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I just bought a Grandpa's 2004 S55 AMG from Florida - Build Thread
Flew to Florida to inspect, drive and buy a car that's been on my wishlist for years;
2004 S55
Grandpa Gold over Tan (my favorite)
84,000
One Owner (well, the original owner then titled to his wife when he passed)
Full MB Service History
I flew from San Diego to Tampa after finding this on facebook marketplace
Clean inside and out, needs a little catchup maintenance
In recent couple years had new water pump, front shocks, ABC line replacement, valve cover gaskets etc etc
I think it needs mounts, maybe brakes
Pending pickup and will go straight to my mechanic for sorting, will be taking over daily driver duties for me
First up on the list;
- Mechanical sorting
- Replace aftermarket wheels (they are nice looking and these also have a good reputation with benz folk - for sale if anyone is interested, wheels in great shape tires are not)
- Add bluetooth
- Lowering Links to get it sitting right
- New Key (I believe it is only coming with one
- Paint Jack Covers Correctly
- Polish Headlights
Things I like about this particular one;
- My fav color
- Under 100k, full history
- No drilled front bumper (I don't run a front plate in San Diego)
- Garaged
- Update model year (prefer this bumper/grill)
Last edited by ChampagneC; May 13, 2021 at 03:18 PM.
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
Nice car... I love those and the Pewter ones too... what did they call it, Sahara Beige or something? Original 19’s are NLA for a while now but those actually look more than decent. Congrats!
Nice car... I love those and the Pewter ones too... what did they call it, Sahara Beige or something? Original 19’s are NLA for a while now but those actually look more than decent. Congrats!
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
Originally Posted by ChampagneC
I believe its 693 Desert Silver
Badge is present on drivers seat!
That's right, Desert Silver... Sahara Beige is an '02 Pathfinder I owned... lovely color though... couldn't tell if the badge was there through the pics... still a nice car... I recall seeing one in Sarasota a couple years back thinking "wow that color looks great on that car"... might have been this one... wheels were non-standard... again, congrats!
These and the Pewter ones are really under-appreciated... there are some interesting Designo colors and wood options from '03 and '04 as well.
maw
PS... one of the new owners here may have original mats for you... he bought the wrong color (I believe Tan) then I got him an extra set of Black mats that I had... so it might get better from here. Cheers, maw
Offshore Research Vessel, 2016 Camry, Telluride, 2005 S55 AMG
Beautiful car and congratulations! That was the color combo I was really after but I purchased a 1 owner white with charcoal interior. Your car looks well taken care of.
That's right, Desert Silver... Sahara Beige is an '02 Pathfinder I owned... lovely color though... couldn't tell if the badge was there through the pics... still a nice car... I recall seeing one in Sarasota a couple years back thinking "wow that color looks great on that car"... might have been this one... wheels were non-standard... again, congrats!
These and the Pewter ones are really under-appreciated... there are some interesting Designo colors and wood options from '03 and '04 as well.
maw
PS... one of the new owners here may have original mats for you... he bought the wrong color (I believe Tan) then I got him an extra set of Black mats that I had... so it might get better from here. Cheers, maw
You know what this is probably the same one! Came out of Bradenton which is not far north of Sarasota. I wonder if I can find out build numbers in this color somehow?
Do you know the fellows username or thread re: the mats?
Beautiful car and congratulations! That was the color combo I was really after but I purchased a 1 owner white with charcoal interior. Your car looks well taken care of.
Chris
White was next on the list - would have snapped up a white one had it come along too. Do you have a thread with pics of yours?
Offshore Research Vessel, 2016 Camry, Telluride, 2005 S55 AMG
ChampagneC, I do have a few pictures and I am still new at this forum thing, so please forgive me as I do not know how to attach the link. Its still on the first page as yours called "new to me s55".
I'm not a fan of dark interiors, but I couldn't pass this car up as a 1 owner with 56k on the clock. I had a 99 c230 kompressor in desert silver that I bought in 05 and loved that little car. You will love this car, just keep up on preventative maintenance and you will be happy.
ChampagneC, I do have a few pictures and I am still new at this forum thing, so please forgive me as I do not know how to attach the link. Its still on the first page as yours called "new to me s55".
I'm not a fan of dark interiors, but I couldn't pass this car up as a 1 owner with 56k on the clock. I had a 99 c230 kompressor in desert silver that I bought in 05 and loved that little car. You will love this car, just keep up on preventative maintenance and you will be happy.
Chris
How funny, I had a 99 c180 back in Australia in 04 that was desert silver on tan! that's where it all started. Then it went like this;
1999 C180 Gold on Tan
1968 280se Anthracite Metallic
1999 C43 Brilliant Silver
1988 560SEC Black on Black
2004 CLK320 Brilliant Silver
1988 560SEC Widebody AMG Black on Black
1968 250se Coupe Navy on Red
2006 e320 cdi Navy on Tan
1968 280se Coupe Dark Green on Cognac
2004 S55 AMG Gold on Tan
Offshore Research Vessel, 2016 Camry, Telluride, 2005 S55 AMG
That was quite the collection and I don't see a problem lol. To this day my favorite Mercedes was my 1987 420sel. Midnight blue over palomino leather. She was a tank and honestly I think had a more cushy ride than my s55. I also had a 1981 240d, she was a good girl but jeez did she need some room to move. She was the yellow over tan.
