dfz

I recently was shopping for an E55 AMG.. after test driving two models an MB dealership and being blown away!! (the 06 model felt faster than my previous 911, the 05 not so much), when I told the salesperson I was hoping to drive the car year round including snow (New York.. not the worst snow around) he told me to stay away from the car with a 100 foot pole.. I guess 10 feet is still too close. I couldn't understand why they would not want to sell a customer an AMG but I said fine and looked down a level to the 500.

Then he told me I could get an AMG sport package instead which had some of the features of the AMG model.. I took this to assume that the AMG sport package had some additional HP over the regular model.. after all the tires were a lot bigger. Now that I got the car all I can see are: paddle shifters, AMG logo on the wheels, AMG logo on the exhaust.. Is that it??? Am I missing anything?

Oh and don't forget the ridiculously wide tires! 255 in front and 285 in rear! What were they thinking?? This car doesn't have close to the output of an AMG! Had I noticed this when buying the car I would have opted for the non-AMG package.. because the wet (i.e. very light rain) handling is terrible.. the tires float and hydroplane resulting in serious understeer.. Even the E55 AMG's tires aren't this wide! It feels like a waste of rubber and money when I have to replace them as well as loss of safety.

Has anyone else experienced a car with the AMG sport package and also wondered WTF? Any recommendations on what skinnier/cheaper tires I could put on the car that would make it a bit safer to drive year round? Since the package doesn't appear to add any HP I'm wondering what the point is, other than to get more money out of the consumer?

Bramage

Dealer motivation is questionable. It may have been related to the insane (potential) repair cost on the AMG, but that is what aftermarket warranties are for. And they should be purchased if you get any Mercedes IMHO. It may have been a better commission for one reason or another.. who knows.

The AMG sports package is just cosmetic. Many (if not all) times these are dealer installed.

The CLS 500 is still beautiful.

KLR CLS

My guess is that the CLS500 was sitting on the lot for a long time and they wanted to move it. Bad move on your part if you ask me, but oh well

Yuille36

We have our Canadian brothers that drive their cars in the winter, and their weather is worse then ours. Just get yourself a great set of winters tires and stay off of full throttle, and keep traction control on, and you should be fine. I drive both my C63 and E63 in the snow here in VA, but I'm very careful how I apply the gas. Last year after Christmas I drove my E63 through the Northeast blizzard and was fine, with Continentals Extreme Contact DWS. Great tire, and we got 10" or more of snow in PA and NJ. Boy was that a white knuckle drive.

guysandiego

i commend the salesman --- he had every reason to push the E55 -- more profit -- better chance of future repairs for them -- ++++

But you said you wanted to drive it year round -- and i must say the car is not going to be a delight in the snow -- i can hardly drive it in the rain

alexoE55

my main concern is that you got a cls500... which isnt 4matic... so you could of got the amg...

I do not want to sound like an *******... but Im wondering how the hell did you get the $ to buy a mercedes if your so stupid you do not check what the sport package actually is. I mean im astonished at your stupidity... unless of course you make 50 000$ daily and you dont give a ****, but from what I see that is not the case... anyway I hope lESSON lEARNED for you my friend.

On another note you just saved alot of money and tickets with the non amg.

220S

The CLS is just as bad in inclement weather as the AMG. That V8 has some good punch to it and you can easily get into trouble as you would with the E55. So I don't quite understand the logic here.

Nonetheless, it's a done deal. You have the CLS now and as Yullie says, just get the right tires for winter driving and/or be careful. Or you could buy a 4x4 beater for bad weather, take public transport, or just avoid the bad days altogether. If you count the days when snow is actually on the ground and creating havoc (before it's plowed), they are really a minority within a year of 365 days. New York isn't exactly the Western Rockies.

And yeah, the AMG package is purely cosmetic. Same kind of marketing that BMW does with their M-sport package on the non-M cars.

p.s., I tend to disagree with the "insane potential repair costs of the AMG." Aside from brakes and motor, they are basically the same as a non-AMG Mercedes. Brakes are expensive to replace as a wear item, but the motor is relatively robust. Tires and gas are another issue and just part of ownership.

