I have an 07 CL550 coming off lease, and am looking at both an 09 S550 and an 09 S63. For those of you who have owned (or at least driven) both, are there any issues with the S63 (e.g., rough ride, tire noise) that would make ownership less pleasant than with the S550?

I've owned both. The S63 (IMO ), to put it plainly, is breath taking! Compared to the 550, the S63's ride is taut and very responsive. Everything is AMG tuned, so the handling, steering, acceleration, etc. are a lot more sporty and firm but at the same time, ride quality is not compromised. That's what's so amazing about this car. The best part about the 63 is the engine/exhaust sound... it's this deep double tone barrel sound that is very distinct. Some might find it a little too loud but I persoanally dig it.

Remember, this is a matter of personal taste, so what might be great for me might not be for you.

Check my posts over the last 5-6 months, I"m sure you'll find some interesting info. about my thoughts on the 2.

I drove an identical but non ABC equipped version of my S550 (including the same 19" AMG Wheels) through the santa cruz mountains in Nothern cali, and I can relate to what Austin guy is saying about the handling (although his S550 was non ABC equipped).

People will tell you how the S6x AMG calibrated ABC suspension is vastly better from the S550 , but all I can say is that I can't imagine a need to make my car corner any flatter or feel any more planted .

What I will concede is that the brakes on the stock 550 are not that great, and the throttle response is akin to turbo lag, something I believe the S63 doesn't suffer from.

You may not imagine the need to make your car corner any flatter, but with ABC you would be amazed that the laws of physics seem to be ignored.

The AMG "63" brakes are not comparable to anything in the traditional Mercedes lineup, aka "girly" brakes. The twin sliding caliper is the size of a Smart car wheel and with 15.4" composite rotors, the system is pure race car performance.

The 63 engine performs best at higher rpms and regrettably does suffer in the lower range, particularly when compared to the V12-TT.

You mean these?

As I said in my prev post: I did notice a big difference betw. the handling/cornering of the 550 and 63. I put on 19" wheels on my 550 and it did not change the cornering at all. All it did was make the ride a little bit rougher, amplified the road noise a little bit and probably decreased the braking power a little bit.
I remember posting the same thing about the 550's brakes and a few posters said that it wasn't true - that the 550's brakes were plenty good. Well, after driving the S63 I can say that the 2 are not even in the same hemisphere. It's like night and day as far as pure grabbing power.

I don't see the point in equipping a car like the S550 with anything beyond ABC. After all this is a huge car. How often will you really throw one of these around a corner at high speed?

After you accumulate a few posts beyond your current newbie number you will probably understand the banality of asking that question. How often one throws one of these around a corner at high speed is by definition one of the reasons that we are all here and not at forbes.com. More importantly, Welcome to the Forum !

You have to see the reason in his post though. This is not the AMG forum, and how many S550 owners are really blasting through curves. While I acknowledge that the AMG S-Classes may have a ton of power and braking capability, a 4700lb car will simply not handle well. Now it may handle well for ITS SIZE/WEIGHT, but compared to a true sports car like a Lotus Elise, its a boat.

I have airmatic on my 220 s500, and on sports 2, it corners fairly flat, but it hopelessly understeers and just abuses the front tires. I don't doubt that the 221 does the same.

For me, If I wanted sports car handling, I'd get a sports car.

just my .02

You're probably right (for the most part) but after seeing "S63" in the thread title, I just got carried away with my Mercedes overzealousness. Nonetheless, If you want to tangle with another group of Non-AMGers, watch what you say to the S/CL600 crowd on this forum. They don't need the AMG badge to have quite spirited discussions about the performance attributes of their eminently quick and well handling V12-TT 2+ ton vehicles. Granted there are probably better vehicles to select for that true sports car feel, but most Mercedes still offer a higher than usual "driver" experience.

I don't disagree. However, I always looked more towards BMW for a sportier experience.

I recently traded in my W220 S55 for an 08 S550; Don't get me wrong, I love my new car... but I miss the smile my 55 brought me at the highway entrance ramps.... The only gripe I had is that AMG's lose their values a LOT ... More so than the standard S ... At least that's what my impression is. Also my wife likes my new car because she thought the other car was "too loud"

Yeah - bring it on!

