New York to Tampa,Fl drive and back

[Neanicu888]

Hey everyone! I just wanted to share my experience after a long long drive I just did in my 99 E55. I drove this road before in other cars I've had,but the E55 was by far THE BEST!!! The car is simply so comfortable that you have to be really careful not to fall asleep. Also it ' eats ' those miles fast and loves the open road,not to mention the excellent,toll free roads in Florida. I have to say New York is the biggest rip off of a city and the worst roads ever!!! I think I've used up my suspension and brakes in 100 miles of New York than 2000 miles of Florida,Georgia,South Carolina etc. Also the power this engine delivers is unbelivable and it helpes a lot when you're looking to pass other cars. Also you have to be careful because you can wake up doing 120 miles an hour without even knowing it. The handling could be better when cornering,but it's pretty good for such a heavy car. The gas/mileage is not that bad actually for a 5.4l V8. I've used up 2 and a half tanks of gas going and 2 and a half coming back. I had absolutely ZERO issues with the car,not even a flat tire. I'm very happy with this car! Also I've checked the oil and it barely ' ate ' a couple of gradations on the dip stick,which is absolut normal,even for a new car,let alone for a 150K miles car. Please feel free to share your experiences too. Thanks.

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[desired_speeds]

I drove from San Francisco to Scottsdale, Arizona and back last month. I stopped by LA and Santa Barbara and took 101 the rest of the way up. It was about 1700 miles I did in 5 days. It was a great drive and it was definitely fun passing people. Even in 110+ degree weather with the a/c blasting the temp needled stayed steady.

[Neanicu888]

Hey Desired_speeds!

I'm glad to hear the temperature stayed at a good level because these cars are known to run really hot and if you have any issues with the AUX fans,with the module,relay or even a fuse,not to mention the Fan clutch,they will overheat right away. It's really cool to find out it didn't overheat,in 110F with the AC on even new cars might overheat sometimes. There are even signs in Arizona,I believe it's called the Death Valley,where temperatures go up to record highs to turn off the AC.

[-fad]

Great to hear yours ran well on those trips. What gas mileage did you get at what speeds? Did you air up the tires over 36psi?

[Neanicu888]

Hey Fad!

I usually keep my tires at 38 PSI's in the front and 39 PSI's in the back for the summer. It can get pretty bumpy with the War World 2 roads in New York but it saves you a lot on gas.
For the most part of the road the speed limit is great...70 MPH...and we were doing 85 MPH. So I don't know...maybe I can say we were doing an average of 65 MPH for a road of about 1300 miles long and used 2 and a half tanks of gas. A tank of gas for this car has about 20 gallons.

[Neanicu888]

So I've used up 50 gallons for 1300 miles giving me an estimate of 26 miles per gallon!!! Sweeeeet!!! Better than the book says. Great for a 5.4 V8 with 150K on it!!!!

[-fad]

26 mpg is awesome averaging 70mph on an AMG V8! Congrats!

With 150K on your car, has there been replacement or maintenance items that you have done or plan to do at this mileage? (above the A, B services)

150K is a good milestone for the M113.980 motor and I hope to hear of more AMG M113's cross this mileage to 200K+.

Thanks for sharing!

[MB2001e55]

Just did a 120 mile trip from LA to San Diego and took a photo with my IPAD of 2my record 27.2 MPG!! Did not know my E55 could compete with my Toyota Highlander Hybrid. Has anyone done better?

[Neanicu888]

Hey Fad!

I bought this car in June of this year. The car had 147K on it,now it has 152K. Maybe you know more things than me about these engines,but from what I know,I'm planning to take this engine to 500K and I drive it every day! These AMG engines are hand built and limited. This is not your Hyundai engine,your Toyota,Nissan or something similar,where they put together 1000 engines in a day. I was actually talking with a guy that used to drive a Mercedes taxi in Germany. He said he managed to put 800K km on an engine like this. 800K km is 500K miles.
My personal belief(I might be wrong) is that if I maintain this car the way I do,I will get it really close to those numbers.
This car only gets 93 gas and not from any gas station,only well known,like Shell,Exxon or Mobil. I only use Mobil 1 oil...0W 40, European formula etc.
Now,to answer your question,what I did to the car besides A to B service,like oil,filters,spark plugs,antifreeze,belt etc...I've changed the transmission oil and filter,plus the Torque converter oil(my car has a drain plug for that,some don't)...that's 10 quarts of oil at 18$ a pop from the dealer...that's not cheap. It looked like it's never been changed in all the 147K of it's life. After doing that,things started leaking,like I had to change a plastic connector and another piece that holds the transmission cable to stop the leak.
The only major issue that this car had was that it was overheating. I fixed that by getting new AUX fans,AUX fans control module and a new fan clutch.
I also changed a few bushings in the front on the stabilizer bar and 2 in the back. Also did a wheel alignment.
That's pretty much it...I hope I'm not forgetting something.
Hope this helps.

