slikstang

ok guys, newbie here. I am looking to purchase an e55 for around 25-30k and after looking it looks like I am going to be around an 03 to maybe an 06. one of the main things I wanted to get is the air cooled seats. (besides the motor brakes etc). my question is... how reliable is the car in general and what are some major things to look out for when purchasing the car. also i was looking at buying from a private party if possible. am I screwed if I don't have a warranty and what mileage is just too much for these cars.

keep in mind I understand these are general questions. I understand a lot about cars and motors in general ( i have a 700hp cobra) so I do understand more power = shorter engine life.

also what is a good reasonable amount of power that I can bump the car to without changing a lot of parts aka intercooler fuel injectors. and really shortening the life of the motor.

sorry if this question has been asked but I could not find it.

thanks

Kevin from Socal

slikstang

no love guys... any comments or anything would be greatly appreciated.

emoving

Well first of all, they were only made 2003-2006 and at 25k to 30k your not gonna touch a nice 06 and the 05 will probally be a high mile car. That being said, spend a little xtra and get a 05 with warranty that you can extend. Engines are pretty bullet proof even with some minor mods. The airmatic and crap like that is what may fail and rob your wallet. Do a pully, tune and heat exchanger and you should be @550. But use the search function you will find much more info!

CharlyE500

I bought mine 2006 $27K at 75K miles almost 4 months. So far so good.
I bought the Chrysler ext. warranty for about $2800 for 39 months. You should able to find 2005 at $30K with better mileage as 45k-55k

slikstang

yea my bad I did the search but no real newbie questions. any idea on what mileage is just to high for that. like if I purchase one with 50k on it should I be selling it by 90k. or if I get one with 90k and compression is good should I be fine till 130k. Also can you purchase the warranties even if you go private party.

sorry about some of the warranty questions this will be the first I try and get a warranty on it. also if I get a tune heat exchanger and pulley do I just have to change the pulley if I don't want to void the warranty

jamusa

Use an average of 12k-15k per year....this will give you an idea if the car has too many miles.

slikstang

ahh no no I understand that but I was wondering if there is a general number like for mustangs you never want to buy one that has over 120k miles because you are basically going to need to rebuild the motor very soon. so is there a number of miles that you basically will need to rebuilt the motor. also are there a lot of issues with the tranny on these cars.

also when you push too much power on these cars what is the first thing to give.

head gaskets, tranny, ignition...?

lbE55

Mine is an 04 with 52k miles. Pulley and tune at 8k miles. No problems with the car except for routine stuff.

On the pulley, I would only use someone who has done many pulley installs:

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...-bad-news.html

Because you're in SoCal, you should talk to Vadim or the guys at EvoSport. Both firms are reputable and have been doing work on 55k from the beginning. I have used both with no complaints.

My car is with Vadim as I type . . .

slikstang

well this is awesome to hear, I am in Irvine so I am right next to a lot of these guys.

ok so now give me some bad news about this car, cmon what are the major issues with them also any other issue that are common or mods that are a must when I get the car.

Busta Riles

You're not getting much response because there are no major problems with an E55.

Get one with as low mileage as possible.

There are 2 minor issues that E55s are notorious for: Intercooler Pump & Supercharger Clutch.

slikstang

ok well that is not bad, ok now let me ask this. if I do a pulley tune and intercooler and maybe some nitrous am I going to be running into a lot of issues and will I need to upgrade the like for instance I know if you put more air in I know you need more fuel and spark. so will I need bigger injector and an msd system?

JonMBZ

Airmatic and SBC system will end up getting you. Try and get the service history of the car and find out if they have been replaced.

slikstang

ok I researched the airmatic system and looks like it's about 1k to fix, so it looks like the pump itself goes out. ok that is not to bad. But what about the SBC I just read an article on that and it seems like the system has a lot of issues with that and were recalled. do does that mean if the SBC system has been replaced then I should be fine or will it continually be an issue.

Yacht Master

If the pump goes out that means the system has a leak and the pump has been short cycling (running all the time) and the pump and relay will burn up. I don't know thw price of the pump & relay but the front struts are $1200.00 each for the front ($500.00 for rebuilt with rebuild-able core) rears are a little bit less. Now if the air matic fails the car goes slammed tires rub inner fender panel, and needs to be flat bedded to place of repair. I have seen posts here at MBWorld listing dealer repairs to Airmatic routinely costing $4500.00, So the reality $1K might be on the light side. If you shop for an aftermarket warranty most don't cover struts so read the fine print.

