g4benz

I keep hearing that I have a "rare" car.

I've only seen one other E550 in my area, so I guess this must be true? There's about 5 E350's in my parking lot and I see a bunch of these around town. I also see a lot of S500's on the road.

So, what's up with the E550s? They didn't produce enough or didn't sell well, and why??

cc16177

I also have an E550 and don't see many on the road.

I would guess that most people who buy the E class are using it as a commuter car and the 550 has worse gas mileage.

For someone who may not be worried about the gas mileage, they probably just jump up to the CLS or S class.

That's really my only guess, all I know is I live in FL and see TONS of E350s and very very rarely do I see an E550.

Personally I think the styling on the E class is more aggressive than the CLS and S (just my opinion) and I would've bought a brand new E550 before going to a CLS or S.

Arrie

I also drive the good old 5.5 L E550 and do not see any E550 labeled cars around. And I love it!!!

Tjdehya

I assume that most E class buyers don't want to spend the extra money for the E550 as well the extra cost at the gas pump.
Most of the buyers with the extra money usually buy the E63, or step up to a CLS550 or S550, so very few buyers want the E550.

PeterUbers

It's a unicorn for sure and one of the best sedans on the planet

I miss my e550

PaulE550

If you think the E550 sedan is rare, which it is, the E550 coupe is even rarer. That is part of the appeal. As for why most people do not get a E550 around here, in any version, a lot of people have told me the E350 or E400 was all they could afford. They shopped for a MB strictly by what would fit in their budget. Some did not even know MB made a 550 version. They simply wanted a MB for the perceived prestige, but most of these same people said they were constantly concerned with either the price of gas or if they have to pay for regular maintenance.

From my perspective, I was looking for a non-AMG two door coupe. I test drove the E350, but it was not what I was looking for. The E550 met all my criteria for size, trunk space, good handling, good power and acceptable long-term maintenance reliability. I looked at the CLS550, but it was actually smaller inside and did not come in a two door.

Munich77

They did not make that many E550s - which makes it a rare car to own.

I agree that with the price the E550 was in close competition with the CLS550 which is a very stylish car. I am glad I got my E550 when I did - the least year

PeterUbers

It's gotta be a little more rare than the 550i which is a BEAST

cocobeex

Love my E550

What a sleeeeeper!!!

It is very rare, I haven't seen any E550 around my neighbor hood.

Foozini

I had to wait about six months for an E550 to appear at my dealership that was reasonable. Fortunately I had the luxury of time, as I already had a car and could wait until something popped up. When it did, I jumped on it, and got a pretty good deal (2010 E550 with 26k miles on it last October).

g4benz

So, it looks like I'm not the only one who stands out in my town - lol.

Now I'm starting to see those GLK's all over the place.

A new GLK350 has a starting price in the high 30's, so that does make sense. I'm not a fan of how it looks, but to some people owning a Mercedes is well..owning a Mercedes. And of course, to each his own.

KEY08

The 550 chews up the highway in comfort. I only buy V8 MB products. The only 6 I owned was an AMG. The E550 is the perfect size for me and does everything right.

starbrite

As great and rare as the E550 is, the prices keep falling below book value.

There's a 2012, here in NY, with 28.6k miles on it, that's been for sale since mid May @ $39k. Last week the MB dealer dropped the price to $34.9k (non CPO).

http://www.silverstarny.com/used/201...hf9bb8ca598962

wanderfalke

I see you own a e63, what is it you miss about the e550?

KEY08

Wow, that is nicely optioned as well. A great deal.

BlankProc

Stopped by a dealership near me the other day to check their inventory of Es and CLSs, they had a mint E550 coupe silver on black with kinda high miles (60k) and were selling for about $25k, non-CPO. That's a lot of car for 25k...wish I was in the market but doing the good thing and staying with my car until lease is up.

cc16177

Yeah I just bought a 2011 E550 with 48k miles for $30,500 and it was CPO

g4benz

Those are some crazy prices for an E550 with low mileage.

El Cid

I considered an E550 when I was looking, but it didn't offer anything I wanted above what was on the E350. Extra cost was a minor point. The other thing was MB owners were telling me to steer clear of the air suspension and I think it's standard on the 550.
Very happy with my 350 and it has more power than I need or want.

thefisch

In the last year, I have only seen one other E550 in my area. But I bought my E550 since it had the vented seats (and was a good deal IMO). Didn't realize it was rare - just wanted what it had.

The rarity of the V8 E550 compared to the V6 E350 is not that different that what you see in other cars. Most Accords and Camrys are the I4, not the V6 upgrade. Most Audi A6 I see around here are the 2.0T and most BMW 5 series are the 528 and 535 from what I see. When I've asked sales reps, they typically say less than 10% get the upgrade. Most people want to save the $ at purchase and get the better mpg.

Johnny Rad

One, it's more expensive. What do you get? "Just" a motor. The E350 buyer can get all the same options and ext appearance pkg for less dough. It's hard to justify for many.

Two, the int and ext of the E550 are indistinguishable from the E350. The E350 buyers can get a car that looks like the E550 for less money. For buyers who want to stand out or have a different looking car than the base model can either opt for an AMG or CLS.

Three, the V6 in the E350 isn't exactly a dog. It's "more than enough" power for the vast majority of buyers (as evidenced by the sales splits).

Me? 1) Depreciation is my friend, as I bought used. 2) I like the anonymous sleeper or soccer mom styling. If there was an E550 wagon, I would have done that one! 3) I didn't cross-shop the E350 because the E550 existed. I'm a Merc owner today mainly because of the 4.7L TT coupled with awd. I'm of the opinion more power is always better.

Munich77

I just love the E550....it is a nice sleeper. I am almost tempted to debadge it.

Johnny Rad

This is my future. Absolutely no need for the confusing diesel-like Bluefficiency badge (this ain't no diesel!) ... and no need for the model badging on the trunk either.

z06michael

I work for Lexus and we don't have anything like a E550,nothing like a big V8 that gets 25mpg,and looks and feels great

PaulE550

Yes I have to agree with you. That is a market segment that unfortunately Lexus doesn't seem to be interested in at this point. For years I kept asking various Lexus sales reps when the company was going to come out with an upgraded, higher performance V8 version of what I had to fill the performance space Lexus used to want to be a part of. If you've ever looked at the Lexus forums, I wasn't alone in that regard. Anyway, all the reps ever told me for the past several years was "That's not the direction the company is primarily interested in anymore. That the new company view is that reliability equals what we consider performance now." Then of course they would try to steer me towards a LS460 simply because it was still a V8.

Between you and me, the LS460 isn't designed to play in the same performance space as either a E550 or CLS550 in terms of power, handling, road feel or even fuel economy. The LS460 is simply a nice, sedate car geared for a person who doesn't necessarily care about any of those things.