RE: Mercedes E55 AMG: PH Used Buying Guide
Discussion
oversteerer said:
cb1965 said:
oversteerer said:
cb1965 said:
nicfaz said:
These were rated as 469bhp just because Merc wanted some distance between the cheaper E55 /SL55 and the top of the range S55/CL55. They should all have 500bhp+ from the factory if fit. This means that a standard E55 is close to cracking 200mph without mods (apart from de-limit), maybe even would on a cool day given enough road. They will run mid 12s quarter mile without mods too. Seriously fast cars.
The power quoted being less on the E than the CL/SL is a bit of a myth.The M113K engine has had 4 official power outputs:
2001 476Bhp
2004 493Bhp
2006 510Bhp
2008 517Bhp
Changes down to mapping and throttle body sizes.
Any model (E/CL/SL) from these years will have these power outputs or would have done when the car was new.
cb1965 said:
Crikey, it's funny how we are all different.. I'd have an E39 M5 every single time over one of these for just about every reason imaginable.... better handling, better looking, more reliable, better built, appreciating asset, more dynamic etc. etc. It's just an all round better car in every way. The E55 is a one trick pony and that trick is the engine!
All round better car in every way! Give me some of what you are smoking lol. There are a number of points you made that I believe are untrue. You mentioned the E55 engine, yes it will eat the e39 M5 for breakfast, & many others. Merc build quality is pretty decent most would say. The ride on Airmatic is great, & when you want to make progress, switch to sport. Depends if you want to ride around on firm suspension in the M5 all day long. Not my bag in a big cruiser.Gerradi said:
they don't have a ABC pump, thats on the SL/CL for the Suspension & brakes & steering, these have air suspension & (what you may be thinking of) a SBC pump for the Brakes. I have not really heard of many of them breaking (?), they are supposed to have a counter but that would take a lot of miles or a decade plus, mine was @127k when I sold it & no problems ...in fact a very reliable & comfortable.
The G/box & T/converters are reknown to be very robust & reliable, the supercharger clutch may chirp so what ? The Intercooler pump is a self fit 20mins job ,fit an uprated Johnson pump or a later Bosch job, changing spark plugs is more difficult than this....
Trying to find a photo of mine to upload. Although it does look exactly like yours, so maybe no point lol. Best car I've ever owned by a long way.
The G/box & T/converters are reknown to be very robust & reliable, the supercharger clutch may chirp so what ? The Intercooler pump is a self fit 20mins job ,fit an uprated Johnson pump or a later Bosch job, changing spark plugs is more difficult than this....
Trying to find a photo of mine to upload. Although it does look exactly like yours, so maybe no point lol. Best car I've ever owned by a long way.
Edited by Gerradi on Wednesday 31st October 15:06
jimiE55 said:
cb1965 said:
Crikey, it's funny how we are all different.. I'd have an E39 M5 every single time over one of these for just about every reason imaginable.... better handling, better looking, more reliable, better built, appreciating asset, more dynamic etc. etc. It's just an all round better car in every way. The E55 is a one trick pony and that trick is the engine!
All round better car in every way! Give me some of what you are smoking lol. There are a number of points you made that I believe are untrue. You mentioned the E55 engine, yes it will eat the e39 M5 for breakfast, & many others. Merc build quality is pretty decent most would say. The ride on Airmatic is great, & when you want to make progress, switch to sport. Depends if you want to ride around on firm suspension in the M5 all day long. Not my bag in a big cruiser.jimiE55 said:
cb1965 said:
Crikey, it's funny how we are all different.. I'd have an E39 M5 every single time over one of these for just about every reason imaginable.... better handling, better looking, more reliable, better built, appreciating asset, more dynamic etc. etc. It's just an all round better car in every way. The E55 is a one trick pony and that trick is the engine!
