Ahmed Hassan

Hello everyone,
I'm planning to buy a W211 E55 2005 with 109K on the clock. I've inspected the car and even took for a test drive and it was amazingly in a perfect mechanical condition. There are some minor work required for the exterior parts such as the side mirror but it's not a big deal. The Airmatic suspension also in perfect condition.
in general the car is in perfect shape but my only concern here is the high mileage on its clock (109K) and I'm if it's a good idea to buy a such car with this much of driven mileage on its clock and I might encounter a major issues in the future specially with the supercharge.

I'm currently owning a W210 E55 2000 and a W210 E430 1999 and looking forward to this beauty to my collection.

bbirdwell

109K is not "high mileage" on an W211 E55. It will, however, be more expensive to maintain compared to your W210s.

Ahmed Hassan

Thanks bbirdwell for the feedback however yes I understand the cost difference between the w210 and w211

NYCDiesel

Go for it man, believe me you will not regret it. I recently picked up an 05 E55 with 129K on the clock and after a couple of necessary replacements, the car runs excellent and I couldn't be happier.

Ahmed Hassan

Thank you NYCDiesel for the feedback..can you please tell what you've done as replacements in your E55

swohio

Yeah, 109 is not a lot on this car. Eventually, piece by piece, the Airmatic will go. Pump, shocks, etc. You just have to make peace with that.

Ahmed Hassan

Thank you swohio for your input, I'm thinking to replace the Airmatic with coil over as a first thing to do after buying it lol

NYCDiesel

recently just did New rotors up front and pads all around, along with oil change and tranny fluid/filter change and its remarkable just what those minor things have done. With some new injectors, engine mounts, ball joints, wheels and LTH it'll be fully serviced.

Exotic-metal55

As mentioned 109k is not much on a non moded car, if that is the case? Parts are pretty in expensive these days, so if the car checks out , then drive it away fast.

Ahmed Hassan

Thanks Exotic-metal55 for your feedback

fazxs

Got my car with 100k miles on it. Driven 15000 miles since in over 9 months.

Maintenance so far:

Engine and transmission mounts
Idler pulley - upgraded all to billet aluminium pulleys
Supercharger pulley bearing
Rear engine main seals replacement
Intercooler pump
Spark plugs
Rear Shock Absorber and the Rear Airmatic
Front suspension bushings and
Airmatic distribution valve
Central gateway unit failure
In addition of to the above, changed all fluids - transmission, differential, brake and power steering.

Overall I'm extremely happy as it feels and runs like new. Most are expected with age and glad most has been addressed and will be free of maintenance in the near future.

Mileage on these cars are not an issue as far as you maintain it well. Engine is super reliable.

GinDistiller

Yep, almost 150k on the clock here and infinitely fewer replacement items needed compared to my old M5. No, it's not a civic that needs nothing, but it's so worth the extra maintenance as a whole.

Mounts, maintenance items, fluids and transmission things like conductor plate and wire harness seal, and intercooler pump. My airmatic is all 100% original at 150k and has needed nothing. Maybe I'm lucky, but I wouldn't consider things in that system to be a flaw in these cars as they fail.

Note: Rear main seal is a very common leak, if there is oil collecting on the belly pan just clean it thoroughly and monitor. I thought mine was getting to a bad point, but I cleaned and drove for a few thousand miles and barely a whisper had returned. Chances are it's had a minor leak there for quite some time, so don't let that scare you if it comes up in an inspection. Waiting to need driveline bushings etc before I pull the trigger on that job.

Fountain35

Yep...

ctravis595

what made you change the central gateway? what were the symptoms?

fazxs

Most face similar symptoms. Mine was like the dash started flashing ESP failure error, flashing red on the center console, stop now flashing interior lights tuning on of by itself, Speedo going down to zero and back to speed. It would become normal for some time and the cycle would repeat. Basically it was like the car was possessed. I didn’t stop as it was night time and on a highway till I got home.

The next day at the garage it was diagnosed with a CGW failure and I replaced it. It had to be coded. So only a garage with STAR can do this. In my case, the AC had some condensation somewhere near the CWG and had some water droplets seep into it and caused failure.

E55NOVA

My driver's side airmatic strut went out recently at 64k miles. I switched to coilovers and am completely happy with them. Are they less comfortable, sure but not by a whole lot.