Bahnstormer

No, don't know what that is. To me, these cars don't automatically stop running well at some predetermined mileage marker. The engine and tranny, if well maintained, are pretty much bulletproof and can run strong for at least a couple hundred thousand miles. Personally, I would rather buy a car at a lower price that was driven and well taken care, than pay a lot more for one that sat in a garage. There's a guy in these forums who just purchased a used W210 E55 with 198k miles and the car looks almost brand new. Who's to say the car that sold on BAT for $16k will cost less to maintain than the 198k mile one - no one really knows. Stare at the two cars and they look almost the same. Is one car worth $10k more than the other one? I guess if you care a lot about the odometer reading maybe it is. That extra money could go a long way with maintenance for an 18 year old car.

AMGontheHorizon

I get what you are saying. I haven't even seen the car in person. He listed it and then went on a 3 week vacation. smh. This one is more out of convenience, location wise. I'm keeping my options open.

Bahnstormer

Don't know if you looked at this thread already, but here's the car I mentioned above. The guy actually bought this E55 with 207k miles, not the 198k I thought. Car looks beautiful.

https://mbworld.org/forums/w210-amg/...-2001-e55.html

AMGontheHorizon

I did. Beautiful car.

CharlyE500

+ 1 very well said. There are still many out there and to be honest, I don't think it's a collectable car. I had 3 of them in the past 7 years. Great car but not worth more than $7K to $9K depend condition.

Even this low mileage 2002 E55 with excellent condition for $16K will never sell. I rather buy a well maintained 2006 E55 100K miles.
https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/...594360659.html

C2 Turbo

I disagree with them, not worth more than 7-8 grand. These were $80,000 cars originally and need the maintenance accordingly. Most of the cars that are under 10 grand probably could and would, need work not to mention to most, the initial buying price is what matters. To other's, they want a mint and well maintained cars and are willing to pay the price as well.

There's nothing out there that has the presence and power that one can buy for mid teens.

You either pay upfront or pay later and believe me, there's no way around it.

Bahnstormer

What's to guarantee that these high priced examples on BAT are in "mint" condition. That $16,000 E55 has rubber seals and parts that have probably deteriorated over time just like the lower priced cars with higher mileage. So an E55 purchased for $16k with 40k to 70k miles is going to require $10k less in maintenance and repairs than a $6k vehicle with around 100k miles. Sorry, not buying it.

C2 Turbo

by the time The mechanics can have issues at any given time regardless of mileage as, few things are time dependent only. Having said that, low mileage cars in general are usually 3/4/5th cars and have been taken care of accordingly.

On the other hand, high mileage cars are driven and they not only would have time related failures but also use related as well. I recently bought a 67,000 miles, 1 owner car that still smells new, dash buttons seems never used, appropriately serviced and not a spot of rust and no, it wasn't your run of the mill $7000 E55 either.

At the end of the day, an E55 would cost you at least some-where in the neighborhood of 13-17 by the time you take care of all the lose ends and catch-up with the maintenance/tires etc

Bahnstormer

I don't think forum member Maclogos spent anywhere near $13 - $17k fixing up his recently acquired E55 (see thread below). What do you think of his car? Does it look that much different from yours? Do you think he enjoys it?

https://mbworld.org/forums/w210-amg/...-2001-e55.html

C2 Turbo

The work he has done and what he is still doing and what he plans on doing, does come at an expense, doesn't it? Not many people have time and skills of some diy crowd so getting someone to pay for all that work would cost few thousand dollars, won't it?

Bottom line is, at the end of the day, a 200,000 mile car has lot more wear and tear on the parts/seats/switches/seals/suspension/gears/motor etc, than a 70,000 miles car and there's no denying that.

Bahnstormer

Bet your car doesn't look or drive much different than his.
Both used W210 E55s.

C2 Turbo

Both used yes, but one is one owner and the other is multiple owner. One has always been garaged and never driven in snow, the other one who knows! One has all the service done, dealer maintained and the other one who knows! One has 70,000 miles of dry weather miles and the other one who knows!

If you think mileage doesn't add anything to a car, than I am done here. I am sure there are 210 E55's out there for less than $4000 and there are people eager to buy them too but they would have to wait to go through the learning curve.

Heck people pay more for a single owner car than 2 or 3 just for the fact that it takes away the uncertainty element out of the purchase

I am quite happy with my car and have no regrets paying more than the KBB

Bahnstormer

Not trying to say anything bad about your car C2 Turbo. I'm sure it's a very nice E55 in great shape, and I truly hope that you enjoy it and get many years of trouble free motoring. All I'm saying is that just because a car like the W210 E55 has high mileage doesn't mean it's almost ready for the junkyard or will requires tons of money in maintenance. Once again, enjoy your E55 C2, they're fabulous cars. And you're right, these were $80,000 vehicles brand new, so getting one for even a fifth of the price is still a wonderful thing. Somebody once shelled out a lot of cash for the pleasure of owning and piloting one of these awesome German machines.

