Hey guys new member here, I am considering buying a 1 owner 2004 e55 amg with 102k on the clock for 11k. THe guy at the dealership traded it in for a 2015 Cls63 amg and the car has all the records. Do you think this is a good buy, my budget is only 13k so with the remaining money I would stick the eurocharged stage 1 tune and TCU on it. Thanks

 

That is a very good price for that year and miles. Check the history!

 

ALEN35, do you think so? All the service history records are at Mercedes dealerships not retailers so they have all been through perfect servicing

 

It is a great price. That is a lot of car for $11000. Make sure you do a pre-purchase inspection. You don't want to buy a $11000 headache. Once again, that car is very cheap for the year and the miles

 

moved to W211 AMG forum...
it's a great price... just make sure car has no accidents and all major (expensive) components working...

 

Best you will find with records. I have seen a few for 11k but they were not in good condition. Dings faded paint etc. if the car is clean it a great car for under 15k

 

I bought my 2004 Kleemann K3/K4 for 13K with 90,000 miles last year. All records from day one.

The car had some known issues - needed new tires, SRS light on (seat sensor), dynamic seats not working

Something seems to break every time I drive it - a month ago the trunk closer stopped working, a few weeks ago keyless go ceased working - so I think you should budget accordingly. I plan to buy a STAR system and figure out how to fix these issues on my own. Basically these cars are not diagnosable for DIY unless you drop 750-1K on a laptop+software setup. Of course you can resell and break even, so not to worry.

 

Thanks guys the history is clean though, I got some specs and it is tectite grey metallic, and the optional extras are, parktronic system, amg drivers package(don't know what that is), keyless go, navigation, Harmon lardons logic 7 surround speakers, birds eye maple trim. So you think I should pull the trigger on it?

 

Let me know If you don't. I would check it out. I would maybe buy it if its that good and that cheap!

 

Sounds tempting! If some big ticket items have been replaced to dealer spec, weeping rear main seal and/or weeping valve cover gaskets, sbc pump (at least the sbc reservoir, dealer short cut sort of) and hopefully motor and tranny mounts were replaced recently, then you should be mostly good. If the car has received total dealer attention, and PO followed service advice, I would be happy to hear that the front upper and lower control arms are recently replaced. The suspension is a crap shoot at this point. and the keyless entry door handles kinda just go at no specific intervals.

A 1 owner, dealer maintained, no accident history E55 at this price seems like a pretty good deal to me. nice color too.
ive owned my car for a little over a year, and very happy with it. I post this using my personal experience, prepurchase research, and lots of lurking on this forum.

good luck!
PM me if you pass, i might b interested in a nice looking Mod car!

 

Thought I would add some more for your decision.

First, search here for anything you are unsure about. Tons of info on this forum and great stickies! Theses cars are great and very rewarding! Remember that the price of entry may be low, upkeep will still be fairly expensive. Pretty sure the SBC system on this year car is out of the warranty range. Again, do a search. If you can stomach the possible probs, and have a qualified indie (not your local gas station guy, no disrespect), you should be fine. There might be a slight adjustment though if you are coming from say an E36 M3. A very rewarding, although low powered, simple car to own and maintain. I sold my 218K e36 M3 after purchasing my E55. And yes, between the two cars, the E55 is in another World in service price, but soooooo nice to get into and drive every day!

To be fair, my M3 had a mild track set up, and at least 15 track days. it was a great car, but getting into the E55, so nice, so fast!
Good luck with the decision

 

Hey fellas I'm going to look it on Sunday, i am taking my friend who is an AMG specialist for Mercedes Benz, anything else I should ask the dealer for, he said i was the first person to inquire about it so I have priority.
Thanks

 

$11K is too good to be true. Run autocheck report. Sometimes carfax is not accurate. Good luck !

 

Buy it that's all there worth now a days better than spending 23 plus for a low mile one I bought one year and a half ago 97 thousand on the clock for 17 thought that was a good deal then no problems with it must be lucky ! now I see them for 13 and lower stay away from stupid options that break on a 12 year old car and you will be fine my 2 cents how much do you think the dealer gave him for it ?

 

Cool guys thanks for the help, are the only differences between you he 04 and 05's the speedo, the pedals, and in the later year 05's the center console is a slider. Or are there other changes I should be aware of? Is it worth it to pay the extra 8k for a similar mileage or slightly lower mileage 05/06, I am getting a stellar deal on this car and will most likely buy it if there aren't very many differences between 04/05. maintaine cost should be the same as well correct, if I get a 05 I won't be able to give it stage 1 + TCU I would have to leave it stock for a while whereas on the 04 I can start modding it immediately
Thanks

 

Get the best maintained one imo (cosmetically & mechanically)

 

Save money for repairs and maintenance. Not mods, those can come later. Last thing you want to do is barely get into a car and not have money to keep it maintained. Then you are upsides down or you are selling it with a loss in most cases. These cars are not cheap to repair.

For 11k-13k price? I would run the other way. You can find clean well maintained ones for closer to 20k. You get what you pay for with these cars. If they are pricing it that cheap there are reasons. GL!

 

What Max said. It sounds like a good example at a good price, but it's waaaaaaaay below market. So the question is why? Best to find out before buying.

Second point. If you only have $13K, buying the car for $11K is pretty marginal. There are a lot of expensive repairs possible - SBC unit, airmatic struts, etc. When I owned these cars (I had two - a sedan and a wagon) my rule of thumb was to always have $5K ready to go for a big repair. That's a bit overkill, but if you can't come up with $2K instantly, you might not be able to keep the car running. Be realistic, it's a 10 year old car that cost $100K new. It isn't going to be inexpensive to keep on the road.

 

If it's Techtite jump on it. Best color out there

 

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I'd snap it up but I have money set aside for the big repairs. If your budget is only $13k, you are cutting it close. I'm new too and from my research, there are some expensive repairs potentially around the corner. Just some food for thought.

 

I will put it this way. If you live paycheck to paycheck I wouldn't buy an AMG. If you have some wiggle room monthly it's a great car to have.

 

Cool guys thanks for the help, I'm taking a couple friends of mine who work for Mercedes Benz, one is a parts manager and one is a an AMG specialist technician

 

Well guys sadly I ended up not buying it car was extremely rough and when he started it the car was smelling like burning fuel, the search co times... Already got my eye on another one though

 

Take your time to find the right one.