qat

I would assume both but by reading past posts about the vehicle is adaptive in the way we drive, having to do the tranny reset to make the vehicle more responsive, etc.- Even if I did drive like granny or in a lot of stop and go traffic, why would I want my E55 to not be responsive when I need it to be?
Ever since my tank had a major fuel leak, the car has never been the same- driving to Vegas- decided to test my car against a Jaguar coupe convertible (prev. gen body style)- while flooring it, once my car hit past 100, the car quit accellerating- my passenger thought I was joking- brought it to Caliber motors and they said it was bad gas (yeah right)
Had a pump (supercharger pump?) replaced by House of Imports and the vehicle still does not feel right.
There was one time I picked up my car from the dealer and it ran very well but a few days later it went back to normal.
The dealer must think I am delusional but this car is not responsive. When I need to accellerate, I hit the gas, nothing happens, hit it again, it downshifts and it roars like a cheap Honda at high revs- I just want to accellerate and not look like I just floored the accellerater with the car screaming.

Vader55

Go see Serge At HMS
13751 Beach Blvd.
Westminster, CA 92683
P: 714.379.7770

or Vadim(sponser here) at VRP in Costa Mesa.

W211 BEAST

+1 to serge. The man knows his stuff. In going over to him tomorrow for new brakes

ChicagoX

You probably need to bleed the air out of the system.

qat

I decided I'm not gonna touch my car- I bought a 100K mile warranty for this purpose but I guess I am SOL. Ready to sell.
Is it normal for the rpm to be slightly above 1K in all gears (except 5th) while cruising with foot off accellerator- it almost seems like this could also be an issue since the engine has to rev from about 1200 rpm?
I barely caught up to a 4 Runner the other day.
Hopefully, the japanese manufacturers come out with some nice sports cars.

Jakpro1

You need to meet up with one of our members with a proper fuctioning 55. Makes it very hard to sell once you feel the torque.

You definitely have something wrong but what exactly is anyones guess. You replaced the pump but many times air bubbles do get trapped in the system after the procedure which makes her run hot and shut off the supercharger again.

Could also be a throttle sensor problem or a host of others.

I don't understand why you are SOL if you bought the warranty. You can't take it into a dealer and have them diagnose it??? I don't get it.

Timeless

Yea, something about this does not smell right.

Fast55

+1. I can't see any sense in giving up on the car until you know it's running right. If you're still unhappy, then ditch it.

Michael_s

Something is not making sense here. Why would you dump a car and lose at least $10K when the car has a warranty? It's probably a pretty simple fix. If you are sincere, take the car in and have it fixed. The 55 is an amazing car/engine and you should enjoy it's full potential.

NXtremeJeep

all cars have problem, especially supercars like ours. Get your car fixed and you'll be a happy camper again.

qat

I'm pretty much SOL from this point since it does not seem like the dealer knows what is going on- at one point the foreman at House of Imports took a ride with me and tried to convince me that the vehicle was running normal and then 5 minutes later he agreed and said there was definitely something wrong- he seems to be stuck on the idea that the car only drives bad when its hot so I guess he assumed it was the pump so they replaced it but that didn't do anything.
After taking my vehicle to the dealer more than a handful of times, its almost pointless to go back and forth so I have nearly given up until my next visit. Its hard to get the dealer to fix my vehicle when they claim its running normal and they said there is no issues with the vehicle since there is no trouble codes- but obviously there is a problem with my vehicle or they would not have tried to fix it by replacing the pump, plug wires, a harness, etc.
My gas cap light went on here and there also (and like I told the dealer- yes, I know how to close a gas cap) and also triggered the check engine light but they would reset and say they can't duplicate. Magically the light has not come on for a while- might had something to do with the fuel nipple recall.

qat

I don't mind ditching it but I'm over 10k upside down, etc. etc.
Don't get me wrong- I love this car and wouldn't mind an E63 when funds are available but this type of stuff is frustrating and makes me wonder if I should look into a Japanese sports car (when a real one is available).
I know how fast my car was before so I know how its suppose to drive.
I don't want to give up on the car until its running right but its not easy dealing with technicians that most likely don't have a clue.

qat

I think I am too sincere- thats probably what it is. They have had my car for at least a combined 2 weeks- different techs have overnighted my vehicle (driven it home and to work- who knows how far and where they live), etc. etc.

I brought the vehicle to Fletcher Jones once- they said it was running fine. Brought it to Caliber and told it was bad gas. Brought it to HOI many times, and either they say its running fine or there is no trouble codes (but they did try to fix it several times).

