evilsaint

I've been looking around in terms of what I should hop out my C32 into, and the E55s have always been very high on my list (alongside C55s or maybe CLK55/CL65s). Now especially, looking at their ridiculously low prices, I was wondering if it would be "safe" to buy a decent-condition one with 100k+ miles and save $5k-$10k over an equally equipped model with 60-70k? I'm not looking for any cream-puff - I'll take care of her well, but not THAT well, and I will drive the living daylights outta her. In terms of performance, I'll probably just start with a tune/exhaust and maybe go for a pulley later, so I'm not looking for 400+ RWHP or anything.

Using the below model as an example (fully loaded with pano, nav, and basically everything short of designo; 117k miles; $17.5k), would it be worth paying $5-$8k less than an equal-ish model with only 60k miles, assuming that something's gonna break and it WILL be expensive? Especially in a situation like this, where it's from a local dealer where I could potentially get free loaners from when/if my indie can't/won't work on it?

To be completely honest, the monthly payment amount doesn't matter, as I'm going to be paying this car off in two years max, so it's mainly just the bottom line on the capital balance (plus any potential, future, large expenditures on repairs) that are my main concerns. Also, I'm assuming there aren't any reliable extended warranty companies left out there for cars this "old", in which case, bring on the 99k mile cars ;-)

http://www.kbb.com/cars-for-sale/det...ngid=348534878

W109 W211 6.2L

High Mile Car over (100,000 Miles):

1. Its been sorted to be able to put those miles on it, and the motor and drive train will be reliable up to 250,000 I believe, but the rest not so much.
2. You will be the last owner nobody wants a 185,000 mile E55 in the US. Especially with the new BiTurbo making MASSIVE POWER.
3. The cost to maintain the car is the same if it has 30,000 or 150,000 miles. Is it worth spending $1000 on struts if they fail and the car has 150,000 miles. What about rotor replacement @ $500+ a rotor? (My E63 is $800 per) Car is only worth $10,000 with those miles at best and the repair is 10% of the value + without labor!
4. CL65 just the coil packs on 1 cylinder bank is $1200+ and you need two and that's without labor. CL/SL/S all have issues when diagnosing the ABC suspension and its costly, not to mention you need STAR.

I would buy a high mile Mercedes AMG only if I am planning on driving it into the ground, or being the last owner.

WHTEVO

Repairs can be pricey regardless. If you have to finance that "low" of an amount i hope you are doing it just to stretch out what money you do have and have some put away or available for any upcoming repairs. I say this pretty frequently, but i honestly believe if the car was maintained like it should be and taken care of, 100k miles is no problem and should last well over that as far as the engine is concerned. You will always have wear and tear items to fix or replace which is a given on any car. These cars cannot be beat for the money for the overall package IMO. Do and check what others have said here, get your PPI, and go from there. There are multiple threads here going over known issues and what to look for. Good luck.

evilsaint

A car I can drive into the ground or sell off/trade-in on the cheap 3-4 years down the road is actually exactly what I'm looking for if it's cheap enough. I fully expect to get as long of a loan as possible and pay off an extra $500-$750 extra per month so I can own the car outright in >2 years, simply so I won't have a car payment through grad school but still have a great, reliable car to drive during that year or two. Since I will likely have to give up any semblance of a real income when I start grad school, leasing something even nicer for now or buying something newer/nicer (used E63, etc), I just want to be completely rid of a car payment by then.

Also, my C32 went from being worth 20k+ 5.5 years ago to less than 5k now (before needing a trunk repaint and new shocks), and I'm fully intent on trading it in/CarMax'ing it for part of my down payment, even if I have to take it on the chin. That being said, I'm fully alright with doing nearly the same thing down the road with the E55 or whatever car I end up buying (or just driving it into the ground, as you suggested).

I can afford to buy a used one of the new bi-turbos, but I want to pay off some other debt (which a larger car payment might prevent) and having a (big) car payment, or having to sell off the *really* nice car for a ****box, in two years for grad school would really suck. And good call on the ABC suspension plus V12 maintenance cost obsurdity - I totally forgot about those. Rules out the CL and/or V12s for sure.

Anyway, sorry for the wall'o'text, what I really wanted to ask is - do I have to worry about a massive bill for the navi / heated/cooled seats / etc going out in a year on a higher-mileage car, or is that just as likely on a low-mileage one, simply because of the age of the car?

evilsaint

Thanks for the opinion, and for confirming what I was thinking of doing with any E55 I end up going after, regardless of mileage.

Honestly though, even without a service history and/or PPI, I wouldn't be worried at all about the engine or transmission. However, I'd be scared ****less about the electronics/navi/seat heaters/coolers or something else insanely expensive going out. Am I just worrying unnecessarily about the big stuff like this going out? I mean, a 2005 or 2006 is not THAT old of a car...