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
Originally Posted by ChampagneC
She's a little warmer - heres a shot where it looks a little more Gold
There she is! Yes, I’m pretty sure that’s the same one. Sarasota and Bradenton are like Carlsbad and Oceanside—basically the same place. Too bad, the guy driving wasn’t that old when I saw him, assuming same car, same driver, etc. The mats were on eBay, not here. There’s a gray set and a tan set, but priced rather optimistically for supply and demand reasons. They’re tough to come by these days.
The color correction might take care of the jack point covers. I have US build numbers but not by color. I don’t recall ever seeing it by color, unfortunately. Desert Silver, Flint Grey, Pewter, Bordeaux Red, Designo Mocha, those are the few rare colors I’ve seen.
maw
PS.... . I just ran across these... https://www.ebay.com/itm/223960658939 ... listing looks a bit sketchy. And I’m remembering that day, he was gawking at my 500E as I was gawking at this one... both looking like we’d seen unicorns... it was a Mutual Admiration Society meeting that lasted all of 5 seconds... good stuff.
You mentioned ABC line replacement. Blown lines are always (well,, 99.93472658% of the time) the result of failed accumulators, and accumulators are not that expensive. If an accumulator's standing pressure is low, you will get another popped ABC line, as the accumulators are where those pressure spikes get absorbed; if an accumulator is already bottomed out, there's no place else for the pressure to go.
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
Luckily, there have been a few new recent acquisitions here, where the TO DO list has been gone over extensively. But if you do nothing else, replace all accumulators, ABC fluid and filters. Unless, as @wfooshee says, you want to keep replacing blown lines and worse. If the accumulators don't alleviate the pressure spikes, its a crapshoot whether the ABC lines, the struts ($$$) or tandem pump ($$$) are left to deal with it.
There she is! Yes, I’m pretty sure that’s the same one. Sarasota and Bradenton are like Carlsbad and Oceanside—basically the same place. Too bad, the guy driving wasn’t that old when I saw him, assuming same car, same driver, etc. The mats were on eBay, not here. There’s a gray set and a tan set, but priced rather optimistically for supply and demand reasons. They’re tough to come by these days.
The color correction might take care of the jack point covers. I have US build numbers but not by color. I don’t recall ever seeing it by color, unfortunately. Desert Silver, Flint Grey, Pewter, Bordeaux Red, Designo Mocha, those are the few rare colors I’ve seen.
maw
PS.... . I just ran across these... https://www.ebay.com/itm/223960658939 ... listing looks a bit sketchy. And I’m remembering that day, he was gawking at my 500E as I was gawking at this one... both looking like we’d seen unicorns... it was a Mutual Admiration Society meeting that lasted all of 5 seconds... good stuff.
Funny you say that, I used to live in Carlsbad now I live in Oceanside haha. I have a sneaking suspicion those mats are not genuine - but I'm not overly familiar with the mats from w220 AMG but my C43 AMG mats have a thread wrapped edge not fabric like those.
I know the owners son used to drive this on occasion too as his dad really slowed down driving it many years ago. I'm curious to see if the window sticker is still in the car when I get my hands on the books/folder in the car
Luckily, there have been a few new recent acquisitions here, where the TO DO list has been gone over extensively. But if you do nothing else, replace all accumulators, ABC fluid and filters. Unless, as @wfooshee says, you want to keep replacing blown lines and worse. If the accumulators don't alleviate the pressure spikes, its a crapshoot whether the ABC lines, the struts ($$$) or tandem pump ($$$) are left to deal with it.
maw
Yes, plan will be to go through suspension as needed when it arrives. I've done accumulators on my Widebody sec before and know what a night and day difference that makes.
The color correction might take care of the jack point covers. I have US build numbers but not by color. I don’t recall ever seeing it by color, unfortunately. Desert Silver, Flint Grey, Pewter, Bordeaux Red, Designo Mocha, those are the few rare colors I’ve seen.
.
I'll also probably repaint the jack point covers they are all faded and in various states of aging. Funny as I see on most listings S55's suffer from these discolored covers. There was a flint grey near me for sale.... but tired and 130k miles. Never seen Bordeuax Red and Mocha sounds good - although one of my fav things about silver and desert silver etc. are how much the car looks clean even when it's dirty
'06 MB S55 AMG; '04 Audi Allroad 4.2; '05 BMW M3 Conv.; '92 MB 500E
Yeah all those Mercedes Silvers (Brilliant, Smoke, Desert) hide dirt really well... Pewter too... Black is affirmatively unforgiving... the Bordeaux one was on BaT... here... https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...-benz-s55-amg/ ... car actually presented very well.
Yeah all those Mercedes Silvers (Brilliant, Smoke, Desert) hide dirt really well... Pewter too... Black is affirmatively unforgiving... the Bordeaux one was on BaT... here... https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...-benz-s55-amg/ ... car actually presented very well.
Cheers,
maw
Looks great, I actually do remember looking at that listing while it was live. I had my 1988 Widebody SEC repainted in 040 Black with the clear wetsanded perfectly flat - I know ALL about black being unforgiving! It's incredibly beautiful but now I spend most of my time trying to stop it getting dirty and not touching it
Still waiting on a truck to pickup the S55 I've not had this long a wait finding a transporter before
That was quite the collection and I don't see a problem lol. To this day my favorite Mercedes was my 1987 420sel. Midnight blue over palomino leather. She was a tank and honestly I think had a more cushy ride than my s55. I also had a 1981 240d, she was a good girl but jeez did she need some room to move. She was the yellow over tan.
Chris
I'm sure the ballon like tires on the SEL helped with the ride. My 06 e320 cdi has 16" wheels and rides like a CLOUD its incredible with a nice bit of air and rubber underneath!
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