Currently own an 2006 e55 @ 144k miles, its been driven hard most of its life and its had almost 0 issues in all these miles but I think its time to move to something newer. So I've been trying to find any biturbo'd 550 and man I can't find anything in the Northwest, why do they seem so rare or are they just so good that nobody wants to give them up or were the sales numbers just low for these cars?
Thanks.

 

They are very rare and have proved to be very reliable as well. Go like stink, get great mpg, and are a great bargain if you can find one. Keep looking, but be prepared to jump on a good one as they sell quickly. Mine has every option available in 2014 and I would never be able to replace it.

 

Yea there are a few in Seattle might take a day trip to check these out, thanks for the reply.

 

Like @KEY08 expand your search, ready to jump on one you like, and don't expect to be "wheeling and dealing" as their are much fewer examples of these cars. Looking on Autotrader, only 57 examples for '12 to '14 E550s across the nation... so yeah, not many.

Start searching all the sites: carvana, cargurus, cars.com, craigslist, eBay, carfax, etc..

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...&numRecords=25

 

Those 57 examples on Autotrader include all of the 2WD coupes as well, so be careful when searching, unless you are looking for the coupe. Run the VIN in the decoder to check for options. Some came with minimal options, like no driver's assist, parktronic, or full LED headlights, etc. You could also order Airmatic as an option and I would maybe steer clear of those. I have had Airmatic cars with little problems, but they are expensive to sort if something goes wrong. My current E550 4M is on the standard springs and it handles very well.

 

The E550 is truly an amazing car. You get amazing performance without the AMG price tag. They are hard to find and if you find one well-optioned out, be prepared to write that check. I drive a 2011 E550 which has the NA 5.5l V8 and it’s a beast of an engine and has been nothing but reliable. I’m running every option other than the driver assistance package however as far as I know that package was unavailable with the AMG Sport package so I sleep at night just fine . Good luck with your search, keep us posted!

 

And don't leave out Carmax - that's where we got ours. They have an incredible warranty as well. We paid to have ours shipped from TX to CA - $799 (it was a CA car originally). One thing we found was somehow Carmax doesn't either understand MB options or doesn't value them. We test drove a "naked" E550 sedan with similar miles to what we bought with pretty much every option: even Night Vision Assist and rear door window shades - ours was priced a thousand dollars more than the one with close to zero options, go figure. We like the airmatic and will pay to keep it going - having now owned one with it, my preference would be to have it over regular springs - but to each their own... A super sleeper sedan, that's for sure...

 

550 is a rare bird. I think I recall reading once it made up about 5% of E cars. But they're certainly out there. Not sure I'd give up quite yet

 

And still looks great too

 

I have a 2010 E550 with every option other than the Night View, i.e. I have the Driver Assist Package. The car is an "Avant Garde", which I think is the AMG looks package...?

This car is a tank. I bought it with 14700 miles on the clock 8 years ago. It has over 180 000 miles now. Changed starter and all air springs and struts. That's about it for the maintenance/repair other than oil changes.

For the book price that is probably below $9000. I will never get rid of this car as it is way more valuable than the mileage puts it to. My miles are 85% highway so the engine has only about 55 000 miles on it compared to a city car.

I believe it runs another 100 000 miles without issues if I was driving it like I did in the past. I'm driving a 2013 S550 now as my daily driver. E gets few miles every 3-4 weeks when I crank it up and drive a little to keep battery charged. I don't use any trickle chargers for it. Starts up with no issues at all after sitting for 4 weeks straight.

 

I have been looking for an e550 as well but yes really hard to find. Do you guys know if the cls550 would be comparable in terms of power and handling? Seems to be same engine There seem to be more of these available.

 

It may be in terms of power, but it's kind of....a lot bigger than an E; I've owned one since 2012 It's also more lux that an E IMO, and I had two E's as well, granted they were from the previous decade

 

if you dont mind paying to ship it look nation wide. im in Mass and shipped mine from NC. was the perfect buy. seems like in todays car buying world you almost have to be willing to shop nation wide. there was nothing local to me.

 

I guess I stand corrected and will not be sleeping at night!

 

Yea its odd that there are more cls's, the only thing i require is biturbo'd and 4matic not really concerned with options much so a cls is def something I'd take if I find the right price but would rather a E due to the weight difference.

 

The W218 CLS550 is certainly something to consider. They are gorgeous.