E55Dimon

Hope you dont regret getting the 55 everytime you stomp the gas pedal. Ouch.

dfz

Yeah, maybe I regret not getting the E55 a little every time I punch the gas. I also tried the CLS550 but didn't notice much difference between it and the CLS500 when compared to the E55 (couldn't find any dealer that had a CLS55). I thought I'd do myself a favor and get the smaller engine with slightly better gas mileage. But the EPA rating.. 16mpg my ***.. I'm getting 12mpg in the city with NOT driving aggressively.

The CLS500 was in fact sitting on the lot of a while and had the price marked down $5K so it just looked like a smoking deal. Obviously I would have preferred a 4matic but it doesn't exist.. and I can't bring myself to drive an E class unless it's an E55 or E63, again no 4matic. Though true in retrospect if I'm driving a 300+lbs/ft torque car in the winter it doesn't really matter if I had got the AMG or not.. and after reading the instruction manual on the paddle shifters and the m and w shifter modes it's apparent to me now that the AMG would have been better in the snow since I would have more control over the manual shifting, where as with the CLS500 it keeps smart shifting on me and won't respect my selected gear. Live and learn I guess.. I wonder if the dealer will do a trade for an AMG model as it hasn't been a month yet..?

And I wasn't being stupid about the AMG sport pkg, just ignorant. I only know about AMG and non-AMG models, I've never been in a benz with an AMG sport pkg so I had no frame of reference. Also the one with the AMG sport pkg was the car that was marked down so it didn't cost me anything extra for it, the reason I'm pissed is because a) there's no real or cosmetic benefit because even on the wheels you can't see the AMG logo unless you look really close, b) the paddle shifters and manual mode suck and don't work the same as they do in the AMG (why???), c) the tire choice makes absolutely no sense to me and makes it handle worse in 'all season' weather.

I'll be putting winter tires on for sure.. and probably skinnier all seasons. What tire widths and brands do you guys have the best luck with in wet weather? And how skinny and what profile do you go down to for snow tires?

moosejaw

You should have came on this board before you bought the car.....
I'd be kicking myself everytime i see a E55 drive around.
Dealers are A**holes period.
I hate dealing with them.

theblckghst

is this the first car you ever bought?

Cylinder Head

iTrader: (1)

The E55 was bad in the snow so you bought a CLS500 instead?

Great logic.

bigben320e

WOW.

How could you make such an error? One should ALWAYS do research on cars, packages, options, way before you even go to the table to deal. I know the OP says he was ingorant to the fact, I hope you learned your lesson.

I have a CLS500 myself, but of course I knew all the differences between it and the AMG's.

dfz

I was pushed by a couple of salespeople actually who all said the CLS500 would handle much better in rain/snow compared to the AMG version. Of course they said an E-4matic would be better, but that the RWD 500 wasn't too far behind. I suppose I was lied too..

And yes I did read reviews on the CLS but none of them mentioned anything about bad handling (perhaps the reviews didn't test the AMG sport pkg) and the day I test drove this CLS, it was dry outside. I also hadn't come across any review that said the paddle/manual shifters on a non-AMG car don't work the same as on an AMG car and no one at any mercedes dealer mentioned this fact either. I was only told that the AMG model can additionally be made to start in 2nd gear to reduce initial torque in bad weather.

The CLS is still a really nice car and I can get by fine with extra caution. So what are the other differences between it and the AMG model?

97W202

I dont see why everyone keeps bashing this guy, yes WE are all very knowledgeable on mb cars but not EVERYONE out there comes on these forums before buying a car. Keep in mind he was buying a MERCEDES, the fact that its a cls and not an AMG doesnt make you wonder "hey is this car a piece of ****?" its still a MB, regardless of what decision he made hopefully he learns next time.

To OP the only difference is motor and brakes, body kit, some dials here and there, thats it. Congrats on your cls, next time youll know better.

SvtAmg

Agreed. Nice car, enjoy it!

bigben320e

Well, with the handling, my experience has been awesome wet and dry. The tires do make a difference, I roll with Michelin Sports A/S Plus. They are much better than the originals IMO. I am not beating you up btw on this, I just wondered how much was looked into before the purchase.

It seems like the dealer was not as forthcoming as they should have been, but enjoy the car. It is still an awesome ride, and has plenty of punch at the 500 level. My one snow experience was not good in packed snow/ice traction was horrible, BUT I must say I had 20's on at the time, with tires that were worn down, it wasn't really equipped to handle that type of weather.

