Rovel

If you open YouTube and type W211 AMG review all the quality content, whether that be from LegitStreetCars or AMGmeister, is about E55 AMG. If you specifically type W211 E63 AMG review you'll get bunch of exhaust clips or low quality drag race videos. I thought our beloved E63 with M156 should get its own deserved place on YouTube and decided to make my own video. It is my first ever YouTube project, so hit that like/comment/subscribe buttons to show your support

This is a quick overview of my 2007 E63.

In this video below I share my ownership experience and cost of maintenance.

5 things I like about my W211 E63.

Do you smell gasoline in your E-Class? Get it fixed for free:

7 Things I don't like about W211 E63 AMG:

E63 AMG vs E63 AMG (exhaust, review, maintenance tips)

E55Greasemonkey

When the E55 came out, it was epic.
When the E63 came out, it was a disappointment.

Rovel

We love our E63s no less than you do your E55

I understand m156 isn’t as reliable as m113k, but it is a true racing engine and still is one of the most iconic NA engines ever built.

E55Greasemonkey

I don't blame you for loving the E63. Reliability aside, It's a nice car, and actually more refined than the E55. What happened back when was that many E55 owners traded up for the E63 when it came out, thinking it would be the next evolution of the 211 AMG line....just to find out the brute force power was gone. It felt slower, even though it wasn't ! The early 7 speed transmission had some teething problems as well. After a few software updates it was much better. Now today, the E55 is much more reliable with higher mileage and age, but a low mileage E63 sure drives a lot smoother. The E63 was less of an evolution and more of a sidestep to the 211 AMG lineup, and I don't mean that in a bad way.

Rovel

I test drove 3 E55s and 1 E63 before purchasing. For me E63, its high revving smooth engine, smoother transmission was much better. Although I knew how much less problematic m113K was. Yes, m156 doesn’t have that low end torque of m113K, but it is a masterpiece of an engine. No wonder that C63 with m156 was the most favorite car of many Formula-1 drivers.

It is all subjective. Everybody is free to like whatever they do

tw2

This is my favourite E63 driving video.

The w211 E63 was also much better than the w212 M156 E63 with its bunny hopping MCT. I felt like a learner driver in the carpark, horrible.

Rovel

Bunny hoping, LOL 😂.

Well, this guy made 162 mph, I assume, on autobahn.
I did 0-100 mph on a speed enforced route with 2 year old all season touring tires ( totally inappropriate for this car) in 11 something seconds. But surely it was in Mexico 😂

equitiesguy

Lol, a big solid nope to that one. Even Mercedes disagrees with you, since they went back to twin turbo motors. If you want an iconic naturally aspirated motor, look to the Tipo F140 C/CE V12 or the S70B56 V12. Those are iconic engines.

The x63 engine was the "first engine to be completely designed by AMG from beginning to end" and it was an abysmal failure.

Rovel

When you say “they went back to twin turbo” can you specify when did they had twin turbo before M278? I am not aware.

There are myriad of reasons why car manufacturers switched to turbo engines.

Also, they change engines with every model most of the time. What makes you think that they discounted m156 because it was a bad engine? Was m 113K a bad engine since they discontinued it? Was m157 bad too?

equitiesguy

Mercedes was running the M275 in the upper echelon of their vehicles (S class) from 2003 to 2015. Without AMG modifications, the standard S600/SL600, etc. was a 6.0L 3 valve V12 with twin turbos (it's almost the same engine as the M113K in terms of design). The AMG version is modified, but more or less just enhanced. When the M156 went bust, they switched almost every engine to a twin turbo design, and dropped the size of the engines by a 0.5L per block (6.0 became 5.5, etc.) with the same badging. Around 2015 if memory serves.

The M113 was discontinued for emissions. The M156 was supposed to be the saving grace after they split from Chrysler and didn't make most of their cars for an entire year (2007), and wanted a completely "German" designed, and built performance engine for their brand moving forward. Oops.

Rovel

Comparing V12 to V8 is like comparing apples to elephants. The MAIN reason everyone is using turbocharged engines in strict emission regulations.

It doesn’t back up what you said about m156 in any way.

equitiesguy

I've driven plenty of 63 cars, including an SL63/S63/CLS63. They're great to drive. They have an immense number of design flaws in both the engine and transmission. As long as you stay on top of it, they can still be great cars.