The new C257 CLS is hideous like most modern Benzes.

 

That's where I got mine too! Found it on Cars.com, literally jumped on it and had it shipped from Costa Mesa to here in Denver without cost (don't know how that happened). 90-day warranty covered chain tensioner fix + have the Maxcare on it as well.

 

I spent over a year trying to find mine. I missed out on one in Houston while still living there in 2018 (2012 one owner with 15k on it). Test drove it, went home to get checkbook and go to church, came back an hour later to it already sold. Ended up finding mine on cars.com and had it transferred from one Carmax to my local one. Purchased it with 10,500 on it (one owner) and currently sits with 15,700 on it almost two years later in May. I learned you just have to be patient with it. While searching for mine, I came across a 2014 in Portland I debated on buying, so they are out there. Don't get discouraged!

FYI: MB Greenway in Houston had a one-owner 2012 E550 sedan with 28k on it two weeks ago. Only if I knew you were looking, and I would have sent you the link!

 

One reason I'm a huge fan of the AMG GT 4 door, it really seems like a 'better' looking CLS

 

Be careful of the M278 timing chain/tensior issues. I'm personally not too sure as to which production dates are affected but keep an eye out for those issues via the engines production number. Can't speak on M273 engines.

 

The m273 is phenomenal. It’s been extremely reliable and the torque is just always there. Oh had it tuned by oetuning to get an extra 25hp and 35 torque and it was honestly worth it. Breaking about 400hp total

 

I wasn't even looking. Stopped by a local dealer in the 211 500 wagon to see a strange S coupe I saw on line. Next to it was my 13' 550. It belonged to this lady who's husband I know. Very well maintained. Snatched it up for 14k right then. I contacted him to find out more about the car, why it was traded at a chevy dealer. He said it was the hardest decision but his business needed a truck. He said the only issues they had was the ever present drivers side water infiltration which the local MB dealer couldnt duplicate. What a wonderful slightly damp car!

 

unless it had 150,000 miles on it that was an unbelievable deal.

 

Hit the nail on the head. I knew about the issue going into my purchase and had it confirmed with the "post" PPI as I heard the rattle on cold start-up. Carmax covered the repairs at the MB dealer. I know the 2012s were prone to it and possibly early 2013 builds? Another thing to look for are the CAM sensor harness, which has been noted on this site. As I mentioned in another thread for it, my MB indy recommended replacement before it became an issue. $350 replacement was a no-brainer.

OP: Definitely check out the CLS550 as well. It is a beauty, just as others here have mentioned. I looked at them as well, but I didn't want any Airmatic hassle. Look for a 2014 before they stuck the iPad to the dash like the W205 C-Class.

 

I have 123,000 miles on my 2012 E550 and I've spent $0 on repairs (knock on wood). I've had it for 9 years now. Bought it used with around 7,000 miles. Most of the miles are highway miles and when I drive on the highway I do my best to never use the brakes, which is why my current brake pads and rotors have lasted over 100,000 miles. The best part of the car is the engine. 400hp and 440torque. My natural brown interior looks almost new.

Distronic still works, but I only use it in stop and go traffic and I never drive in stop and go traffic anymore. Windshield is still original. Aux battery is still original. Main battery lasted about 7 years. All lights and bulbs are original. The only thing that stopped working is the module/computer for the lane keep assist and high beam assist. I never used the lane keep assist, but the high beam assist was nice. Replacing the module is simple and behind the rear view mirror. The hard part is the calibration afterwards. It has to be done by a dealer with special software and I don't want to pay for that.

I'm thinking about trading it in for another Mercedes (either a 2017 S Class or a new 2021 E450 but I've read about some owners having problems with the new 48v battery in the E450 engines), because once things start to break it may not be worth it repairing. I still have the original motor mounts and transmission mount. A local indy quoted me $2,000 to replace all 3 mounts. That includes sales tax. I don't feel the mounts are causing any problems, so I don't think I'll replace them. (I tried searching online for E550 motor mounts and nobody has them. I emailed FCPEuro and they didn't have them but they gave me the part numbers. I googled them and still nothing popped up)

Side note, Carmax just started offering 24 hour test drives and a 30 day return policy (up to 1,500 miles). That's easily the best in the industry. Vroom and Carvana offer 7 day return policies. Tesla used to offer 7 days for returns but they quietly stopped that.