Also, any chance either of you guys know if there's any chance of getting a respectable extended warranty for an 05/06 E55 short of paying way too much for one from CarMax?

evilsaint

Oh yeah - how's that 63 drive in the winter around here? Snow tires? Garage? ESP off and a lot of right-foot restraint?

biggking

THIS!

Every car goes through a 100k mile cycle. Buying a high mileage one would mean looking deeper and deeper into the service history. My e55 just turned 102k and ive already done (eng + trans + rear diff flush, intercooler pump, spark plugs, coil packs, fuel pump) all of this cost me $700 I did the labor. Next thing is brakes (1K+) all 4 corners.

All cars are equally chanced man, a 30k mileage e55 might have more problems than a 100k+. If you can do stuff yourself and read and understand photos there are plenty of DIY to fix anything on the car. There are thousands of used parts sellers and you can get anything with low miles USED CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP. Don't let these crack pots on the forums ruin the chance of you owning a nice car for 1/4 of the price they paid Just remember that maintenance on MBZ vehicles are a grip

huy

the transmission should actually be a concern and its not even high mileage related. i have some issues with mine slipping and going into limp mode, but only in S mode... its fine in C or M, so in theory I can drive it reliably for a long long time and even romp on it occasionally and its still fast... but not as fast if it did not slip. it may not be the clutch packs are bad, as there are numerous other causes to address first... which i am doing and hoping that fixes it.

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...-issues-2.html

as for winter, C mode is where you want to be. it starts you off in 2nd gear, less aggressive shifts, etc.

60nomad

I have a fully maintained 2004 that needs nothing that u can have for $18k with cold air and a tune, rear carbon fiber spoiler, drilled and slotted rotors, new brakes and much more! Only 83k miles. It is listed in this forum under bought a V selling my e55 or something like that. I am quite sure there is nothing like it for this price...new motor mounts, idler pulley, rear tires, rear struts, just did the oil.

evilsaint

Weren't those issues solved in the 05/06 MYs? On top of the new console and a few minor other tweaks?

evilsaint

That sounds like an absolute steal, but I'm pretty much forcing myself into buying an 05 or 06 if I buy an E55. How do you like the V? I'm extremely tempted to lease/buy a CPO one of those instead (or an 07-09 63) and not have to worry about paying for repairs.

Btw, I have tons of tools and a garage to do work on my car in/with, plus plenty of DIY experience and the vast knowledge base of this amazing website, so I can do brakes/oil/etc myself easily and save money in that sense. $2000 for a brake job, stealership? Blow me.

BagMan

I recently bought a 2004 with 84k miles in gorgeous condition and was able to get an extended warranty through my credit union called Members Choice from Cuna Mutual. $2,700 for 3/36,000 with a $250 deductible. The plan covers engine, trans, fuel tank, etc. it does not cover electronics or wear items.

I blew my trans the 2nd week I had the car and the warranty company paid for a new trans, torque converter, a leaky rear diff and my rental car - all for $250.

evilsaint

I actually had Member's Choice through my credit union and it worked out pretty well on my C32 - $6k+ worth of work for $2900 or so. I'm not really worried about the engine and trans as much as the electronics, though... Might very well be a great option for financing this next car, as well as for the extended warranty if it's eligible.

60nomad

I wrote up a whole thing about the comparison of the two cars but I have no idea how to find that thread...long story short...love the V for different reasons and still love the e55 for others but if you're looking to go fast the V is the only way to go as modding is cheap! I got the car with cold air and corsa exhaust, just did an upper pulley and tune and it runs very well against full bolt on AMG's...I dyno'd 514whp and 504 wtq on a low reading dyno with air density at 95.2%...most I have spoke to estimate it closer to 540whp and 530wtq but dyno's are dyno's, after the pulley and tune I picked up 7 car lengths or so on a guy who destroyed me before the $1200 pulley and tune! Everyone thinks that the V looks so much better but I still think the e55 looks cool and more classy. I will try and put pics on here but I always wrestle with the computer trying to do this! lol

(huntington bay)


2011 ctsv 2011 ctsv 2011 ctsv 2011 ctsv

Tremek

Just to put this bluntly; taking out a loan as you're going into grad school for a car that's going to have $1000+ failures periodically that will leave you stranded while you don't have working income is a terrible plan.

Either go to work now if you have experience or an undergrad that can get you paid, or wait until you're done with school, fully employed, etc. to buy a used high-end German luxury car. I have two in this vein, and they're going to need repairs along with get terrible gas mileage. As alluring as the low price of entry is, these aren't things you want to have to contend with when you're not making money.

evilsaint

I appreciate the concern, but I won't start grad school for another ~2 years, and I'm making a hefty sum of money at my job that is nearly guaranteed until then, so I want to take advantage by having the car paid off by then. And to be quite honest, I might just end up doing a finance-focused MBA at night by then (which would allow for whatever sort of car payment I feel like stomaching). I just got the IT job of my dreams after 11 years in the industry, and it's pretty much destined to last until I start grad school or even through it, if I want it to.

evilsaint

Wow, I guess I didn't realize just how ridiculously fast those new Vs are... Like you said, though, I think the W211 is damn sexy for a sedan of its size/class, and a total sleeper (aside from the AMG badge). How do the interiors and luxury options compare?

