Soon to be new owner with a question.
01-19-2019, 02:26 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Soon to be new owner with a question.
Hello everyone. New here, so please forgive me if I ask a question that has been answered many times. I'm not yet familiar with the lingo surrounding the model, which I am sure there is some, so I don't know exactly what to search for.
Long story short, I test drove and agreed on a price on a 2006 E55 AMG Kombi, AKA station wagen today. The car is in lovely shape, low mileage, or kilometerage? in this case as I am currently living in Germany. It's at 115,000 kilometers, or about 71,000 miles. Everything works, and the car drives well, but there was one small issue I noticed on the test drive which I am not sure is an actual problem, or just a characteristic of the chassis. Basically, when you go over a bump at speed on the autobahn, particularly while going through a turn, the car tends to waggle a little bit, as if something shifted in the rear alignment. It kind of wags it's tail so to speak. Not a major movement, but definitely noticeable.
The current owner is actually a Mercedes Benz employee, and thus enjoys a tremendous discount on maintenance, and has offered to have one last full service done on the car before it changes hands. Is there something specific I might ask that he have them check extra carefully? Just to give you an idea, he had one of the air springs replaced last year, and his out of pocket expense was 42 Euro, so it makes sense to have these things replaced now rather than after purchase if possible. Current owner has agreed to split his costs over agreed purchase price if something needs fixed.
What do you guys think?
Long story short, I test drove and agreed on a price on a 2006 E55 AMG Kombi, AKA station wagen today. The car is in lovely shape, low mileage, or kilometerage? in this case as I am currently living in Germany. It's at 115,000 kilometers, or about 71,000 miles. Everything works, and the car drives well, but there was one small issue I noticed on the test drive which I am not sure is an actual problem, or just a characteristic of the chassis. Basically, when you go over a bump at speed on the autobahn, particularly while going through a turn, the car tends to waggle a little bit, as if something shifted in the rear alignment. It kind of wags it's tail so to speak. Not a major movement, but definitely noticeable.
The current owner is actually a Mercedes Benz employee, and thus enjoys a tremendous discount on maintenance, and has offered to have one last full service done on the car before it changes hands. Is there something specific I might ask that he have them check extra carefully? Just to give you an idea, he had one of the air springs replaced last year, and his out of pocket expense was 42 Euro, so it makes sense to have these things replaced now rather than after purchase if possible. Current owner has agreed to split his costs over agreed purchase price if something needs fixed.
What do you guys think?
01-22-2019, 10:50 AM
#2
MBWorld Fanatic!
If the rear end is wagging its tail a little bit, then it might be the rear sub-frame bushings. Best to have these checked out, as they do bad just like engine mounts.
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Blade Canyon (01-22-2019)
01-22-2019, 01:09 PM
#3
Member
Thread Starter
That's a good thought, Sir. I had a BMW 135i in the past, and they came with rear subframe mounts that were too soft for the application in the opinion of many, and it resulted in a similar behavior, even when new. That is part of why I asked whether this is normal behavior for the model. In that case I replaced them with M3 parts which is a very common upgrade for a 135i, as those were solid rubber vs the very squidgy stock option which had a lot of void area. Honestly didn't notice any fall in ride quality, and the car tracked so much more confidently after they were swapped that I have no idea why BMW went with what they did in the first place.
01-22-2019, 01:20 PM
#4
MBWorld Fanatic!
On my first E63, I had bad sub-frame bushing that caused the rear end, to shift while going over bumps at speed.
Also I noticed more rear tire wear, that shouldn't have been occurring that early. So this is something that needs looking in to.
If this isn't the culprit, then look at rear suspension components for worn bushings etc.
Also I noticed more rear tire wear, that shouldn't have been occurring that early. So this is something that needs looking in to.
If this isn't the culprit, then look at rear suspension components for worn bushings etc.
