10stepsback

Hello everyone!

This is my first MBWorld post and would like to know if a E55 would be a reliable car for a 18 year-old like me. I am not afraid to get my hands dirty however I would not like to replace anything big like pistons, head gaskets, etc. From what I hear from my family members it is a bad idea to own a old AMG and I get that. However this is a dream car of mine and would want to see if the risk is worth it.

I do know that everything in the E55 had unnecessary things to be electronic and will eventually break.

If anyone has an Idea how much maintenance would be and what could possibly break let me know =)

cetialpha5

If you have deep pockets, it can be reliable. Things on AMG just tend to be more expensive than the E320/E350. The brakes are more expensive, the Airmatic option, about 1k a corner but Arnott is around $500 a corner. The the fuel tank is about 3k if you go to the dealer, but you could just replace the fuel pump/filter instead of replacing the entire tank. Just depends how deep your wallet is. It also had SBC brakes but that has a 25 year warranty so even an older model would have at least 5 years left on the warranty, otherwise SBC was over 2k to repair.

chassis

Deep pockets are required by you or someone you have a close relationship with.

Calling @E55Greasemonkey

E55Greasemonkey

I'll be able to respond more later...but my first question is have you priced insurance yet? Also be aware these cars are getting old....and my opinion is that nobody should be using one as a daily driver at this point. How many miles a year will you be driving it?

bbirdwell

Knowing what I know my first response is, "No".

Plan on $1000 up front for good STAR/Xentry system, possibly another $500 for specialized tools (internal and external torx bits and sockets, non-standard size metric sockets and combination wrenches, 5 and 6 point bits plus standard Allen wrenches).

When maintenance comes due, can you afford to drop $1,000 at a time? And that is if you perform the labor. For what it's worth at 100,000 miles I expended approximately $5,500 fixing issues with the car. At 111,000 miles $1600. At 140,000 miles ~$800 (parts only) At approximately 150,000 mi I dropped almost another $3,700 in parts. At 170,000 miles ~$750 in parts. At 200,000 miles ~$1600. At 210,000 miles ~$2,300.

As E55Greasemonkey pointed out, he does not recommend it as a daily driver. Despite his advice, I use mine as a daily driver but the above provides you some examples of how much it costs to keep using it as a daily driver.

It is a fun car, it is a great car, but it is a money hungry b****.

10stepsback

It would be my daily driver and I would assume 6-12k miles in a year. To be honest it is quite hard to determine since I am not sure what my future holds lol. From what I am seeing it seems to be a bad idea unless I have some deep pockets.

10stepsback

If I haven't stated it yet, I would like the models from 2003-2006.

chassis

What are your skills as it relates to old car maintenance and repair? What tools do you own or have access to? What garage facility do you have access to?

A 2003 model year is a 19-20 year old car. Nearly a classic. Old and classic cars take lots of time and money to keep running.

E55Greasemonkey

I'm gonna say NO to your original question, it's not a good first car. If you like the body style, I'd suggest a 2008-2009 E350, gas engine, not 4matic. The sport models are very nice looking cars, the best looking E-class in my opinion. Otherwise a Honda or Toyota would be best.

rapidoxidation

A teenager with a high maintenance 469 hp, 516 ft.lbs engine as a first car? What could possibly go wrong?
Buy life insurance now; it's cheap at your age.

cetialpha5

Yeah, one of those things where you have to be careful what you wish for. There's a reason Mustangs and Corvettes are on the list of top 10 death cars. Not because they're that dangerous, it's just some people who buy them don't have the experience or skill that they think they do.

There's a reason teenage drivers are 3 times more likely to die than drivers over 20.