samuel Perez

So recently I been looking into buying one of these beatiful cars. I just have a few questions. Around how much is it to maintain and do they break down frequently?

BlownV8

They are very reliable. No, they do not typically break down.

KJI3jflarryfe93

massive RUST on body!!

these cars have expensive front rotors, you have to check the brakes if they are sound or not?

electrical gremlins.

yada yada yada as with everything else when buying a used car

BlownV8

Never had any rust on my E55 and never any electrical gremlins. I've owned it for around 15 years. I would imagine the rusty ones are from areas that salt their roads.

Strigoi

Rust, that depends on where you live. Here in CA (SF Bay Area) rust is not an issue on these cars.

Expensive rotors, depends what you're comparing them too. Compared to OP's Sentra, probably. Compared to my E63, no.

I never had any electrical issues with my E55 in the time I had it. The only electrical issue my W210 E320 wagon has is corrosion on the connectors for the right tail light making it not work all the time. That's no biggie though.

Overall, they're reliable cars and aren't horribly expensive to fix when things go wrong, especially if you DIY. With that being said, buy one that has a maintenance history. I didn't and at shop rate it would have been over $6,000 to get the car where it should be. Luckily it cost me less than half of that since my friend works at a shop and did it on the side.

My old one is for sale (my housemate's boss owns it, he owns an indy shop). It needs paint and has one bad catalytic converter right now (it rattles IIRC). Mechanically it's super solid. I think he's looking to get $6k for it. The clear is ****ed on the left side above the doors and on the C pillar. It has been repainted in other areas too and they did a **** job IMO. It's a solid 20' car. Interior is very clean. These pics were from about a month ago when my housemate was driving it for a few days. The car is all stock except for the head unit and plasti dipped bits.

If OP or anyone might be interested shoot me a PM. I don't think he's very negotiable on the price as he likes the car but just doesn't drive it much. It sits at the shop most of the time.

AndreNY

for a nice quick comfortable car the W210 E55 is the best car to buy as they are cheap easy to maintain and reliable. Now if we compare them to the same era "German super cars" E39 M5 and Audi RS6 owning a W210 E55 compared to those two is like Comparing a Honda to a Maserati (in terms of how expensive maintenance is) Really the only issue you have to look out for is Rust, the W210 was prone to rust so if you are buying one in the NorthEast or anywhere that there is snow/salt that will be the #1 thing to look out for. As far as maintenance this car is super cheap ( NO Air Suspension, no turbo's no superchargers to worry about) the most common items to fail are: Mass Air Flow, Crank Sensor, 12 Pin Connector on the transmission and various oil leaks (Valve Cover Gasket and Oil Cooler) Belt and Idler pulley. Yes the rotors are $$$ but as blown V8 said they are expensive compared to a E63 otherwise they are nothing special ($200 each in front) and if you decided to own the car for a while then you change them once and never again. Honestly for the money (under $10k) this is one of the best German Cars to own

Good Luck

KJI3jflarryfe93

compared to w202 the w210 has more electronic gremlins as it's equipped with more electronic stuff than a w202.
w210 used to eat bulbs a lot due to fawlty electronics.

pixle probs in cluster for facelifted cars.

regarding rust, if you buy a car from US rust belt, w210 will probably look like most w210 cars in my country, meaning like brown poop!
if anyone is buying a w210, maybe should look for a TeHas or Vegas car.

BlownV8

I'm in Florida - no rust here.

NAFT1

Play in the suspension is something nobody mentioned. The rubber bits fail and can be a bit of a pin to replace but aren't terrible. It is a very easy car to work on, IMO. Shops may charge extra when they see the 3-point star, if you don't turn your own wrenches. Find someone who is familiar enough with these that doesn't charge a fortune to work on it. Never take it to the dealership for service unless you have no other choice or a really good friend inside the service department.