W211 E55 AMG - A perfect storm
Discussion
bolidemichael said:
My V8 sits in 7th at 2,750rpm at 105mph. That's a really nice purr... it feels like an air cushioned locomotive and will the chipped diesel give you that, with the miles that you do?
I'd imagine a diesel would be revving less wouldn't it? And have more torque available?Don't get me wrong I love a V8 but if it's barely any faster than a fast diesel then is the noise worth the trade-off for twice the fuel and a nicer noise?
CarPrintGuy said:
I'd imagine a diesel would be revving less wouldn't it? And have more torque available?
Don't get me wrong I love a V8 but if it's barely any faster than a fast diesel then is the noise worth the trade-off for twice the fuel and a nicer noise?
I don't know CPG. I'm thoroughly biased towards petrol!Don't get me wrong I love a V8 but if it's barely any faster than a fast diesel then is the noise worth the trade-off for twice the fuel and a nicer noise?
Well, after an eventful few months the E55 has found a new home.
I took it for a blast up to Ben Nevis in September and the alternator went just north of Lockerbie. Nightmare!
Fortunately, they had a courtesy car spare so I was able to carry on up to Ben Nevis. What an adventure!
Unfortunately, on the way back the E55 suffered some damage to the front left fender. They didn't even have the courtesy to tell me it had been dented.
So I got a new alternator fitted, took it for 1 last drive and crikey it felt loads faster, I'm guessing a poorly alternator must cost it a fair bit of power. The undertray fell off as well after getting the alternator replaced. I just decided 'that's it!, I've had enough'!
Mind you, it made 485 bhp with a dodgy alternator and the butt dyno suggests it was considerably stronger than that with a new one.
I managed to get near enough what I paid for it which is cool, and took a remapped E60 530d as part exchange, with 225k miles, FSH, MOT until March 2021 and a recent new turbo, which is actually awesome and given it's lighter and is supposed to make 600 NM / 442 lb-ft, the torque to weight ratio is almost the same as the E55. The handling is much better as well, so I don't feel like I'm missing out on much.
Original owner's thread: http://www.backroads.ie/forums/showthread.php?3051...
The main reason I sold the E55 is I just couldn't afford to keep it let alone treat it to any TLC such as wheel refurb, roof service, pulley and map. Quit while you're winning as they say. The new owner is a legend and I wish him many happy miles.
In summary, the original purchase price was £9300 with 96k miles.
I spent £1000 on new rear tyres, MOT, supercharger pump and alternator while I had it.
Sold with 104k miles for £7500 + the 530d which is worth around £1500 = £9000.
Total ownership cost in 8,000 miles = £1300
16p/mile. (not including fuel, tax and insurance, of course!).
With heated seats and heated steering wheel, BlueTooth, Bilstein shock absorbers, active steering, endless torque and an uprated stereo, the 530d is great but the mpg is a little disappointing. Around town it'll struggle to better 25 mpg, but on a run I can just squeeze 40 mpg out of it. Other owners have managed 30 around town and 50 mpg on a run, so I recently took it to a local chap who plugged in his laptop and it seems the torque converter isn't in great condition, and the automatic gearbox clutch pressures are low, but this is usual wear and tear. It does slip a fair bit but I always thought this was just a characteristic of auto gearboxes.
I quite like the fact I can leave the 530d anywhere and it isn't going to get keyed like the E55 would. Less range anxiety and less anxiety in general.
Thermostats seem fine so guessing that isn't the cause, everything gets up to temp nice and quick and stays there.
So I need to decide really whether to keep this 530d and spend £1500 on refreshing the gearbox, torque converter and a few other bits and bobs, or to sell, or just stomach the poor mpg. I quite like the idea of a mapped 535d with the LCI gearbox (more efficient apparently) - 35 mpg real-world average and 340 bhp / 516 lb-ft anyone??
I took it for a blast up to Ben Nevis in September and the alternator went just north of Lockerbie. Nightmare!
