Hey Guys, spotted a blue c55 with 70k miles for 17 grand - should I stay away from high mileage c55s ? -or- are they reliable provided I do the CPS sensor etc (known issues) and dont worry abt anything major (tranny, engine etc) - I'm handy but to an extent lol, I cant do suspension work, maybe oils, spark plugs etc ... pls advise asap I'm itching ;-)

 

70K doesn't seem like too many miles, now 130k is a lot. I got my C32 with 72K and has been a pretty good car. From what I've read the C55 seems to be more reliable than the C32.

Good luck

 

+1, that is normal miles and C55s are very reliable from what I've heard.

 

Check:
* car fax,
* Any records that come with car,
* pre-purchase inspection at another shop,
* consider aftermarket warranty if you are not handy with tools.

I would consider getting a china-made star/das laptop/interface.... to help diagnose the future issues/sensors that do go bad from time to time..... but with the help of this forum and a good diag machine..... and OEM internet parts suppliers we can save you money/headaches...... and keep your car happy for a wee bit over the price of an f-body of c5...... or at least close...

 

106 and counting.

 

i have over 130'000miles on my c32 and over 70k with my c55. Both a runing amazing. Imo the key is to make sure it's properly service at an mb dealer and regularly. It always worked for me for every mb i have owned. (the only one that wasn't proparly taken care of? The engine blew up!) Also when you see the owner it can give you an hint on how he treated the car but that just my 2 cents.

 

70K is high mileage? Damn...

 

94k on mine, still ran 13.3 at 107 at the track. Reliable and still fast! lol

 

I didn't get a tune or start using nitrous until I was over 110,000 miles. These engines need a break in period :-)

 

Got any suggestions for specific Chinese replica STAR/DAS units? I've seen a few of them around, but don't know which one to trust? I thought I also read that some cannot access developer mode? Not that I would really mess with that, but it'd be nice to know that the feature is available if necessary - say to muck about with a digital HVAC swap onto a C55, or perhaps a coil spring conversion on a W211 E55 or a CLS55.

But back to the original topic of this thread, 70,000 miles isn't huge mileage. My car's Canadian, but I've only just accumulated over 108,000km. Fundamentally, the car isn't very complicated - not a lot of electronic gizmos like active body control or air suspension. The engine is just a large, naturally aspirated, understressed V8.

When I was doing my research for common problems with the car prior to purchase, only relatively minor items came up - apparently the 'dogbone' link in the steering column can sometimes fail - it's just a plastic piece and failure would prevent full extension of the steering column. There have been reports of static issues related to moisture intrusion on the amp (I've experienced this intermittently). I don't think of leaking seals as huge issues, they are going to be common with lots of cars, regardless of marque, as mileages creep up - valve cover gaskets is common and cheap fix, and rear main seals themselves are cheap but getting at them does mean transmission removal, which is not an easy task. I looked at a couple of C55s before I picked mine up, and inexperienced or inattentive drivers, ie. not car guys, could perhaps not pay enough attention to the relatively low ride height and required departure angle over curbs and thus scrape the front bumper, sometimes damaging the front lower fender liner. Again, it's an easy fix but the plastic part can be near $100. Not a huge deal. The rear main seal can be expensive to fix though - I mean we're talking a $20 part at the most, but several hundred dollars in labour, at least, to remove the transmission to get at it. Or a lot of effort on your garage floor, if you have the wherewithal.

The only other recurring issue I get is that one of the headlamp washer nozzle covers doesn't always retract fully after use. Oooo...big deal!

The front brake discs themselves can be a bit expensive, but that's relative. They are expensive compared to common imports or domestics. They are inexpensive compared to the more exotic AMGs, or even older AMGs (like my C43 or the 208s and 210s). But those are wear items, and if you plan ahead then it's not a big deal.

I would say overall I'm very happy with my C55. The only downer is that it's not a C63, but as I've posted before, the C55 is about 2/3 the C63 driving experience at about (current) 1/3 the cost. Do it!!

 

I just purchased my C55 3 weeks ago with 64k miles. 70k is def not high mileage! Do it!

I do as much repair/maintenance work as I can myself. As long as you know where to get parts at a decent price and you don't mind getting a little dirty, it's fairly cheap to take care of these cars. I'm also lucky that I found an awesome Indie mechanic right around the corner from where I live. He's very honest and fair (i.e. $500 repair there is about $1000 at the stealership).

In my personal experience, I've come to realize that as long as you find an honest mechanic, maintaining most Mercedes models (with the exception of maybe an SL 65 AMG or the really high end ones) isn't that much more expensive than most typical cars. The issue is that, most dealers or qualified Mercedes mechanics KNOW that the majority of the people driving a Mercedes aren't exactly poor, and they also know that a lot of people don't know jack when it comes to repairing their car (i.e. soccer mom in an ML 350), so there's a double whammy they can take advantage of.

But as for your original question, I would jump on that and try to talk them down. I got an '05 with 64k for $14k.

 

Assuming it was properly maintained, 70k miles is no problem. The engines are bulletproof when maintained. Get a car fax and find out as much as you can about how the car was maintained so you know what you're buying.

 

Agree, 70k miles isn't that high for these cars

 

My C32 has 86k and runs like a dream. The C55, as others have said, is supposed to be even more reliable. These AMG motors are no joke. They'll keep running provided proper maintenance is done.