I know they are old but possibly looking at buying a 2000 s430 amg with 174000 miles or a 2000 s500 with 119000.
I have looked but haven't seen a s430 amg before. My question is is it a real amg? I have the vin WDBNG70J8YA105487. Also if I go with cash I can get it for 2900.

The s500 I'm waiting on the vin now and its only 4900.
I know this isn't much information but what is a better choice if I do go with one of them? I'm trying to just pay cash since I don't have a car right now.

Also figured a benz would be a good choice again(did have a 2002 clk for a while. I'm trying to debate on one of these or going back to a BMW 5 series or jaguar s-type/x-type.

 

No, there was no such thing as an S430 AMG. The only AMG W220 cars are the S63 AMG and the S65 AMG. But the S430 and the S500 could be optioned with an appearance package and wheels that made it resemble the AMG cars. However, with $2900 to $4900 to spend you need to stay way clear of any high mileage W220. It will absolutely eat you alive in repairs. I've owned both a 430 and a 500, neither of which had half those miles. The 500 had $21,000 in repairs including a tranny ($6000) and the 430 had $13,000 including an AirMatic failure, blown main seal, engine mounts, transmission mounts, rear differential. $4900 will get you a reasonably decent high mileage Camry or Accord. Much smarter play.

 

I used to owned a 2003 S55 AMG with V8 supercharge ! That's also a real AMG for W220 !

 

Indeed. Man, the 220 is still a great looking car in AMG trim.

 

The amg badge on the 430 is just a $10 eBay badge
there is. No such thing as any amg w220 besides s55 and s65 (and a few rare s63)

the amg appearance package was just a body kit and amg rims . No engine mods

 

Get the one that doesn't have ABC Suspension.

 

I think with the 220 only the AMG cars got ABC. The 430/500/600 should all be AirMatic.

 

My 2005 S600 with AMG package (body kit, 18" wheels & tires) has the ABC !

 

It was an option on all 220s but it's not common on the non AMG cars. Which is good, because it's an f'ing nightmare.

 

To be more clear , all s600 and s55 amg have abc- you could not get airmatic in these cars

abc was optional on other models with airmatic being the standard suspension

 

If you've got a $3,000 - $6,000 car budget and are considering a W220, you need to have at least that in reserve as a maintenance budget to fix the stuff that will fail while you own it.

If $6,000 is the limit of your budget, and you don't have the cash to spend another $3-6K then you should really avoid a W220.

Best driving car I've ever owned...awesome, really, BUT requires a steady stream of cash on repairs and maintenance.

 

I have an S500 that has the ABC system. They are rare but were available back then.