All I can say is wow, the engine and the transmission are mate in heaven, very smooth yet powerful. Acceleration is very linear that you can't tell how fast you are going exactly until you peek at your speedo, it has enough torque to overtake an NYC taxi waiting at the light next to you with light throtle. Also, its behavior is completely different from my E55, which on the 55 in NYC traffic, it is throw you into the seat then throw you into the dash, but on the E550, it's more civilized. I would say for day to day city & highway driving, the E550 is what I would choose over the E55, however, if I am going back to NJ, definitely the E55, long stretch of highway means a lot of spirited driving fun. I will throw in some pictures once I have my rear spoiler and windows tint installed.

 

HOLY COW!!

 

I need to go test drive one of these beasts this week!!! All I keep hearing is how outragous this new 550 engine is EVERYWHERE... Not one bad word from it yet...

 

Yeah, and if you test drive an CLK550, you would probably trade in your E500 for it. hee hee.

Jangy,
No joke, E550 is what I would use for daily NYC commute.

 

any noticeable difference in the steering feel in the 07 versus the 06 ? Does the same 7 speed tranny installed in both the e55 and e550 ?

 

E55 is only a 5 speed. The E63 has the same tranny as the E550, the notorious 7g

 

Congrats on the car. I just picked up my E550 as well today.
I got a Flint Gray E550 Sports Edition 4 Matic. Haven't really opened it up yet, but I soon will. I will get some pics up hopefully tomorrow. I like the Sports Package look with the dual Exhuast and the wheels look better.

 

I'm going to review on both the steering wheel and steering feel. I had the stock leather wheel on the 55 before I swapped it out for an MP Design wheel, all I could remember on that stock wheel was too thin for such a beast. On the E550, I have the wood/leather wheel, which is thick and nice, so comparing the stock wheels, the 07 is definitely an improvement. Steering feel wise, well, my 55 is AMG tuned Airmatic, so it's all good there, the E550 is nice and firm, but not as good as the AMG tuned version.

 

Thanks. I spoke with my dealer about the wheels on the sport models, he said the wheels are nice, but the car would perform better with more sport oriented tires. Because of his words, I came home and put on my stock E55 wheels and tires onto the E550, definitely an improvement, nice and firm.

 

The 7 speed in my E550 is so smooth that you are not even aware of the shifting. If the older ones are "notorious", then I would say that has been fixed for 2007.

 

I wish you the best and hope that mB is near a fix. the only part that i am still worried about is the 1-2 and 2-1 shift. i heard there is a new flash for this and initial responses were good. We'll see. I assume the new E550 already has that fix, so maybe we are nearing the development of the 7g. It is an adaptive system, with sysmptoms sometimes not showing up for about 5000miles (like on my E500). That bodystyle actually never had that great of issues. Also, my sister (CLK350) was told a few months back to hold off as a true fix was on the way. Maybe it is here!!

 

jangy could you explain that a little more? My car is rounding the 5k mile corner stone, what should I watch for?

 

The easiest way to duplicate it is to let the car coast from about 25mph and let it go all the way down to 5mph. It should shift from 2nd to first and see how smooth it is?

 

On my E550, it's as smooth as it can be, so I guess Jangy is right, looks like they have sorted out the issue. Comparing the tranny in the E550 and my wife's CLK350, it's definitely an improvement, and she is also waiting for the SA to give her a call on the ETA for the new software.

 

Yeah I surprised to learn that the sport E's comes with all season tires. They'd do a lot better with real tires for sure.

M