tscales

I searched and read every thread I could but was sure I read of someone retrofitting a W211 E55 with 4Matic. I know it never came that way but had visions

I have a 2005 Wagon if that matters.

Any ideas?

Snow sucks.

suicidal4life

IIRC I think it was E55russ who mentioned a 4matic conversion on an 55 but I think it was a CLS. I could be wrong on all counts though. Probably would be quite a difficult project and quite a bit of cash involved. FWIW it may actually be easier to start out with a non AMG 4matic and then swap all the AMG parts and engine to it.

tscales

I suspect it is just a bad idea

LZH

Buy an RS6

Zax63

Zax63

BTW, snow tires work great on these things. I used mine all last winter, no probs. Even took it skiing during a snowstorm.

tscales

There is a 7-seat wagon version of the RS6?

tscales

Once I get out of my driveway. Getting out of my driveway is the problem. I have Blizzaks.

LZH

Not sure about the seating but yes, there is an RS6 wagon - 580hp I believe.
As far as tires go....get a pair of spiked snow tires for the rear and you'll do wheelies

EUROTEK//AMG

sell your car and buy an Audi

LZH

Is there an echo in here ?

Uber Wagon

is there an RS6 avant available in the US?

I don't believe that there are any avant variants of hte RS's for US sale.

thegamemodo9

There is no RS6 Avant in the US.

Unfortunately, there will be no RS6 (not even saloon) at all in the US until 2012.

rusbel

I feel your pain...My 06 e55 is horrible in the snow, even with winter tires....How about an E550 4-matic with an aftermarket blower...The 5 speed tranny should handle it!

jangy

I think all 550s are 7speed (7gs) but they have no manual mode to keep the revs down so I'd say its a trade off. The AWD is different, especially on a wagon. Didn't they make a Euro AMG with 4matic?

kip

Buy a R63...Not joking...

I am still waiting for a 4-matic E or C AMG and this is the only reason I am looking at a ML63. And I dont like jeeps. Why so much power when there is not enough grip.

With snow tires, I have luckily had absolutely no prblems yet, but I have to admit 18 inch wheels are no winter tires. We have really bad winters here, but the stability management works fine. However, I once got stuck in sand on level ground?!

kip

W210!

kip

You are not missing a lot. The Audis are slow. Evo mag got some 480bhp on a dyno, instead of 580bhp promised, so Audi is more show than go. It even loses out to the C63T.

And I hate the fact that they bring the RS models when a new basic model is arriving. This means you are driving with an old new car. But I have to say I love the RS philosophy with quattro.

tscales

R is 6 seat. ML is 5 seat. Need 7 seats!

thegamemodo9

Too much weight to throw around. The next RS6 (2012) is being described as "revolutionary," but we still have quite some time before we get news on that.

But the RS philosophy has changed, they are now going to bring in the RS models within the first 2 years of a new model release, as evidenced by the upcoming RS5 and RS4. No more "old new" cars.

fasttommyv

480 hp on a dyno assuming 18% drivetrain loss gives you 585 crank hp. Sounds like audi is right on their power to me

ChicagoX

Not far at all. They do have issues with greater-than-average DT loss, and the tiptronic is a bit strained at those power levels as well.

I really thought I needed one (RS6), but the E55 with snows did far better than expected last year.

kip

I dont think so...
Here is the article:
http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/carg..._r8_v_rs6.html

Pity, then, that it failed to reach its promised potential on the dyno, being all out of puff at 400.5bhp against a claim of 414. However, Chris Thorney pointed out that most cars can only be considered fully run-in once they have 15,000 miles on the odo, and our R8 was just 5000 miles old, which might explain the shortfall.

This wasn’t good news for the RS6 either: Harry’s new long-termer had covered just 1800 miles when it was strapped down. Even so, it ought to have bettered 486.4bhp – well down on the claimed 572. It would have done too, were it not for the big Audi’s automatic gearbox being confused by the rollers beneath the car’s wheels and insisting on always throwing in an upshift before peak power arrived.

Just to put it into contex ML63 vs Cayenne tbo in 2006 test had very similar results, if I remember Cayenne had way over 500 and they should give around 500 both.