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04 E55 AMG: What needs to be addressed after 1 month of ownership
I have humbled myself and accepted to take on the project among advice of those here who are much more knowledgable than me on this subject. after a drunken and dejected somewhat of a rant in the forums here I was motivated to keep the car, and return it back to a pristine example by over time.
Now I have also been motivated to document the whole process via YouTube which I encourage you all to follow along.
My goal is to do as much if this myself as possible to enhance my knowledge of how these cars work for the future cars i plan to own as well, so truly this time advice will be appreciated. also i must mention mr birdwells help via email when I first purchased the car.
Now I have posted a walk around an explanation of all my symptoms in a youtube video I will link along with some questions of where to start and anything I am missing.
This is the beginning if a hopefully not too too long restoration process, and I am starting with talking to the guys who have the most experience first!
If anyone takes the time to watch my video and take a look at my car i really appreciate it honestly.
Also and preventative maintenance mods that ars reccommended I would love to hear.
again thank you all and for the motication to keep this amazing car and give it the love it deserves.
Also is making this car a daily driver realistic? it and what does that take?
again, I provide more details of the car in the video and appreciate each and everyone of you who read and take time to watch, no matter your response may be.
https://youtu.be/grD_yyC0GNA
Last edited by aguawaters; Aug 5, 2021 at 04:06 PM.
I regard my e55 as a reliable daily driver and I just rolled 202,000 miles on it. It costs money for high quality parts so do not purchase cheap parts! To maintain the car expect to take it down for periods of a couple of days two or three times a year. For what it's worth at my 150,000 mi service I performed the work on weekends and my spare time over the course of almost 3 weeks. Understand that I did a tremendous amount of work that others may not have felt was required but I am a firm believer in replace it before it breaks.
With mileage on your car I would be closely inspecting and expecting to replace the fuel filter, upgrade the fuel pump relay, replace the voltage regulator on the alternator as the brushes should be quite worn by now, remove the serpentine belts and spin all pullies to see if there's any roughness or noise and replace if they are not silky smooth. If the ball joints and bushings in the front suspension have not been replaced before now I would also expect to replace the front control arms, front thrust arms, steering knuckle ball joints, upper ball joints, and outer tie rod ends. Go ahead and purchase the bearing for the supercharger clutch and expect to replace it soon or better yet replace it before it breaks. Perform an advanced search using my username and subject was e55 150,000 mile maintenance.
Edit: you should also plan on replacing the transmission filter and the fluid in the transmission. Perform a fluid exchange and not a flush is my personal recommendation. For what it's worth, it's a messy job so I took it to a local independent Mercedes mechanic and paid to let them do the filter replacement and fluid exchange. Also, you will get better response on the W211 AMG subforum rather than here.
I regard my e55 as a reliable daily driver and I just rolled 202,000 miles on it. It costs money for high quality parts so do not purchase cheap parts! To maintain the car expect to take it down for periods of a couple of days two or three times a year. For what it's worth at my 150,000 mi service I performed the work on weekends and my spare time over the course of almost 3 weeks. Understand that I did a tremendous amount of work that others may not have felt was required but I am a firm believer in replace it before it breaks.
With mileage on your car I would be closely inspecting and expecting to replace the fuel filter, upgrade the fuel pump relay, replace the voltage regulator on the alternator as the brushes should be quite worn by now, remove the serpentine belts and spin all pullies to see if there's any roughness or noise and replace if they are not silky smooth. If the ball joints and bushings in the front suspension have not been replaced before now I would also expect to replace the front control arms, front thrust arms, steering knuckle ball joints, upper ball joints, and outer tie rod ends. Go ahead and purchase the bearing for the supercharger clutch and expect to replace it soon or better yet replace it before it breaks. Perform an advanced search using my username and subject was e55 150,000 mile maintenance.
Edit: you should also plan on replacing the transmission filter and the fluid in the transmission. Perform a fluid exchange and not a flush is my personal recommendation. For what it's worth, it's a messy job so I took it to a local independent Mercedes mechanic and paid to let them do the filter replacement and fluid exchange. Also, you will get better response on the W211 AMG subforum rather than here.
Watched the video. My honest opinion follows. Don't get insulted as it is meant as constructive advice.
-Trim pieces. Adhesive is good. Silicone or rubber cement or similar will put those trim pieces back on. May I suggest you *nicely* ask some of the MB techs on the sub-forum what Mercedes WIS calls for to adhere the pieces? You've managed to irritate a couple of them but they might still be willing to share their knowledge with you. Folks such as E55Greasemonkey who's opinion and recommendations I respect and have requested in the past. Just saying.
