-Overall testdrive length was about 150 km,split between city, nationalroad and highway in equal parts

-Temperature was between -8 and -5 degrees Celcius, roadconditions varied between dry and slightly humid

-Tires were wintertires with the following sizes: (I have to check back, sorry)

-The car has already run about 10 000 km and was in top condition

-First impression is very "Mercedes". So door closed with the right sound, you are feeling "at home"

-Big positive surprise are the seats (note optional dynamic seat), they very close to race car seat with strong side support

-The steering wheel is thinner to grip than the one of the W210 E55. I appreciate more the larger one from my current model

-The sound is impressive, especially around 1000-1500 rpm accellerating, finally Mercedes got the right V8-sound. The sound could have been a bit more present but bear in mind that on my motorbike I have a race-exhaust ( and that's really sound )

-Taking off you realize immediately that you have to be gentle to the accelerator. Otherwise the EPS-lamp is constantly blinking. If you are used to the old E55 you don't have any problem.

-The gear is exceptional, smooth up-shifting, right down shifting, and keeping the gear where necessary. E.g. if you accelerate with the old E55 and stopped in between because let's say the road is blocked, the gearbox tended to shift one gear upward. The new software keeps the box in the same gear.
Under normal conditions you would be satisfied with the automatic mode (S for standard or C for comfort). However, if you want to push the car, choose M for Manual and you get control over the gearbox with two switches behing the steering wheel. Than you get manual control with the benefit of same support (switches back to gear 1 if you stop etc.)

-Brakes are just great. You don't feel any difference between traditional break and the new electro-hydraulic ones. The big difference for the driver is that you don't note the feedback from the ABS-system. I tried several full stoppings down from 110 mph/180Kmh. It pushes you into the seatbelts, the car slows down straight forward, the tires are screaming, but essentailly you could take of your hands from the wheel. The car just slows down and stops. Obviously after the 8th-10th time you note fading of the brakes. But that's just normal, if one has to destroy this amount of energy. Most probably braking is more impressive than accelerating !!

-The vehicle's setup is wonderful. Not to hard in the normal mode, more than sufficient for all condition which you can find in normal traffic and normal road. The car gives you to more options (harder), but the car gets to nervous, so I considered the normal setup more than ok. And believe me, if you drive the car with the normal setup and try to get to the limit, your driving license is in real danger (at least double or tripple above the speed limit)

-Well that brings me to the main points: acceleration and speed.

-Speed is simple: the car goes 155mph/250 Kmh and that's it. If you order it open it goes up to 186mph/300KmH. Mine was obviously blocked at 155 mph. Papers and test tell you that it takes you about 4.5 - 5 seconds. I tell you mine W210 E55 is already fast, but the new one is a missile. It's simply unbelievable. It's is something between a 911 Carrera and a 911 Turbo.

-Accelaration: With wintertires and full throttle open, the ESP-lamps blinks up to a speed of 70mph/110Kmh constantly. You feel the car skidding at every gear-shift slighlty at the backside. The sound is impressive, really agressive. Please note that the wintertires are smaller than the normal ones (245 against 265 ( I am not sure about the latter size)). Without ESP it is be a bit demanding.

-At a certain point I switched off the ESP to figure out the handling of the car. What you get is a real fun-car if you are capable to handle the power. At every angle the car breaks out with a gentle push on the accel.. What is impressive is the quality of the setup. The car is always controllable, for the one who new the old Porsche Turbo, these were really beast. So the new E55K is controllable, although you have to bear in mind if you push to much the car is gone (Power is always abundantly avaiable). One recommendation: DO NOT TRY THIS UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY EXPERIENCED !!!

-What I enjoyed were the new dynamic seats (optional). If you go fast into a curve the side to which you are pushed inflates with air and gives you a counterpressure thus keeping you in a stable position in your seat

-Distronic (radar distance measurement and alarm) works quite well.

-Panorama roof is great (two sunroofs), brings in a lot of light.

-Fuel consume: My W210/E55 consumes already something, but I always considered it in balance which what I got. Well, with the E55K you get much more, so the fuel consume is much higher. With the above mentioned split the car consumed about 11.2 mpg ( 21Liters/100Km) with a low at 8 mpg(28Liters/100Km) and a top at 20 mpg (11 Liters/100Km). In European terms that's a lot of stuff for power which you can rarely recall.

