Jcaldwelk

Looking at getting a new to me car that's a little "nicer" than what I've been in (FD, camaro, mustang). Just for reference I started out looing at E46 M3's, then clk55's and now came across the E55. Just wanted some info about owning one, maintenance cost, common problems, how do the engines hold up to the boost, how do they handle, that stuff. Not looking to do a lot of modding but like HP, which is why I'm kinda leaning toward the E55 and it's blower. One concern is my budget is about 20k maybe a tad more so I'd be looking at higher mileage cars, I saw the one on eBay with 212k but have to assume that's an exception. An input or advice is appreciated!

emoving

You should search, as a matter of fact, we just had a thread talking about that eBay car. Maint costs, and all that has been discussed 1 million times before.
I will say, if your on a "budget" probably not the car for you.

BlkE55K

Higher mileage cars regardless of make, are more prone to failure. If you are looking at high mileage E55s and don't get a warranty or have some funds to fix what may break, you should stay away. As has been said many times on here before, you're buying essentially a $90K car so expect the pay for maintenance and repairs accordingly.

Good luck!

vntgspd

How much is your annual budget for maintenance and repair?

Do you do any of your own work?

If so, how do you rate your ability (1-10 with 1 being wiper blades and 10 being engine rebuild )?


$20K will find you a solid older/higher mileage example. But, like any older car it will need things and these can be VERY expensive at the dealer, much less expensive at an indy, and very affordable if you do it yourself.

GT-ER

If a front airmatic strut goes bad it costs $400 to fix.

If a rear airmatic bellow goes bad it cost $700 to fix.

If the airmatic pump goes bad it costs $300 to fix.

If the pressure reservoir in the brake system goes bad it costs $450 to fix ( not covered in sbc warranty ).

These are just examples that don't include labor. I love the car, but taking care of it is not nearly as cheap as a camaro or mustang. The car will surely reward you though if taken care of as it is a blast to drive and the luxury and pampering it gives you makes other cars cry.

CityOfAngels

I just got my E55 last week. I had a E320 before and maintenance was still expensive, but not as much as the E55. I found one of the latest built and well maintained 06 E55 with 60k miles. Had 4 pages of thorough car fax history and was in extremely good condition. Not even 1 scratch or dent.

Even though everything checked out and it drove well. It was at the dealer for 4 days getting a new IC Pump, Pully Tensioner, and belt. All of which cost around $1k-1.5k at the dealer (but I have a warranty).

So be prepared to spend some cash on it even if it seems great. My car is driving like a champ now and I'm very happy with it.

Obviously you can save a lot of money doing it yourself but I'm just giving you my experience.

vntgspd

Here is a great practical application of the importance of doing your own work, having a warranty, or having plenty of $$$ for repairs.

A warranty is great if you have one but getting one on a $20K E55 will be tough due to age and mileage and if you find one it will likely cost you $4500+.

If you do your own work, these same repairs will cost you $320-350 plus 2-4 hours labor.

Of course, as GT-ER pointed out, there are some parts that are still expensive, even in the aftermarket. I figure I will spend about $1500/yr on maintenance and repair (including tires) but I consider this "normal" since I'm used to paying the Porsche tax on parts.

CityOfAngels

Yup!

Keep in mind mine was fully inspected and everything was perfect when purchased except IC Pump, which we all know goes bad.

Then the tensioner issue was caused by a bad install of the IC pump and the belts aren't covered under warranty.

Moral of the story is anything can and will probably go wrong at the worst times (I was driving 400 miles home when belt ripped) so be prepared and don't just purchase the car because they are low in price without knowing what you're in for.

Jcaldwelk

Thanks for all the info. I'd put my wrenching ability at close to 8, have access to a shop with complete set of tools, a lift and a few handy friends. In my current situation, single, dirt cheap cost of living (west Texas...) I could swing 3,000 a year maintenance. I'm no stranger to that either, had a constant $5k rainy day car fund when I owned my rx7, had to dip into it often too :/ I put my budget where it is because that's what I would be looking to pay cash for a car, no payments would help to stomache the maintenance.

CharlyE500

I don't know what you all talking about, my 06 has 88K now. Only Engine oil, Tranny oil change from the last 2.5 years. I bought it on 2009 when it was only 3 years old car with All equipped, parking sensor, keyless go, pano roof, dynamic seat, cooled/heat seat.... oh the only thing is not working now is the dynamic seat but i can live with it. I paid $3K for the Chrysler ext warranty for 39 months, no need at all.

GT-ER

Then you are golden! The biggest issue is people getting rapped due to them not fixing their own vehicles.

CityOfAngels gave a good example of why wrenching it yourself could save you big bucks. The I/C pump costs a whole $115, the supercharger idler pulley costs $140 ( asp ) and the belt $35. The whole install only takes a few easy going hours and you only spent $290 on items that a dealer would charge you $1K for.