All round better car in every way! Give me some of what you are smoking lol. There are a number of points you made that I believe are untrue. You mentioned the E55 engine, yes it will eat the e39 M5 for breakfast, & many others. Merc build quality is pretty decent most would say. The ride on Airmatic is great, & when you want to make progress, switch to sport. Depends if you want to ride around on firm suspension in the M5 all day long. Not my bag in a big cruiser.I had a go of an E55 but that example as a bit of a dog, aside from the engine, unsuprisingly it felt very similar to my CLS500 which wasnt that sporting, pretty competent but not one you want to throw about, they are mainly a high spec E class with an epic engine, get the impression there weren't that many other differences, may be wrong but though it felt faster with very immediate power, otherwise not enough difference to warrant spending a load more money.
cb1965 said:
One's a lardy saloon with a great engine, the other's a great saloon with a great engine. The M5 goes round corners too. Sorry, but I think their current market values clearly indicate which is the better car.
Haha even more embarrassing then, to be spanked by a Lardy luxury Merc. 🤣👍jimiE55 said:
cb1965 said:
One's a lardy saloon with a great engine, the other's a great saloon with a great engine. The M5 goes round corners too. Sorry, but I think their current market values clearly indicate which is the better car.
Haha even more embarrassing then, to be spanked by a Lardy luxury Merc. ????I really don't understand the comparison between the E39 M5 and the W211 E55. They're different cars built at different times. The E39 was 7 years old by the time the W211 was released (normal cars). They do different things well. Both cars had engines based on lower spec cars (M113 was found in humble car in lower capacity / power etc, and was derived from the M119) and the S62 was based on the M62, but can trace itself back to the M60.
Both good cars, but not really comparable.
Both good cars, but not really comparable.
I love these cars for the fact that they look so normal but have such an insane engine.
A few years ago my wife wanted to move out of London and I said I'd only do it if I could have an SL with the 55k.
When they were new I saw one doing 11's from outside a pub in the Cotswolds and the bombastic noise was immense.
E's are even more amusing because they don't look as if they should be able to do that sort of thing.
A few years ago my wife wanted to move out of London and I said I'd only do it if I could have an SL with the 55k.
When they were new I saw one doing 11's from outside a pub in the Cotswolds and the bombastic noise was immense.
E's are even more amusing because they don't look as if they should be able to do that sort of thing.
TrickyTrevM5 said:
........I loved the manual M5 and heeling and toeing and..........
Heel and Toe......we're talking about a road car, no? with a super heavy flywheel and all that mass and weight and trips to the shops, the cinema, the daily commute, the local Gastro...... 
Nothing wrong I guess in trying to make the most mundane journey a litte more interesting - do you keep the car balanced and neutral providing the smallest amounts of throttle and steering inputs, whilst clipping the apex of the local Sainsbury's carpark roundabout?
cb1965 said:
oversteerer said:
cb1965 said:
oversteerer said:
cb1965 said:
nicfaz said:
These were rated as 469bhp just because Merc wanted some distance between the cheaper E55 /SL55 and the top of the range S55/CL55. They should all have 500bhp+ from the factory if fit. This means that a standard E55 is close to cracking 200mph without mods (apart from de-limit), maybe even would on a cool day given enough road. They will run mid 12s quarter mile without mods too. Seriously fast cars.
The power quoted being less on the E than the CL/SL is a bit of a myth.The M113K engine has had 4 official power outputs:
2001 476Bhp
2004 493Bhp
2006 510Bhp
2008 517Bhp
Changes down to mapping and throttle body sizes.
Any model (E/CL/SL) from these years will have these power outputs or would have done when the car was new.
sr.guiri said:
TrickyTrevM5 said:
........I loved the manual M5 and heeling and toeing and..........
Heel and Toe......we're talking about a road car, no? with a super heavy flywheel and all that mass and weight and trips to the shops, the cinema, the daily commute, the local Gastro...... Nothing wrong I guess in trying to make the most mundane journey a litte more interesting - do you keep the car balanced and neutral providing the smallest amounts of throttle and steering inputs, whilst clipping the apex of the local Sainsbury's carpark roundabout?
Caddyshack said:
My honest ownership experience seems to have offended your experience.
Sorry, it was a while ago, it was SBC, it ABC, silly me. It also made an annoying buzz through the brake pedal even when fixed (yes, they all do that sir was the reply) Mine failed at around 85,000 miles and AMG / Merc put in some good will on many issues as my friend owned a dealership group of 4 sites. I sold mine at around 150,000 miles but most isssues were before 100,000.
