I'm considering moving up from my 01' S500 to a 01'-02 S55 AMG.
Can you give me some input as to what kind of performance I can expect? I already know the HP + TQ ratings + the quoted 0-60 time 5.7 sec. Have any of you taken your stock or moded S55 01'-02' to the track? if so what kind of 1/4 mile etc. did you get?
What I really want to know are your driving impressions of the car, will it light up the tires from a dead stop on pavement w/ESP off ? any comments would be very appreciated thanks in advance ......Sean

 

Paul M. help me out you just posted about "Joining the S55 club"
give me your driving impressions of your new, used S55............

 

I maybe sound like a cave man but at least I drive a REAL BRABUS car……Don’t be jealous cause you can’t afford a Brabus car . Oh by the way please don’t put a cheap imitation rims on your S500 . Oh yeah I forgot you can’t afford nice rims .

 

Your obviously another underaged internet troll, aren't you?
Make believe time is over son, let's see this precious Brabus you supposedly have or is it daddy's You should seriously look into MODDING, UPGRADING your english skills before you worry about any upgrades to your 1/16 scale toy SL Brabus... .

 

Wow. I feel a banning coming on.

 

 

Sorry man I didn't mean to get anyone upset here (thericker55) .
So let be cool about it .
I got my car done in 1999 at Brabus Newprot Beach you could talk to Andreas B. Bellgardt or James J. Dunphy (714) 797-0177 they the one who work on my car. If you want your S500 done by Brabus you should call them. You will like it better then S55 . No hard feeling ok........

 

That's not Brabus.....
The # is some random girl's voice mail named kristen???

 

Sorry wrong number . The number is (949) 797-0177 ask for Andreas B. Bellgardt or James J. Dunphy. Got the area code wrong....Sorry again .
Wow do she sound good Maybe I should call her. LOL (just kidding )

 

Hey thericker55 If I were you keep your S500 and get the Brabus engine enlarged displacement to 6.1 (if engine is over 20k there will be a additional charge of $1,230) You will need the brake Version 1 to go with the engine. The engine should cost about $31,000 and the brake should cost $10,562. Oh yeah the break in service cost $921. Installation of the engine is $1,215 & installation of the brake is $361. Trust me you will like the power. It will kill the 2001 & 2002 S55 anytime ! Mid to high end will kill 2004 S55.

 

All right the Brabus motor is nice but I can speak the truth about the power between a 5.8L CL500 and a S55 2001. I had a brabus CL for about a month and it was a great car. It sounds better than an S55 but that is a simple change.

The CL500 Brabus had a full conversion so it was around 172k when put with the price of the base car.

This 5.8L motor makes 27 fewer ponies than the 6.1L conversion and it did not feel much quicker than my 2001 S55. Driving both back to back showed that the Brabus motor was only slightly quicker than the AMG 5.5L There is NO way this brabus 6.1L could EVER play with a 5.5L Kompressor motor for it is down by oh 73 hp and 100+ ft/lb tq. My S55 was only slightly slower on a freeway pull so there is no way a 6.1L could ever stay with a 2003+ S55. As for it being the end all in cars, I don’t agree. It is not worth the money. That CL500 I was selling was a 2000 with 42k miles (southern California) and it sold for well less than half of the total purchase price. Brabus cars sell for wholesale market value for the base car plus 10 cents on the dollar for the cost of the mods. So that car sold for only 6-7k more than a base CL500. It was a joke! Not worth the money! Buy the S55 and put a RENNtech air cleaner, ecu and cams in it and it will be making nearly teh same power as the brabus for far less money! Then put on the 2003+ brakes and some nice 19 inch wheels and call it a day!

As for the drive of the S55 2001, I would say it is one of the best big cars around. It weighs 200 lbs less than a Kompressor S55 so it is very quick on its feet. I enjoyed the car greatly and often think I should have gone for a 2004 S55 and not an E55.

Hope this helps.

