot in the US, they are guaranteed for life. My car has them all round and so far no suspension problems.

[Babw]

Any owners comment on the handling of this beast compared to an E60 5 series?

Would it even be worth putting winter tyres on if there's snow or should it just be left on the drive?

Any nightmare stories from owners?

I'm planning to pick a low mileage one up and have it for a few years, anyone have any major age related issues such as rust, build quality etc ?

[goldblum]

Babw said:

Any owners comment on the handling of this beast compared to an E60 5 series?

I've owned two E46 M3s but not any 5 series. I'd say the handling was on a par. Actually surprisingly good.

Babw said:

Would it even be worth putting winter tyres on if there's snow or should it just be left on the drive?

I have winters on mine, they interfere with the handling, spin more, but are better in heavy rain. I shan't bother next time. With winters on it'll be fine in the snow as long as you're aware of the car's limitations.

Babw said:

Any nightmare stories from owners?

I'm planning to pick a low mileage one up and have it for a few years, anyone have any major age related issues such as rust, build quality etc ?

Camber was off on mine and it pulled to the left quite badly. Got told all the usual stuff (They all do that sir) but after a skirmish or two they decided they could actually rectify the problem and sorted it out. Other than that, no probs. Touch wood. They are fantastic cars, brutally fast, good handling, well made (generally) and you can travel virtually incognito. Apart from the exhaust note which turns heads well before you get there.

[The Stiglet]

BigBen said:

The Stiglet said:

ecain63 said:

You could just take the £2k hit early on and fit coilovers. I fitted PSS9's to my RS6, problem solved!

yep, could do but DRC seems to be rated quite highly when it actually works. Seems a shame to mess with the thing.

You can get remanufactured struts for about £600 from Arnot in the US, they are guaranteed for life. My car has them all round and so far no suspension problems.

Is this for the Merc or the Audi?

[The Stiglet]

goldblum said:

I've owned two E46 M3s but not any 5 series. I'd say the handling was on a par. Actually surprisingly good.

Been told by SWMBO that I'm not allowed the Z4MR I saw recently because it's not 'practical'.

Is the Merc more expensive to run than the M3s you had?

[nlaw]

Reply to the original query. I have an '06 E63 estate, 90k miles so far, going strong so far other than a recently leaking power steering column which i had reconditioned and fitted for around £500..the local MB dealer quoted nearly £3k..very happy with the car, used to have a '10 911 turbo and to be honest much happier with the merc.

[BigBen]

The Stiglet said:

BigBen said:

The Stiglet said:

ecain63 said:

You could just take the £2k hit early on and fit coilovers. I fitted PSS9's to my RS6, problem solved!

yep, could do but DRC seems to be rated quite highly when it actually works. Seems a shame to mess with the thing.

You can get remanufactured struts for about £600 from Arnot in the US, they are guaranteed for life. My car has them all round and so far no suspension problems.

Is this for the Merc or the Audi?

Merc and some Audis but not the RS6 by the look of it