I recently came upon a 2001 E55 in mint condition with only 17,000 miles. What are the principal items I should check before deciding to purchase it. Any and all advice is appreciated!

 

Welcome simba221,

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With that type of mileage the car has most likely sat for extended periods. A 210 E55 is a car that likes to be driven and to be quite honest the very low miles would scare me off a bit. I’d recommend you take it to a reputable shop for an inspection prior to purchase to have them check the fluids, seals, gaskets.. Make the purchase contingent upon a clean bill of health.

Hope everything works out, it could turn out to be a gem.

 

It’s gonna need a transmission, as said before they are cars that want to be driven. I am sure most things will be fine, but the type 6 trans doesn’t like to sit around, it dries up the clutches.

 

What makes you SO certain it requires a transmission?

 

Well let’s see, I’ve worked on Mercedes for 10 years, my boss is a Mercedes master tech with 20 years of experience. Most of the time when people buy cars with a .6 trans with under 50,000 miles the transmission are usually ****ed once they drive them hard a few times. It’s just told old of a car with not enough miles to be the friction disc wet enough. So they tend to dry up. Does that help, with your BS? Yea it could run fine for ever, but I would say there is a higher chance it’s gonna be bad.

 

Thanks for your advice. The car has not sat for extended periods, but driven little consistently and maintained by the local Merc dealer since new. From my own visual inspection it looks good, not leaks etc. Will still have it looked over well before purchasing.

 

Also the color is Designo Silver. How unusual is that paint color?

 

Well heck post some pictures to see what we are talk'n bout?