uraberg

I am about to pull the trigger on a 2005 E55. The car has 122K miles on it, the price we've agreed on is $15.5K.

I need a sanity check here.

First off, the car seems to have literally all the options. Pano roof, dynamic massage seats, sun shades, parktronic and more.
The car has a complete service history (I will be the fourth owner though, the current owner says he bought it on a whim from a friend who was about to trade it in, and has too many toys already).
The car has always been owned by people we can afford to take it to the dealer ***** nilly.
The car seems to be in impeccable shape. No blemishes in the paint at all, interior is excellent.
Tires have 90% remaining.
Car is completely stock. No mods done.

I drove it a good half hour, running it through the gears, and there are no weird noises, it tracks straight and runs fantastic.

I am pretty handy with a wrench, so most of the minor maintenance I can do myself.

I have one more opportunity to look at things, so please, give me some pointers.

Am I over paying? high mileage, stay away? Should I be talked out of this?

Thanks guys.

Hulk

Price is low but as it has already been posted here many times..

Transmission can go at any time
Fuel sender/pump
Struts

Those are the big ones, as a matter of fact a member here has lost his trans and strut all in 2 weeks, there are no guarantees with this car, so make sure you have a cushion of money to spend as just the fuel senders can set you back a 1000$

p30amg08

I think you over paid about 2 grand.
Also, with struts, sbc brake unit, and fuel sending units its more when not if they will go bad.

From what ive read about the engine and transmission its pretty solid esp if fluids were done on time regularly.

GLWP

viren.89

transmission can go anytime ? lol What I've heard is that -trans and engine are the two things that are almost bullet proof.

I think you mean "Airmatic" suspension.

To op

Pick up the rear seat- remove the bolts and look underneath it.

If it smells and looks like fuel has been out there - that means the fuel sender units are in need of replacing. (This problem is with every E55 though)

Also, read through some of the threads - do a search it'll generate much needed info for you.

Good luck

Hulk

Do a search and you will see members that have lost their trans for no reason, it can happen with cars at 70k miles or 100k miles, as a matter of fact member naudi just lost his trans 2 weeks ago and he had just bought the car

p30amg08

Whats the estimated replacement cost?

Hulk

It depends , sometimes you can find good deals, 1000-2500$ just for the part

uraberg

Thanks for the replies so far.

Price: I know I can do a little better on price, but I like the options with this car, plus getting all the service records is a good thing. I'm OK with it.

The fuel pump was replaced 25K miles ago. Is the pump/sender one unit, or are we talking about different parts?

As far as I can tell, suspension has never been touched. The car raises and lowers as I think it should. What are indications of suspension parts going bad?

The brake unit looks clean (not that that means anything, but at least it seems accessible for diy service?

Hulk

For the struts there's no indication, they can just go, same with fuel senders

I think the price is cheap

p30amg08

Service history is key. So I get it.

Brake unit may look new, but that means zero. I believe you need STAR to do brake fluid change. If I am wrong im sure ill be called out...also SBC has something to do with number of times brakes were used and it eventually gives out...so around that milage I would expect that soon...not cheap..

With suspension there are no real signs that its about to go...you will wake up one day and car will be slammed..hey looks cool!

For the pump..not sure if its the same part or not..someone else might chime in.

Hulk

There's the fuel pump and fuel sending unit, 2 different parts, also the gas tank had to be changed on some cars

Rob CL

The 5G-Tronic is one of the most ubiquitous transmissions out there, among all Benz nameplates and Chrysler products from the 3.7L JGC to the 6.4L Charger SRT.

In the four different platforms I've owned which use this transmission, I've never heard of such spontaneous failures occurring with any sort of frequency.

I'm not saying it hasn't happened, but to present it this way seems a little alarmist. Has anyone pinpointed the exact failure? -TCM, pump, valve body, etc...

uraberg

This brings up another question. How useful are these DAS/Star/Xentry C3 KITs on ebay? less than $400 seems like a good deal to get total control.

Hulk

It was supposed to be bullet proof but do a search and see how many went bust spontaneously

p30amg08

If I were to buy it. Id ask a sponser here SHARDUL

Not sure of cost but should be under 1000 for sure with full access. ..harder part is learning to use it.

Rob CL

Appreciate the response, but as the "spontaneous" failures imply no course for prevention, a search isn't likely to provide much help.

OP, be sure to keep your leather surfaces well-treated, dynamic bolsters can wear out within the folds, cracking the surfaces as they move about. -A good thing to check if you haven't picked up the car yet.

There's a great thread here covering the basics of ownership, as a well as another which talks about Easter Eggs (cool stuff) the cars can do.

I'll link them for you, in case you haven't already seen them...

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...ne-thread.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...idden+features

Hulk

I still say...

Trans
Struts
Fuel sender/pump
Gas tank

uraberg

Thanks guys, I really appreciate y'alls responses. Thanks for the links too. I can search, but without knowing what to look for, it's hard to find.

Hmm... dyno mode eh?

Shadow5501

I think the price is a little high given the miles. These cars really drop in value once past 100K. That said, it is an '05; most of the higher mileage cars are 03/04 models.

The only cars I recall dropping the trans were modified. Engine and TCU tunes that remove the torque limiting really seem to tear up the transmission. It seems solid on stock cars.

The full service history and string of owners that took care of it is a good sign. At least some of the common service items have already been taken care of. That will save you some time and hassle.

Expect your costs for fuel and tires to spike upward!

Like others have said, there are several common problems that can happen at any time. You need to have a couple of grand $$$ available to fix them at all times. If you don't always have, say, $5G available and this will be your only daily driver car - then it really isn't the right car for you.

Rob CL

Good point! The Good Ol' Boys over at LX Forums found failures with the 5G/NAG1 right around 500+whp or so. The good news is, there are aftermarket companies that build stronger gearboxes.

https://mbworld.org/forums/3124064-post4.html

Hulk

This happened recently, he's not at 500whp at all

Also look at bagmans post as well, there are more just search and you will find them

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...ion-toast.html

Rob CL

That really stinks... I've also read dissenting opinions on the whine that supposedly warned of his failure... Some think it's the oil pump, some the tranny pump, not all who hear it have failures.

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...tion-pump.html

I agree with you on having the 'rainy day' money sitting around, JIC.

uraberg

Just to follow up, and close this thread, The 2005 got sold from under me, which led me to find a 2006 (white with pano roof), One owner 120k miles.

This time I put a deposit down, so barring any disasters, this one is in the bag!

emoving

So change the title to "N00b who almost owned a new beast". Title is misleading since you are just a tire kicker asking questions.

uraberg

Get your panties in a wad much?

Yes, I am doing research before buying (or tire kicking as you call it). I'm not changing the title. Soon enough it'll be true anyway.