JUGGERNAUT

On my quest to obtain a pristine S55 AMG, I took a test drive of a 2003 Silver S55, it had all the options except for Distronic and Voice Command. The car had 60K miles though and was selling for $53,xxx.

The car felt solid even with high miles. My question is, whenever I floored the car from a rolling start of about 15-20mph I feel a slight delay and a sudden jerk of power, is this the supercharger clutch slipping or is it just building boost?

canadaneedsmusi

My father has a 2005 S55, and it has had that same "lag" since he bought it, and he bought it brand new. I don't know WHY it is there, but as far as I know it's normal.

PA55AMG

My 06 does it too. It's sort of a combination of torque converter lockup and super charger engagement.

Vadim @ FD

Correct, it is common to all Kompressor 55 AMGs.

bzliteyear

given that we're almost to 2007 and this is a 4 yrs old car, unless this is starmarked for 3 more yrs, i think it's better to stay below $50k or w/ lower mileage...and still under warranty.

JUGGERNAUT

Thanks guys.

What does fully loaded encompass for a S55?

1) Distronic
2) Parktronic
3) Rear Sunshade
4) Voice Command and Phone
5) Keyless Go

Am I missing anything?

epj1906

Other Options:

1. Individual rear seating
2. Electronic Trunk closer
3. 4 Zone Climate Control

whoover

Also:

Sirius.
Side sunshades (manual).
Rear seat package (rear A/C is usually part of it, but it also adds power adjustable seats with lumbar support and power control of rear headrests).
Heated and active ventilated rear seats.
Designo trim (Graphite or Espresso).

JUGGERNAUT

Is there an option for suede interior? or is that included in designo interior?

Vadim @ FD

Suede would be a part of special order only.

Designo is mostly exclusive exterior paint and interior trim and color.

mclarenm8d

I'll third on this ... my torque convertor lockup is currently disabled on my CL55. Although there can still be some "lag/jerk" of the supercharger engagement, all things considered it is much smoother overall.

Basically, the slippage of the torque convertor smooths things out when lockup is not engaged. This is not a route to take on a car that still has MB warranty on it.

I plan to actually lower my stall speed. Tightening up a torque convertor makes the lockup smoother (less slippage) and hopefully will help trigger the supercharger engagement at a lower RPM by effectively increasing the load demand at a lower RPM.

PA55AMG

I must say, doing the tranny reset does help for a while. It's hard not to drive like a granny around town, and the trans gets used to this. I have found if I rev first gear high enough to have second engage at 2000 rpm or higher, there is no jerk. To do this in traffic, you have to wait until the car in front is pretty far ahead (i.e horns blaring behind you ).

I really find this trait annoying, it always seem to happen at the wrong time.

After the trans reset, it downshifts properly and has almost no hiccup, but it doesn't take long to revert back to granny mode.

vixapphire

it's my understanding that superchargers, unlike turbo's, don't have any "lag", so i'm not sure what you guys are talking about. the supercharger runs off the drive belt, doesn't it? why then would there be any lag?

on the other hand, i have the same issue when driving my e55, but have figured it out to be the idiotic shift program, especially in "sport" mode in city driving. the best way i've found to avoid this is to drive in the city in "comfort" mode, which skips 1st gear from standstill/low speeds. on the downside, you miss the visceral thrill of stompage through 1st that way. stilll, i've found that where stomping is called for (in sport mode) i don't have the hiccup; it's generally only when rolling out in a more gingerly fashion.

i wonder if the 63's with their NA engines and new 7speed trannies also have this problem?

vixapphire

it would be nice if the short-wheelbase version of the 03-06 S class were available in the US; to my eyes the SE's are more handsomely proportioned than the SEL's, especially in the foregoing model years.

PA55AMG

Our superchargers are not locked like an old muscle car. There is a clutch for engagement.
The hiccup is definately more of a torque convertor lockup problem, but the S/C kicking in makes it more pronounced.

I agree the problem happens at a sort of medium accel. somewhere between granny mode and full tilt.

GrepAwk

for MY'03 would include electronic trunk closer and some type of ammenities for the rear passengers. The rear seats are neither heated/cooled/electronically adjustable for a standard '03 S55.

Parking Assist is a must have if you value the clear coat on your front or rear bumpers.

I ordered mine with Heated rear seats.

You can also look for Rear Passengers Climate Control, which includes a small Heat/AC controller for the rear passengers, located at the back of the drivers' center console. Otherwise they get whatever air settings the driver and front passenger chose.

You can also get rear electronically adjustable seats that can recline and change lumbar support. These also came with heaters, and, I think, the ventilated option (though that's not a huge benefit).

And you can look for the 4-passenger seating option. Same as above, but with more bucket-style electronically controlled seats for the 2 rear passengers, with a slightly beefier center arm rest between them. You could not squeeze a 5th passenger in the rear center any more.

I don't give a hoot about the distronic feature. Barely use the cruise control as it is.

GrepAwk

I like the feature when I want change stations on the radio or CD and can't afford to look at the dash board for the right preset button. Just pull the stalk and say "101.7", or "weather band" or "CD" and it changes.

Or "dial name" and it asks who you want to call....."Home" and it tells you dialing....

etc...

JRAMGV8

I just happen to browse around and saw your post Juggernaut. I am undecided on this S55 AMG I saw at the dealer today. It has 53,400 miles black interior and exterior with 493HP and that's what's interests me but the only thing that's keeps me thinking is the high miles it has and its going for $54,971. Tell me guys is it still worth it.

mercedesmans550

Jrv8mbp,

That does sound like a reasonable price for the S55 AMG. Brand new the MSRP is around 114,000, maybe 120-125,000 for a fully loaded one.

transferred

Great price, great car and as long as you're planning on keeping it then that mileage isn't too high.

06CLK350

I have a friend that is selling his 05 s55 amg (silver/grey) for $57000. He has 45xxx miles on it and i think it is still under warranty. If interested, let me know. I can give you his information and you can work out a deal with him if wanted.

sack5000

There is an '05 S55 on Luxury Motors with 11,120 ticks for $62K. I'm sure those crooks would take 59-60 in a heartbeat. Anyway, this silver jewell has keyless go, parktronic, etc. and will be under warranty until 10/2008. Probably a better deal than the vehicles mentioned above.