I saw a nice SEC the other day but the model number in the back was taken off. Is there any visual cues to tell whether it's a regular SEC or AMG SEC? Also, any visual cues from a 500 to a 560? It had a black from 3point star. Does that mean anything or the owner just painted it black? When it went drove by it was pretty loud. Was the AMG loud or it was just an aftermarket muffler? It looked like a twin tip but not chrome or polished on one side.

 

At that time AMG was not MB's "in-house" tuner. It was an independent shop.

If an SEC was modified or upgraded, it could have been AMG, Brabus, Lorinser, etc. or pretty much anyone and their mother for that matter. There were no showroom AMG MB cars back then.

You might want to take a closer look. It could be a stock SEC with AMG wheels and cosmetic upgrades. Not that there's anything wrong with that (in fact, I would like to get one some day), but just wanted to give you a heads up that initial visual clues may not tell you about performance upgrades or lack thereof.

I'm sure there are also other people on this forum much more qualified to answer your question and give you advice.

 

I'm not sure, but the cam covers should have AMG stamp in them if it has the AMG cams/heads. Get the vin and do a carfax report to see if its a 560 or 500.