CFiftyFive

With the C55 being somewhat "rare" and a good majority of them being raced or abused to death, it makes it even harder nowadays to find a well-cared unabused one.

Assuming the exterior and interior have been well taken care of despite driving abuse. How do you tell if it has been tracked or raced regularly?

I've read in a another thread that one good indicator is that the silver calipers will have a slight bronze tint to it. Do you know of any other ways to tell aside from this?

BrandonS

If it doesn't have new tires, look at the tires. Mine have small "pits" in them from taking corners real hard.

Newzchspy

Define tracked or raced regularly? I don't believe that just because one has tracked their car or raced it , it is abused. Would you rather a car NOT maintained well and driven regularly or one very well maintained that is occasionally tracked or raced. Its all relative to the maintenance and remember, AMGs are made to be RUN!!

Quicktwinturbo

Check brake disc, pads, tires.. Other than that, it would be hard to tell.. See if it has a lot of paint-chips around the fenders..

Our cars are designed to take the abuse.. If you really worry about getting an abused car, you should just go ahead and buy a new one (C63)..

Jst my 2cents

Newzchspy

+1, the ONLY car I would consider other than a Porsche TT 997 S or GTR is a C63 (2012 model) ....................Just a purely nice car and very quick to boot!!!

kjb55

I think the OP has some valid concerns. There is a big difference between an abused car and one that is well cared for and driven properly. That isn't to say you can't enjoy the car or that it isn't meant to be driven.

However, there is an experienced way to drive a car well and enjoy it and NOT abuse it. The abused cars are pretty easy to spot: tires, body work, bushings, mounts and drivability are easy indicators.

Unfortunately, even the prospective buyers that claim to really care about the history of a car and won't settle for anything but a no stories car... still won't pay a premium for it!

PC Valkyrie

For people who do occasionally take their cars on road courses, the only real wear and tear items are tires, brake pads, and brake rotors. I doubt the suspension components excessively "wear out" with the occasional track day.

Unless you crash or spin off the track, the bodywork should not be affected at all (at least not any more than getting rock chips from daily road use).

The "gold calipers" only happens when people severely overcook their brakes.

CFiftyFive

Can you expound on this a bit? When you say pits, I am imagining little "pore-like" holes. And are they on the sidewall, the thread or both?

Autotechnica

That's not a sign of abuse. Anyone who takes corners quickly and knows how to drive properly will wear out the sidwall faster than the treads themselves. Cornering hard isn't even abuse. If you're talking about doing burnouts then I guess bald tires is what you're looking for? It's impossible to tell. Abuse has little to do with track driving. If you're looking for a car and you're concerned, take it for a test drive, get a mechanic to check it out or even get it star certified by Mercedes before purchase. Anything that wears out as a result of track driving can easily be replaced and really would be before it could even certify. I haven't really seen any C32/C55's on sale that were badly abused. They tend to be driven by more mature people. If you were looking at E46 M3's, then I would be concerned.

Bry

thegreatfnr

This. My car has seen some track duty. A couple track days and a few runs down a drag strip, maybe some more in the near future. You would not be able to tell anything was wrong with the car because there isnt. These cars are pretty well built. Also no gold calipers for me either.

I guess the one thing that could give away my car as it sits today though would be the rubber build up on the fenders , but shame on anyone trying selling a car that dirty.

BrandonS

Here's what mine look like. I wouldn't say I abuse the car though. I just autocross it once a month and I only get up to 90mph in a straight. Just showing what it looks like when you push tires.

CFiftyFive

Thanks for uploading that pic BrandonS.

And thank you also for your input guys!

PC Valkyrie

Haha.....that's not bad in terms of tire wear. You still have plenty of life left in that tire on the track/autocross.

If you push our cars in cornering, the outer edge of the tires (especially in the front) will wear out much faster then the rest of the tread.

May 2008, Michelin PS2, after a few track days:


Oct. 2009, same tire, after a few more track days (you can see I've worn down the outside edge to the point of seeing the tire cords; you can also see how much the tire rolled over to wear out the side of the tire):

F1Bobby

Mine is a garage queen...
34k miles!

BrandonS

are you running low tire pressure or soft sidewall?

DuaneC63

Two give aways to lots of track time. As noted the outside edges of the front tires wear really fast when pushed hard. The other visual indicator is lots of stone chips in the front bodywork and windshield.

BrandonS

Stone chips also show an Oklahoma car. Since I've moved to this state every car I've had looks like kids threw gravel at the front of it.

DuaneC63

I thought those were hail stones from twisters.

splinter

That’s nothing a bit more negative camber wouldn’t help to remediate.

Chunked too many Michelins before dialing in ~-2.5° up front. :smash:

Mark.D

I would be more concerned about regular maintenance at an authorized facility. Like mentioned above, these are beefed up cars, designed to take some hard use. If the car has been maintained, and you can validate, then that should be the main concern. IMO daily wear and tear is almost as hard, if not harder over a period of 5+ years then tracking. Would you rather have an enthusiast tracked car, or a daily commuter driven by some lessee whose last concern is overall vehicle condition?

mikekuriger

abused is ok, damaged is another story.

Newzchspy

Funny, I still have VHT Trackbite on my rear wells.......................