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Hey guys, just picked up this 05 E55 as a bad *** track motorcycle hauler haha. It has 129k on the clock, and all the electronics work except the rear shade (stuck up) and the sun roof will open but doesn't shut from what I was told. The window switches on the driver's panel are a little "clicky" but they still work perfectly the previous owner did include a authentic switch panel with the car which I intend to replace when my Haynes manual arrives .
The car will not be a DD and will be parked on manhattan streets, mostly used for road trips, shopping etc. As you can see it came with these rashed up 19" Vossen wheels and honestly for these atrocious NYC streets, they do well enough in comfort mode. What I was wondering was how much better would it ride on the stock wheel size, I have an option right now to buy a mint set of stock E63 rims from a guy who is parting it out. Would going back to stock rims/wheels make me able to ride around the city in sport like I do now in comfort ? Also could I just rpelace the switches for sunroof and shade from the 63 thats being parted out ? I ordered some new lightbulbs since the right smaller bulb was out, along with some floor mats, headlight restorer, oil and filter and manual. Waiting for that stuff to arrive before taking her in to get service and alignment done, let me know what you guys think and thanks in advance.
Congrats on the new car - I am sure you’re enjoying the power!! The rims would look good if refinished, and yes E63 wheels will bolt up no problem and they will ride better due to the larger sidewall. I haven’t read many posts about the OE AMG E63 wheels bending at all.
FYI, these cars do not like to be left sitting. I personally would not trust mine if left over a week unstarted, and mine is garaged.
congrats - looks like a good driver. As a fellow pothole dodging driver across the Hudson, I’ve had bad luck with my oem 55 wheels. After cracking my 2nd one in 6 months I decided to go with aftermarket 19s instead of continually repairing the stock wheels. Maybe I’ve just got bad luck and maybe the 63 has stronger wheels but that’s been my experience.
Perhaps someone with first hand experience can chime in on the ride difference between 18&19s
Congrats on the new car - I am sure you’re enjoying the power!! The rims would look good if refinished, and yes E63 wheels will bolt up no problem and they will ride better due to the larger sidewall. I haven’t read many posts about the OE AMG E63 wheels bending at all.
FYI, these cars do not like to be left sitting. I personally would not trust mine if left over a week unstarted, and mine is garaged.
The power is very apparent, I almost feel bad driving in the city. It handles it great but when it gets to wide open road that where it's really at home, stop and go traffic is far better(and faster!) on the bike. I have been driving it every other day, so if their is a period that exceeds that I will make sure to drive her for a few miles, thanks for the tip !
kiluminati616 where in NJ are you ? My rents are in Northern NJ and am there fairly often. Since I learned the streets on a bike, it seems that I have a mental map of all the potholes and just subconsciously avoid them. I only realized it when my gf asked why I swerved the way I did lol. from what I have been reading though the 18's ride a lot better. What did you think comparing the ride of the 18's vs 19s ?
M3brendan stock or aftermarket ? Didn't realize people were having issues with the stockers.
nice i'm in jersey city. i should have the 19s on later this week and will see how big of a difference it makes. i actually suspect that i have a 3rd cracked rim as my rear passenger tire needs to be aired up each time i drive now...just hoping it makes it to Friday at this point. kind of surprised there isn't more mention of the stock wheels cracking myself. i briefly wanted a set of cls55 wheels but noticed that many of the old FS threads i came across mentioned a rim or 2 needing to be repaired so i opted for an aftermarket set of rotary forged wheels. they're quite a bit lighter and in theory much stronger.
I've had the 19s on for a few days and i honestly don't notice a difference from the stock 18s as far as ride quality goes. the ride never seemed that plush to me to begin with and i hardly even notice the difference between comfort and sport II mode
I've had the 19s on for a few days and i honestly don't notice a difference from the stock 18s as far as ride quality goes. the ride never seemed that plush to me to begin with and i hardly even notice the difference between comfort and sport II mode
wow thats interesting to hear. Which mode do you daily drive with ? I I stick to S1 unless and will switch to comfort if I know its an extra-crappy stretch of pavement. I may have to just refinish these Vossens in a silver and be done with it, thanks for the info man.
The only thing is my brake calipers look like ****, literally ha. All W211 E55 AMG's had 8 pot calipers up front right ? May have to get those painted as well, right now thats one of biggest peeves when l look a t the car now. Which color do you guys think would look better with my rims, red or yellow ?
Thanks guys, happy and healthy new year to everyone.
I picked up a CLS with a set of Vossens and going back to stock made a HUGE difference on the streets around me. Any tire you can add to it is going to give you a little more buffer against a pothole. I guess it's not the coolest, but after cracking 2 wheels in 3 weeks... Just the peace of mind was worth it for me. I was driving around paranoid... "Omg, did that hit too hard? Is it pulling? Did my tire just go flat?" - Super annoying.
