Does anyone here own a E55o 4matic or has driven one? Any thougths? The lease on my E55 is up soon and I need awd car. I drove a RWD e550 which was 7 speed and thought it was fast ( though not e55 )... I wonder if the 5 speed car drives/feels differently?

 

I have 5 and 7 speeds cars and can tell that 5 speeds feels faster. I guess it stays more on lower gears.

 

The factory figures indicate the 7G-tronic being faster, Euro figures for 0-100 km/h are 5.5 s for the 4-Matic and 5.3 for the RWD car. The 4-Matic would gain from better grip initially, lose a bit from extra weight but the fact that the 7G-tronic has a shorter first gear (and gear ratios closer for the rest) makes it faster.

For the 0-100 km or 0-60 mph figures one should figure our if one needs to upshift just to gain the few last mph while the other one did not. I did not check this for either of the cars.

 

The RWD 7G tronic is marginally faster, but the E550 4Matic is a fantastic car. The advantage is that the 550 also has all the same available options as the 63, so no compromises there either, and if you have two sets of tires (summer/winter) it is unstoppable in any weather.

 

Just in case you aren't aware: all E550 4Matics are order only car meaning you will not find any on the lot. Your car will have to be ordered and then wait a few months. Not a bad thing though, you can then make it however you want.

 

Yeah, i know....that's why i was only able to test drive a regular e550 with the 7 speed tranny..

The 2009's come with AMG sport package at no addnl cost...throw in a P2 package and a pano roof and I think it would be a hell of a car with 4matic!!!

 

I agree. That was almost my choice, but I decided to be frugal and get the E350 for now.

 

Even better, then he can take factory delivery.