ELITE_KOV

Finally, I scheduled a test drive of a C63. I've been lurking the section for several months now, studying and understanding the pros and cons of the car as well as the ins and outs. The dealer closest to me has a 2013 P31 Sedan in their inventory. I always service my E55 there so the service advisor called knowing I am in the market for one.




I wanted to test drive a regular C63 vs a P31, but a P31 will have to do for now and maybe I'll test drive a regular later before starting a hard search. Besides the obvious 30HP+ and brakes, anything else besides performance that'll be a drastic difference between the 2? I would think 30HP might even negligible in some instances given so many variables.


I've never driven a C63 before so hopefully my first impressions are good enough to warrant me to actually finally buy one!


I'll post up impressions later after my drive.


PS Wife will be with me, so it'd be interesting to hear her thoughts.

MTV10

P31 also has forged internals, alcantara steering wheel, carbon fiber trunk lip depending on year...

ELITE_KOV

It's a 2013.

rentzington

If prices aren't too far off I'd go p31 for the upgraded internals, now you won't get a huge jump in hp from a tune as you would on a non p31 but part of that is due to it having more power to begin with.

Realistically there aren't huge differences you would notice on a test drive imo
But neither will be as powerful as your e55

Merc63

Who cares about forged internals? Are you going to put a blower on? Doesn't matter than. Get whatever is cheaper, you could always throw on a tune on the non p31 car for a grand.

ELITE_KOV

Wow, I'm in love!








Car was a black on black p31 with pretty much all options I'd want - Keyless Go, Multimedia, LSD, lighting etc. Started the car on a coldish day, low 40s, and the sound got me instantly. I smiled at my wife as we both got in.






Also immediately, I fell in love with the tightness of the seating and how it hugged around the body and felt tight. I'm not that big of a guy, 5'8, so this was perfect for me. A few revs, S+ mode, and we went off.




The steering was so much more crisp than my E55 - which felt like a boat in comparison - granted, different cars for different strokes, but the C63 was awesome in this department. I enjoyed the downshifts thoroughly for a complete stock car. I can't even begin to imagine with a tune.


Stock for stock, this car actually felt faster than my E55 when it was stock. It pulled just as hard, and definitely harder from a 60 goose.


So after I drove her, my wife wanted to test it out. She too loved how the seating. I think that is what sold us both on the car mostly....the seating and how it hugged around you. She drove it like a granny but I could tell she loved it as much as I did.
The car was severely overpriced($55k) in my opinion given the mileage(46K) considering some 14s with same options and 25K less miles are going to less.


I'm sold on the C63, however, and I will be in the market now for one in a more serious mindset than before. I can't wait to add one to my stable!

INS1GNIA

That's great to hear and I agree 55k is way too much for that year/mileage but I'm sure you will find one with everything you're looking for.

ELITE_KOV

The pickings are slim right now.

Color I'm not too picky except maybe white and silver...those wouldn't be ideal unless the car was perfect and had all options etc.

Options...Keyless go, lighting are absolute must haves.

the hunt has begun. I'm hoping to pull trigger by May or so right before summer hits or before if I find the right car in the next few months.

Mort

Good luck in your search. Hope you find exactly what you are looking for at a decent price. Might be worth while expanding your search area a little.

ELITE_KOV

^ I am looking across the continental US right now

I was serious before ... but now that I've driven one, I need one! Facelift car.

finger360

Glad you're in! I spent over a year looking for the right one. Finally found a CPO 300 miles away that I pulled the trigger on.

G-Von

Definitely setup an AutoTrader search with instant email notifications. It's hard to find a low mileage P31 C63 and I feel that depreciating pricing might be plateauing since these 6.2L NA beasts are becoming rare. I've been searching for the right CPO C63 for about 2 years and finally got mine.

With 46k miles that car should be priced around $40k-$45k I think.

ELITE_KOV

I'm on autotrader and cars.com daily haha. I also check in the classifieds section here and my cousins are dealers so I check the pre-sale inventory for the nationwide Manheim auto auctions.

Hopefully, I get lucky!

Edition1c63

There's a ton of them in denver

mrbrannin1

thats the same way i felt when i pushed that start button the first time on a P31 at the dealership!!! nothing like that cold crackle start up!!!!!!!! yeeahhhh boyyyyyyy!!! i was hooked on the 1st crank!!!!!!! ruined in a good way for the rest of my days!!!

sriniAMG

Also keep checking carmax. I was searching for over 6 months on autotrader and did not know that carmax listings do not show up on autotrader. Maybe they show up on cars.com. Can't remember.
Anyway, good luck on the search! You will not be disappointed!

ELITE_KOV

I'm kinda hesitant with carmax. I feel uneasy buying from them for some reason like they are gonna be beat rentals or something. But that can be said for auto trader and cars.com vehicles too.

Thanks!

sriniAMG

They're not that bad. True you will not get the best deals. They are a little pricey. But most of their cars are pretty solid and they provide a complete history of the vehicle. In fact, they refused to buy one of my previous cars since they suspected some body work during inspection even though it did not show up on any records like carfax etc.
And like you said, anyone can sell beat up rental cars. If you find one in carmax that is reasonably priced with the options that you want, no harm in checking it out. You can also do a PPI with a third party since they have a 5 day money back or something like that.
Just my personal opinion. I don't work for carmax