The torque converter went on mine and a friends went on his sl55 AMG at a very similar time, one drive of my car and the tech knew what it was, it felt like a misfire when changing between 3rd and 4th.
The squeak / chirrup from the supercharger clutch was loud and annoying especially for a car where part of the ownership experience was the sound.
Not sure why you'd think I'm offended ? at what ?Sorry, it was a while ago, it was SBC, it ABC, silly me. It also made an annoying buzz through the brake pedal even when fixed (yes, they all do that sir was the reply) Mine failed at around 85,000 miles and AMG / Merc put in some good will on many issues as my friend owned a dealership group of 4 sites. I sold mine at around 150,000 miles but most isssues were before 100,000.
The torque converter went on mine and a friends went on his sl55 AMG at a very similar time, one drive of my car and the tech knew what it was, it felt like a misfire when changing between 3rd and 4th.
The squeak / chirrup from the supercharger clutch was loud and annoying especially for a car where part of the ownership experience was the sound.
Edited by Caddyshack on Wednesday 31st October 17:09
Sold this one in May after 3+ years .
As have been said they are good cars ...but if you want a car to h-ustle around corners at speed this is not the car for that...M5 is a good call & Angry had his E55 the same time as I & quickly decided it was not for him. I on the other hand like a quick car but unfortunately i have to now have a Auto.
I had a uprated C32 AMG with the E55 AMg which I sold the previous May & decided the E55 AMg was a bit more fun (Just) to the C32 AMG.
Was always disappointed in both these cars ability or lack of it to fly round corners TBH it was not the cars at fault but my unrealistic expectations having just coming from a TVR 4.5 Cerbera...but for a quick Auto they are good cars...but a M5 is better (bends only) !
cb1965 said:
jimiE55 said:
cb1965 said:
Crikey, it's funny how we are all different.. I'd have an E39 M5 every single time over one of these for just about every reason imaginable.... better handling, better looking, more reliable, better built, appreciating asset, more dynamic etc. etc. It's just an all round better car in every way. The E55 is a one trick pony and that trick is the engine!
All round better car in every way! Give me some of what you are smoking lol. There are a number of points you made that I believe are untrue. You mentioned the E55 engine, yes it will eat the e39 M5 for breakfast, & many others. Merc build quality is pretty decent most would say. The ride on Airmatic is great, & when you want to make progress, switch to sport. Depends if you want to ride around on firm suspension in the M5 all day long. Not my bag in a big cruiser.The E39 M5 is a great car, i should know, i had 2 and did over 120000 miles in them.
Great cars, and more nimble than my current W210 E55, better handling, better suspension, manual gearbox, i could go on BUT
ultimately any saloon the size of an E class or 5 series or A6 cannot be that nimble.
So it comes down to what you want...and for the 1 time in 10 where you're on a nice open road with no traffic there'll be 9 where you're stuck in traffic, or in a 70mph caravan on the motorway or just want to waft along, and in those circumstances the Merc is in a different class.
if you want a back road blaster the M5 makes a damn good fist of it but ultimately its just too big, too heavy, too compromised, as is the Merc.
cornershop said:
There was reference earlier to e55 parts being made of ‘unobtainium’ - are parts quite scarce?
Surprising for Merc, usually pretty good in parts supply
No not really. The (front) brakes are bespoke and the engine has a s/c bolted on. It rides on Airmatic but so do other E's. They have different wheels, bumper covers and sill covers but all the rest is standard 200,000 mile a year E Class.Surprising for Merc, usually pretty good in parts supply
They share the occassional propensity to much the gearbox along with other E's. Same for leaking Air, failing SBC pumps and so on. They all much through front ball joints and sometimes engine mounts.
The only problem unique to them that I'm aware of is leaking intercooler pumps.
God, now that I've written that down I'm kicking myself for never buying one. It's certainly by far the most sensible way of getting behind a 55k.
The bigger bills tend to sit with SL55's where if you are unlucky you can enjoy fuel tank baffle failure, ABC suspension failure, leaking boot seals and fried ECU's amongst other things. Big bills to sort those things out because of all the labour. You can still get all the parts, though.
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