C63 Estate am I crazy?
Discussion
I've been looking for an estate car which will be a bit of fun and have been considering the usual suspects; Audi S4, RS4, BMW 330 etc. The budget was around 22K but if somthing ineteresting came up I could stretch it. Am I crazy to consider a C63 estate, my concern is the running costs of a 2008 AMG merc. My head says it's not a sensible option but my heart says why not. Has anyone got expeience of running cost for an early model C63 anything major I should be concerned about.
See link below to the car:-
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...
See link below to the car:-
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...
Running costs are fairly minimal for a car of this calibre actually.
Fuel is the big one obviously. Expect 18 or 19mpg for mixed driving. You can get 24mpg at 60/70 on the motorway but you wont do that.
Then tyres. They last around 5k or 6k on the rears and not a huge amount more at the front.
Tax and Insurance. Usual stuff.
Servicing and maintenance is the most reasonable of any car in its class and performance bracket. The only problem cars have been the 08 and 58 plate cars as some had issues with head bolt stretching / coolant loss. Merc sort these under warranty as and when they pop.
Fuel is the big one obviously. Expect 18 or 19mpg for mixed driving. You can get 24mpg at 60/70 on the motorway but you wont do that.
Then tyres. They last around 5k or 6k on the rears and not a huge amount more at the front.
Tax and Insurance. Usual stuff.
Servicing and maintenance is the most reasonable of any car in its class and performance bracket. The only problem cars have been the 08 and 58 plate cars as some had issues with head bolt stretching / coolant loss. Merc sort these under warranty as and when they pop.
The real incidence of headbolt failures is difficult to ascertain. There are several tales of woe over on the North American C63 enthusiast websites but cases appear sporadic at best. Only Mercedes would know and they aren't going to be saying too much. The consensus over there is that a particular headbolt design was used on all of M156 motors with build dates pre about early 2010, and that later versions used a different headbolt design. This was presumably done to address some problem with the earlier design. That "problem" appears to be potential failure of the head bolt(s), appearing as unexplained coolant loss and eventually engine failure and a very costly rebuild. This seems to occur irrespective of mileage or the presence of aftermarket performance modifications.
So putting aside the hype I reckon the very great majority of the "affected" engines are fine. There are also plenty of anecdotal reports of the earlier M156 motors that have been heavily modified and/or been ragged senseless for tens of thousands of miles on racetracks and drag strips and which have been reported to be bullet proof.
Having said all of this, were I seriously looking at a 2008 C63 I would want a full MB service history and ideally a MB backed warranty.
So putting aside the hype I reckon the very great majority of the "affected" engines are fine. There are also plenty of anecdotal reports of the earlier M156 motors that have been heavily modified and/or been ragged senseless for tens of thousands of miles on racetracks and drag strips and which have been reported to be bullet proof.
Having said all of this, were I seriously looking at a 2008 C63 I would want a full MB service history and ideally a MB backed warranty.
Edited by JimmyR1 on Wednesday 21st August 07:56
Edited by JimmyR1 on Wednesday 21st August 07:58
HammyHamster said:
I must be driving mine wrong. 8500 miles and the rears look surprisingly healthy! Must try harder..
Me too. I've got 6k on my rears inspite of regular things such as this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQHGqQJ_7boecain63 said:
You sure youre not rolling with Fred Flintstone on rock? Lol
10k is doable on these cars but youve got to be slightly bonkers to drive that sedately in a C63.
Haha, you might be right Eddie. I drive most places with my foot flat to the floor which is the strange thing, although I haven't explored the TC or launch control settings which might explain it. I'm running the factory Yoko Advan Sports which seem average to me, and soft sidewalls. When they run out I'll most likely go to Michelin PSS 265 on the rear.10k is doable on these cars but youve got to be slightly bonkers to drive that sedately in a C63.
Sorry OP for being slightly off topic
ecain63 said:
Running costs are fairly minimal for a car of this calibre actually.
Fuel is the big one obviously. Expect 18 or 19mpg for mixed driving. You can get 24mpg at 60/70 on the motorway but you wont do that.
Then tyres. They last around 5k or 6k on the rears and not a huge amount more at the front.
Tax and Insurance. Usual stuff.
Servicing and maintenance is the most reasonable of any car in its class and performance bracket. The only problem cars have been the 08 and 58 plate cars as some had issues with head bolt stretching / coolant loss. Merc sort these under warranty as and when they pop.
I presume you would only be covered if you had MB Warranty or do MB offer a goodwill gesture with this issue?Fuel is the big one obviously. Expect 18 or 19mpg for mixed driving. You can get 24mpg at 60/70 on the motorway but you wont do that.
Then tyres. They last around 5k or 6k on the rears and not a huge amount more at the front.
Tax and Insurance. Usual stuff.
Servicing and maintenance is the most reasonable of any car in its class and performance bracket. The only problem cars have been the 08 and 58 plate cars as some had issues with head bolt stretching / coolant loss. Merc sort these under warranty as and when they pop.
Everything listed seems to be standard except the amg drivers package, which raises the speed limit and gave a drivers track day, so consider it a low spec model. 19's were an expensive option also, but I'm a little hazy on black 19's, they look after market or sprayed, check all that.
Gassing Station | Mercedes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff