91k is not a lot of miles, the biggest difference are the owners of the car.

If the guy looks like he maintains his car, and the car is clean, and you have a good reason to believe it- go for it.

Those are mild mods.

Ways to mod this car: crank pulley or supercharger pulley size change, bigger injectors, mids or long tube headers, cat delete, converting to e85, loads of cooling stuff, and people build their engines to handle more boost.

They also make aftermarket superchargers for them. That's it. So an 80mm pulley, tune, and shorty headers isn't anything crazy but it will add some power over stock.

 

I reached out to the owner and he's got maintenance records, original window sticker, records from the shop that did the install on the mods, and all the pictures are immaculate.

I've mainly been looking at German stuff due to the country's reputation for engineering and build quality. The S4s are rock solid through 200k (minus a potential huge pitfall, but hey) so I'm assuming the AMGs are the same way. I read about the E63s having a potential pitfall, so I wanted to do some more research on the 55s.

Thanks for the response

 

I'm approaching 150K miles in my car but I'm a stickler for maintenance and perform virtually all of my mechanical and electrical work myself. Nonetheless, it was a steep learning curve on the W211 E55.

Things to verify, inspect, and maintain as necessary:
https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...ml#post7169029

In the comment about SBC actuations in the above post, you should also verify estimated SBC pump life remaining and pre-tensioning reservoir pressure:
https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...ml#post7394078

One of the weakest, if not the weakest point IMO, on the E55 can be mitigated with a few dollars and an hour of your time:
https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...tenance-2.html

In my opinion, by 100,000 miles the front end will have at least one bad ball joint and or bushing. In my case, I had two or three of each (need to look at maintenance records) plus a bad bushing in the rear. It's a great car and should last for a very long time so long as she gets plenty of TLC. If you swap out air springs or perform major suspension work, plan on recalibrating the air suspension; not particularly hard so long as STAR is available.

Stereo and navigation are dated; options are available but I'll leave that for the audio heads.

I'm going on four years of ownership and 70,000 miles of driving. It's been frustrating at times but I'd do it again.

 

Thanks for the links, seems incredibly thorough, but nothing that REQUIRES a dealer to maintain. That's good, as I've got part money, but not dealer pricing/labor money.

I got some more pictures of the car (engine bay, undercarriage) and everything looks clean, no oil or spots that look like they've been bathing in oil for years .I think I'm gonna go buy this puppy. Prettiest blue color I've ever seen on a car.

 

the M113 engine is known as being bulletproof. It's basic: no DOHC setup, no variable timing. Just a big V8 with a supercharger added on top. Straight, simple power and torque. The transmission is not a 10, 8, 7, 6 speed complicated/fragile setup. It's an old school 5 speed that is also in the V12's of that era. So its a transmission thats reliable (but not the fastest shifting) and can stand a LOT more torque than the E55 gives it. So those two things right there? Solid. (Search youtube for the 400k mile E55 recently dynoed). The air suspension is GREAT and to be honest, not expensive. Heres why: when front airshocks go out, replace with Arnott new or rebuilds yourself. Lifetime warranty on those from FCP Euro. Recoup some of the money by sending in your old broken airstrut to Arnott or resell still working airmatics on Ebay. REar airbags a bit harder to R&R but definitely a DIY affair. Also,Just replaced my original front lower (total of 4) control arms myself as the bushings had ended their useful life. (On many MB's and BMW's, consider control arm bushings to be normal wear items). If the air compressor goes out, easy to get to under the car by the drivers side foglight. About $300 or so for a new unit. However, its an older car so small things can have issues like any other car, buit if we are talking primarily drivetrain? Its one of the best/most solid/reliable.

Mine has 95k now (bought it with 81k 3 years ago) and waterpump failure, front strut were the only two things that could have stranded me. Fortunately both failed literally 1 block from my home and the other (strut) blew its seal as I was in my garage working on my other car, and heard the pop/hiss, and saw the car dropping. Beyond that, its one of the best cars Ive ever owned from a comfort/styling/power combo. And I'd NEVER remove the air suspension. It is a great handling/comfort tradeoff aspect, provides really level handling/cornering, and its easy to work on.

 

You'll hear a lot of horror stories from people not taking care of their cars, but for what they are, these cars are reliable as fk.

 

oh, and if it were me? Id not do a single additional performance mod (above and beyond what you already have) without first addressing cooling. With a stock setup (except a eurocharged tune) my car start losing power after just one dyno pull, due to heat soak/higher intake air temps. Heat is a serious enemy of the performance aspect of this motor.

 

Those of us who stick around are generally fans of the E55. We may be a bit biased, but everyone here has given you very objective advice.

Generally a 2005 E55 is considered to be a very reliable car for a car of its vintage. As already mentioned above, the E55 with the M113K engine and the 5 speed transmission is a very reliable machine.