Chris

The number of posts is irrelevant. Having 45,000 miles on a S550 is however relevant. The car is extremely nice for a large highway cruiser, which is why we bought it. This is by far the best car we have owned. But as others point out it is not a sports car. Equipping it as such is a waste of money in my view, thus my comment.

Hhhmmmm...... are you sure? Not to sound like I'm bragging, but if you're ever in town, hop on over in my S63 and we'll do a little loops
You'll be pleasently surprised at how this 4700lb beast handles. I've owned a few BMW's through the years and let me tell you - this puppy will give em a run for their money

Trust me, I think your car is gorgeous, but after you drive cars like a Porsche 993 GT2 (yeah, I got super lucky there), A ferrari 360, M3s, Elises, etc, a lot of cars just seem to fall short.

Like I said, for a huge car, Im sure your car handles awesome, but its still a huge car.

Have owned CL550 (and S550)....and CL600 and CL63 030...and now have '09 CL65....and have owned 4000lb 599, 3600lb 997TT and 3200lb 997S...and test-driven countless other supposedly spectacular new, <3500lb F/P

Nearly every wkend AM attack the Woodside mtn twisties (arguably some of world's most interesting rds) in whatever AMG/F/P is in my garage, or colleague's cars I can test-drive....and car I've enjoyed most overall is my ~5000lb '09 CL65....am a mediocre amateur driver, but would argue need to drive brilliantly-engineered cars on challenging real-world roads to understand delicate balance of tq, steering/chassis precision and stability, braking (pedal feel/stopping dists/fade resistance), throttle response linearity vs traction, etc etc

Welcome Back or as you would say, w/b!

Interesting.

So, have you and Guppy been hanging out lately?

C'mon Austin, is this post really necessary?

If you live in an area with 91 octane, the 63 engines do not like it, several have needed ECU remapping to deal with the lower octane.

The fact is that the 550 is very powerful, and probably far more than you can or will use. Both the 550 and 63 come fairly stripped (vs the V12 models were most items are standard). The 550 will come up to above 125k with all options (including designo), while the 63 will be 30-40k more.

Even at the $125-130k price, a fully equipped 550 will probably provide a great deal more utility than a stripped 63.

Intentionally, there is a price difference between the S550 base $92,000 and the S63 base $132,000 (USD). Notwithstanding the obvious AMG engine and brakes, the following optional S550 items are "standard" equipment on the S63: rear view camera, keyless go, parktronic, dynamic seats w/massage, upgraded leather, alcantera headliner, AMG sports body package, ABC Suspension, and 20" wheels & ultra hi-perf tires. Although not as option inclusive as the S600, I think it is a misnomer to refer to any S63 as "stripped", considering these "options" are worth somewhere near $20,000 if added to the S550.

To be precise, the S63 has as standard the following which are optional on the S550 (prices listed):

1. Premium Leather: $1330
2. Premium 2: $4990
3. Sport Package $5690 (Although 550 has 19" wheels instead of 20")
4. ABC $3960
5. Power Rear Side Window Blindes $720

Total: $16690

That is still a $23310 price premium for the S63

The fact is that a 550 with EVERY option INCLUDING designo would be considerably less than a base 63, and without designo, it is still $16535 less.

My point was that for 99.9% of people, the utility derived from having all the features on an S would be far greater than extra HP on top of the 382. Not to mention for those who drive a lot, the 63 is horribly inefficient compared to the 550.

Total $16690

What is also likely to drive down prices of the current early edition 2009 S class Models is that mercedes will be tweaking the electronics in the 09 Models built after March.

(1) Adaptive Highbeam Assist
(2) Lane Keeping Assist
(3) Speed Limit Assist: a camera with an eye for traffic signs
(4) Distronic Plus increased to 200m (from current 150 m)

http://emercedesbenz.com/Nov08/12_00...ring_2009.html

I read that but I can't imagine they wouldn't hold that stuff for the '10 refresh next fall. I think that article was written when the refresh was still supposed to be out in the spring.