C63 Reliability
 

I have been looking for a sport sedan for a few months and plan to buy one in the spring. I have looked at all the different brands BMW, Lexus, Subaru WRX, and the Hyundai Genesis 3.8. After lots of research I decided that the C63 AMG is the car for me. I love the style, luxury and performance. I have seen many available in the 25-35k range 2008-2012. Typically these cars have around 40-60k miles and look like they are in good condition. My question is how reliable is a C63 ? I know that gas mileage is not great and that tires don't last long and parts and repairs can be expensive but if taken care will a C63 be a dependable car ? I read several posts that asked this question but they were from back in 2010 and most of these guys had less than 25,000 miles on their cars. I would expect a new car not to break down. I am an average working guy looking for a nice sport luxury sedan .. is it doable ?


Also what are some of the things I should look out for ??

I just bought one recently and compared to the competition they have a pretty good reliability track record with minimal issues.

The really big one to look out for is the head bolt issue - basically the headbolts need replaced in all the cars for the most part 2010 or older with a few 2011's, this is many thousands of dollars of work, so personally would avoid anything older than 2011 and have the VIN of a 2011 checked to see if it has the old head bolts or the new design. If you need to look at older models then I would not purchase anything that has not had the headbolts changed or would work the cost of it into the deal if a dealer car. Otherwise they seem pretty solid!

^^ What he said^^

Be sure to check out https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...-stickies.html also search threads for Daily Driver and you will see that the C63 is extremely reliable. I dd mine here in Kansas and couldn't be happier.

Awesome !! Thanks guys this is just what I wanted to hear !!


At first when I stated looking I wanted an M3 or M5 and went to the BMW dealer but the M3 they had was not drivable it had a software issue that put it in limp mode. The BMW dealer went on to tell me that none of their v8 cars had a warranty and I should just get used to expensive repairs... lets just say that turned me off from BMW.

Typical BMW owner...dumb and douchey ;). You would think he would direct you to another dealer nearby for a test drive lol.

Same as everyone else said. Doesn't seem like there is too much that goes wrong that is catastrophic (e.g., M3s hate rod bearings) or not self inflicted. My car (2nd owner) has 33k on it and has just had normal maintenance and a wheel sensor fixed under warranty.

The c63 is hands down more reliable than an M5, fwiw. Head bolts issue though is real.

Yes , have/had 335i/Audi S4 and C63 is definitely proving to be more reliable, E92 M3 maybe has fewer problems than the 335i, but the problems are more expensive. On anything the later models of the run tend to have the early issues addressed, so buy the latest year in the run you can afford - for w204 it is 12+, common issues are addressed, LCI has a much improved interior and better looking bumper/headlights/wheels.

I think the C63 is a really reliable car if you get a 12+.

It is definitely more reliable than my old 335. That thing always had a CEL on for something even though it was FBO it was just not as fun as this C63. The older Ms have rod bearing issues that are pretty common and cost a couple of grand to fix. I have been seeing the E90 since late 05 so I feel the overall interior on the E9x is really dated. The s5/s4 dont compare to the C63 IMO.

I think the W204 C63 is quite reliable IMO.

It is a very reliable daily driver. As the others have said, look out for the Head Bolt issue. My understanding is that all 2009 and some 2010 cars had the headbolt issue.
If you find a car you really like, post the VIN number on Valvestud's thread, and he can get your data card for you.

All are worried about the headbolts in the C63 cars up to mid 2011 year-model.
If you get a car close to that year range, you can use the thread in this forum to make sure if it came with the new bolts.


Meanwhile, a poll in this forum, only found 3 people that had the broken bolts (in the C63, as the M156 is also installed in many other AMG of the same era), with 2 more that I can see posted, but did not participate in the poll.
Of these, at least 2 did not have the Mercedes antifreeze in their car.
Mercedes specifies replacement of their antifreeze at 160 K miles in this car.


A guy that has close to 200,000 km but does have the Mercedes original antifreeze and got the bolts out recently as preventative work, seemed to say that they did not look as corroded as needing urgent replacement.


With this said the thinking, including me, is to replace them anyway, without waiting to see what would happen.

A guy in a different thread talking about the cost of replacement of the head bolts said that it would be anywhere from $12,600 to $25,000 for replacement from the dealer. $25,000 is about the price of the car. I would imagine that for far less than that you could buy an entire new motor ?? Is this figure accurate ?

There are two M156 currently on eBay in the $6500- 7000 range, from pre facelift c63.
My conversation with my dealer put the cost of parts and labor for bolt replacement with head gaskets (preventative, before anything bad happens), in the $3500 range.
If this was the price, having a car that has updated bolts, done and documented by the dealer, under my opinion increases the resale value of the car. I am not sure if it increases by $3500 but you should be able to sell it for a premium.
So may be worth considering.

$3500 while expensive is not totally unreasonable for the reasons listed above.. and if someone was going to keep the car long term might be worth it.

Purchased my 08 two years ago with 87k miles on the odometer. Now has 107k miles on it.
Steering​ wheel lock replaced, headlight switch replaced, about to replace valve cover gaskets, and front lower control arms due to bushing wear.

​Biggest expense i have had was the steering wheel lock because i could not do the repair myself since it is classified as a anti theft device and you must meet certain criteria to purchase. That repair bill was about $880

Motor wise it seems to be pretty solid but my car appears to have the updated head bolts based off the carfax

I remember in a previous thread someone blew their engine and was looking for a replacement. The engine alone on the C63 is around $30k+ lol. I'm sure slightly less on the pre-fl.

It's the same motor so pricing should be the same

That sounds like a dealer price new, used motors are under 10k with moderate mileage, you can buy entire cars for less than 30k these days.

LOL NO. Headbolts are like <$1,000 and install is maybe another grand.

$12k for head bolts :rolf: thats more expensive then a brand new S63 turbos ...($6,000 a turbo)


i'd be more concerned about the intake manifold on c63s vs some headbolts that never break.

Google "C63 intake manifold whistle" you'll find a crap ton of threads about how Mercedes designed a crappy intake manifold that cracks and costs $8900 to replace from a stealership