Buying an E55 - Things to look out for
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Buying an E55 - Things to look out for
Hello everyone,
I'm Ton from Thailand and I'm in the process of acquiring my first MB AMG vehicle, an E55 AMG from 2006.
I have been planning to purchase one of these cars for a long time now, unfortunately there's not many available over here, if you're lucky you can find 1 per year. One reasonable priced one just popped up and I'll check it out this week.
Thailand is notorious for engine swaps, due to our high import tax (327%, the price for this car is approximately $40k) many sellers are importing a standard model and swap the engine, transmission etc. to make it seemingly look like an AMG.
Is there any hints what would give it away from visual inspection that the car is not a genuine AMG?
Additionally, what I'd like to know is common problems and pitfalls when I go the inspect the car, what should I look out for?
According to seller, the car has 50k km on the clock, which seems really low.
I'd love to take the car to a dealership to have it checked out from top to bottom pre-purchase, unfortunately that won't be of much help, the seller could bribe them, or the mechanics are clueless, 2 very common problems over here.
Thanks for all the replies in advance, I really appreciate it, as this is a really costly purchase and I have made the mistake before, paying for a really expensive car blind which turned out to be a total lemon where I spent a countless amount of cash, but ultimately the car would never run properly.
Cheers,
Ton
I'm Ton from Thailand and I'm in the process of acquiring my first MB AMG vehicle, an E55 AMG from 2006.
I have been planning to purchase one of these cars for a long time now, unfortunately there's not many available over here, if you're lucky you can find 1 per year. One reasonable priced one just popped up and I'll check it out this week.
Thailand is notorious for engine swaps, due to our high import tax (327%, the price for this car is approximately $40k) many sellers are importing a standard model and swap the engine, transmission etc. to make it seemingly look like an AMG.
Is there any hints what would give it away from visual inspection that the car is not a genuine AMG?
Additionally, what I'd like to know is common problems and pitfalls when I go the inspect the car, what should I look out for?
According to seller, the car has 50k km on the clock, which seems really low.
I'd love to take the car to a dealership to have it checked out from top to bottom pre-purchase, unfortunately that won't be of much help, the seller could bribe them, or the mechanics are clueless, 2 very common problems over here.
Thanks for all the replies in advance, I really appreciate it, as this is a really costly purchase and I have made the mistake before, paying for a really expensive car blind which turned out to be a total lemon where I spent a countless amount of cash, but ultimately the car would never run properly.
Cheers,
Ton
Last edited by natza; 08-01-2016 at 09:24 AM. Reason: Added photos
#2
Member
That looks pretty legit. Is there a supercharger under that engine plastic cover? :-)
Front brake calipers and rotors, AMG badge on engine, interior, quad exhaust... how does it sound? Also, if you get really low and take a picture from the rear, you can tell if it's a genuine AMG exhaust. Look for this thing:
Front brake calipers and rotors, AMG badge on engine, interior, quad exhaust... how does it sound? Also, if you get really low and take a picture from the rear, you can tell if it's a genuine AMG exhaust. Look for this thing:
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Minty Fresh (08-01-2016)
#4
Super Member
Search "e55 common" or "e55 problems" and you don't need the quotation marks. Start reading and you will find all kinds of stuff that's good to know. Also try the advanced search by title, even more efficient way to find stuff. Search is your friend.
Last edited by Dublinoh; 08-01-2016 at 01:46 PM. Reason: Ocd
#5
Newbie
The car looks correct to me. I don't own an E55 but I have been an enthusiast of E55, E63 for a long time. I drive an E500 Wagon 4matic.
So, did you buy the car? If so, how do you like it?
Where in BKK can you really drive this car to its potential?
So, did you buy the car? If so, how do you like it?
Where in BKK can you really drive this car to its potential?
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#8
Senior Member
All E classes of that vintage had SBC. My grandparents 03 e320 has SBC.
As for the legitimacy of that car, it's either real, or someone went to a LOT of trouble to make it look very real.
What part of Thailand are you from? I have family in Udon Thani as well as Bangkok.
Also just saw the age of this thread. Oh wellllll.
As for the legitimacy of that car, it's either real, or someone went to a LOT of trouble to make it look very real.
What part of Thailand are you from? I have family in Udon Thani as well as Bangkok.
Also just saw the age of this thread. Oh wellllll.