An E63, in my opinion is an overall better driving/handling vehicle (better steering feel, brake feel, more precise transmission) but the M156 engine seems to have headbolt issues, various leaks, oil leaks, coolant leaks, and higher fuel consumption than the M113K engine which generally have very few leaks (rear main seal, that's about it).

However, E63s don't have SBC (computerized brake system) expiry components which are expensive to replace.

My biggest concerns about your example is how the car was maintained and how the modifications were done. Were high quality parts used? Were they installed by a reputable and experienced installer? If the car passes the VMI (vehicle master inquiry) at a dealer, all the required work was done on time, then I'd say it's likely to be a very good car.

90K miles is fairly low on these cars. Still an engine with plenty of life. Many owners here are over 100K miles (I'd say most), and a few are over 200K miles or nearly. There are a handful of known cars over 300K miles and a well known car with 400K miles.

 

I am a newbie 55 owner (and member), so take this for what it is worth. With that being said, I looked at and drove the car you are considering. It is a VERY nice car, and the guy selling it is a straight-up good guy to boot. I looked at roughly ten 55's for-sale over the years, and his is near the top of the list. It also has some good options, if you are looking for those things.

There are a few minor cosmetic issues, which are to be expected of any car that has been used, but overall, it is a very nice example. The car has EvoSport pullies and headers. Granted, they are no longer in business, but I really don't think that is a concern. Personally, the color just wasn't calling my name, so I was going back and forth in my head on it. But I can confidently say rest assured, as that is a nice, nice car, and honest seller.

Hope this helps,

-Chris

 

The E55s have their issues. You need to do cooling mods to them and they have SBC which can be an expensive component to replace. The interior is a bit nicer on the E63 too.

The E55 and E63 both have their issues. Generally, if you want to mod go with an E55 and if you're going to stay mostly stock go for an E63. My biggest gripe with my E63 is the slow as **** 7 speed it has in it.

At least go drive some E63s and see how you feel about them. Most people on here own E55s so they're going to tell you that they're better cars. I love my E63 and would not consider getting an E55.

 

Guess you like goin slow

 

Sure. I have zero desire to run my car at the track. The car is plenty fast for how I use it and I'm happy with it.

 

I really like the E63, the transmission is better (except the MCT in the 2010/11 cars), the car is more refined and although the both sound awesome, the E63 sounds better. It was the low down torque that got me.

 

I've owned my E55 for 9 years now- .perfect reliability and every time I take it to the dealership they try and buy it from me, that says a tremendous amount.

 

You're in the NY metro area? I would expect a 13 year old car to have a number of cosmetic issues, regardless of how well it was kept .13 years is a long time to expect anything to be pristine.

 

As most others have eluded to, the E55 is definitely the better car if you want to modify or dragrace it. The E63 is the better car to keep stock. The E55 is faster, has much more potential, and has a better community on this board. The E63 is newer, quieter, more refined, has a nicer interior and exterior.

 

yeah....so that you can buy one of theirs....lol...don't be fooled into thinking it's anything more than that.

 

And the 5 speed transmission shifts fairly slow as well too!

E63 is definitely the nicer car to drive.

 

I get the same! Makes me reassured that it's a good car.

 

Hey OP I'm looking at the same car I think. I think he has it a little over priced right now. The mods seem a little outdated in my opinion. The Head unit that is installed is also outdated and ugly. I wish there was more information on the Mods that are installed it seems like they did all power and no cooling modifications which seems like a bad thing in my book since I'm not sure how smart these engine are but with my 335i it would pull timing if things seemed a little hot. He has also only replaced one air strut which definitely tells you that 3 more will have to be done. Could anyone chime in on the mods aka 80mm pulley, stage 2 tune, and shorty headers? such as are shorty headers not as good as long tube, and what cooling mods should be done?

 

Seems to be the popular opinion. I'm going to look at it sunday, and see what the bottom line is. I'm not overpaying for a car that may need $3,500 off the bat in maintenance items potentially.

 

Had it since 2008, and have had to replace the engine unfortunately. Knocking, and lost compression in one of the cylinders. I tend to think it was a cheap crank pulley upgrade, but at this point doesn't matter. Most of the things I've had fail are either wear parts, or electronics. Just turned 190k miles, and so far I've only had to replace one airmatic shock, which was easy enough to DIY.

 

I think your problem was likely elsewhere, and related to fueling. Did you ever have your fuel pumps replaced under recall? If so, I'd highly recommend checking the wiring. Many, many cars had the pumps replaced but the harness was never swapped. My car had this issue and the AFR was out of whack. Changed harness and AFR is perfect.

 

Then you should be fine in my honest opinion. I bet most E55 owners here have a second, third, or fifth car. Not saying the car isn't very reliable for what it is, but when you factor in consumables and the few expensive pattern failures, I'd imagine daily driving it can become pretty costly. Then again, maybe not. Mine's a weekend toy, also.