danmm7

Hello MB world,

I am a new member here but i have been reading 100s of posts over the last few weeks. I am in the process of researching buying a W211 E55 AMG.
This will not be a daily driver. I am looking for a fun "weekend car" and something to wrench on. My last car was a 2012 Audi S4, fully modified and upgraded to Stage 2 ...all on my own. I am not a car mechanic but i am also not afraid to work on my own cars, fully maintain them and undertake various repair/upgrade projects.

I found 2 very nice, well taken for local cars. Both are 2 owner cars. Both have been maintained regularly with a list of common issues already addressed.
** One car is 2006, almost fully loaded, with 72k miles (owned by younger guy)....priced around 15k.
** The other is 2004, almost fully loaded, with 100k miles (owned by an older couple, woman driven) ...priced around 11k.
Both cars have detailed maintenance records. Both are 100% stock.

My question is.... if you're looking for a non daily driver, something to modify slightly (tune, brakes, pulley, etc) ... should i absolutely get the newer, lower miles car and pay $4k extra for it ..... or should i save the $4k, get the 2004, 100k miles car ... and invest the money saved in getting the car in perfect shape and add some mods?

In other words.... is the 2006 model that much better/more reliable/improved to justify the extra 4k just to get in the game?

Thank you!

tw2

They are the same enough to not worry about it. Get the one in the best condition with the best records. Whichever one you choose you can probably assume the maintenance is somewhat neglected so budget accordingly. They are pretty expensive to do everything all at once.

KAMG

Like TW2 said, they're both similar enough, it comes down to past maintenance. And being an 04 it won't have the coolant and ATF mixing issue so you're good there.

Minor differences between an 04 and 06 (if you cared enough to have the extra bits):
- 06 will have updated supercharger (number ending in 580 is the updated one if you look on the supercharger, can't remember the old number). Updated apparently has better gearing
- 06 will have updated steering rack
- Clam shell style center console (04) vs. sliding center console (06)
- 06 will have a diff cooler and extra oil cooler mounted underneath the stock heat exchanger
- Axles are pressed in on the 06 but bolted on in 03s, not sure where the cut off for the change is

I'm probably missing some differences but I'm sure you've researched the differences in years already

w204_racing

lseguy

for ME, assuming the 2006 is just as clean, etc as the 2004? Id negotiate down on that $15k price and go for that one. I always target the last model year of a used car, especially if Im going 10+ years old. Generally speaking, the more recent the car, the more of the "bugs" that have been found/worked out. Again, generally speaking

bbirdwell

And the 2006 has the dual fuel pump relays versus the problematic single relay in the earlier versions.

patrick_y

Buy the car better maintained from the seller who is more trustworthy.

The 2006, assuming it's red, and in the Fremont area, is owned by someone on this forum who bought the car and then tried to sell the car within months. Makes me wonder if there was something wrong with the car. Red flag.

The 2004, assuming it's in the Fremont area; is owned by a older couple (although the title might be under their son's name, a full fledged adult). No red flags here, yet.

Main thing is to buy the buyer. Meaning, do you trust the buyer? Sometimes the older people have no idea what they're doing and while they wouldn't neglect maintenance, they don't understand what needs to be maintained. Sometimes the younger person might be very meticulous and have a great car, or may just be a "spoiled kid" who doesn't really appreciate things and probably drove the car aggressively without warming the engine up and without care.

As for whichever one is better to mod, I heard 2004s are less sensitive to modifications. But I don't have any personal experience. You're not going to get good data unless someone here has had both an 03/04 and an 05/06 with similar modifications to make an accurate comparison.

Good luck!