Hello all! I am Chris and a new member here.

I am seriously considering selling my 1986 Buick Grand National (or trade + cash?) and getting a 2004-2006 E55 AMG. I have had the GN for 10 years now, and it's a great car but frankly, I am a little bored and want a new toy. I am noticing these cars can be found with ~40k-50k miles on them and priced in the mid 20 thousands. A bargain from what I can see.

I am asking for opinions and guidance from anyone that wants to chime in - such as "do's and don'ts" - what cars to watch for and what cars not to consider. What are known issues, and what can I expect. I am aware of the gas tank bulkhead leak recall/issue, but what else to look for?

I am reasonably mechanically savvy - what are maintenance costs such as a set of brake rotors and pads - that sort of thing.

The Turbo Buick message boards have been nothing short of a Godsend of info and help, I am hoping this is a similar arena, so here I am.

Well have at it guys, I know everyone has an opinion! Am I crazy or is this a good idea?

Best Regards,
Chris

There is a lot of research to do, so I wish you the best of luck. Several threads on here already that covering this topic, and I am sure you will see them soon. Maintenance history is a HUGE factor with these cars because any repairs out of pocket are usually more costly than a normal car.

On a side note, PM me pictures and details for your Grand National. I have been looking to add one of those for several years.

Wow, another Buick guy! PM me your number, I'd rather talk than type.

yeah this place is helpful, im also in the market and the site is a plethora of information

I suggest you start by paging through the 211 AMG forum and reading every thread that grabs your attention. You'll learn a lot.

Brakes actually aren't too bad. A bit over $100/each for front rotors. Front pads run ~$150ish, depending on where you buy and whether you go OEM or aftermarket. Some AMGs use a two piece front rotor priced near $1K, but the E55 is actually reasonable.

Regular service is once/year or every 10K miles. The car takes 9 quarts of Mobil1. Brake fluid is flushed every 24 months. Transmission is serviced at 40K miles (~9 quarts of synthetic fluid - $$) and again whenever you feel guilty about it.

Rubber can cost some money, depending on what you run and how aggessively you drive.

There are some common failure parts. Most are not too expensive, but be sure you are comfortable with the potential cost of the airmatic suspension. The rear struts are very expensive to purchase, not available rebuilt, and very labor intensive to install.

Other than that, tuned cars occasionally blow up their engines; and the tuner never takes responsibility for screwing up the fuel map and melting your pistons. I am a big fan of stock.

Right on Shadow - I think 469hp is plenty for now - I can tune later if I need. I have had more than 500+hp cars, and I just don't need all that at the moment...

I have been scouring threads.. tell me more about airmatic costs and such. The brakes seem reasonable, as do some of the other maintenance items you mentioned.

ttt

Thanks guys! Anyone else?

I had an Airmatic strut go out on my car last Sunday night. It just so happens that I was next to the car when it went. Heard a loud noise like air rushing out of something, then watched the drivers side front of the car go down. I was absolutely pissed. The car had been sitting in the same spot for 7 hours. The strut just had enough and decided to let go.
Anyone that's interested in buying an E55 should be aware that an Airmatic failure can happen anytime.

Now for the good part. Remanufactured struts are $399 from Arnott Industries (vs $1500 from MB). The struts are absolutely one of the easiest jobs I'd ever done on any of my cars. It took me less than 40 minutes to get the old one out and about an hour to get the new one in. I'm sure I could do the whole job in less than an hour next time.

The front struts are not too bad, either cost or labor to install. The rears are another story. They are not available rebuilt, so expect to pay $1K for the part. Installing them using the factory procedure is 10 hours of labor - it involves dropping the rear subframe. It's a $2K repair, easy. There is some discussion in the archives of tricks to speed the installation time.

I had a rear strut with a slow ~48 hour leak replaced on my '06 - CPO paid for it. Six months later the new strut failed overnight while the car was sitting in my garage. So CPO paid for it again! IMHO airmatic is the worst part of the ownership experience.

To the original poster - you need to either have a warranty that covers all these common failure areas, or have a ~$5K slush fund at all times. Otherwise you very well may not be able to keep this car on the road. It's not Ferrari expensive, but neither is it for the financially faint of wallet.

I second the warranty. BUY IT. I bought my E55 on November 9th. CPO from the Mercedes dealer. It has been in the shop 10 days out of the last 30. -And my E55 was fully up to date with all servicing, maintenance, etc.

Jam, what did yours need done??

Who sells the warranties that is reputable and hassle free? What are the costs?

Mine needed new lower ball joints. It also was leaking at the valve covers, oil pan and transmission fluid was leaking from somewhere. I had a bad battery too but the dealer covered everything under the CPO. (They even paid for the new battery). I also needed them to fix the electronic trunk. The wires were snagged in the hinge and caused the truck to short.

Jam - how many miles are on your car? That sounds like a bunch of stuff. Glad to hear it was covered, but I have to ask - how many miles are on your car?

38,000__

I am a huge fan on Buick's GN. Personally, I dont think Buick has put out anything decent since the 87 GNX. I always preferred the stealth look of the t-type even though most people don't know what a GN is. I had to chime in on this thread, even though I don't have much info. I REALLY think you should consider keeping the GN. They seem to be at that point where the value has bottomed out or they are starting to appreciate a little.

Jam - wow all that wrong in just 38k? That's kinda scary from a car company that prides itself on it's engineering.

Black - The GN is way cool, I am just bored with it. The GNX was a special car (only 547 made) but with a little tuning the regular LC2 3.8 turbo in all the GN and T-Type cars can outrun a GNX easily. Time for a new toy... I would need the $$ from the GN to finance the E55 idea, and I don't have room for both in the garage either...

At the of the day these were close to $100K high performance cars. When you've got this much power, things break. Plain and simple. Luckily good warranties exist for them.

Ball joints are a weak area of the 211 chassis; they simply wear out too early. Minor oil leaks from the valve covers are common to this engine family. It's a simple repair.

The electronic trunk seems to be problematic; there are many threads discussing problems with it.

Keyless go seems to break quite a lot too. The Pano roof doesn't seem any less reliable than the regular sunroof, but is astronomically expensive to repair if it does fail. I opted for a car without any of these options.

Shadow - that's spot on to what I wanted, thank you!

Nice work!

The Pano roof is awesome, I can't kick one out of my driveway. If the valvecovers are easy to do, I got em. Keyless go always sounded cool, but I don't need it.

Balljoints - problem. Is there an aftermarket balljoint that is stronger; or even a control arm?

I don't need the power trunk, either. Extra weight.

but you have pano....

Pano is coolness.... Power trunk is bloat.

Pano is 200+LBS power trunk is 15...

I'm a potential buyer as well. 1 question about the airmatic system...is there a way to get it checked and see how much life is left? Or are you just constantly guessing as to when its going to go? Thanks

No, not really. You can check for a slow leak by letting the car sit for 72+ hours and see if the suspension collapses at one or more corners. But of course that's not really practical when you are shopping. As well, the struts can fail suddenly, so just because the car stays up doesn't really guarantee anything.