C2 Turbo

I am not even talking about my car here, I was just saying, you either pay now or you pay later and no, there's no way around it. There's nothing wrong buying a higher mileage car and spending money on it to bring it at par but then there are people, who don't have time to deal with that hence their willingness to pay more for a lower mileage car.

Saying an E55 isn't worth 13 when you can buy a similar car with 140,000 more miles for 7,500, didn't make any sense to me.

These are great cars and there's nothing out there that would beat them for the money you can buy them for.

Bahnstormer

Agree completely.

sy1616

Bahnstormer

Must be a very nice E55.
Calls are one thing, a final sale is something else.
No telling what those people would have offered you after having inspected your car.

Strigoi

Have you owned a W210 E55 before? I know you've had W210s.

I bought my 2001 E55 back in 2010 or 2011 and it had under 100k on it. It wasn't mint by any means (nor hammered, just a driver) and getting it up to date on maintenance and taking care of **** was over $6,000 at normal shop prices (parts and labor). I didn't pay anywhere near that as my friend did all the work on the side. It basically cost me parts plus some beer and lunches. Getting a car with no records up to where it should be is expensive if going to an indy. The dealer, I wouldn't even think about it.The indy my friend works at charges $130 an hour and I think, might be totally wrong here, that the local dealer is close to $300 an hour. I'm in the SF Bay Area, nothing is cheap around here.

I sold the car for $6k with 115,000 or 120,000 miles on it. The new owner took care of some of the cosmetic stuff (it needed a repaint, which he didn't do) and didn't put that many miles on the car. He sold it a few weeks ago for right around what he paid for it. I seriously lost my *** on that car and he lost a decent chunk. The new owner is an enthusiast though so at least it went to a good home.

Bahnstormer

No, but before I found my E500 a year and a half ago I had my heart set on buying a W210 E55. I test drove several of them and made a $5k offer on a 2002 black exterior, two tone black any gray interior vehicle with 103k miles. When I had the PPI done the shop noticed a few issues, including the rear main seal had a slight leak. It was in pretty good shape overall though - the guy was asking $6,500 but wouldn't budge on the price. One thing that really bothered me about that car was the owner had wrapped the roof in carbon fiber, I guess to hide a few rust spots. It also had one of those rear "wing" spoilers which I think look hideous on these cars. So if I had bought that vehicle it would have required some work, but mechanically it was in really good shape (engine ran strong and tranny shifted smoothly). Now that the dust has settled, I'm really glad I got the E500 instead. The updated styling and amenities are nice, and with all the mods I've done, it's just about as quick as the W210 E55s. I know because I test drove many of them.

CharlyE500

I have own 3 of them ! 2000 to 2002 and trust me they are good cars but just don't worth that much. I bought my first one 7 years ago with 80K miles for $10K !
They are just getting old and things breaks. My last E55 2002 with 90K miles had transmission problem, radiator problem, ball joint, fan clutch, central locking system ... I bought for $9K spent $4K and sold for $9K. And that E55 has the most equipment you can find. With parking sensors, Cool and heat seat, bird eye Brabus wheel, 2 tone inside, Navigation...
I also have 2006 E55 for 9 years and spent less repair than my 2002 E55 so don't assume nothing goes wrong with W210. All this is based in my experience. Even my current CLS55 with 90K miles today owned for 3 years, only oil and air filter change and worth less than $16K ! BTW, handle way better than W210.

Bahnstormer

Yeah that's one big difference I noticed between the W210 E55s I test drove and my W211 E500. The W211 feels much more planted to the road and the ride is on a different level with the airmatic suspension. Not that I didn't enjoy the way the W210 E55s rode because I totally did, just a different feel than my E500.

C2 Turbo

Anyone can have any problem with a used car but usually the cars that are bought on the lower spectrum of the price range, do tend to experience lots more issues. People that do take care of their cars and maintain them timely, won't sell them for the book value either. To top it off, there are always people willing to pay for those cars too. Once again, you either pay upfront for a nice car or you pay later, there's no way around it.

I have put on almost 3,000 miles on mine and so far car feels pretty tight and seems pretty reliable. With 70,000 miles, there are no rattles, all button feels solid and everything works. It was however, one owner car, driven by an older gentleman, always garaged, dealer maintained so I had to pay accordingly as well.

BlownV8

I have over 208,000 miles on my E55. Still tight with no rattles. Of course, all the suspension bits have been changed. Rides like new and eats up the miles.

Bahnstormer

A 2002 silver and black one owner E55 in excellent condition with 80k miles just sold on eBay for $7,100.
That's what these cars are worth.

C2 Turbo

Lets make a deal. Find me an excellent condition under 80K E55 for $7000, spend $250 and get a PPI done on it and if it didn't need any work, I will pay you $12,000 for it, no question asked. Having said that, please make sure it doesn't have zillion owners, rust, any paint work, doesn't need tires/brakes, all electronics work, no oil leaks, have the maintenance history and we got a deal, ok
O btw, Excellent condition means **** until the car's looked at by the buyer or a good shop