 

I was beginning to think no one was going to answer me.
If I buy an 01-02 S55 I will most definitely be Super Charging it.
If I can just ask you 1 more thing about the stock perf. S55 01-02'
Did it? could it? do a decent burn out, you know light up the tires on a straight away from a dead stop? thanks again Cyncarvin32....

 

No chance it could light up the tires from a stop. With a less than aggressive rear end ratio and a long first gear, the car never slips from a stop. In the wet it was very stable as well. Max tq braking will not help much either. Its not that type of a car. The 2001 S55 is about freeway speed for 8 hrs straight.

Now if you want to put a blower on the car buy a 2003 and call it a day. They are falling in price and it will hold its value while a supercharged 2001 or 2002 will be literally worthless after the upgrade. Unless it is done by a reputable tuner, ie Brabus or RENNtech, the car is worthless with something like a blower. A blower kit is about 20k, brakes 6k+, seats $$$ -- not worth the money!

And the 2001 -2002 S55 brakes are not very powerful. Any more power and it needs a brake upgrade for sure. Same brakes on an S55 as on a C32!

When you realize that you will need brakes, a beefed up tranny, better seats (2001-2002 seats are terrible with literally no lateral support - great when just going straight but they do not hold you in place when the road turns) and various other parts it really is not cost effective to go for a supercharged 2002. Find a nice 2003 and enjoy it. The ability to take the car to the dealership when something breaks is something you can not put a price on. There are a good chunk of 2003 floating around and once the new W221 get close to market the W220 will take a big hit in value. The 2003 S55 is one of the best cars you could buy with 4 doors. I like the S55 over the S600 because it has a stiffer suspension, better seats, and costs 15k less (and that V8 sounds great... with a Brabus or RENNtech exhaust it is just about perfect).

If you love the idea of a modified car go for a 2003 S55 and do a RENNtech tuning kit for it. The dealership will most likely never notice it and it comes off in an hour if you need to go back to stock for some reason.

But the W220 is a great car. You can’t go wrong. ABC suspensions are the best on the market hands down.

 

Hey Sean,
Sorry I have taken so long to reply. As far as "lighting up the tires," I don't think these cars were designed to that. I cannot accurately compare an S55 to an S500 however, I also drive a CL500 which I believe has the same engine as the S500. The S55 is significantly quicker than the CL500 despite its weight. On the highway, however, the S55 accelerates from 60 to 120 without hesitation. In my opinion I think it is pretty quick. I'm a moderate driver, so honestly, I've never turned the ESP off and floored it from a red light. Hope that helps in your decision. -Kevin

 

 

Hey Sean, recieved my new 2003 hood and grill from BuyMbParts.Com the other day. I saved some money buying from them, thanks a bunch! My car is going in the shop on Monday. Body shop says it will take about 5 days or so. They're charging me $1100 to spray the bumper, hood, and blend the fenders since my car is white and it's hard to match. I will also post pictures when completed.

 

I'll be posting pic's next week I don't have a digital camera, so I'll have to wait a few days to get the photos back.
I can't believe the difference in looks, the 03' hood looks so much better!!!
It definitely has more umph! to it, it was a straight fit no problems, they scavenged my old hinges, and all under hood parts it fits beautifully! not to mention the new AMG front bumper!! I love staring at the car, I can't keep my eyes off it.
By the way my bodyshop charged me $900 for installing and painting + blending the front fenders, It would of been $1200 but I offered him cash + he took my old 01' hood to the salvage yard and made a few hundered on it.
Did you keep yours or sell it to the bodyshop? just about any salvage yard will pay you $200-300 for it. I just need the bi-xenons and the new mirrors...

 

Hey Sean,
I was starting to get a little worried about going through all this trouble just to put a new bumper and hood on my car. I wasn't sure if it was gonna be noticably different, but after hearing from you, I really can't wait to get mine back. I was supposed to get my car back on saturday, however, BUYMBPARTS.COM sent me the same hood I had on my car now. Luckily the body shop noticed before they started painting it that there was nothing different about the two hoods. Anyhow, the new bumper arrived today. Hopefully I'll get my car back later this week. Post pictures please Sean!!!!!

