RJC

The E55 I've been waiting for has finally made it to the dealership. My G/F and I will be driving 2 hrs to go see the 55. I hope the test drive goes well and there are no vibrations or steering wheel shimmies from the crappy Conti tires as that may kill the whole thing; if this is a problem I'm hoping there will be a new 06 S class sedan there with Michelin Pilot's as they have the same AMG rims and tire size as the E55's so we can swap them, if not I'll be very, very depressed.

I'll report back (with pic's if all goes well) tomorrow.

Here's the spec's:

2006 E55 (March production).
Iriduim Silver Metallic
Pano Roof w/Premium Package
Keyless Go
Lighting
Trunk Closer

I used an auto broker for the first time after buying many, many high end cars over the years. Amil (the broker) has been great in tracking down the car, color, options and getting as close as possible to a local dealer; he also got me very good pricing considering it's still in S Florida. I would recommend using Amil without reservation, his screen name on this board is ajf1.

2K6E55

NO Burlwood and SAT? Congrats!

RJC

Thanks. I like the black wood and the car came with the trunk closer and pano (which I could have lived without and maybe would've got sat instead) but I wanted a silver/char right off the truck so I couldn't be too picky.

DJE55

Let us know how it goes. You will love the Pano option with the Silver. It's makes the interior when open I think. It also gives a more aggressive look to a silver car with the black pano roof. Good luck.

RJC

Well we went to get my new 2006 E55 today. When we arrived at the dealership (a 2 hour drive) we were taken to the car and it was glimmering in the sunlight; it looked amazing. The Iridium Silver and the black pano roof is quite a sight. We immediately left for a test drive, the car had 13 miles on the odo, once we got up to 50 mph the steering wheel started shimming back and forth like the agitator on a washine machine but 10 x's faster; I was very worried this would happen due to the Conti tires and sure enough it did . It gets a little worse, once I applied the brakes the whole car vibrated rather strongly and the steeering wheel shook even harder! I turned the car around and went right back to the dealership. The weird thing is the last 06 E55 we tested locally did the exact same thing which we thought was due to rusty rotors etc; anyone else have this issue @ delivery, is there something they're missing during PDI ? The Service Mgr asked to take the car out and she came back to say "something was simply not right", and she said she even tried repeated hard higher speed stops to get some of the very very light rust off but she said it just vibrated worse! The Service Mgr thinks the rotors all need to be replaced, she wanted to balance all four tires but I told her not to bother as from all I've read here about cold morning shimmies/flat spots etc I knew the only real solution was 4 new Michelin Pilots. The GM then got involved and we worked out a deal where they would overninght 4 PS2's to the dealership install them and do whatever it takes to get the brakes right. I also met the tech that will be doing all the work and he is a Master Tech and assured me he would hand torque all the lugs and use a new plastic coated tool they just got to use when dismounting and mounting the tires, I think they also have a Hunter GSP 9700 balancer (this all made me feel better ) . The GM did not ask me to sign anything until I come back next week and test the car again and make sure it's 100% perfect; very impressive. The service people were amazed how good my 2004 CLK 500 looked inside and out, not or mark, swirl to be found on the slippery black paint and the stone interior still smelled and looked like new. Part of the deal with the new tires was allowing me to keep the Conit Sport 2's (which have a whopping 20 miles on them); I'll either keep them for lease return or sell all 4 of them for $600. I can't wait to hear if anyone here has experienced the brake issue during their test drive and the solution; I'm hoping maybe they missed something regarding the brakes during the PDI. I called my broker Amil known here as ajf1, he was very supportive and was very concerned the car was going to be right, he's a good guy to work with. I have to wait 4-5 very long days for the tires and brakes parts to come in and be installed then drive back up to the dealer and hopefully drive her home .

enzom

My steering wheel vibrated too upon delivery. Badly, but not as badly as you described. Turns out that the tires were underinflated by 5 pounds. Having said that, the car would always have a bit of a shimmy on cold tires. Especially if the car had been sitting in my garage for a week or so. I found that inflating the tires to 36 or 37 lbs helped with the vibration.

With Michelin PS2's, I don't have this problem at all.

RJC

Thanks glad there was no issue with the brakes at delivery for you.

Minte

I took delivery yesterday on my E55 and there were no vibrations at all.
It has the oem conti's and it's smooth as silk.

RJC

Congrats and many safe and happy miles ! The car I drove only had vibration when the brakes were applied, but the steering wheel shimmied with the brakes on or off, but the ride was smooth until I used the brakes.

JohnAMG

Sorry to hear about your exprience. I took delivery couple of weeks ago and drove on the thruway/freeway home. I didn't experience any vibration or any problems at all. The Conti tires are noisier than the PS2 on my 2002 E55 and I will replace them soon too. I was told and shown the SBC brake is still in the 2006, and honestly I thought it performs quite well. Good luck and hope you get your car soon.

John

RJC

Thanks

RJC

Thanks for the good wishes, hope to get her home soon, this is torture

2K6E55

I am glad that the dealer is accomodating to your request... That's why we buy Benz...

2K6E55

My 3 weeks old has the same problem, I took mine to the dealership, it stayed over for 3 days (the car has the same problem, added it steers to the RIGHT), the dealership fixed the issue and it is running very well now w/about 800 miles. :-)

Jakpro1

Wow....thought I was the only one. Same here, but I had alig nment and PS2's put on in one shot so not sure which helped it, but no problems since. DEATH TO CONTIS!!!!

W210

Excellent deal, I would sell the Contis for $600.

Fikse

what dealer was this at?

RJC

What did they do to fix the problem w/ the brakes?

RJC

Did you have any issues with the brakes too?

RJC

Should I list them here and on ebay?

RJC

Ft Pierce...

SoxFan

Congrats! Where did you get it -- what a ncie dealership -- and how much did you pay relative to MSRP?

Fikse

I sold my two front conti's on ebay for about $80+ shipping.... good luck...

Jakpro1

Nah everything seems fine with them.....heh, meaning I haven't died yet.

SBC still kinda creeping me out.

If you have ANY problems at all, I would be ALLLLL over Benz.

Post 1

A must read as well....kinda sounds like the trouble you are talking about

RJC

Thanks. I had no warning lights beeps etc; the dealership thinks it's just the rotors and 4 new one's are being overnighted to them. My PS2's should also be overnighted and I'm hoping if all goes well I'll pick her up on Thursday!