I am looking to purchase a 2005 E55 with very low miles and I wanted to see if i can get some feedback from you guys.

What sort of things should I look for before buying this car? I currently have E60 M5, before this, I was owner of C63 AMG. I am looking to return to the AMG family as I miss the torque...

Any feedback and advice is appreciated.

 

bump.....

anyone with any advice?

 

There are quite a few threads about this. Cars with very low miles can sometimes not be the best to go for. These cars tend to do a bit better when they are regularly used.

Check whether the sbc pump has been replaced. Make sure airmatic works and doesn't drop overnight. A few back to back pulls will tell you if the intercooler pump is working. Check for accident damage, interior condition and get a warranty if you can, pre-purchase check is also a good idea.

 

yea... im considering pre purchase intensive check via the dealership. I had pretty good relationship with the SA when i owned C63, thus I was gonna have him take the car and look at it.

the car has 32k miles... very low... interior and exterior is in excellent condition... but that is also to be determined after it goes on the lift and have the dealership check it

 

Mostly just look for the normal things on any 10 year old car. Check all the accessories, the heat and ac, etc.

The e55 specific items I can think of include oil leaks at the valve cover gaskets, rear main seal oil leaks, and transmission fluid leaks at the electrical connector. Check the supercharger pulley and serpentine belt pulleys for wobble and noise at idle. Listen for knocking from the front suspension over small, uneven bumps - dried out sway bar bushings can cause this. The entire bar has to be replaced, and the subframe must be dropped to replace the bar. Check to see if the fuel pumps/tank work has been done. Listen for a squeaky/chirping climate fan.

These are all common E55/w211 issues. None of them are show stoppers, but if the car needs a bunch of them addressed, you'll want to negotiate the price accordingly.

 

Big one right here. I got my car with the "Brake - Visit Workshop" message and figured it was just a sensor since everything worked fine. Turned out to be the SBC, and after reading about what happens when it fails, I wasn't willing to put my family at risk of something like that. Dropping $2,000 in the first month of ownership wasn't too much fun!

 

Check valve cover gaskets. Let it run for a while with the hood open and see if you can see any smoke. Also have a flashlight to get NA close look also.

 

whats SBC?

also... one of my biggest concern was the suspension... or is it just a myth that everyone is ranting about?

 

Probably best to do a search for SBC or sensotronic brake control. There are some long threads which go into detail, I read through them recently. To sum it up, the E55 has a electronic brake fluid pump and does not have traditional mechanical pedal activation of the master cylinder. This pump has 300,000 uses and then needs replacement whether it works or not.

What is your suspension concern? Yes it can crap out on you anytime if you get a leak in the system or the compressor takes a dump. From what I have read, most problems will give you a warning but there are plenty of threads which start with "I went out to my car and it was slammed".

 

Any idea how much a dealer charges to do sway bars? I did motor mounts myself but am unsure if I am confident enough to drop the sub frame to replace the sway bar..

 

I did it on jack stands. Pretty straight forward except I couldn't figure out how to unplug the wires from the struts, and had to work around them. I was putting in K-mac and new ball joints at the time, so steering rack and sub frame, wasn't that much deeper.

 

Sorry, I don't know. The cpo warranty covered it. A couple of hours labor, I think. And the bar itself is a couple hundred bucks.

I got reminded of another thing to check. Some cars have had the bolts which mount the rear subframe to the chassis ripped out by all the power. So check that too. If there is a problem, you'll get a "dead body in the trunk" kind of a thump over speed bumps and such. If the car is solid and tight, that's good.