I will try to get them to look at it again in 5k miles when I have to get my service done- I been over there so many times that I know the foremans name from the top of my head- Jim Felter and also their facility that is seperate from the dealership. Its not a great thing when you start to know a lot of the service writers faces.

Same issue when I had a BMW 645- SMG was terrible- but there was no fix since it was normal to be terrible (imagine starting off like a person that doesn't know how to drive stick but this was on an auto) (but the E55 is definitely not normal)- now I know why sales of the SMG only M5/6 cars are probably selling bad.

W211 BEAST

Once again... Take it to Serg.

If there is a problem he will find it and fix it.

I Like Soup

I'll buy that piece of crap for $10K.

Could it be an E350 with a different badge?

Seriously qat, don't give up on that car. Take it to the guy the board members are suggesting. Especially since you have a warranty. Maybe Serg can help diagnose it for the dummies over at the dealer and they can do the work.

qat

I don't want to pay more than I have for the extended warranty but that does sound like a great idea. Let me give Serge a ring in a day or two- see what he thinks and if the diagnostic price is reasonable then I will go for it. Nothing will make my day more than an E55 that runs normal- and if he says its normal then I guess I will have to live with it or sell it.
Also, I get the off the line from a stop chirp- anything more than a grandma press of the accellerater and the tires chirp- is that normal? It was kind of cool when I first got the car but now it sounds like a cheap car or like I am driving around on bald/cheap tires. I have 275mm Bridgestone RE050- wider than stock and stock did the same. And its not the supercharger belt either- as a matter of fact- unlike other owners, never heard the supercharger belt slip on mine.

qat

I never heard of HMS until looking into it and found out it is Harbor Motorsports- used to be owned by Harbor Sound- I called them- lets see what happens- I am scared of Harbor- the street

The Godfather

It's westminster, watch out for the VC's coming out of the Pho restaurants, they'll shoot at you!

Timeless

This is all sounding very weird to me...but if you really want to know, get it dynoed when you take it to HMS.

Jakpro1

For sure I would have a tech check the power to your pump. She may not be even getting power or we have had new pumps go bad. If they run even for a few secs without liquid, it will damage them.

Sure sounds like a heat issue even with the new pump. First few minutes are pure evil, then when she gets hot, car dies a horrible death.

Have someone check power to the pump, if yes, see if it is even coming on and running when hot. Then I would have lines flushed to make sure no air bubbles. Pop your coolant lid (black tank on the right WHEN COLD) and see if it's full or not.

Other than that or running it over to Vadim or other guys mentioned, ditch it and snag an E63 M5 or Z06. GTR sure looks sweet too eh??

jangy

I smell something, but take it to Serge anyways. I've had MB techs call me in to tell them if an SC is shutting down, so them not being used to all the TQ is actually normal.
At any given time, there will be 2 - 3 55ks at HMS so you can always find out the truth.

My wheels only chirp if I want them to, but that sounds like a healthy sign to me.

BTW, to stay on topic...... The car was built for status. How? By adding speed. If you are implying that the power is simple marketing, then go on to those Japanese cars.

qat

I don't know Serge nor HMS but from what I know about the name of the business and previous owner's scares me so I am a little hesitant. I don't consider a performance shop an auto repair shop and vice versa- thats almost like assuming a body shop is an auto repair shop.
Fixing up a healthy stock vehicle is much different than trying to fix a sick vehicle. You can throw me some performance parts and I would be able to install it but to fix an unknown problem is much different. And even if I screwed the installation, I can back track- on an existing problem, you can't. All the solutions I hear sound very basic meaning that its would not make sense that the dealer would overlook such a thing- especially when I brought it to them more than 5 times.
And besides, I want MB to fix it because I have an extended warranty- it makes no sense to pay Serge to look at my vehicle and then go to an MB mechanic and trade words on something he should know (thats equivalent of going into a doctor's office and telling him what to prescribe (besides insisting on vicadon of course)- the dealers have access to Mercedes factory techs that have years of experience- it would make no sense to me that they can not figure it out.

qat

Wouldn't be suprised if my vehicle is somehow de-tuned just like some other members have mentioned after getting their car back from the dealer. I don't think there is anything mechanically wrong with my vehicle- I think the computer programming is somehow off- or de-tuned. I remember my car use to cruise at a higher rpm- now it sits at around 1100 rpms- that does not seem like a very strong spot to accellerate from. And I don't care about the gas I save either- I bought this car for speed, not to save an extra 4 miles per gallon.

W211 BEAST

Serg used to be a master tech at an MB dealership. He's the only person that I trust with my car. Trust me, you'll be in good hands with Serg.

deaded

This may sound dumb, but have you tried the ECU reset?