If that E63 was truly healthy it would have definitely walked away from your E550, in a head to head race. The E63 came with 507 HP, and 465 ft/lbs of torque, so it's no slouch.
I know for sure that my E63 will haul ***, and I raced it against many, including a Dodge Hellcat and lost but not by much from a dig. But you've got to ask yourself, is it worth the added expense of maintaining this car.
As you don't know that complete history. Remember anything that has AMG written on it is expensive. And AMG does mean "All Money Gone" But the cost of maintaining it, isn't much more then your E550.
But the choice is yours. My dad always told me, but put things into three categories; A Need, A Want or is it a Luxury. It's obvious that you don't need it. Now is it a want item, or is it for pure luxury?
Only you can make the determination.

 

Which E550 do you currently have? I would choose a 2014-2016 E550 biturbo over a W211 M156 E63 AMG.

 

if you're comfortable with the known issues involved with owning a M156...i'd personally go with the E63. i love mine every day i drive it. even parked it warms my heart. hah.

 

All day long and twice on Sundays.

 

 

The torque curve is going to be quite different from what you are used to. Yes faster but it might not feel as such low in the revs. I would wait and get a biturbo if it were me E550 or E63. Sounds like the E63 didn't wow you. The one I drove didn't either compared to the clk55, even though it was slower the torque of the M113 did it for me.

 

 

Have you driven an E55? Basically the same shape torque curve but back the front just for comparison. I went to buy an E63 but came back with the 55.

 

Cutting the mufflers off more than likely hurt the low end torque. Why some cut the mufflers off one hundred thousand dollar luxury performance cars just makes no sense to me. Loud is not fast. sorry for the rant, I hope you find what your looking for. I felt that my car lost some throttle response and off idle torque when I put long tube headers on, but was still faster.

 

I personally love my W211 E63. With that being said, knowing what I know now I would get the E63 for light mods, nothing extravagant. I would get an E55 if I wanted a weekend warrior. I did test drive a 2012 E550 and looked at the 2012 E63 at Volkswagen in Macon but the price was a little higher than what I was willing to pay(42k) vs the possible risks that could be involved with a direct injection fuel system especially seeing BMW's issues. I work for a large compact equipment company and can tell you that when a high pressure pump goes bad in a Diesel the repair can be 15k+. I'm not saying that these have any issues, I don't know, I just know what fuel system issues mean in the Diesel world and the Gasoline industry doesn't have a good track record for reliability, mainly from BMW's stand point.

In the end, I found an E63 that had an 11 page maintenance history, the head bolts had been replaced, the suspension was new, the tires were new, non-pano, no keyless go, pretty much a basic bare bones E63. Oddly enough, I went dealers in NC, FL, AL, SC and TN. I got back home to GA empty handed everytime and bought mine sight unseen off an Autotrader Ad solely based on the maintenance history and the things that had been replaced...lol. They guaranteed that the car had no issues and they delivered it to me at my house. I got the car from European Performance in Raleigh, shout out to Ryan and Jeff, great guys, straight forward and honest...very hard to find in the used car industry. The car is still listed on their site as sold:
https://www.europeanperformancesales...tails/27467144

In the end, finding one with maintenance history isn't easy. Getting dealers to divulge information on a car you do not own is even harder. An E63 or 55 with reliable history is a safe bet imho just do your home work. Bald rear tires should be a sign of abuse and the power steering noise could just be that they installed the wrong fluid. Have them remove the old fluid, easy with a fluid vac and have them install Merc power steering fluid. If the noise goes away, I wouldn't be concerned. If it does not, it will likely need a pump in the near future. Being slower than the E550 should be a warning sign as well, to me anyway. I turned down 18 E63's dotted around the South East due to noises, lack of transparency, lack of history, things wouldn't work like the Pano roof, keyless go..etc..etc.. Very glad now though that I took my time and in the end I feel like I got lucky.

Hope this bit of random text helps in some way shape or form.

-Chris

 

 

I sold off my 2003 RS6 for the E63, the torque of a boosted car wont be found on these, but this car rides nicer. My only issue might be the stereo, its pretty lacking in the sound dept. I swapped out head bolts on my own, did the headers, engine mounts, limited slip diff fluid, etc and lowered the car a little. Not sure how easy it is to do these types of things on the newer cars or if you are a DIY type of guy but the online documentation for older cars is usually easier to find. If you take your car into a mechanic then go with what your wallet will allow.
BTW, has your headbolts been done? If not I would take that into account, my headbolts were a different size than others who have swapped them out and I'm wondering if maybe the T55 sized ones don't need to be swapped out like the T60 sized ones that have less material holding them down.

Either way and either car will spoil anyone.

 

I have experience with all 3. Years ago had an E550 which I absolutely was impressed with. Liked it more than my E46 M3 at the time (SMG=horrible!) Then I wandered into the Porsche world with a 996TT. Two years ago I test drove an 04 E55 AMG. My friend was looking for a used Mercedes and it was just sitting there staring at me!. Took it for a spin on a whim. Was quite impressive but then I took traction control off. SOLD! Drove back to dealer and made the deal that day. Sold that one last year because someone hit me on rear quarter. It was fixed pretty good but my baby would never be the same.

Just picked up an 09 E63 last Monday. Dealer serviced and only 68K kms (42K miles). Driving it I felt the same way; it was lacking something on the low end. However I was expecting this as I was comparing an NA motor to a supercharged one. I find that the power in E63 is much smoother than the E55 though. And it has just that little bit more refinement than the E55. Take traction control off on the E63 and you will find it better. Also, new rear tires will help as well. I don't mod so E63 makes sense for me. Only complaint so far, I visually like the instrument cluster on the E55 better.

Bottom line is if you want that bit more low end torque go E55. Either one you choose you are getting amazing value for money. Where else can you get all this performance for $20K? Even if you have to put $5K into it for maintenance you are still ahead of the game in my opinion.

 

This assessment is correct. I came from a 02 W210 E55 which has a better torque curve. From what I understand the E550s are similarly powered. The W210 E55 was much more enjoyable driving around town and merging in traffic since the accelerator pedal was basically linear in power delivery. The E63 (mine is an 2008) seems to give you not enough juice until about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way into the throttle, then it gives you a more than you need for daily driving. However, when you want to go fast and smash the pedal, as soon as the engine revs to 4k plus RPM the thing is a monster. It took me a few months of driving to get the pedal feel down. Occasionally, when having a short merge into highway traffic it annoys me because the power isn't there, and you can't floor it because it will give you too much and you will run out of room and hit somebody else. I have heard that a Sprint Booster can help with pedal feel on the E63.

For what it's worth, I would still be driving the W210 E55 had it not been totaled. It was an AMG, so for me getting the E63 AMG would be an minor upgrade for me in terms of driving feel, but not nearly as big a difference as going from a regular Merc to an AMG. You may feel differently with the 2003-2006 E55 which is like the E550 on steroids, or one of the new twin turbo motors.

 

Your assessment of the 07-09 E63 is correct, as I've owned two of them thus far. I absolutely love this car and the M156 engine.