-Spray adhesive will fix the fabric in the back door. I believe 3M is what I used on my doors.
-You are correct on the purge valve vent. When the temperatures are high, and the fuel expands and vaporizes, the excess vapors are vented to atmosphere. If one lives in hot climate as you do, one will catch a scent of gasoline from time to time.See my post on my replacement of my charcoal vapor canister. Not an issue. Now...if you smell fuel inside the car, pay attention and correct the issue as soon as possible!
-I have no idea what that afterbirth-on-toast of a wiring cluster**** is but it is a major malfunction. If that is what it takes to install coilovers, count me out. I cannot assist you on this but I agree with you it needs to go!
-Purchase and install a scattershield around the supercharger clutch before it blows and takes out the thermostat and oil lines. $110 now or $1000 later. Your decision.
-There is some kind of connector behind your SBC next to the upper mounting bracket of the shock absorber. I assume this is a device to "spoof" the Airmatic suspension?
-Hope the screw came from your neighbor's car...
-At 7:34, what is wrong with the driver's side snorkel?
-Valve cover can wait a bit longer. Important, but not a priority at this time. Fix the other stuff first.
-Pinch the edges of the coolant reservoir between your fingers; if it crumbles, replace the reservoir. The plastic degrades over time and will split at the worst possible time, e.g. when you "flip off" Banditos and they begin chasing you on their motorcycles with the intent to kick your ***.
-AC won't be cheap but will be the best investment at this time.
-Never post after drinking. Guilty and have the T-shirt.
thanks for the detailed responses Mr. Birdwell. I am aware I have managed to **** off some people on this forum with my snarky attitude at times, which is why i am making an emphasis that I am coming to everyone here humbly, as i recognize most of you are much more knowledgleble so it behoove me not to **** people off. also dont be an a hole too is a something to strive for. as maybe some people my age might not reflect on their actions in a humble sense i very much attempt to thus i dont always necesarilly agree with everything i have done or said in the past, I am sure all humans can relate to this to some extent.
No offense taken on my part, as I said , no matter what responses i may get , i appreciate anyone taking time to read or watch. This valuable info is going to help me get the car up to spec, and none of you have to take the time to weote anything to o form me which i absolutely recognize and appreciate.
I regard my e55 as a reliable daily driver and I just rolled 202,000 miles on it. It costs money for high quality parts so do not purchase cheap parts! To maintain the car expect to take it down for periods of a couple of days two or three times a year. For what it's worth at my 150,000 mi service I performed the work on weekends and my spare time over the course of almost 3 weeks. Understand that I did a tremendous amount of work that others may not have felt was required but I am a firm believer in replace it before it breaks.
With mileage on your car I would be closely inspecting and expecting to replace the fuel filter, upgrade the fuel pump relay, replace the voltage regulator on the alternator as the brushes should be quite worn by now, remove the serpentine belts and spin all pullies to see if there's any roughness or noise and replace if they are not silky smooth. If the ball joints and bushings in the front suspension have not been replaced before now I would also expect to replace the front control arms, front thrust arms, steering knuckle ball joints, upper ball joints, and outer tie rod ends. Go ahead and purchase the bearing for the supercharger clutch and expect to replace it soon or better yet replace it before it breaks. Perform an advanced search using my username and subject was e55 150,000 mile maintenance.
Edit: you should also plan on replacing the transmission filter and the fluid in the transmission. Perform a fluid exchange and not a flush is my personal recommendation. For what it's worth, it's a messy job so I took it to a local independent Mercedes mechanic and paid to let them do the filter replacement and fluid exchange. Also, you will get better response on the W211 AMG subforum rather than here.
I have about four decades on you so I've picked up a thing or two with hard earned experience. We like cars. We want to restore them to their glory and share that with others. Let's celebrate our commonality and get that car restored and back tearing up the roads.. 🙂
wow I just checked your post, that is unbeleivable you made all that happen under 2k, that just gave me hope that this car isnt going to sink me 5k
i understand the work involved but im the type that has embarassingly when i was 19 spent all day on an oil change because i didnt have the right tools out of stubborness and determination and lack of funds, or two days rebuilding in a coolant system on my 325i (forst real repair too) so i think i can do this…. hopefully. lol
It may be possible to save the passenger side fog light. In my case the brackets were broken as yours are. I was, however, able to reinstall the broken brackets by slathering them with copious amounts of epoxy. Once the epoxy cured I just bolted the fog light right up have not had a problem with it in several years. Be advised the front most belly pan has two 8mm hex head screws on each side of the car that fasten that front most pan to the fender liners. You will have to remove those screws in addition to the main bolts holding up the front of the pan.
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