Hello,

I bought this 2004 E55 about a month ago from the original owner which was only serviced by the dealership in Victoria, BC.

One thing I noticed is that the car does not have the cooling fins like this 2003 I looked at.

Am I missing it or did only some E55s have it??

Mine (2004)


(2003)

 

My cooling fins look different that those

 

Interesting, yours looks like my old C55's cooler

 

Does the previous owner have all the service records? I ask cause maybe the difference was repaired or swapped and it never got reinstalled.

 

Yes, I have the full service history. Diff fluid was changed as part of the break-in period. It's a possibility that the cooler wasn't re-installed. I'm assuming all E55s had cooling fins from the factory.

 

I have been driving without my fins attached since I purchased my car. It wasn't until I saw a picture of another E55's dif that I even noticed mine was missing. Upon further examination it appears they were knocked clean off by hitting something underneath.

Does anyone know if they are really essential? I haven't noticed any detrimental consequences of driving without and I've put 30,000km on the clock since owning the car.

 

The cooling fins do not need to be removed to do a drain and fill on the diff. I have heard of them getting knocked off like the above post, but I have never personally seen it.

 

I do love this site, yet another thing learned. If the cooling fins can be removed, then it can be replaced. One fin of mine broke off so now I know I can replace I'm not worried anymore

 

the rear casing of the diff above does not look like it has an e55 back plate,


attached picture of what it should look like without the cooler

 

Mid 2004 they changed the rear diff to a different design (the axles are different as well).

 

Some of the 2004 (2003 build date) cars did not have the extra cooling fins. Mine does, my friends does not (has the same diff as shown in the big picture)

Not sure why the difference,but I suspect between the smaller 2003 diff and the larger 2004 diff there was a parts supply/availability issue on the assembly line. Remember the E55 was selling like crazy back in the day.

Also there is an updated rear diff cover, the older fins from my 2004 will not fit onto the newer covers. The newer covers use the SLK amg fins- 171 XXXXXXXX part number. The older fins are the "scoop" style with the newer ones being straight fins. They are not interchangable.

I don't think the fins are needed unless you are cruising at sustained high speeds...meaning 100+ for extended periods, just my opinion. But they sure look good from behind the car in traffic!

 

So we've established that some MY 2004s produced in late 2003 don't have the cooler. How come the build sheet doesn't specify if it has it or not? The AMG brochure for 2004 advertises a diff cooler that lowers rear-end fluid temperatures up to 20% at high speed.

 

My 2003 has a cooler.