[Strigoi]

You might want to take a look at your engine mounts. They're hydraulic and go bad. Both of mine were shot (all the oil leaked/stuff leaked out) when I bought the car with 92,000 on it. You could feel it at idle though and it was pretty obvious.

The best MPG I've gotten so far is 24.3. That was over 420ish miles going from Concord to a little north of Sacramento twice in one day. It also included over 30 minutes of stop and go from an accident which knocked it down a few tenths. I've got a heavy foot and like to cruise at 75+ most of the time.

[MBFLO]

Damn thats some good gas mileage .. Great to see no issues .
.Drove from Detroit to Ft Lauderdale <ocean drive <est 1,400 miles each way in March non-stop just gas . Left the E and took my buddies 04 bmw 530 .
Be a cold day in hell before I do a road trip like that again unless its BullRun or GoldRush rallies . Had just got out hospital from bleeding ulcer and hit road next day . Never again lol

[Neanicu888]

Hey Strigoi!

I heard about the engine mounts in these cars. I think my mounts are fine,the mechanic says the same thing. I'm pretty sure they must have been changed by the previous owner.
I have to check now a very small leak from the oil level sensor,I've been told. I've seen the part,it does have a little seal on it that might be leaking oil on mine. There's always something to do once you get it to this mileage. Lol.
I think an important reason I've managed to get such a good gas mileage is the fact that I keep my tires a little over inflated.

[Strigoi]

Yeah, there's always little things it seems. I'm overdue on Service B by a couple of hundred miles now and won't be able to take care of it for another 1,000+. Once that is done, I think my car should be good to go except for my 43-54mph vibration. It doesn't always do it and every time my mechanic has taken my car it doesn't happen (he's had it for a couple of days at a time). I also need to do brakes soon, but they probably have another 5,000+ left in them still. At the rate I'm going, that will only be a few months away probably.

[Neanicu888]

Hey Strigoi!

I'm glad mine is a 99 and doesn't have those Service A,Service B etc. The display is pretty basic...Temperature,Miles,Clock. It can also show you the oil level and Miles left to Service.
Thank God it doesn't start beeping or whatever it does for Service or something else because I hate to have my car displaying maintenance issues. I would be so annoyed with them that I would have to fix them. LOL!
What's a good name brand for brake pads on these cars? I heard something about Hawk,that they're really good and last a long long time. But I also keep seeing at some members,even you # 1 brake pads. What's that? Is that the brand?
I also sent you a PM.

[-fad]

Thanks for sharing- sounds like you have one in great mechanical shape!

[MBFLO]

Originally Posted by Neanicu888

Hey Strigoi!

I'm glad mine is a 99 and doesn't have those Service A,Service B etc. The display is pretty basic...Temperature,Miles,Clock. It can also show you the oil level and Miles left to Service.
Thank God it doesn't start beeping or whatever it does for Service or something else because I hate to have my car displaying maintenance issues. I would be so annoyed with them that I would have to fix them. LOL!
What's a good name brand for brake pads on these cars? I heard something about Hawk,that they're really good and last a long long time. But I also keep seeing at some members,even you # 1 brake pads. What's that? Is that the brand?
I also sent you a PM.

I believe you might want Akebono brake pads . The A,B,C service intervals are every 10k miles , you can manually reset it just like any other option without having to take it in .

[Neanicu888]

Hey MBFLO!

Thanks for the advice! I did hear in the meantime about the Akebono brake pads. I think I'll put those next.
Regarding Service A,B,C etc...the 99's don't display that,or maybe I just didn't experience it. It just shows the miles I have left for service and then SERVICE DUE NOW.
I did try several times to reset it myself accordingly with my Manual but didn't work. I read that in some Mercs you can do it and in some it doesn't work. My mechanic did manage to reset it using the Mercedes diagnostic computer.
Thanks.