I usually stay in comfort around town and s2 on the highway. But sometimes I just keep it in s2 and there’s definitely a difference but not night and day.
there was never a particular pothole I hit where I thought oh man that probably caused some damage. I’d just eventually notice a tire that was low on air and it turned out to be a cracked rim each time. I’m not a wheel expert by any means but the 19s I got are rotary forged and are supposed to have a strength somewhere between cast & forged wheels. Whether that added strength is enough to make up for a lower profile tire remains to be seen
I picked up a CLS with a set of Vossens and going back to stock made a HUGE difference on the streets around me. Any tire you can add to it is going to give you a little more buffer against a pothole. I guess it's not the coolest, but after cracking 2 wheels in 3 weeks... Just the peace of mind was worth it for me. I was driving around paranoid... "Omg, did that hit too hard? Is it pulling? Did my tire just go flat?" - Super annoying.
I know that worried feeling. I cracked 2 rims the first 7k miles I had the car. Since then I check tire pressure Every time I drive it.with my 19s they don't look low at 10psi. Since then I have not broke a rim. The last rear tire I had go flat it didn't even look flat . I couldn't believe it.
starving artist - thanks forthe tip and you and Kilumaniti are on the same wave length i guess lol. Orange happens to be one of my favorite colors surprised I didn't even think about it as an option. Thanks for the input
Swohio/Ls1toAMG yea that sounds very annoying. I tend to agree with Kilimunati in regard to the fact that I don't really feel that much of a difference with the 19's because I don't know how its supposed to feel, like they say, ignorance is bliss LOL .
I went to a wheel shop here in the city and they said to refinish each rim would be 125$ and brake calipers would be 50$ to powdercoat them in any color. I can have the rims powder coated silver, black or gold for the quoted price and they would also straighten and balance any rims that were out of spec. What do you guys think about the price that I was quoted does it sound reasonable ? I would probably go with silver rims and orange calipers which would look sick IMO I'm not really a huge fan of the original dark grey color the wheels came in.
starving artist - thanks forthe tip and you and Kilumaniti are on the same wave length i guess lol. Orange happens to be one of my favorite colors surprised I didn't even think about it as an option. Thanks for the input
Swohio/Ls1toAMG yea that sounds very annoying. I tend to agree with Kilimunati in regard to the fact that I don't really feel that much of a difference with the 19's because I don't know how its supposed to feel, like they say, ignorance is bliss LOL .
I went to a wheel shop here in the city and they said to refinish each rim would be 125$ and brake calipers would be 50$ to powdercoat them in any color. I can have the rims powder coated silver, black or gold for the quoted price and they would also straighten and balance any rims that were out of spec. What do you guys think about the price that I was quoted does it sound reasonable ? I would probably go with silver rims and orange calipers which would look sick IMO I'm not really a huge fan of the original dark grey color the wheels came in.
Sorry should have clarified, 50$ each corner so 700$ total....
I think it really depends how much you like the rims. In the pics they need a lot of work. So the price seems fair.. But a second estimate won't hurt are they saying they can clean up the roadrash?
if you like the wheels, none of them are cracked and the tires still have decent life to them it's probably worth it. if not it might be a better idea to just grab a new rim/tire package
I think it really depends how much you like the rims. In the pics they need a lot of work. So the price seems fair.. But a second estimate won't hurt are they saying they can clean up the roadrash?
Yeah, from what I have read and watched on YT what they spray the afffected areas with bondo then sand it down so the rash isn't noticeable, then respray the paint... which I expect to last a whole 5 minutes in this city haha. Whatever, the bronze/orange calipers will stay nice atleast.
Kilimunati put up some pics of your new 19's man. I know my rims are a staggered setup but dont know the exact width and offset of the wheels, I'm sure if they took them off and painted and balanced them they would be able to give me that information. Overall I do like the design, I just hate how the brake look behind them so it seems like this would check all the boxes, thanks for the input i'll post up what I decide.
Here’s a couple shots of mine. I dug around the forums for a bit to figure out what people were running with no scraping and no fender rolling. Front: 19x8.5 et 29 & 245 35 19 tires. Rear: 19x9.5 et 34 & 275 30 19 tires
Welcome, I am in the NYC area too and also just recently bought an 04 E55 with 140k miles a few months back. Now at 144k and have replaced a ton of stuff, but have loved every minute of driving it. If you ever want to take a nice weekend E55 drive north let me know... (same goes out to the other NYC area guys)
I saw in your one pic you asked for a dealer recommendation - I've used Mercedes Greenwich and Mercedes White Plains both in the past, more recently with this E55 the Greenwich dealer (that is also where I bought it).
I try to avoid taking any of my 'toys' into the city streets and prefer to use my jeep, but those potholes can be killer on Mercedes wheels. I've found that on Mercedes that we've owned or leased, the wheels are definitely delicate compared to other cars I've had as far as bending or cracking. I'd try to keep some sidewall on those! (plus more traction )
12-20-2019, 06:30 PM
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