Fortunately, they had a courtesy car spare so I was able to carry on up to Ben Nevis. What an adventure!
Unfortunately, on the way back the E55 suffered some damage to the front left fender. They didn't even have the courtesy to tell me it had been dented.
So I got a new alternator fitted, took it for 1 last drive and crikey it felt loads faster, I'm guessing a poorly alternator must cost it a fair bit of power. The undertray fell off as well after getting the alternator replaced. I just decided 'that's it!, I've had enough'!
Mind you, it made 485 bhp with a dodgy alternator and the butt dyno suggests it was considerably stronger than that with a new one.
I managed to get near enough what I paid for it which is cool, and took a remapped E60 530d as part exchange, with 225k miles, FSH, MOT until March 2021 and a recent new turbo, which is actually awesome and given it's lighter and is supposed to make 600 NM / 442 lb-ft, the torque to weight ratio is almost the same as the E55. The handling is much better as well, so I don't feel like I'm missing out on much.
Original owner's thread: http://www.backroads.ie/forums/showthread.php?3051...
The main reason I sold the E55 is I just couldn't afford to keep it let alone treat it to any TLC such as wheel refurb, roof service, pulley and map. Quit while you're winning as they say. The new owner is a legend and I wish him many happy miles.
In summary, the original purchase price was £9300 with 96k miles.
I spent £1000 on new rear tyres, MOT, supercharger pump and alternator while I had it.
Sold with 104k miles for £7500 + the 530d which is worth around £1500 = £9000.
Total ownership cost in 8,000 miles = £1300
16p/mile. (not including fuel, tax and insurance, of course!).
With heated seats and heated steering wheel, BlueTooth, Bilstein shock absorbers, active steering, endless torque and an uprated stereo, the 530d is great but the mpg is a little disappointing. Around town it'll struggle to better 25 mpg, but on a run I can just squeeze 40 mpg out of it. Other owners have managed 30 around town and 50 mpg on a run, so I recently took it to a local chap who plugged in his laptop and it seems the torque converter isn't in great condition, and the automatic gearbox clutch pressures are low, but this is usual wear and tear. It does slip a fair bit but I always thought this was just a characteristic of auto gearboxes.
I quite like the fact I can leave the 530d anywhere and it isn't going to get keyed like the E55 would. Less range anxiety and less anxiety in general.
Thermostats seem fine so guessing that isn't the cause, everything gets up to temp nice and quick and stays there.
So I need to decide really whether to keep this 530d and spend £1500 on refreshing the gearbox, torque converter and a few other bits and bobs, or to sell, or just stomach the poor mpg. I quite like the idea of a mapped 535d with the LCI gearbox (more efficient apparently) - 35 mpg real-world average and 340 bhp / 516 lb-ft anyone??
Edited by CarPrintGuy on Saturday 24th October 12:00
Ah - my old BMW, well wear, hope you haven't moved it on yet!
I did consider backing out of the trade for the E55, the things I miss about it:
- the BMW seats are way better than the Merc
- the sound system, especially the 2 subs under the front seats, I looked at upgrades for the Merc stereo, but will leave it as I think I could spend a fortune and still be disappointed
- the handling, especially dynamic drive, the Merc is grippy but not confidence inspiring
- active steering, I'm still not used to turning the Merc wheel so much
- heated steering wheel, sorely missed on cold mornings
The E55 on the other hand:
- has that ballistic top half of the rev range
- is more comfortable on long journeys, I think it's partly the air suspension, and partly the smoother engine. The BMW was good but this is better again, particularly noticeable after several hundred miles in a day driving that I do from time to time
- it's also easier on passengers to drive quickly, hard to describe, but the power delivery is smoother than the lumpy turbo kick of the BMW
- we'll not mention mpg but it won't cost me £10 every time I drove it from October (ULEZ)
Good luck with the BMW, if I had space to park it up, I'd probably have kept it as it must be top of the "car per £" value list!
