ChiefyE55

I am looking into a 2003 E55 AMG, 72k miles, pristine condition. $17,400 out the door, clean history and title, well maintained.

I am likely going to get the 5/100k warranty added on as well given the cost of repaired from everyone I have spoken to.

Any thoughts? Completely stock.

60nomad

Color and options means a lot! Carfax clean? Orig. paint? Need all this info.

ChiefyE55

Clean carfax, dealer has good reputation.

No navi or intelligent cruise.



I'm posting from my phone since the website isn't letting me post from my computer for some reason, so sorry for the short posts.

60nomad

No problem...so no parktronic, keyless go, cold seats, dynamic seats, rear window shade, side shades? None of this? Color is nice, my second fav color in an E55. Check tires, brakes and while stopped put it in drive, place foot on the brake and power brake it, without spinning tires of course, while someone watches the engine with the hood open and see how much the engine moves to check the engine mounts. If car is very clean and it has none of those options then it is a toss up but it is hard to find a great car if it is a great car. Price seems ok for a 2003 with no options I guess.

ChiefyE55

http://www.autobarnga.com/2003-MercedesBenz-E55AMG/Used-Car/Atlanta-GA/4912849/Details.aspx

It's got cooled seats, not completely base. Got a deposit down on it at the moment.

60nomad

It says Navi and also has xenons. I went to the ad and saw $15999 and I was like....wait a minute! lol I didn't notice the $17400 was out the door. I think you're doing fine. Most cars for that price have more miles and probably are not that clean. Again, finding a clean one is NOT easy. If I would have had to paint a panel or two then I still would have bought mine just because I wanted 'that' car. If I would have to redo the drivers seat then I still would have bought it...lol I just got lucky somehow but I was persistent.


When you get it...you will absolutely love it...you'll see. I have a CTS-V and it runs pretty good and I couldn't wait to get another E55!

ChiefyE55

I assumed xenon was standard on these, was I wrong? Lol

I do love those CTS-V's, but they're out of my price range, particularly the 2nd generation. The GTO is interestingly enough my other primary choice... As different as these two cars are from each other.

The W211 E55 though is something special. And finding one in this shape at this price... Made me happy. Lol yeah $17,400 out the door.

ChiefyE55

Also, do you think a 5/100k warranty extension on these ($1900... Deductible of $100) starting from age and miles when I buy it is a good idea on these? Powertrain, includes supercharger, transmission, drivetrain, etc. I am figuring on an E55 it's a good call.

VegasHruby

If someone is offering a full warranty that includes essentially bumper to bumper I say go for it. Deposit means you pretty much bought it.

ChiefyE55

It's not full bumper to bumper... So doesn't include the electronics unfortunately.

IslandS62

as a data point I just picked up a semi-loaded silver 05, all original, full records, no accident, 50k mile E55 for $18k.

ChiefyE55

Where at? It seems this time of year, down south these types of cars are a bit more expensive than further north... For obvious reasons given the weather. Was $18k before or after taxes?

IslandS62

Honolulu. private sale. no taxes.

IslandS62

also I will add I could not find a warranty company that wants to cover this car. it had a NAC warranty on it but we couldn't transfer it a second time so I am going to go naked on this one.

turbo97se

Personally, I would shy away from 2003. I thought I read somewhere there were rod bearing issues with 2003 .. could be wrong. But in any case first year of production I would shy away from. Also I do not see headlight washers. I believe Xenons only come with headlight washers unless it was a retrofit .. again perhaps 2003 is different. I'd look for 2004+ myself.

The car appears very basic with very few options .. which is both good and bad (fewer things to go wrong) ... but for me I like the toys that the W211s have. They are kind of expensive to retrofit. Good luck with your decision/hunt.

2000UZJ

The headliner is falling down by the way...I'm not too far (45 minutes). I'm free on Tuesday if you haven't checked it out.

Vented seats do not mean they are cooled. The button is not there for the seat fans.

Richardmozis

The car does have Distronic though...

60nomad

Where do you see that? I asked the OP if it, indeed, has nav but no response on that one. Someone mentioned the car being an '03 and I agree with that it is less value bc of being an 03 but if it is as clean as it looks then it's not bad. Finding a clean one is not easy as I stated above somewhere. I was actually trying to stick with finding an 05 or 06 only. I though that they were just better cars but what the heck do I know.

cetialpha5

If you run the vin, while it does have distronic, it doesn't have a lot of other options. I don't think you have ventilated seats, the button for that is typically under the heated seats button. Also there's no xenon as you would have the triangles for the headlamp washers in the bumper if it had them and this car doesn't have any codes for bixenon. No truck closer, no keyless go. Also I didn't actually see navigation listed, code comes up as 521 which is radio without navigation. You might have the nav button, but try pressing it and see if it's actually there. Has real leather instead of MB-Tex which is nice. Also I'm not sure about bluetooth, while 384 might mean it's wired for it, I think you still need the puck so check the center console for the bluetooth puck.

Also I believe headlamp washers are a requirement in Europe for Xenon headlights although in later years Mercedes put in headlamp washers on the sports package without Xenons.

You can create a free account on epcnet and then you can run the vin and see what the actual options are.

https://epc.startekinfo.com/epc/welcome.jsp

Mikeki7

In the middle bottom part of the grille its solid, which is a good indication of distronic though could just be that grille without it. But running the vin it does indeed have it. But that headliner looks like its sagging in the back, would be a no deal for me.

ChiefyE55

Hey folks, sorry for the late response. Seems to be a fairly base model... no navi, I'll have to double check on vented/cooled seats. Also, I thought all E55's had xenon, but I defer to you MB folk since you know these cars better than I! haha

None the less, price before taxes/etc are $15,900 and I'll be doing a 5/100k powertrain warranty (no electronics... but does cover the SC, tranny, etc.)

It seems to be in very good shape and this is from a dealer with an excellent reputation. Their focus is on high-end used vehicles, so it's not a shady fly-by-night operation.

Richardmozis

The car also has the distronic controls next to the gear lever. The car does not have the rear roller blind or the rear door shades. No navigation, no cooled seats. Only optional extra seems to be the distrionic system.

ChiefyE55

All things considered, do you guys think this is a good deal, or just an ok price, for an 03 with clean history, in good shape, 72k miles? $15,900...

cetialpha5

Just punching it into nadaguide, that price is between trade in and retail so it's just an average deal. Sometimes you find them closer to trade in. Also the thing that would tip me the other way is that it basically doesn't have any options. If you find a car that has more options, the price is typically about the same as a car that doesn't have the options as most books values don't factor in the extra options. If you're buying it for power, then it's an ok deal, if you're buying it for luxury which is what Mercedes is known for, you're not getting much. Most of the loaded E series were in the E500 and AMG models, so it shouldn't be too hard to find another one with more features if you're into that.

ChiefyE55

Well, additional features - particularly the push button start and xenon headlights - would be excellent. But more so, the performance in this tailored tuxedo of a luxury sedan is what I am looking for. One that would be reliable, even if modified (not necessarily crazy modified, but modified to bring out more power easily.)