I think I might be priced out of my current car buying "strategy" if I were to go with even a higher-mileage 2009 V, and that's before insurance, but the ease of getting a comprehensive warranty on the V might make up for that.

evilsaint

What do you guys think of an 07/08 E63? KBB is putting them fully-loaded (minus Pano, which I don't really need/want) at $22K, which would put it damn near the range of an low-mileage 05/06 E55 anyway. I've driven both fast as hell, although I've only tracked the E63, and I honestly couldn't feel a whole lot of difference past the 7G in the 63.

I love the better bang for my buck when it comes to modding with the W211, but I don't know if I'd even go past a tune + exhaust (so I don't end up losing my driver's license >_>), but the growl on that 6.2L is otherworldly, and I love the styling nearly as much as the W211.

Tremek

They don't transact at 22k, more like low to mid 30s with the most ragged on examples. They're right up there with Vs.

Edit: correction, high 20s for 70-100k examples, and then the majority are in the 30s. Either way, not optimal.

One other thing to consider is the age of a car vs financing; a lot of banks and credit unions will only finance cars under a certain age (some are 8 years or newer.) May want to confirm when you apply for financing before finding a car.

60nomad

This is correct...I don't know how on earth that KBB has the price so low...The prices on KBB are so high that retail stealerships can't even sell cars for that much!!! So, again...I don't know what you looked up but it can't possibly be correct!

Either way, before I bought my e55 I looked into e63's too and my opinion says to stay away from those early 6.3 motors.

Tremek

I wonder if an E500 4Matic in Chicago is a better call... Do you commute? I'm in Colorado and live with snow and commuted in a 400whp RWD sedan for a few years and while it wasn't bad, we don't get nearly the ugly winter you do. Snow tires are a requirement in your climate with RWD in my opinion, with all-seasons as marginal second choice. Factor spending another 1-2k+ on a second set of winter tires in the next few months too. Between a down payment, tax/title depending on how your loan is configured, and wheels/tires you're looking at not insignificant cash outlay over the next quarter. That's the kind of stuff that grows dim when you're justifying the car to yourself - believe me as I was just there. :p

For what it's worth I bought my 100k E55 at the beginning of July and already had an Airmatic failure in spite of it being a very clean one owner car. Great car to drive but I can already see its never going to be easy on the pocketbook in spite of no payment. I also don't commute so my life is a little easier now.

evilsaint

If I was going to buy a car with AWD, I would snag a pristine 2006 WRX STi and be done with, but I need to be able to spin my tires from time to time. Juvenile, I know, but it's in my blood and my heritage E500/550 is too slow as well, unless I were to throw a blower on it which would defeat my purposes/plan, and honestly, all season UHP tires do the trick decently enough with a disciplined right foot.

And barely any commute - just ~30min in the 'burbs - and it's only going to get shorter if I move anywhere which will most definitely not be into the city. As per the cash outlay, it won't be a problem to take the trade-in/CarMax value for my C32 and then save that up to $10k or so in the bank, just so I can pay off the tax/title/doc fees (and maybe extended warranty) instead of rolling them into the loan. Extending that a little bit for snow tires shouldn't be a problem given my income.

tl;dr - my new position is finally paying me what I deserve after 11 years in the IT industry; I'm treating it like I'm still only getting paid $20/hr; money is not an issue.

evilsaint

Wow, yeah... KBB is pretty full of crap with their price rankings. I knew that the 09+ prices jumped because of the MCT trans, but $22k for a 7.5/10 07 with 80k does seem pretty unrealistic. Still, ~$32k for a pristine 63 (even though it's an early 07) is doable - https://mbworld.org/forums/mercedes-...3-designo.html - and my credit union is pretty awesome about their loans - 10 years old or 125k miles is their limit, and the rates don't get jacked up too badly for older cars.

I'll go and search, but what teething problems did the 6.2s have?

Tremek

If you're going to spend 2x over an E55, dollar for dollar I'd be looking at a -V if I were you.

evilsaint

All this discussion (which I'm extremely grateful for, honestly thank you guys!) and I'm seriously starting to talk myself into just doing a night/weekend MBA instead of FT grad school (I just turned 30, mind you, so I won't exactly fit in on campus), keep my job, and go for the option of having a car payment on something faster, newer, *and* warrantied (-V, pristine 63, decent 5.5Bi-Turbo "6.3", etc)...

Even if I end up paying off an W211 quickly, I know I'll get the mod bug and/or more will go wrong with it, which could be end up turning into what would amount to a car payment for a few months at a time anyway, just like that Airmatic you mentioned.

#WhitePeopleProblems