A pretty good list of the main differences are brakes (after 2006 no more SBC), calipers, engine, torque, dials, seats (massage and styling), Alacantara interior. The body kit is the same with the Sports package and the AMG however. Next time around, I will be getting another CLS, but it will be a 63 either a 2011 or 2012 model. The 550 may be a possibility, but I doubt it.

danlnyc

WAIT, I dont understand something here. Wasn't he test driving an E55 AMG? Why would an AMG need an AMG sports package??

220S

Read the first paragraph in the OP's first post, and you'll figure it out.

dfz

OK so I didn't do as much research as I could have and perhaps bought on an impulse and I didn't really know about this forum before buying. Either way, lesson learned. The car is still amazing on it's own and it's in virtually new condition with extremely low mileage and not a mark anywhere.. looks the previous owner just kept it in the garage all year.

As for the differences between AMG and non.. I can see the brakes/wheels/tires being different but what different dials do you have? And I had wondered about the seats, because one of the reasons I wanted an E55 was because of the multicontour seats, I looked at several non-AMG E classes and did see any with that seat. However, almost all the non-AMG CLSs I came across had the multicontour seat so that was another reason for me going with the CLS. And about the brakes, the dealer told me the car I got had the SBC option, but I've tried testing it (I don't recommend it) and no auto or assisted braking force was ever applied. How can I tell if I do or don't have SBC?

But seat massagers, Seriously? I had jokingly asked the salesperson if they had any cars with seat massagers and he told me MB doesn't make one period and I'd have to go to BMW.. I'm guessing that's not true?

Thanks for the info on the MPS A/S tires, I was thinking about those. I don't think the car itself handles poorly I blame it all on the OEM tires, I believe that with the regular tire width that was meant for car and better all-around tires, the wet handling will improve drastically.

On an unrelated topic.. when I was researching the E55, I found something that said 2005 and earlier models had some problem with the supercharger where it wouldn't malfunction but the boost could drop dramatically to the point where it didn't feel like there was a supercharger at all - and that this issue was fixed for 2006 models. Can anyone confirm is that's true? Because the 2006 E55 I test drove was noticeably faster than the 2005 E55 I also test drove.

outrun

I wouldn't worry about problems with the 55. Most of the problems have surfaced on these cars and have been fixed through warranty work through the previous owners. Just understand that things will break at some point and will cost you a decent amount of coin. As soon as you come to terms with that, everything is fine.

And there are plenty of people in MN that drive their 55's in the winter. Just need a good narrow set of winter tires and don't drive like a jackass. And the trac control on the 55 works amazingly well. Much better than I ever thought.

I saw a black E500 or 550 that had that AMG package on it. Looks pretty damn terrible IMO.

And I think what you're talking about is the IC pump. Yes they go out. But they don't look that bad to replace on your own.

bigben320e

Okay here goes...

1. The dials - Yes the AMG dials are white with black text, and go up to 200 on the 55/63 as opposed to the 500/550 which go up to 160.

2. The seats in the CLS55/63 (and the E55/63) are different. The contour is different with of course the AMG emblem in the middle top part of the seat. Yes, the CLS 55/63 has the massaging seats. My buddy who drives a CLS55 loves them, but it is a little over the top IMO. It is nice though.

3. The 2006 CLS 500/55 has the SBC, if you look under the hood on your left front, you wll see the Bosch SBC system that has UNDER HIGH PRESSURE, you could be killed, etc. 2007 and on the SBC system was dropped. Read more....

Now on that supercharger question....I will leave to the CLS/E55 guys to answer.

220S

fwiw, I had an E350 that came with the "AMG sport" package and it had white dials with black text. My E63 has black dials with white text plus the AMG logo.

Also per the seats: a difference is that the E63 has Napa leather instead of the non-AMG E Class regular leather. Does the non-AMG CLS have Napa, too? I wouldn't assume it did because the S Class has Napa and it would be undercutting that segment.

gavinkong13

Bad move on your part if you ask me, but oh well

bigben320e

On the dials, that model year 06 had the white dials on the AMG (CLS) model. That may have changed after then....

On the seats, no. On the NA CLS (500/550) you do not get the napa leather seats.

MB has been doing a lot of things these past few years that have me saying hmmm? sometimes, but there are reasons I suppose.