hvacdude

I posted this this comment on this guy's youtube. He bought a few cheap AMG's {and a bunch of other cheap "high end "cars} on salvage web sites. See the link. This guy has a SL, but I think my comment covers all the 5.5 Kompressor cars.
Here is my take on owning our old cars:

A good , well maintained SL55 AMG { '04 - '06, with right around 100K miles} is going to cost $18k - $20K. You got $9K into it. Add $11K after the dealer gets done with it, and your into it for the $20K . Your still about right.
You could cut that dealer price in half with DIY's, Ebay parts , indy shop work, etc. That would put you at $14K investment.
You could list it for $20K. Sell it at $17K ,i f you can't hold out for that $20K buyer. You would still be ahead $3K. You got to enjoy it, got educated on Benz cars...
You can do better on your next AMG from what you learned on this one.
I think you did pretty good on this car. You did not get burned at all. All of those so called "critical" STAR warnings are really not that concerning. You will know what needs fixing as you drive it. Something as simple as a corroded electrical connection can freak out a sensor and throw a code. These German computer/cars are very sensitive to supply voltage drops and spikes. I bet you could drive this SL for another 20,000 miles with no major issues.
I own 2 AMG 55 Kompressor cars. A '06 CLS and a '05 S series. The S55 is my daily driver. The CLS only comes out of the garage for road trips or weddings.
Based on my experiace : These 10 + yr old / 100K mi Mercedes cost about $1000 in repairs/maintenence per 10,000mi driven.
So these cars could all most cost $1 per mile in "up keep" { after 100k miles/10 yrs on them}.
Most of that money is going to be ABC issues. Seals, gaskets , belts, hoses, brake pads, fluids... not to mention tires. Pile's up a heafty tab aftwer a while.
There is prolly a point at which costs level out ; once you've fixed everything. It's like a job or a hobby to own a kick *** AMG Benz.
They are just like a smart , sexy Woman.
They need love and attention. You can feel when things aren't right. You throw a bunch of $$ her way when she crys. Everything is good for a while. Then you think about getting rid of her the next time there's a problem. Then you think about all the emotional investment, and the love and time you put into her... And you just deal with it.
Or you just blow em off when they get old and get a new one. Lol.

cmpcpro

It all depends.. the little things are what goes out on these cars. I found a pretty clean car and it even got checked out at the MB shop and hardly anything was wrong. I am pretty OCD.. I like my stuff to be perfect and I have a lot of fun fixing it.. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you I paid 12.5 for the car and spent another 15k fixing everything on the car I could find that was not perfect. This is all OEM parts and with a wholesale account at the dealer and a friend who owns an MB shop doing the big stuff.. if your content buying one of these with minor issues like every single one I've ever test drove then that's great, but to try and go through a car like this and fix all the little stuff that always goes out is very expensive!

maw1124

My experience is the direct opposite of Chris' and Tavarish. I bought my '06 S55 over 8 years and 70k miles ago. Over that time, I still haven't put $15k into it, and it rides flawlessly -- almost always has. So for me, the trick is to buy them before they have gone "over the cliff" (so to speak), and keep them from going over the cliff. It'll cost you more up front, but if you can afford it (and if you're looking at these you probably can), that's the way to go, by far. Even if you get an old one, nothing responds to care like a high spec level Benz (S, SL, CL). At the end of the day, what you don't pay in purchase price, you'll pay in repair, and vice versa. And either way, what you'll have when you're done will be superb.

Cheers,

maw

cmpcpro

Well here's the thing.. I'm not joking when I say I'm OCD.. I probably could have gotten away with spending a couple grand and my car would be 95%.. it's the same thing with my 56 Olds.. I have bought 8 brand new cars so far.. I can pick apart a brand new car too, but I like my stuff to be near perfect. You can drive in my 56 Olds and it's as tight and smooth as a nearly new one would be. For example, look at the S55. The front was fine, but it wasn't like new tight, it had a slight bit of play. I replaced the whole thing. Every front end piece down to the $3500 in struts are brand new because I know how quickly suspension parts wear on these cars and wanted it done once. Now it drives very nice like new! I'm not rich by ANY means.. I just love my cars and spend all my money on them.. I'm single I can do that.. but if your okay with a car that's not mechanically near perfect I'm sure you could spend quite a bit less. I have more fun fixing mine than anything really. That's the exciting part for me, and with all the little gadgets on these cars you could go forever finding things!

maw1124

Ha! Yeah... no one would accuse me of suffering with less than perfect. But I take your point. This one just hasn't needed much. I've spent way more time and money over those years on my 500E and my Allroad 4.2. This one and the M3 have been more or less problem free. But both were still under warranty when I bought them. So like I said, it's easier before they go over the cliff.

Enjoy!

maw