Which would you rather purchase, and why? They're both about the same price ($30K), and i'm having trouble deciding.

Any C-Class AMG > regular C-class

C32 has 161 extra reasons more than the 230K

What about the fit & finish, build quality, etc? There's a 75% difference for insurance cost, but if it's really that much better...

Power isn't everything. You are probably going to have all kinds of little issues with the 02.
I'd wait a month and look seriously at the '06 V6 C230! And irregardless of the looks, you REALLY should drive the new BMW 3 series first!

If you don't mind a used car, AND you have any desire for better than average acceleration and power (especially in this age of horsepower madness when lower priced family haulers outpower the C230K), then you should get the 2002 C32AMG. Otherwise you may regret it. If you don't care about acceleration and are more concerned about fuel consupmtion, then get the C230K. It's far more fuel efficient than the C32.

I went from a C240 to a C55. I absolutely LOVE it. The power increase is immense, and the handling is so much better too. And yes, it uses a lot more fuel (fuel consumption stats are similar to the C32).

Power ISN'T everything, but it brings the fun factor WAAAAY up.

Do you drive faster now that you are driving a much faster car ? just curious

Yes, and no. I definitely can accelerate so much faster than before, such that I reach the official speed limit in so little time. On ramps to highways are so much fun. Passing on the highway is so much fun, when there are brief moments of "oh my gawd" speed. Of course, the opportunities to really go fast for any sustained period of time are limited in the city during the day. At night, there are more opportunities to really run the car, but there is always the fear factor of losing the license.

I don't race regularly because there is so much to lose if something were to go wrong.

Overall, I am VERY happy with the new car. Everyone here knows about its performance numbers, but it FEELS so much better too, compared to the C240. I look forward to driving it all the time.

Can you really compare an '05 C55 and an '02 C32? The C32 is going to have more reliability issues and has the old interior and the non-CLK front end

mmmmm........C32 thought

If you can get a c32 for 30g's i'd say that's a pretty good steal, considering they sold for over 50k. But also depends on the mileage and if it had any problems, u should def check over the problems of the vehicle before buying it. If everything seems alrite i would personally choose the c32... it's just hot :v .

I could compare the two but I have very different reasons. Personally, for the shorter front end and all that I'd take the C32.

Though, I must say, from C240 to C55, eh, a moped might have been an impressive bump up in HP/TQ j/k

I would not buy a new MB. I would buy the used C32. I would check for the TSBs having been "fixed". The biggest one on the C32 is the leaking intercooler. Two 30K cars. In 2 years or 5 years, you will always lose less on the C32.

It seems about average. There are even quite a few of them on this forum for that price.

It is true that the 2005 C class in general has been improved upon and some of the reliabilty issues that have plagued the older W203's have been dealt with (hopefully).

However, the C55 and C32 are very similar from a performance point of view, with the C55 just a touch faster. Both make the C240 and C230K seem pretty slow (relatively).

That's why I suggest the used 2002 C32 if the person who started this thread is potentially interested in a car which can go 0-60 in about 5 seconds.