JohnEnglish

I'm looking at buying a 2003 E55 with 41,000 miles (65,000 km) on it. Is there anything in particular I should be looking out for?

jtc55

search young grasshopper and u will find what ur looking for

ok, i'll help u out:

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...=look+e55+2003

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...=e55+look+2003

III II I I AMG

for that e55 you wanna buy.. how much is the price?

Cylinder Head

iTrader: (1)

Buying an '03 with that many miles on the odo is like asking for herpes. I certainly wouldn't do it. Save up and get a newer, lower mileage car.

CynCarvin32

Yes,

You should be looking for a 2004 at the earliest. 2003 was a bad year for the W211.

Late build 2004's were good and from then on they got slightly better and better.

If you go for a 2003 get a warranty. It will serve you well and keep the savings account happy.

Blacksport350

There is nothing wrong with an '03 E55 and I would gladly take a lower mile cheaper '03 over a higher mile '04. The only real difference comes down to no Nav (which is garbage in the E55 anyway) and a different transmission bus which only becomes an issue if you desire to reprogram the shift map in which case you need '04 or later.

Get a good dealer to do an extensive inspection and a warranty of some sort would be a nice thing as always.

In terms of getting a newer car, the '05 would make the big difference, NOT the '04 as there are some updates from the CLS suspension in the '05 on.

So we could say that the '03 and '04 are bad years but that isn't true as some of the nicest cars on this board are extensively tweaked '03 and '04 cars.

Good luck in your search!

Jakpro1

Pretty much sums up everything I would say as an 03 owner. Keep in mind, my car has perfomed nearly without flaw and I am a modding madman. Just lost a supercharger but again, I've run just about everything on my car including testing of a few shots of NOS.

Bout the only other things you may end up running into on a used 03 are the brakes. Benz doesn't let you pop on new pads and go. Need to replace THE ENTIRE ROTOR AND PAD for a brake job on these babies. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$....make sure to find out how much brake is left on it before you buy or you'll be sorry.

Just did a quick search and it will average 450-600 for the front and even slightly more for the rear. OUCH!

Other than that, just pray for no problems with Airmatic and you should be coo.

"G"

You can't just cut the rotors?

CynCarvin32

Brakes are not cheap but if you can get parts at cost its pretty harmless.

Front rotors are 72 bucks each at cost, rears are about 50 bucks and front pads are sub 100 bucks and rear pads are not bad (forget the figure).

Put the parts in the trunk and leave 200 bucks for your tech in the glove box and you will have new brakes for 700 bucks pads and rotors all 4 corners.

The Godfather

damn! How much is a new S/C installed????

adean1979

Where can the general public buy these parts "at cost"? Are you talking about non-OEM parts? Even MercedesPartsSuperstore (discount pricing) charges $662 for just the parts to do a brake job.

Front Rotors = $105 x 2 = $210
Front Pads = $234
Rear Rotors = $81 x 2 = $162
Rear Pads = $56

Total = $662

EUROTEK//AMG

warranty ?

DarkStar

+2 there is nothing wrong with an 03 it was just the first year. Many of the early "bugs" were sorted out with software updates and the like.

You should pay more attention to the condition of the car. I've seen ratty 05s and even 06s on dealer lots.

No matter what you buy, you should consider a warranty.

III II I I AMG

i have a 03 with extended warranty new ic pump, couple mods, and fairly high mileage for sell.......