So, it was with great excitement that I accepted delivery of a 2007 E63 almost a month ago. The car had a scant 41,376 miles on it, and sat there perched like a black mass evil....and I liked it. Having never owned a car this powerful (or with an automatic transmission), this has been an eye opener in several ways....only a few of which have been less than stellar.

Anyway, here are my quick observations after the first month of ownership, and what I think it all means for others about to take the plunge.

"The Good":

* Hold on to your loved one, because they may be blown out of the car it has so much power!! Seriously, having more power than a new Corvette Z-06, but having 4-doors and real trunk space, well.....it is unreal. I find myself wanting to have some unsuspecting putz taunt me just so that I can unleash the power and the sound of this huge motor on them.

* This car is mean. Maybe it is just because mine is black as a midnight sky and has ridiculously dark windows, but it seems to be grinning from the front. Kind of like, 'Step on in. Let's go have some fun'.

* Interior. The styling is excellent, it is comfortable for almost all situations, and is wrapped in leather, alcantara suede, and other high quality materials fitting for a car that was almost $100,000 new.

* Features. Seriously, the owners manual is almost 500 pages long this car does so much. There is no way I will ever use have of the features this car has.

* Fun to drive. I just want to step on the gas. How will my wallet survive?


"The Bad":

* Features. Seriously, the owners manual is almost 500 pages long this car does so much. There is no way I will ever use have of the features this car has.

* Fun to drive. I just want to step on the gas. How will my wallet survive?

* Do not own this car without a warranty of some type unless you want to hemmorage money like a head wound from a cage fight.

* Air suspension. I came out today (after picking the car up from warranty repairs last night) and the front was tucking wheel because the front air suspension is failing to hold air. Going in Monday to be replaced. Who knows how long that will take.

* Window regulator. Passenger side one started failing last week. Had to be replaced.

* Sound system. Speaker decided to stop working on the Harmon Kardon system. Had to be replaced.

* Keyless Go. Door handle for the keyless go decided it wanted to work when it wanted to. Had to be replaced.

* Paddle shifer for upshifts popping out of steering wheel. Going in Monday to have this replaced.

* Airbag warning light for passenger side seat. Failed to recognize that there was a 6' 4" 225 lb person in that seat and turned off the airbag for them and warning came up on display. Had to be reprogrammed.

* Right rear trim panel on C-pillar sagging. Had to be replaced.

* Left rear door hinge started creaking. Had to be repalced.

* Center console sliding piece had coating peeling off. Had to be replaced.

"The Warranty":

* So far, I have been very happy with the Mercedes warranty. They have addressed my concerns quickly, provided a loaner car, and fixed all of the issues, which makes the fact that the issues have even happened in such a short period of time (ALL THIS IS ONLY 1 MONTH!!) easier to deal with. From speaking with the previous owner, he had a fair amount of things replaced too and drove it very little. I found out that the car has had quite a few warranty claims, so mine are not isolated incidents. I bought an extended warranty so that when the factory warranty runs out I am not caught with my pants down, so to speak. What I do know, and I cannot stress this enough, is that you MUST ONLY BUY ONE OF THESE IF YOU HAVE A WARRANTY!! Otherwise, it may frustrate you to own this car.

Now, that said, I still love this car very much. It is a blast to drive, is safe as a bank vault, and can hold all of my daughter's baby gear. Now if I can only figure a way to remove that pesky 155 mph speed limiter so that our trips to Canada go faster, all will be falling into place nicely.

 

Very very true statements ad if it hasn't been said to you enough times already, enjoy your new beast and warranty

 

Wow, that is a long list of warranty work for just one month of ownership but I guess it is not too uncommon for a Mercedes with 40k miles.

I'm glad everything was covered under warranty, as you just saved yourself a few thousand dollars. Warranty is a MUST with these cars

 

My first month has had no issues. My car only has 13k miles though. Maybe they had a lot of the small issues worked out by the 2008 model year? I love it so far! Mine is black also.

 

I bought mine new, so I know exactly how it's been treated from day one. So far everything is fine. I think by 2009, it was as bug-free as a MB can be.

The 2007 was the first one out and probably a build date of 2006. Things still weren't still quite 100% right at Daimler even by 2006.

But if you look at the OP's issues, everything is fairly minor and is either the usual electronic stuff or cosmetic wear and tear from mileage. Who knows how the PO actually treated it, and how it looked before the dealer cleaned it up and CPO'd it.

And airmatic suspension we all know about going in. BMW, Range Rover and Audi air suspension isn't any better.