The SBC had 2 recalls one for a bracket and one for a larger ground strap and
did have the factory warranty extended for, I think 10 years 100K miles. Most of the issues are people that don't understand how the SBC works and freak out when they feel the electric brakes adjusting up as the back out of the driveway. You will notice when you touch the door handle lots of noises happen as the beast wakes up, the SBC and Airmatic are among the systems that start up before the engine.

Busta Riles

If you think the Airmatic suspension costs $1000 to fix, you haven't done enough research. There are probably 10 parts in that system that cost $1000 to fix (ballpark).

There was a recall on the SBC unit. Recalls do not expire, so find out if the car has had the new one installed.

This car has more pumps & control units than you could ever dream of. This is no Mustang.

If you want to use NOS, feel free. Also be prepared to spend $30,000 when your engine blows up.

Keep reading....and get warranty.

bobgodd

People are selling used engines out of wrecked cars for 5-6 grand.

slikstang

30k for a motor and 10k for struts wow, 30k seems like a lot i think i would just buy a e55 for 30k. I think bobgodd got a better deal I think you got hustled busta. (just my opinion) ok so make sure that the struts and relay has been replaced and just make sure that the SBC has been replaced? before I buy any car I will take it to a certified mechanic, what parts on the SBC should they be looking for. so if the cars haven't had the struts should I just budget about 4500 in for replacement of that at some point.

guys thanks for the continuing help on this. I need to hear the bad things that can go wrong with the car.

so the SBC and the airmatic are major issues are there any others that you guys can think of I would really appreciate any other things you guys can think of.

thanks busta i just realized that a Mercedes is not the same as a ford. cmon man you don't have to talk down on me.

Triple.Sevens

I haven't really noticed any difference with my cooled seats, do they actually cool? Or is it just some fan that sucks air out.

slikstang

good question. I know the 750 it works pretty well the land rover not so much.

also is there any mod where I can get the seats to really blow cold air so I don't get a sweaty back in these hot summers if there isn't I am going to make one, after the purchase

chiromikey

strut failures are still not that common but as with any air suspension, if you put it on pothole filled roadways with low profile tires that don't absorb shock load you will decrease strut life. sbc failures aren't all that common either, it's just a poor system. seats are ventilated not ac'd, so they pull air off your body rather than blow cold air onto it. not s great design but better than nothing.

the reason you're not hearing about a specific milage to be aware of is that nobody has found it yet. these cars just aren't old enough. I've got more mods than most along with more miles and the motor is still going strong. I've been well over the 600bhp mark for most of the time and this thing just keeps delivering. I'm now in the 700bhp range and still not running out of fuel. so far I've got 125k miles and counting and just laid down some of the highest dyno numbers for any 55 off n2o so imho you won't need to worry about the motor at all...even with n2o if set up properly.

slikstang

YESSSSSSS. that sounds great. I also read that you just check the bottom of the strut for oil to make sure they are not leaking. also I heard the changed that SBC system for the 05 model is that correct.

what mods do you have on your e

chiromikey

they upgraded some steering components for '05 but I don't know if they changed sbc. iirc, they did get rid of sbc altogether after '06. with a little due dilligence, you can get a front strut for just over $700 and install it yourself in about an hour so that really shouldn't be too big of a concern.

my mods? just about every bolt-on you can think of, much of it once custom that has now become mainstream such as long tube headers and oversized heat exchangers...all of it pioneered by people like chris from floored fab and other great items like airboxes and end user ecu tuning devices from renntech.

slikstang

what are your dyno numbers have you run it at the track yet?

chiromikey

last year i dyno'd at 484rwhp on a dyno dynamics (low compared to most other dynos ) but ran an the quickest non nos time of 11.2 at the famoso amg event with 1500ft da. i now have just over 90 more rwhp on the same dyno along with some unsprung weight reduction and a stall converter. just waiting for cooler weather and the da to drop below 5000ft here in az before i hit the track again.

slikstang

wow and you have 120k miles on it, that is really good, so why do all the guys on here insist on get a car with as low miles as possible if your at 120k and still running strong, wait I assume your on your first motor right?

some guys on this forum were suggesting a guy buy a one year newer model with 15k less miles on it and pay 5k more. that seems silly. take that 5k and boost that bad boy to the limit!(or did I forget something )