Mercedes E55 AMG 2003
Discussion
I moved to the US 8 months ago after a long stint in Italy, where owning big BHP cars is fairly cost prohibitive, so true to yanky form thought I’d go the V8 route, albeit of the German flavour. A friend of mine’s brother was selling this little beauty in Washington DC, so after umming and ahing for a week I pulled the trigger, hopped on a plane from Dallas to DC, saw the car for the first time, the cheque was exchanged and the deal was done. 20 minutes later I was on my way with a full tank of gas and a 2 day drive ahead of me. One of the most boring long distance drives I have done but the car was faultless….and has been ever since. I don’t want to jinx it but she’s a joy to drive, has more than enough oomph and with V-power at $2.40/ gallon I can’t think of a better car for the money out here. Car is completely standard, apart from the newer AMG wheels which suit it well. I was never a fan of Mercs and never thought about owning one but can’t see myself ever letting this one go.
If you’re in the market for a well built GT, I highly recommend it – she guzzles on short journeys but is surprisingly frugal at steady motorway speeds. The 400+ bhp is addictive though and have already been done by the local constabulary, now on 180 days of deferred adjudication which basically means a very conservative right foot. I count myself lucky, I wasn’t shot!
If anyone has any experience of these I’m all ears, i.e. what to watch out for, any good upgrades etc. The exhaust could be a bit more fruity and may invest in some more free flowing manifolds at some stage. The tint may not be to everyone’s liking back in blighty but it is an absolute necessity here in Dallas!!!
Hope there’s plenty of life in the ol’ girl yet.
Cheers
H
If you’re in the market for a well built GT, I highly recommend it – she guzzles on short journeys but is surprisingly frugal at steady motorway speeds. The 400+ bhp is addictive though and have already been done by the local constabulary, now on 180 days of deferred adjudication which basically means a very conservative right foot. I count myself lucky, I wasn’t shot!
If anyone has any experience of these I’m all ears, i.e. what to watch out for, any good upgrades etc. The exhaust could be a bit more fruity and may invest in some more free flowing manifolds at some stage. The tint may not be to everyone’s liking back in blighty but it is an absolute necessity here in Dallas!!!
Hope there’s plenty of life in the ol’ girl yet.
Cheers
H
That'll see you good!I had a 2005 CLS 500, I wanted a more vigourous tone to the exhaust and simply had the central resonator box removed and replaced with straight through pipe.
I was amazed at the fact that this was the best £100 I had spent in some years, the car sounded the same in normal driving conditions, but when you "dropped the hammer" so to speak, it roared like a startled lion.
It may not be quite as simple on your car, but worth investigating as it was awesome and the noise quickly became my favourite thing about the car.
I was amazed at the fact that this was the best £100 I had spent in some years, the car sounded the same in normal driving conditions, but when you "dropped the hammer" so to speak, it roared like a startled lion.
It may not be quite as simple on your car, but worth investigating as it was awesome and the noise quickly became my favourite thing about the car.
R6VED said:
I had a 2005 CLS 500, I wanted a more vigourous tone to the exhaust and simply had the central resonator box removed and replaced with straight through pipe.
I was amazed at the fact that this was the best £100 I had spent in some years, the car sounded the same in normal driving conditions, but when you "dropped the hammer" so to speak, it roared like a startled lion.
It may not be quite as simple on your car, but worth investigating as it was awesome and the noise quickly became my favourite thing about the car.
Ooo, I think I might do that on my CLS 500 !I was amazed at the fact that this was the best £100 I had spent in some years, the car sounded the same in normal driving conditions, but when you "dropped the hammer" so to speak, it roared like a startled lion.
It may not be quite as simple on your car, but worth investigating as it was awesome and the noise quickly became my favourite thing about the car.
Thanks for the advice and will look into the pulley option. Re the 180 days, it comes with a fine but not too bad. Once the 180 days are over you maintain a clean licence, so long as you sent mess up again in that time.
I like the fact that it is quiet, seems to go with the understated nature of the car but I wouldn't mind a bit more bark.
Cracking car!
I like the fact that it is quiet, seems to go with the understated nature of the car but I wouldn't mind a bit more bark.
Cracking car!
I purchased my e55 4 years ago now. I worked for Mercedes when these first come out and dreamed of ever owning one. I have an invoice for £78.000 for mine and paid £11.000 for it at 75,000 miles. she drives faultless.
When she is polished up and gleaming I feel it holds its own against new AMGs. Shes as quick as C63s, chased down Aston Martins and you just don't get used to the acceleration. yes its heavy on fuel but when you put your foot down its mind boggling.
I cant get enough of my E55, its loaded with toys that all work and on a long run set the seat heaters to flat out, put on the massage seats, set the cruse control and it will return 26 mpg at 80mph. If you do get a little board put your foot down !!!
All of this for the price of a fiesta.
looking at getting Dekat as fancy a bit more rumble.
Bad Bits
waiting for air suspension to fail,
fuel
tyres.
who cares , you only live once!!!! and its as fast as the new M4...............£11,000 Thank you Mercedes
When she is polished up and gleaming I feel it holds its own against new AMGs. Shes as quick as C63s, chased down Aston Martins and you just don't get used to the acceleration. yes its heavy on fuel but when you put your foot down its mind boggling.
I cant get enough of my E55, its loaded with toys that all work and on a long run set the seat heaters to flat out, put on the massage seats, set the cruse control and it will return 26 mpg at 80mph. If you do get a little board put your foot down !!!
All of this for the price of a fiesta.
looking at getting Dekat as fancy a bit more rumble.
Bad Bits
waiting for air suspension to fail,
fuel
tyres.
who cares , you only live once!!!! and its as fast as the new M4...............£11,000 Thank you Mercedes
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