Hi guys and gals,

I just bought a new to me 2004 MB E55 AMG. This is my 93rd vehicle (I know, a little wacky) and look forward to learning a bit more about it. I guess I should have learned more BEFORE I bought the car but it was an impulse buy. So far, I have been pretty pleased with it.

I picked it up for what I consider, a very good deal. I paid $ 18,000 for it and it was in really good condition overall in and out with 78k miles. I have gotten a lot of things done and addressed, mainly cosmetic issues that I could tackle myself. As expected on a 9 year old car, it was not perfect but I think I can get it there.

1. The wheels were scuffed pretty bad. I am pretty partial towards dark rims so the silver on silver had me wondering. So, I painted them black and changed the wheel caps to black as well to match. I like how they turned out.

2. The tint was a very dark 5%...yikes! So I had a friend remove the 5% and replaced for 20% all around - much better!

3. The grill bugged me in silver/chrome, especially with the wheels so for a more aggressive look, I painted the grill.

4. Next, the front emblem was sticking out like a sore thumb, so, that had to go as well, and I replaced it with a flat emblem, which I wrapped in black as well on the contour.

5. The AMG badges were..gone. I did a little research and I guess this happens quite a bit. I am in the toy world, so I decided to fabricate me some AMG badges...and they turned out great! They are now installed and I am also very pleased with how they turned out.

6. Replaced the cracked/broken door locks...man, those stock ones are weak as heck!

7. The vanity mirrors were broken, so I had to drill a couple of little metal pieces and fixed them. That was going to bug me!

8. The headlamps were a little yellowish so I had to get those buffed and they turned out great...but then I noticed the BRIGHT-*** amber corners...yikes! I had to black those out too before I drover her with "amber-alert" in public. Done.

As mentioned, all the issues were pretty minor. This is by far the funnest sedan I have ever owned. It is certainly a BIG *** car for me, heavy and all, but has enough power to boot. I don't think I am going to mod it, at least not for now. I have an EVT775 911 turbo that will keep me busy and an Xterra offroad for winter. This is just a car that got my attention and I feel like I am in my own private limo...lol.

As mentioned, I look forward to learning more about this car. So far, the week of ownership has been great. This is my 2nd MB (1st one was a 2005 SLK350).

I will post some more pics tonight.

If someone has some FYIs, tips or things to be aware of or take note on these cars, I would appreciate any accelerated learning on it. Thanks again!!!!

 

congrats

PM me with your questions

 

Congrats and welcome!

 

Welcome to the family!

 

Just gave her a bath and here are some pics.

First is first...had an extra V1 so I hard wired it. Need to play with it a little more as there seems to be constant power just about everywhere! LOL


This one I am pretty proud of. The AMG badges I made match the ABS badges - kind of stealth. It was better than having those nasty holes there on the seat.



Jesus that trunk space...5 bodies...easy...LOL


She has good company in the garage...


I think I might wrap the interior wood grain...maybe aluminum or carbon fiber...has anyone done that?


So this is what she looks like now. After seeing some pics, I might have to order a spoiler, rear splitter, front lip and some wheels...looks a little plain right now... : /

 

Welcome to the board!

I have the same exact car actually, right down to the year, color, trim and evening plasti-dipping the stocker 18s black lol. I too feel that the aesthetics (just a bit too understated) are not up to par with the cars performance but that can be easily remedied by a E63 front end conversion, drop and a good set of wheels.

I know you said you didn't want to mod it but a tune, blower pulley and headers are just too easy to pass up

 

nice! congrats!

 

I know...I think if I were to throw in $ 3,000 into the car, I could get all of the "wish list" items:
- pulley, HX and tune
- 19" wheels/tires and a drop
- splitter, spoiler and lip

Must resist the urge...

From M3toE55...your E55 is absolutely stunning!

 

Congratulations on the car, looks beautiful the color looks like pewter. Tthe case with most cars bought secondhand is that the intercooler pump is bad, you can pick one up pretty cheap for about 125 bucks, get the Bosch 010 it's plug and play. Also pop the rear seat and make sure you don't have a leaking fuel situation. Good luck and enjoy, oh yeah Shardul is a wealth of information and has great mods for the car. I have purchased many of my modifications from him and gotten in touch with him on many occasions regarding questions, concerns, and mods. I love my car and I am so happy I got a 55 not a 63. Now start modding

 

Welcome to the club!

 

Check out Gunmoto thread his car is beautiful https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...irst-pics.html..here is a link! I like the lines of the 55 over the e63 conversion front .... Where are you from? Looks like the plate says Kansas.... Good deal on the car

 

Thanks for the link - - - that dude is going all out - wow!

Yes, good ol' Kansas.

I think I am heading to the garage to debadge now...LOL

 

Congrats man. Hey how hard is it to do a hard wire for the radar,

 

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...1-install.html here is a link to v1 hardwire ... My car was debadged at one point and when I looked further to Debadge it again I realized somebody had Epoxy the side V8 Kompressor badges on so it looks like won't be getting those off not without fawkin up the paint or denting it

 

I have the passport 9500ix

 

thanks!

 

Thanks for the shoutout bro! I kept the V8 Kompressor badges on the side, but I can go either way with our without them. For the trunk, the MB star has holes behind it so I was only able to debadge "E55" and "////AMG" but I then used a smaller MB star from a C class.I had issues with my V1 powering on and off intermittently when tapped to the cig lighter for +12V. It only occurred a few times but was enough for me to find an alternate source. I ended up tapping to a switched +12V in the overhead control panel in the following post from timetoy (and no issues since):

EDIT:
https://mbworld.org/forums/4489717-post7.html

 

It was actually a piece of cake since the fuse box is very close to where we would want the detector. I did not have to remove any of the trim either as the V1 wires are slim enough that I could maneuver them through the crevices...

 

It took me a good couple of hours to get these things done but I am glad I did...the car looks MUCH better! A lot more aggressive.

I went ahead and kept all the badges for now...but they are all blacked out.

 

Question on the AMG seat badges.. How did you re-install them? My drivers side fell off as well.

Car looks great

 

Looks good!!!

 

On one side I used black silicone and on the other side I used superglue. The black silicone only lasted about a day and a half...the superglue one is not going anywhere. I then superglued the other side and voila...these suckers are good to go.

Remember however that I went ahead and made my own badges. I work with lots of factories that have the capabilities of tooling different pieces fairly easily and quickly at no cost...so these are 1 off. I made 3 sets just in case.

 

Where's about in Kansas? I'm near Topeka.

 

I used to live in t-town about 10 years ago. I am in Overland Park now...

 

Welcome! You will enjoy this car. Maybe not as much as your 911 or the noble! My shop has an 05 M400 #128 that we are just finishing up reconstructing. Can't wait to thrash on that thing!