I did consider backing out of the trade for the E55, the things I miss about it:
- the BMW seats are way better than the Merc
- the sound system, especially the 2 subs under the front seats, I looked at upgrades for the Merc stereo, but will leave it as I think I could spend a fortune and still be disappointed
- the handling, especially dynamic drive, the Merc is grippy but not confidence inspiring
- active steering, I'm still not used to turning the Merc wheel so much
- heated steering wheel, sorely missed on cold mornings
The E55 on the other hand:
- has that ballistic top half of the rev range
- is more comfortable on long journeys, I think it's partly the air suspension, and partly the smoother engine. The BMW was good but this is better again, particularly noticeable after several hundred miles in a day driving that I do from time to time
- it's also easier on passengers to drive quickly, hard to describe, but the power delivery is smoother than the lumpy turbo kick of the BMW
- we'll not mention mpg but it won't cost me £10 every time I drove it from October (ULEZ)
Good luck with the BMW, if I had space to park it up, I'd probably have kept it as it must be top of the "car per £" value list!
Bootdog said:
Ah - my old BMW, well wear, hope you haven't moved it on yet!
I did consider backing out of the trade for the E55, the things I miss about it:
- the BMW seats are way better than the Merc
- the sound system, especially the 2 subs under the front seats, I looked at upgrades for the Merc stereo, but will leave it as I think I could spend a fortune and still be disappointed
- the handling, especially dynamic drive, the Merc is grippy but not confidence inspiring
- active steering, I'm still not used to turning the Merc wheel so much
- heated steering wheel, sorely missed on cold mornings
The E55 on the other hand:
- has that ballistic top half of the rev range
- is more comfortable on long journeys, I think it's partly the air suspension, and partly the smoother engine. The BMW was good but this is better again, particularly noticeable after several hundred miles in a day driving that I do from time to time
- it's also easier on passengers to drive quickly, hard to describe, but the power delivery is smoother than the lumpy turbo kick of the BMW
- we'll not mention mpg but it won't cost me £10 every time I drove it from October (ULEZ)
Good luck with the BMW, if I had space to park it up, I'd probably have kept it as it must be top of the "car per £" value list!
Thanks mate it's a great car the E55 but could do with a heated steering wheel and the BMW's sound system and seats are better quality and comfier.I did consider backing out of the trade for the E55, the things I miss about it:
- the BMW seats are way better than the Merc
- the sound system, especially the 2 subs under the front seats, I looked at upgrades for the Merc stereo, but will leave it as I think I could spend a fortune and still be disappointed
- the handling, especially dynamic drive, the Merc is grippy but not confidence inspiring
- active steering, I'm still not used to turning the Merc wheel so much
- heated steering wheel, sorely missed on cold mornings
The E55 on the other hand:
- has that ballistic top half of the rev range
- is more comfortable on long journeys, I think it's partly the air suspension, and partly the smoother engine. The BMW was good but this is better again, particularly noticeable after several hundred miles in a day driving that I do from time to time
- it's also easier on passengers to drive quickly, hard to describe, but the power delivery is smoother than the lumpy turbo kick of the BMW
- we'll not mention mpg but it won't cost me £10 every time I drove it from October (ULEZ)
Good luck with the BMW, if I had space to park it up, I'd probably have kept it as it must be top of the "car per £" value list!
I've sold the 530d as the chap trying to fix the reluctant heater managed to break the heater, Bluetooth and sport button in 1 go! That, the disappointing 25 mpg average, annoying whistles, rattles and fumes going into the cabin were starting to wear. In its defence it was incredibly comfy, handled great and had a stonking torque delivery that was in a way more brutal than the Merc, but as you said it didn't have anywhere near the E55's top end or relentlessness from 60+. Sold it to a breaker for a grand and today I'm picking up a 1.0 Aygo, new clutch, 12 months' MOT, 79k, FSH for 1250, time for a bit of cheap motoring.
Best of luck with the E55 and I'm sure it will appreciate nicely over the coming years. Pulley and dyno soon?
Edited by CarPrintGuy on Monday 7th December 09:05
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