Going to look at an E55 AMG

[Nappler]

It's a 2003 one and I just wondered what I should be looking out for apart from the usual things when you go to look at a car and the MB rust spots.I've wanted one for a while so I do want to get one quite quickly but don't want to end up with a lemon.
there are a couple at dealers which look quite promising but thier slightly over budget at £16k and thier only booking at £14k for an 03 reg, worth making a fair offer as I wouldn't have thought thier nearly as popular or easy to shift as say a 320 CDI is.

[ricky s]

Should you get no response here, go onto the MB Club UK forum, theres quite a few of W211 E55s on there.

[angusc43]

yeah go to mbclub for a proper answer

for 211's in general the consensus seems to be the later the better - 2004 on if poss

doesn't mean an 03 is a bad idea - it's just that MB were climbing out of the bad period when the 211 was launched and there were many revisions in 2002-2005 period

see my comments in the "what was bad period for MB thread above"

note that this was a more genreric post - for E55's you need more specific guidance

[vinnie83]

Make sure you get one with sat nav - otherwise you will find when you come to sell (like I did) that nobody wants to buy it!

Also, give it a good thrash a few times, full throttle, and make sure the supercharger doesn't cut out - failed intercooler pumps are common, and due to only being a problem after a few full throttle runs, chances are the tech/salesman won't notice it.

Make sure all electrics work well - you really want one with keyless go, but make sure it works properly.

Get panoramic roof if possible.


Also, no offence intended but you say that 16k is a little over budget - I hope you have factored in the extremely high running costs of these cars, they are not cheap to run!

I would certainly think twice if a couple of £k was an issue in purchase price at that point, you could easily spend that and more in one visit to the workshop if something goes wrong!

[Nappler]

Thanks for the advice, I will check the intercooler pump is working properly.
After owning a TVR and a Range Rover I'm no stranger to high running costs and can afford to pay them, just am not one to pay a couple of £k over book price for something that isn't that easy to shift at the moment, what did you replace yours with by the way?, it must have been something pretty special.
Edit to add, a 997 Turbo great car, I wish one of those was in my budget!.

Edited by Nappler on Sunday 2nd January 15:50

[vinnie83]

That's good, I just wanted to warn you. Wouldn't want you assuming german build quality applies here!

'03 cars are pretty much the worst for build quality so be careful!

Yep, as you noticed I replaced with the 997. I would however love another 55K AMG. I still think the E55 felt quicker and more brutal than the turbo.

If I had kept mine, I would change the exhaust first - the noise is great but there just isn't enough of it! If you've ever heard an SL55 on full throttle, you'll know what these cars are capable of sounding like!

Oh, these cars eat front pads and rear tyres so check they have a decent amount of life left in them.

ETA you will not regret buying one (as long as you're prepared for the bills!). I still think it's one of the, if not the best cars I've ever owned!

Edited by vinnie83 on Sunday 2nd January 16:07

[Nappler]

I've heard people say that the best ones are 54 reg and later?, so going on that assumption would an 05 model with 70k on the clock be a better buy than an 03 with 50k?, I've driven an SL55 briefly and I agree, what a noise!, the E55 is a bit more reserved so I've read, as it has smaller exhaust exits, another thing just to check did you run yours on Super or regular unleaded? I'm not sure if thier tuned for the higher octane stuff or not.

[vinnie83]

Hmm tough one, I suppose it would depend on how the 70k miles had been ran up..

Also, are you planning on selling, and if so when? You will find it a lot more difficult to sell a car like this with 90-100k+ on it than one with 70-80k.

I can confirm that mine did spend a lot of time back with MB getting various things fixed, thankfully I had a full MB warranty.

As for fuel, I can't remember. I'm pretty sure I used normal unleaded. There was a thread about this recently though - even if it's tuned for super, it will still work perfectly fine with normal unleaded as it has knock sensors.

[Nappler]

I would probably be keeping it about a year and a half to two years and doing I guess 20-25k miles which is why one with 50-60k on the clock does appeal more, as soon as cars go over that 100k mark no one really wants them like you say.

[ricky s]

What ever you buy, I would highly recommend you get some form of warrenty, if these cars go wrong, I know of 2 W211 E55 engines (1 my own) and 1 SL engine expired, so whilst considered generally bomb proof, things can go wrong, if my own engine had not been under warrenty, I would have been looking at a £23.5K bill, and that was after a £7K rebate for returning the old engine to MB Germany. New 55 engine listed at £31K without the supercharger! So please do check the car over thoroughly, you,ll sleep better. This said they are great cars, I love mine.

[vinnie83]

I would agree with the above.

I very almost needed a new engine when my oil level sensor told me I needed to fill up oil (which it didn't).

I then got a couple of oil pressure too high warnings which made me get it straight to MB. I was told that worst case if I had filled up too much oil, it could have resulted in a new engine being needed!