Summary: A great car, more race than normal sedan, good finish (quality we will see, I do hope better than the present one), clever interior solutions., perfect setup and engine and an exceptional handling. I really enjoyed the weekend ! Downsides are the locks of the seatbelts (terrible fumbling to get the thing into the lock), steering wheel not thick enough (although after three days I got used to it) and the fuel consume (it's really a big difference between W210 E55 and W211 E55K). If I would buy it? Still thinking, it's veeeery tempting.


So that's it, I am sure that I have forgotten a lot, but don't hesitate to shoot questions. I will try to attach some pictures I made.

 

Frontview of the New E55K. Note the entry grid at the low side and the cover for the distronic at the midsection of the front grill

 

merlin

Great report! Just curios as how you would compare the W210 E55 torque vs W211 E55? How much of an improvement is it?

 

Backside of the E55 with the 4 exhaustpipes

 

View on the wheel (please note these are wintertires and not the normal ones !!!) and the brake with the AMG sign on them

 

Merlin, thank you for the review. It seems to me you were very impressed. Could you please comment more on the SpeedShift transmission. Were the shifts very fast and crisp? Also, was the power on demand(instantaneous) or was there a lag that is usually associated with turbo/supercharged autos? Could you please comment on the interior, especially the new design of the instrument dials(does it light up blue), quality of leather, etc.

Thanks again, and hope you post pics soon.

 

LMAO, If it is like my 2001 CL55 vs the new 2003 CL55, No comparison... The difference is like a train compared to a missle. Both pull hard, but the missle is a missle.

 

internal view

 

Internal view from the passenger seat

 

Thanks Adam. Guess that gives me an idea of what to expect.

 

Internal view from the back looking onto the "panorama"- roof. Note the headlights mounted to the ceiling for the back passengers.

 

view on the seats from the passenger side

 

Each front seat has this label. The seats are the ones with the dynamic adaptation to the forces dragging you left and right if you go to fast ) plus massage

 

Merlin thanks for the pics and the review, very informative indeed
ill have to say i like things bieng suttle if i had an e55 id probably debadge it and move around in stealth, but dont you think the interior is just a bit tooo subtle for that much money? i mean i know it says kompressor and all but maybe some two tone leather like the m5 or somethin

 

View on the dashboard. Sorry for the quality

 

Ok, view on the center console. From left top to left down:
Switch for distronic alarm. Switch to input the distance for distronic. Switch for airlift (the car comes up two inches/5 cm). Switch for setup (normal and two harder positions). Parking measurment.

 

View on the CD-changer which is hidden under the lid. On the picture the lid is open and the changer comes out a bit in order to receive 6 CD

 

Engineroom

 

That's it. The last picture.

 

In figures difficult to say. But I would compare it to the couple E430 - E55. The new one is much more like a race car. To this impressions adds also the new gearbox which reacts much quicker and has less slip.

merlin

 

If you go with the manual mode (Speedshift) you can use to switches (left on is down, right one is up). The change is almost immeditiately and very crisp. But you cannot change into gears which are not allowed (e.g. rpm will get too high). Driving the car really fast and hard I would prever the manual mode. You have better control over the powerflow ( at max. you will be limited by the rpm limiter but you won't be interrupted by a shift of the gears)

One downside is there: if you turn the wheel it gets really nasty to figure out which switch is up and which is up ))

The response is instantaneous, the only lag is the one of the automated gear if there's a shift.

For the dials see the pics. I have somewhere also a picture with the lights on.

Quality of the leather and the interiors is top-level. As I said I would have preferred a thicker steering wheel.

My own E55 has two-color leather, the new one had black colored leather but I understood you can order both.

Hope this helps

regards

merlin

 

I know what you mean. I shouldn't show immediately but it should be visible. My own is two-tone and as I understood you can order it. This car was just like this.

merlin

 

Thanks for taking the time to post a great report, merlin.
It's the first personally written one I've been able to find.
Tough decision for you!

 

Thanks for all the pics and comments. I don't think too many E55's will be available for test drives in this country when they reach our shores. Now I'm really getting excited. By the way, Merlin, how much was the dealer asking for the car?

 

Thanks for all the pics and comments

I do agree that steering wheel not thick enough (although after three days I got used to it). In my case from C43 --> C32 but not I fixed with my new Victor steering wheel that is even better than my old ///AMG.