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Hey y'all I just recently got a 2004 S55 a few weeks ago from an owner in North Carolina. He lived in a suburb of Asheville and the listing was on Autotrader for a while and I decided to pick it up after the credit union gave me a loan with a %1.99 apr. I may have paid cash but I am thinking this route will be better for now. Anyhow, I drove this car back to Arizona with no check engine light, rear tires that were getting low on tread, and a malfunctioning washer fluid sensor.
I have since replaced the the rear tires, the faulty sensor, and some pulleys on the engine due to a noise that is not causing any driveability issues but is not something I am sure is normal or not. The car has ~87,000 miles right now and I enjoy it's power and it is in great shape. The paint looks nice and the interior is also looking wonderful for being over 15 years old. I do partially attribute that to the use of better materials as I own a W202 and the interior has not held up as well and I can tell that the quality of materials is not the same.
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
Congrats! These are wonderful cars. Read up on maintenance to dos first off. There have been a few good threads on that in the last 6 months, and you should be good to go. There are some real experts lurking here, but they generally require people to have read what they wrote before when posing questions.
GL and welcome to the club! I’ve had mine for almost 12 years and over 100k miles. I took it to my friend recently for a paint correction and some other silly stuff, who’s a legend in MB circles, and he was like “this car is in extraordinary condition... it’s good to see them [W220] like that.”
So you have many more years and miles of enjoyment ahead if you treat the car right. And she’s always gonna be that fast, or faster if you want. But be careful with that. You can easily spoil the character and function of the car with “too much of a good thing.”
Hey y'all I just recently got a 2004 S55 a few weeks ago from an owner in North Carolina. He lived in a suburb of Asheville and the listing was on Autotrader for a while and I decided to pick it up after the credit union gave me a loan with a %1.99 apr. I may have paid cash but I am thinking this route will be better for now. Anyhow, I drove this car back to Arizona with no check engine light, rear tires that were getting low on tread, and a malfunctioning washer fluid sensor.
I have since replaced the the rear tires, the faulty sensor, and some pulleys on the engine due to a noise that is not causing any driveability issues but is not something I am sure is normal or not. The car has ~87,000 miles right now and I enjoy it's power and it is in great shape. The paint looks nice and the interior is also looking wonderful for being over 15 years old. I do partially attribute that to the use of better materials as I own a W202 and the interior has not held up as well and I can tell that the quality of materials is not the same.
Well here is a picture:
I guess I am one of the few remaining S55 Kompressor owners in Asheville now! Did you purchase from a private party or dealer?
I was asked to service one for someone (I have driven many M113k platform cars, but they have been mainly W211/219/230s. Never have I driven a W220 with that powertrain in it, and when I completed the work I asked him what his intent was with it and he mentioned he was considering selling it. I spent a little time in it driving it to my shop and test driving any repairs made and it honestly made change my perspective on them. Like most, I generally preferred the W211 (I had two W210 E55s) and after I drove the W220 with the ABC suspension and experienced the quality of the ride, (not to mention how few were made) I really liked that car. Long story short, it is in my driveway now!
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
Originally Posted by Polar Bear
I was asked to service one for someone (I have driven many M113k platform cars, but they have been mainly W211/219/230s. Never have I driven a W220 with that powertrain in it, and when I completed the work I asked him what his intent was with it and he mentioned he was considering selling it. I spent a little time in it driving it to my shop and test driving any repairs made and it honestly made change my perspective on them. Like most, I generally preferred the W211 (I had two W210 E55s) and after I drove the W220 with the ABC suspension and experienced the quality of the ride, (not to mention how few were made) I really liked that car. Long story short, it is in my driveway now!
Smart man! I too went looking for an E55 (thought it was all I could afford at the time) and came back with an S... one of the best car decisions I've ever made was to cough up that extra few grand... little did I know the Chestnut wood that was a non-negotiable for me and that led me to the S, would be basically unobtabium thereafter, and that the rear heated and cooled reclining seats on mine wasn't standard issue... like @Polar Bear said, they made so few of them, "standard" isn't really a word that applies.
Also, if it gives anyone any additional reassurance that these are very well-built cars, I likely have one of the highest mileage S55’s around, clocking in at 272,xxx!
I changed the oil earlier so I'm just about done with the few maintenance items I wanted to get done since I bought it.
I am still in that stage with mine as well. Here is a cold start video after changing the oil. Is yours this loud? I am unaware of any exhaust modifications, but it has a great sound for stock.
I am still in that stage with mine as well. Here is a cold start video after changing the oil. Is yours this loud? I am unaware of any exhaust modifications, but it has a great sound for stock.
That sounds like resonator delete at minimum, maybe resonator and muffler delete (need to look again). I can’t tell if the muffler is still there (or if it’s a different muffler) or someone just welded on tips. Some people put C63 mufflers on these. What color is that? Rear seat options?
