E55 vs RS6
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 78
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From: Little Rock
03 E55
E55 vs RS6
Hey guys, I am completely torn right now between the two... Now I know that the opinions on here are going to be biased 
, but I am in the market and ready to buy asap. Which one should I go with and why?
I like the fact that the Audi that I am lookin at has the GIAC chip, which you can turn stock mode back on and the delearship wont know that it is modded, thus can keep the warranty. With the chip, it is supposed to be rated at 520 hp at the crank of course... It has 65k miles on it, its an 03 and could prolly buy it for $24k
The E55 that I am lookin at is stock, has 55k miles on it, and its also an 03. I would like to put the LET pulley and tune on it, but am scared about loosing the warranty. I can get the E for $25k. The E also has aftermarket wheels, but I havent seen picks of them.
The E has never been in a wreck, the audi got rearended at a light but looks great from what i can tell.
Does anyone know how the maintenance differs between the two? And warranties?
So the big question....
WHICH ONE DO I BUY!!!???
, but I am in the market and ready to buy asap. Which one should I go with and why? I like the fact that the Audi that I am lookin at has the GIAC chip, which you can turn stock mode back on and the delearship wont know that it is modded, thus can keep the warranty. With the chip, it is supposed to be rated at 520 hp at the crank of course... It has 65k miles on it, its an 03 and could prolly buy it for $24k
The E55 that I am lookin at is stock, has 55k miles on it, and its also an 03. I would like to put the LET pulley and tune on it, but am scared about loosing the warranty. I can get the E for $25k. The E also has aftermarket wheels, but I havent seen picks of them.
The E has never been in a wreck, the audi got rearended at a light but looks great from what i can tell.
Does anyone know how the maintenance differs between the two? And warranties?
So the big question....
WHICH ONE DO I BUY!!!???
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 2,198
Likes: 43
From: Scottsdale, AZ
Mercedes
The e55 is not bad, but make sure you purchase the extended warranty on either of them. The warranty on the benz runs around the 3-4k mark. The rs6 has had turbo problems, and the e55 has airmatic suspension issues that can get very expensive, very fast...
....That said, I have a 2003 E55 for sale with lower miles and warranty for not that much more
...
....That said, I have a 2003 E55 for sale with lower miles and warranty for not that much more
...
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 73
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From: Honolulu, HI
2005 E55
Check out the RS6 forum at audiworld.com. I think there were quite a few transmission failures with stock motors - I'd think the risk would be even higher with the chip. Turbo failure is another potentially huge repair bill. But it's a beautiful, and rare, car. The engine is unique to that model, so service may be an issue; if I recall, not every Audi dealer is certified to work on these cars.
If you're going to have $10k+ in reserve for potential repairs, or can get a good aftermarket warranty, I'd say go for either one if they're in good condition. My advice would be against stretching yourself financially to buy this type of car.
If you're going to have $10k+ in reserve for potential repairs, or can get a good aftermarket warranty, I'd say go for either one if they're in good condition. My advice would be against stretching yourself financially to buy this type of car.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jul 2006
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From: OC, SoCal
08 S65, 06 M3 CS(stick), 02 BMW X5 4.6iS, 07 R1 Raven, 08 F-450 4x4, 08 CooperS JCW
loved the RS6 when it came out...still do...I hadn't heard of any tranny problems but the do suffer from DRC (dynamic ride control) failure....don't own without a warranty and stay away from a modded one.
The 211 e55? Well if you do a search here you'll find enough info to sink a ship...
The 211 e55? Well if you do a search here you'll find enough info to sink a ship...
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Member
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 84
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Audi S4
Stay away from the RS6. I'm a huge Audi fan and DIY guy, and I wouldn't touch an RS6 with a 10 foot pole.
- DRC leaking issues (could be fixed by buying coilovers)
- Tranny/Torque Converter issues
- Maintenance schedule calls for timing belt change every 35K
- Dealer states that motor has to be pulled to change O2 sensors/starter (wtf was Audi thinking with that one)
The thing is a maintenance *****. Even if you could get a warranty on it, it wouldn't cover items like the timing belt job. I think Audi engineers purposely designed this car to make Audi service shops a lot of money. Go with the E55.
- DRC leaking issues (could be fixed by buying coilovers)
- Tranny/Torque Converter issues
- Maintenance schedule calls for timing belt change every 35K
- Dealer states that motor has to be pulled to change O2 sensors/starter (wtf was Audi thinking with that one)
The thing is a maintenance *****. Even if you could get a warranty on it, it wouldn't cover items like the timing belt job. I think Audi engineers purposely designed this car to make Audi service shops a lot of money. Go with the E55.
Former Vendor of MBWorld
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 395
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From: DFW
E350 Sport & Rs6
Well, one of our Manager's drives an RS6! I have recently learned about them, more like, learn about FIXING THEM.
Most every car with alittle age is going to have SOME issues. I am not saying, don't buy the RS6 because it's going to break down but if you were to have some issues........ you will have a bigger headache with the RS6.
Both cars can be expensive to fix but the RS6 will be a nightmare because it will take forever to get parts and you will have no transportation.
I say E55.
Most every car with alittle age is going to have SOME issues. I am not saying, don't buy the RS6 because it's going to break down but if you were to have some issues........ you will have a bigger headache with the RS6.
Both cars can be expensive to fix but the RS6 will be a nightmare because it will take forever to get parts and you will have no transportation.
I say E55.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 493
Likes: 10
From: MIA
13' E550, 14' Ram, 99' E39 wagon
And dealers can tell that the car has a GIAC chip in it even if you switch it to stock mode, although some dealers are tuning their Audi's so find out about the warranty stuff first if you go with the Audi
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 2,895
Likes: 53
From: Maryland
'14 E63S & '14 Audi SQ5
I owned an RS6. The car had great all-weather performance... great looking interior (except for the terrible Nav system), especially with the carbon fiber package. The handling was pretty good and it had a relatively light weight for an AWD car with tons of amenities. As other mentioned, there are four huge downsides: 1. the transmission is pretty much at the limit with no modifications. Any real ECU upgrades and the tranny will not last under hard launches. 2. The Performance even with ECU and exhaust will barely stay with a stock E55. A modded E55 will make it look downright slow. 3. If you do mod, the relatively small turbos have been known to prematurely go. 4. Maintenance. I still had the free factory maintenance program on my car before I got rid of it. When they did the timing belt change I asked the Audi service guys how much it would have cost me if I had to pay out of pocket. They told me it would have been $3K-$4K because they had to remove pretty much the entire front clip to get the belts. The RS6 is extremely expensive to maintain...and not all Audi dealerships ponied up the money to Audi USA (I heard it was $30K+ to participate at the time to get an allocation of the RS6) to have dedicated RS6 service technicians trained and certified to work on these cars.
Tom
Tom