At 40k+ miles, most modern Euro cars are having these sorts of niggling issues. But the E Class AMGs seem to have no big major mechanical or engineering faults; drive train is pretty strong, etc.. Downside is that parts/repair is very expensive. But no different than other Euro cars in the same segment and original MSRP price range.

If you think the grass is greener, then go look at the 997 Porsche forums on Rennlist. There's a thread right now on "what I don't like about my 997." For a car with such reported reliability, the grass isn't really any better. Lots of niggling issues, high oil consumption esp on the 997.2 DFI motors, and big parts/repair costs under warranty.

 

Damn. That's a lot of trips to the dealer and I'd be getting a little annoyed by now. I don't know that my '06' E55 is anything special but I've got almost 45 K miles and had almost no warranty repairs other than a bad IC pump which was replaced under warranty. Other than routine maintenance, mine never goes to the dealer.

Knock on wood.

 

Ditto that for my old 05 E55 and my 08 E63. Both rock-solid.

 

That is a kind of long list, but hey they do fix everything and set you up well while doing it (I've been getting GLK350 loaners recently) I have not had many build/car quality issues in my 2 years. I have gotten a couple things that you've gotten so far, but overall I've been beyond pleased with how hard I drive my beast and it just keeps on running great..!! Keep enjoying, and very well done on the extended warranty..!!!

 

My C63 was a 2009 and a complete nightmare to own. Never again. Out of the 10 months I owned it, it was in the shop for 3. Just an awful experience.

 

The 2007 model is the first year for the 63 engine only but also it is the fifth year for the W211 platform. All the "bad" stuff that the OP listed pertains to W211 E-Class in general and not the E63 AMG specifically. But like you said, all European manufacturers suffer from the same high cost repairs especially as their technologies become more complex.

 

Yeah, you're right. I guess I was just wondering if Daimler got the assembly lines running smoother by then. And I really wonder what they mean when they say "better quality" now. I mean, it's still the same vendors, same parts, etc.. Are they just running a major ad/marketing campaign while they try to beef up the quality?

Anyway, yeah, it's the same these days with all new Euro cars. The main difference from the old days of MB overbuilding their cars is the new economies. Lots of changes in the way of doing business in the auto industry.

 

I think they've improved their quality control tests a little bit but the rest is mainly marketing.

 

@Meeyatch1.....
may I ask where you are located and what you paid for the car ?

I'm looking at an '08, 21k miles, and trying to an idea where the right price is.Thanks

 

I would guess high mid to high 40K's..? Depending on CPO or not...

 

Well, Edmunds tmv shows ~$54K dealer, ~$51K private and ~$48k trade so you may be right. Would still like to know some actual sales. That's why I asked the op.

 

Search his posts, I'm pretty sure he said what he paid when he bought it...

 

fwiw, my dealer offered me $58k on trade for my 2009 with 17k on it. That was after we negotiated the new car with a heavy discount. I'm guessing they were figuring $1-1.5k profit on the resale.

(fyi, I didn't do the deal; I was just shopping the dealer for now.)

 

No, he doesn't...search was the first thing I had done.
Here's his op when he bought the car : Click Here

 

Now this is exactly why I'm asking.
Edmunds shows a trade in for your car ~ $65k .

Shows just how far off their numbers are compared to the real world.

 

Yep, there's Edmunds and the real world. When I bought the car they listed their "what others are paying" price for it and it was $29k off

I'm guessing I could have gotten the trade up to $60-62k if I had played harder and "walked out the door" etc.. But I seriously doubt $65k would have worked; maybe only if I had traded w/o working the great deal on the new car first.

 

29k off !! That's some difference.

I just noticed my dealer's web site has been re designed. Pre owned inventory
no longer has Carfax viewable.

And, oh yes, the 63 I was looking at jumped $7k in price since last week.
I guess somebody has to pay for that new looking web design.

 

Yeah, Edmunds failed to list that the left over 2009 W211 E63s were being heavily discounted to make room for the W212. I guess a few people paid a lot more if they used Edmunds as their guideline.

Prices seem to be rising slowly. The CPO market is fairly strong according to the dealers. Of course they didn't say that when they gave me their price for my trade-in

 

Ahh well I'm a jacka** yeah KBB and Edmunds are way off the market value of stuff right now...it's good for loans though since every bank looks it up and thinks you're getting a great deal...

 

+10000000

Edmunds and KBB are way off in terms of pricing.... KBB is even more so than Edmunds. Many people look at the KBB value and hope to get that when they trade in their cars but are later shocked to learn what the dealer is really offering.

 

I am in Indianapolis. PM me for further pricing details.