 

Buymbparts.com sent me the wrong hood also! but I'm very **** about my car, so I checked out all the parts before they started.
In Buymbparts defense they rectified the problem lick'ity split!!!Johnathan said it was the Mercedes wholesalers mix-up I definitely believe that now with you having the same trouble.
Back to the car, it's 150% worth the trouble and the $$ for this upgrade.
Wish I would've done it sooner, did you get the new flat hood badge to go with it? or are you staying with the stock look?
When I 1st bought the new flat badge, I hated it! but now that it's installed w/new grill w/big star in the middle, I can't even put into words how awesome it looks especially the new hood, I didn't think it would have such an impact everybody that's seen my car since the facelift just freaks out and goes "What model Mercedes is that!!!!?" " I've never seen that Model before, Is it brand new??" Pic's are coming!! I'm going to plaster this site with as many as I can trust me....

 

Hey Sean,
You're right, they are quick. I called Tom at BuyMbParts on Friday afternoon and told him the problem and he had a new hood at the body shop this morning. Now, I have to arrange for the first hood to be sent back to them. They said they would reimburse me though. Somehow, under his computer the same part number pulls up for 2000-2005 W220s. I had to check with my local dealer for the correct part number and than called BuyMbParts back with it. About the big star grill. I'm considering it. I've seen some that look really good but I've also seen some that look kind of funny. Anyhow, maybe after seeing yours I might go for the big star. I already bought the new '03 regular grill so I'll just put that on for now. Where did you get your star grill? I'm also considering the bi-xenons and probably the tail lights at the same time. Pretty pricey, so they'll have to wait.

 

I'm glad I did this time, it's the exact same grill that Esntrk1, bought you can see his pictured on the last page of the "W220 Official picture thread"
Only his is on the pre-face lift 00'-02' I bought the newer version, It's basicaly the same look only bigger.
I think what makes mine look so good is, I had the bodyshop color match the grill to my car color (Brilliant Silver) the only part I left black on the grill was the little black mesh behind the star.
It really sets the new styling off...Anyway that's enough description, just wait till you see my pic's I'm sure you'll be shocked at the amazing difference...Sean
I look forward to seeing yours as well...

 

Sorry I havent posted a reply to your question. I love my new used s55. What A car! It moves!!! I havent really been beating on it at all. But it just feels so fast. By the seat of the pants feeling it made my clk430 feel slowwwwwwww. I actually went back to the dealership because my parents are buying an s430 so i went with them. I told my salesgirl to keep an eye out for a very low mileage 03 s55 in black. I think that may be the best route for you to go also.
Good luck
Paul M
01 s55
95 nsx t
04 rx330

 

TheRicker55,
Got my car back last Friday. You're absolutely right...Wow, what a difference it makes. The longer grill and wider mouth on the bumper makes the front look so much more aggresive. The bodyshop did an excellent job on my car. I've had problems in the past with shops that just don't know what they're doing, so when I saw my car I was relieved to see that it looks really good. The only problem I have with it is now I have a hole where the tow hook cover is supposed to be. I wasn't aware that I also needed that part so I picked one up from the dealer and they're gonna have to spray it for me. Well, I'll definately post pictures when I get that cap painted.

 

It's funny the same problem happened to me w/tow hook cap, the only difference was I ordered it and had it sent to my bodyshop and they lost it.
They paid for a new one (Those stupid little caps come pre-painted from my dealer and cost $37.50!!) I'm just waiting on the pic's to come back, my sister is a wedding photographer, she took some nice shots w/fish eye lens and multiple others all w/ that damn! cap missing oh well.
The only other issue I noticed, is the gap between the new hood and bumper(Where the hood meets the bumper) is about a 1/4" to big so there going to shim it up when I get a chance to drop it off. So my sis says pic's will be ready this friday.....Oh yeah totally off topic I was in LA, visiting friends last week and see a brand new S600 (Black) he rolls on buy, I look up at his lic plate and it says "GOT V-12" I love it!!! You know, like that milk add campaign "Got Milk"

 

about a year away though for me....