blacksage

I am currently looking for a bigger lower mileage car to replace my E46 M3. I did a search on the forum but I cant find the answer to a few questions I have. How is maintenance on the C55? It seems like you guys have inspection A and B. How often and how much do they cost? Cureently I have inspection I or II on the M and they range from 900-1500 every 30 miles.

Anything special I look for when buying? Any recalls that should have been done?

Any help is appreciated

SilverBulletAMG

Every 30 miles?lol Maybe your mean every 3,000? You just missed a few zeros.... ;-)
How big of a car do you want, ie C or E class. There are some amazing deals on E AMGs going on. As for the 55's, those are pretty much rock solid. You might check the sticky thread up top for "noobs". I believe there is a buyers guide that details everything you're looking for.

blacksage

LOL. It seems like this car hits me for $900 every 30 miles

Sorry, I forgot the k...every 30k miles. I actually did not check the sticky. I searched though.

I have seen a few E55 under 30k and that is my DREAM car. I just figured that although I can afford the cost to purchase, I cant afford to maintain or fix anything that breaks because it is still an $80k+ vehicle. thats why I have been looking at C55 for ~21k

SilverBulletAMG

If the E is your dream car and you have around $30k-$35k to spend, there are several out there. I know of a pristine white '06 E55 fully loaded, pano roof, keyless go, performance package, etc. and they are asking $35k but would probably come off that some. It does have nearly 60k miles which is high for an '06, but the owner had a 60 mile one way drive to work, so the highway miles added up quickly.
As for cost to maintain, the 55s are really solid, both boosted and NA. If you buy from a dealership you can get extended warranty wrapped into the financing or purchase your own "platinum" coverage for as little as $2k which should keep you covered for at least a couple/three years and zero deductible.
I wouldn't settle for a C if you really want the E, but that's just me. Have you checked the classifieds here on this forum?

rockjock

Service A and B are every 10-12k miles on the AMG's and depending on what you want done (I continually skip the in cabin filter-I keep my windows rolled down too much to justify those guys)-but I think between $200-$500 (A and B) depending on dealer-I havent had any "issues" that would require a dealer visit-I did my first A at 35k when I bought it-watched what they did-and I'll prob take it from there (or a local non-MBZ dealer that I know very well have do the work for me)-you'd def enjoy the C55-but I dont know that you will gain all that much inside vs the M-consider that E55 for a larger interior (prob a nicer ride then the C as well-heavy/solid car)
enjoy!

AMG Sleeper

+1 similar in performance/class/size to M3 but with 4 doors and more trunk space. but if E55 if the one u want, go for it.

silverbullet made a great point about getting the dealer to work in an extended warranty. if u can get that and want a bigger car, then def go E55.

best of luck and let us know what u end up getting!

FrankW

the E55 would cost more to maintain if anything goes wrong with the supercharger, the airmatic, etc.

C55 thus far seems bullet prove.

SoCalC55

In the research I did before buying my C55, they seemed to be almost completely bulletproof; both drivetrain and electronically. Like they said there really only is Service As & Bs which if you can take it elsewhere(that the dealership) will only cost you under $200 every ~10K

As for mine, it has been an extremely enjoyable 6 months and I am sooo glad I bought this car over said M3, IS, G, RS4, etc etc

AMS Performance

Naturally Aspirated 55 AMG M113 drivetrains are almost bulletproof... the ///M cars are anything but. Anyone who has worked on both M3s and NA 55 AMGs will tell you they aren't even in the same league, AMG > ///M as far as reliability and also overall design and ease of performance/maintenance work. BMW makes everything so difficult & overly complex, where as AMG & MB try to make things much simpler and as a result, they are more reliable.

mkonei

bought mine at 20k, it now has 53k i think. rear tires, broken foglights, front pads, and oil changes is all it has needed. the oil i do myself, and that usually runs around 50 or so. im about to flush the trans and change the main belt as well. its been a totally reliable car, and has only seen the dealer one time since ive had it for a cam cover leak which seems to be common, and a leak at a connection for the trans cooler.

rockjock

I get some oil spray around the top end too-never pin point where its from-but I wipe it off-3k miles later-theres a dirty film on the covers.
Tires. Are the M3's staggered? You'll eat tires

transferred

The reason the S54 engine is tougher to work is because it is far more tuned engine than the 5.4...with a specific output of 104bhp/liter it certainly cannot be compared to a simple truck engine.

AMG have their approach and it works, especially from the lights with all that tq. However, I don't think this makes them more reliable, especially with superchargers and turbos dotted everywhere. I mean the V8 6.2 has had more issues than the V10 5.0. Your post is very simplistic for a tuner...

-Rob

TemjinX2

i say just save for a e55. i dont think you feel is a much of a upgrade going from a e46 m3 to a c55 other then the large amounts of low end torque in comparison to the m3.

AMS Performance

you need to read more carefully. I said the NA 55 AMG (which is what this thread is about). He is comparing the C55 AMG vs. the M3. Nothing was said about supercharger or anything else. Being more highly tuned has nothing to do about it, bmws just aren't built as well as mercedes in general and are not as well thought out so it is more difficult to work on them. The NA 55 AMG is definitely a MUCH more reliable drivetrain than the S54 (and especially when compared to the SMG which have a whole different set of problems).

blacksage

I'm not trying to sound like I have a lot of money cause I dont. With that said, it is not a matter of saving for an E55. I can purchase a car for 35K, 40K would be pushing it and the wife would probably be upset. 30k to 35k is good. However, I am getting tired of putting out cash repair things that should not break in my opinion. I came from my Acura which needed oil only in the 5 years I owned it.

The M3 does have staggered rims and my last set of rear tires were about $750 out the door.

I am leaning towards the C55 because it is REALLY affordable. I buy and sell cars often and I figured even if the car is only worth 15k in a few years I only lost 6k which isnt that bad (I plan to keep the car two to three years).

the E55 is hot, but I dont want to pay( rear: cannot afford to pay) maintenance bills on a 80k-90k vehicle.

transferred

Utter nonsense. You are just looking for homers to jump in on your side since you're on a Benz site. Most of the members here know that BMW and MB both have strengths and weaknesses...

-Rob

TemjinX2

yeah i had a acura and honda as well. But no european car is going to be as reliable as your acura. I think you need to change your expectations a little, if you think its going to have acura like reliability with the c55 your going to be disappointed.

On that note, the c55 will probably be one of the more reliable out of the w203's. It came in 2005 so most of the electrical parts were revised to fix the faults of the earliar models. The engine was in the previous e-class w210 and pretty much all amg engines are dead reliable, the volume of amg cars is still low enough in comparison to the bmw M line where they can still hand make the engines.

I think they'll eventually change as amg's get more popular.