You don't have to believe what I'm telling you, but when this thread says that the x63 is an iconic engine --- there's no way in hell that it's iconic, unless it's held to the example of what not to do. It's just a big German motor in a particular series, and nothing more.

Rovel

M156 is not iconic in terms of reliability, but it is an iconic NA engine in terms of performance and character. When they asked AMG engineers to build an engine from ground up those built a racing engine. No racing engine is well known for durability as that’s not a top priority.

m156 has a bad reputation but it is a strong engine. The top part of it is its weak point. Aside from cams, and adjusters, this engine is very strong. The cams and adjusters served years which makes the project a success for engineers from a project management perspective. Head bolts are arguable.
For comparison, if not served well and pushed hard, m157 suffers from cylinder wall scratches and bent rods, which isn’t as easy of a fix as replacing cams are in m156.

I am fine changing oil every 4K miles and replacing lifters and cams on a 13 years old car for like $3000 and drive the car for another 100K. Even that is not always necessary as there is a thread in this forum where people report highest mileage 63s. One guy has 300K+ km C63 on original engine. I replaced my head bolts and didn’t have to replace cams or lifters as I show in my video. Why? Because high quality oil was used since new and replaced every 4k miles.

cfmistry

I could've sworn the M156 won engine of the year, among many other awards. Multiple times. And was in some Hall of Fame. Hard to argue that doesn't make it an iconic NA engine. But you can have your opinion, even if the rest of the automotive world disagrees.

equitiesguy

It's not an iconic engine in terms of performance, or character. It's a rather unremarkable engine when you drive it compared to what you're trying to describe. It's not a strong engine. It's not even a well designed engine. I don't feel like regurgitating the posts from the past pointing out all the issues. The failures of the transmission valve body are enough to warrant steering clear of it, and the issues with the camshafts, lifters (fixed on the SLS), headbolts, etc. just reinforce my point.

You don't have to remove headbolts on an iconic engine. You don't have to replace camshafts on an iconic engine. You're putting lipstick on dog****, and pretending it's Cindy Crawford.

If you really want to continue this conversation I can even explain to you why the E series in general is a terrible car. Want me to ruin your car experience permanently? Respond to this post.

cfmistry

I was literally rolling on the floor laughing when I saw this! You just added some years back to my life!!

hachiroku

i love my E63...although initially i was on the search for a CLS55. here's me going going gone.

coupesedan

For a lot of them, yes you do... Regardless you’re right, the 156 isn’t legendary.

the 113 definitely isn’t either. i’m just here because it’s cheap vroom vroom

Rovel

[QUOTE You don't have to remove headbolts on an iconic engine. You don't have to replace camshafts on an iconic engine. You're putting lipstick on dog****, and pretending it's Cindy Crawford.

If you really want to continue this conversation I can even explain to you why the E series in general is a terrible car. Want me to ruin your car experience permanently? Respond to this post.[/QUOTE]

Oh yes, of course. E classes are terrible

Having had W210 E430, W211E350, W212 E550 with Rentech tuned m278, and now W211 E63 I can say that not only E classes are horrible, but entire MB is a horrible manufacturer

My Rentech tuned W212 E550 probably made more HP than my E63, but I haven't regretted a single time switching to M156 equipped car. This engine puts a large smile on my face each time I floor it.

Rovel

Great video, man! If it is you, then were you hitting the speed limit at 140 or just slowing down?

hachiroku

lifted off after hitting 140...at that speed the little imperfections in the roads are magnified exponentially. also, at that speed you tend to cover a lot of ground. much more than say 130. things zoom by.

Rovel

Makes sense! Yeah, the problem for me is that it is hard to both look at the road and scan for cops with your eyes after 120 MPH.

almostordinary

Can't wait to take my subpar 500+hp car down the palisades tomorrow night to Malibu to watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean....

Going to give that POS a good wash this evening to let it know how disappointed I am of it

almostordinary

Fun time cruising the canyons in Malibu at sunset.

Rovel

Looks great! Oh, I miss California I hope we'll all be able to get out and travel again soon.

I am planning on making whole series of videos about this car where I will review it in more details as well as talk about common issues, cost of ownership etc. There are things I do and don't like — no car is perfect. But there is more to love about it than hate.