BBBSS

All the stories of repair costs almost scared me away till I looked at what people were actually paying for. $2200 for lower balljoints and bushings for the lower control arms?? I almost fell over and died when I read that one. Lots of crazy stories like those. I hear the balljoints can be a pain to get out, but like you I have access to a shop with a lift and full tools if all my stuff can't cover it. I'd put myself at an 8-9 mexhanically. Only thing I wouldn't be able to do is actually rebuild the trans, and can't do machine work on a block. I'm sure I'd have some Q's on some Benz specific stuff but there's plenty of support on here it seems. I'm confident I can cover 90% of the issues that come up if I buy a STAR labtop and maybe a few specialty tools.

novae500

With the wrenching skills you rate yourself, then labor $$$$ costs will be cut done dramatically that is normally paid to the stealer/indy. Pull the trigger and find an E55. Several are for sale on this website.

Jcaldwelk

Definitley need to drive one but I think I'm about sold on it. Now if I can just find the right car. Sort of unrelated but, I was looking at kbb and nada, there seems to be about a $3,000 difference in the value of equaly equiped cars. I may be messing something up as I'm trying to do all this on my phone, but which is more accurate? 05 w/98k: kbb 22.8k, nada 26.1k

GT-ER

The banks I've dealt with always use NADA.

emoving

KKB is crap. NADA is what everyone uses.

vntgspd

I have to agree with the others that is sounds like you are in a great place to enjoy an E55. Ironically, I think the market is probably between the two prices you quoted but agree that NADA is closer.

For reference, I paid just under $24k for an '06 with 75K miles. Well optioned and very very clean, but needed some minor things to make it perfect. By the time I'm "done", I will have spent about $800 plus a couple days labor to resolve a couple minor repairs and do all of the maintenance befitting an 80k miles car since I have no records. I probably could have paid $2-3K more and found a car with 60K miles and full records but I wanted a blue one and they are hard to find.

Ryououki

The 3 different credit unions I have used for my car loans always go against KBB value.

PcarRacr

but I consider this "normal" since I'm used to paying the Porsche tax on parts. [/quote]

Me too!

Yuille36

Keep in mind that most people may have stating extremes here. Majority of the time, you may not have any issues, then all of the sudden you do. I will say this, that AMG on the norm are expensive as compared to your traditional Mercedes. Parts can be found on the net cheaper than the dealership. Learning to repair the car yourself will save you alot of money and headaches. But keep this in mind allot of people are looking at AMGs now, that they can be had relatively cheap, especially and older models. But these cars cost close to 100K, when they were new. In some cost of maintenance can be relative to the cost of the car. No AMG is cheap, but the cost can be mitigated.

One of the biggest headaches with these AMGs, are of course the electronics, not so much the powertrain in most cases. Mercedes-AMG are overly burden down with electronic gizmos, and the gizmos are a major headache for most. I can tell you that the E63 is relatively problem free. The airmatic is a sore point with the E, CL, CLS, S model AMGs.

wally AMG

'04 e55 with 107,000 !! no problems at all... never, never spend more than $500 in one year.. of course fuel not included.. also car wash contract not included... ... is it part of the maintenance?

e500slr

That's why they call them stealerships

Shadow5501

Where in west Texas? My spouse is a MoJo alumnus...

I agree with the crowd, you sound capable of handling it. One thing to consider is the car may be down for a couple days while awaiting parts. This is true whether you order them from a discounter or thru the local dealer - AMG parts are rarely in stock. So be sure you have a backup transportation plan to cover this situation. I'm thinking mostly of airmatic strut failures here, as these go with no warning. Other common problem areas generally give some notice, such as idler pulley bearings and such.

ME63AMG07

Good luck to you! I just got my blk on blk E63 in octber 11 immediatly(2nd daY of ownership) had major issue w a bad intake manifold and a fuel sending unit (gas smell) 54k miles on odo so its out of manufacture warranty, fortunatly I got 2 months 2000 mi dealer covered warranty or I would not have bought car in first place. We figured if anything was wrong w car it would show up within this period. So +6000 repair bill was only 50 to me!!! So I was wo my new car two weeks while they tried to figure out what was problem then finally had to order brand new in manifold. The fuel sending unit was obvious and they fixed it all quickly once they figured out manifold had gone bad enuff to cause vacuum leak. My stealership here in Gainesville FL was very nice about whole deal I was given a new C300 as loaner vehicle for duration. Nice car but no 500 hp AMG which I had only driven trouble free 1 evening and like A drug I was hooked on it and the sounds coming out of it. Keeping my fingers crossed but since then I've put almost 6000 miles on it going to miami and back with no more issues. Its my DD and I am. Fairly good at maint and stuff ( I installed my own Comptech Sc on my old honda accord bymyself) so aside from an initial hiccup which was covered I am Very happy with the deal I got I paid 32000 cash for car so I knew it wasn't perfect as kbb was approx 42000 for it. Sorry for ramble again good luck!

jay_55

I have never heard a truer word spoken!!!