That sounds like resonator delete at minimum, maybe resonator and muffler delete (need to look again). I can’t tell if the muffler is still there (or if it’s a different muffler) or someone just welded on tips. Some people put C63 mufflers on these. What color is that? Rear seat options?
maw
I thought it was a little loud for stock, but have not been around many to compare it to (of the W220 variety). I did check and see if the rear O2 sensors were active, and they are.
It does not have the rear seat option. My W221 S600 does, of course (as it is standard) but they have been used perhaps 2 times since I had it!
The color is officially 723U CUBANITE SILVER - METALIC. I have generally referred to it as Pewter.
It does have DISTRONIC, however.
When I was looking at the ME 2.8.1 coding, I did find something interesting - it had the A/C Compressor Always On: YES and another A/C setting set to the same, implying the A/C should be running all the time even with HVAC off. I have never noticed this value set to YES before, so I wonder if it is a setting that all M113k cars have set? I read the ECU flash and am going to compare it to a stock flash to see if it has been tuned.
It does not have a fixed pulley that I am aware of, but the ECU also reports the Supercharger Clutch Engaged: ACTIVE at idle, which I would not have expected either. It does not drive like a fixed-pulley car.
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
Nice color. One look with the car on a lift and you'll know which components are missing, if any. Similarly, you can look at the Kompressor pulley and tell if it’s stock or not (fixed or clutched). If your intercooler fan runs with the key in ACC position without shutting off after a second or two, it’s likely tuned. A lot of tuners tune for the intercooler pump to run constantly... not a bad thing on these cars. But no tune makes these cars sound that way. That’s a modified exhaust.
Thanks for he comments. I know I need to change the grille as it has been replaced at one point with the incorrect one as it does not have the DISTRONIC plate on it. CarFax said it had a light front-end collision with a deer, so that is likely when it happened.
I will check on that about the IC pump. I will also check the health of the IC pump to make sure it is running as it should. I will actuate it with DAS and see if I can hear it.
What are typical intake temperatures should I be seeing under normal driving?
you can look at the Kompressor pulley and tell if it’s stock or not (fixed or clutched).
maw
I have been covered up so much with work and other unanticipated things that required work that were not car-related, and am finishing a coolant flush now, then on to an ABC flush and 722.6 service.
Regarding the fixed pulled, what does one look for specifically to determine if it fixed? I can take a photo of the pulley and post it if you would like.
Hey y'all I just recently got a 2004 S55 a few weeks ago from an owner in North Carolina. He lived in a suburb of Asheville and the listing was on Autotrader for a while and I decided to pick it up after the credit union gave me a loan with a %1.99 apr. I may have paid cash but I am thinking this route will be better for now. Anyhow, I drove this car back to Arizona with no check engine light, rear tires that were getting low on tread, and a malfunctioning washer fluid sensor.
I have since replaced the the rear tires, the faulty sensor, and some pulleys on the engine due to a noise that is not causing any driveability issues but is not something I am sure is normal or not. The car has ~87,000 miles right now and I enjoy it's power and it is in great shape. The paint looks nice and the interior is also looking wonderful for being over 15 years old. I do partially attribute that to the use of better materials as I own a W202 and the interior has not held up as well and I can tell that the quality of materials is not the same.
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
Originally Posted by Polar Bear
I have been covered up so much with work and other unanticipated things that required work that were not car-related, and am finishing a coolant flush now, then on to an ABC flush and 722.6 service.
Regarding the fixed pulled, what does one look for specifically to determine if it fixed? I can take a photo of the pulley and post it if you would like.
Very nice! If you are looking to shave some of the cost of of replacement pulleys while upgrading at the same time billet is the way to go, If a bearing ever fails you can easily press the old one out and put a new one in, they generally run under $10 per bearing, While the oem are not able to be changed, We offer a set you can checkout here if you'd like, https://www.vrpspeed.com/product/5-p...er-pulley-set/
Fixed. The clutched ones look just like stock, except they’re smaller.
maw
I also determined that the outside spindle can be spun by hand as well. I presume the fixed pulley does not use the magnetic clutch in any capacity therefore this would not be possible.
Just wondering for the sake of curiosity as I don’t know if it would be safe to do, but could the ECU map be changed to engage the clutch all the time, which would provide a similar effect to a fixed pulley?
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
Originally Posted by Polar Bear
I also determined that the outside spindle can be spun by hand as well. I presume the fixed pulley does not use the magnetic clutch in any capacity therefore this would not be possible.
Just wondering for the sake of curiosity as I don’t know if it would be safe to do, but could the ECU map be changed to engage the clutch all the time, which would provide a similar effect to a fixed pulley?
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