Exterior differences between E63 and E55 are not much; here is a quick summary off the top of my head:

- Different front & rear bumpers
- Different front & rear lights (head lights and tail lights)
- Different grill
- Different rims
- E63 comes with a small trunk spoiler

Some interior differences:

- E63 has a ton more of alacantra-covered interior surface
- E63 comes with different instrument cluster with added features, such as, lap timer, oil temp, current gear-selection, etc...
- 2009 (only) E63 comes with much more improved COMMAND system with updated Navigation

I have driven both cars and have owned two 55k vehicles in the past (S55 and SL55) and although I love both cars, I do "slightly" prefer the E63.

It eventually comes down to how much you would like to mod your car. Currently, you would be lucky to extract 45 whp out of the E63 unless you spend a lot of money and take it to another level. But for the E55, you can make it a 10 second car (or at least very close to it) by dropping $6k into it.

The E63 is slightly faster on the road course and is a bit more fun largely due to the 7-speed tranny vs the E55's 5-speed. Also, it comes with more updated suspension parts, steering, brakes, etc.... than most E55 models (except for 2006 E55s).

When it comes to warranty, the E63 will likely come with more warranty, but of course it comes with a higher price. And since the E63 has less moving parts (no supercharger), in the long run it will likely be a slightly more reliable car. I've seen many 55k cars having different bearings go bad and having to replace idler pullies, SC pullies, SC clutch pack, IC pump (even the upgraded ones), tranny parts (for some highly modded ones), etc...

Again, as many have said, both cars are great and you won't go wrong with either one

 

They definitely have a fair number of fully loaded E55's around....you just have to find them....the toughest option to find is probably Distronic..Good luck with your search

 

what are dynamic seats? They massage and move to protect you in the event of an accident, is that all they are?

also, what year/s did the distronic option become available? doesnt seem like i'd use it often, but it seems like a cool feature

 

Dynamic seats auto-inflate on one side when you take a corner too fast in order to hold you into position. They were removed from the W211 E63 as an option and brought back (also as an option) in the W212 E63.

Distronic has been available since 2001, but only since 2003 on the E-Class. Due to its high cost (started out at $3700 and kept going down since its introduction), it became a very rare option to find.

 

Also remember that if you go w/a 63- you will be going with an engine that has been used for only a few years. Mercedes realized the mistake of going to the na 63 platform and is now changing the engine back to a 5.5 liter platform but now with a Turbo application rather than supercharged.

 

Not sure I would call it a mistake.... the 6.3 engine won the International Engine of the Year award in the Best Performance Engine category. Mercedes, along with many other car manufacturers, were "forced" to go back to forced induction for fuel effeciency reasons; otherwise, they would've stayed with the 6.3L engine, possibly made it bigger, stronger, and could've even added forced induction to that engine. However, due to the ever-increasing restrictions, most manufacturers reduced displacement and added forced induction.

The 55k engine stayed in the E-Class for 4 years (from 2003 to 2006), which is about the same amount of years that the 63 engine stayed in the E-Class (2007 to 2011). I would guess that the 63 engine will likely stay in the C-Class and SLS models for few more years to come.

 

+1

If you read all the Daimler and BMW press releases you'll see that all they are talking about is emissions regulations and fuel efficiency. Those two issues are why FI and DI is happening now.