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Hello all I am looking to purchase a W211 E55 amg but there is always that little voice saying don’t just because of the maintenance. How are the higher mileage cars on reliability if they have been taken care of. I have a BMW so I am no beginner to the German car needs but I’ve never owned a high performance aged AMG
It's been similar to BMW, in my experience. Both in terms of parts costs and the difficulty of working on them.
I had an E24, E34, and E46 before I got my AMG
Some things are easy to do, some are hard.
Sometimes you get surprised by the price of parts. As in, sometimes they are "relatively" cheap, and sometimes you get screwed.
My wagon was baselined by my buddy who was a BMW master tech until 09. He said that the w211 E55’s are much easier to work on compared to BMWs of the similar era.
That being said, if I didn’t have my good friend do the work that it needed and the parts were charged to me at retail prices, I would be well over $7k into parts and labor for this thing in my first month of ownership lol. My wagon has around 135k miles. The car also had its air suspension and compressor replaced at an indie by the previous owner to the tune of $7k last year. So at retail prices, the car would have $14k worth of parts and labor put into it in the past 18 months. The oldest w211 E55’s are almost 20 years old. A lot of them with this mileage need to be restored to a certain extent, but as a Porsche and Toyota guy, it is absolutely worth it. It does everything it’s supposed to do so well. It would be even more worth it if they started appreciating like my Porsche’s and Land Cruiser’s though. It certainly isn’t a car for everyone simply because of the costs associated with repairing them, but I love mine.
My wagon was baselined by my buddy who was a BMW master tech until 09. He said that the w211 E55’s are much easier to work on compared to BMWs of the similar era.
That being said, if I didn’t have my good friend do the work that it needed and the parts were charged to me at retail prices, I would be well over $7k into parts and labor for this thing in my first month of ownership lol. My wagon has around 135k miles. The car also had its air suspension and compressor replaced at an indie by the previous owner to the tune of $7k last year. So at retail prices, the car would have $14k worth of parts and labor put into it in the past 18 months. The oldest w211 E55’s are almost 20 years old. A lot of them with this mileage need to be restored to a certain extent, but as a Porsche and Toyota guy, it is absolutely worth it. It does everything it’s supposed to do so well. It would be even more worth it if they started appreciating like my Porsche’s and Land Cruiser’s though. It certainly isn’t a car for everyone simply because of the costs associated with repairing them, but I love mine.
This has been my experience as well.
The engine and transmission are solid (knock wood), but old cars have old car stuff to deal with...most of it is small to medium in nature.
At this age, these cars need some sort of restoration outside of the common mods.
If you...
are decent with a wrench
have a garage
don't need this to be your only car
are ready to spend at least 5K to make sure it's running perfectly
are willing to spend more to restore it (fixing non-critical broken stuff)
Then go for it.
If you...
will take it to a shop to fix even small/medium issues, or
don't have a garage and are working in an apartment or dorm parking lot, or
need this to be a reliable daily driver with near-100% up time
don't have extra cash to spend on a 15 year old German luxury muscle car
Then save up for the best specimen you can find or try something else.
It's not that the car is finicky or unreliable. It's just that old cars have old car issues. And at this age, it's time for random stuff to happen (like seat air bladders to all pop or idler pulleys to break). Parts are easy to find...even brand new from the dealer. I'm working on a resto-mod and most of my parts have come directly from the dealership including those for my current coilover conversion.
About to roll 220,000 miles on my daily driver W211 E55 that I have owned for eight years. I take it down approximately 2-3 weeks a year (total) for maintenance. A day here, 4 days there, maybe a week while waiting on a part I didn't expect to need.
I have spare cars so no issue for me. I am also a stickler for preventive maintenance.
Oil burn rate has increased from one quart per 10,000 miles (@ 80,000 miles odometer) to one quart per 2500 miles (@ 219,xxx miles). I'm still not getting rid of it and have turned down multiple offers from folks who would like to buy it. Fantastic car which requires TLC to remain reliable.
Fuel system can bite one in the *** and costs approximately $1000 every 60,000 miles. Supercharger clutch scatter shield...ball joints and bushings ...Airmatic...SBC(fortunately with 25-year unlimited mileage warranty).
The E55 just rocks!
With every high mileage car, comes extra Preventative Maintenance (PM) requirements. I have OCD when it comes to PM on my vehicles.
My BMW X5M is at the shop right now, getting a new AC blower motor and voltage regulator, along with a oil change, and front stainless steel braided brake lines.
After that is done, the E63 is going in for a oil change and new carbon ceramic brake pads, along with a re-alignment as my steering wheel is off a few degrees from straight after a total suspension refresh.
I didn't notice it on city streets, but on the highway it's noticeable.
I've never owned a 911. I had a former coworker who had one on the past. I asked him about the general cost of owning a newer or older one. His response was something to the effect of, "You are gonna pay for a 911. If you buy a new one, you'll have to pay up front for it, but have little maintenance costs. And if you buy an older one, you'll have a lower initial cost, but you'll spend a lot in maintaining it. But, either way, you'll pay."
While I find that to be generally true, the way to get ahead is to do the small and medium jobs yourself.
I had a drinking buddy years ago that never had high paying jobs. Mostly working at bars/restaurants. I had a high-paying IT job and couldn't see myself owning a M3 like his. But, after getting to know him better, I learned how he did it:
Buy smart.
Buy from private sellers who take care of their cars. This saves you the dealer markup.
Do as much of the work as you can yourself.
Find an independent shop that you trust to do the things that you can't do.
Stay on top of preventative maintenance.
Take care of your ****. Fix things immediately when they break.
My 99 C43 has 320k miles and I'm currently listing it for sale. But I would fully trust the car to go across the country and back 10 times before it needed anything. It's been rock solid in the 11 years I've owned it, in spite of my wife nearly totaling it once.
My wagon has given me around 50k trouble free miles so far, except for 3 failed air shocks. But they were factory original. I have no right to complain that factory original suspension made it 150k miles and 15 years before it failed. They were actually quite easy to replace, compared to the gas shocks on my other cars. Aside from the AC compressor currently being dead, the car would be tip top. Bonus points for my wagon having been a total loss 80k miles ago and rescued from a Copart auction.
I agree with the things said above, if you can do a lot yourself I would recommend it, as it saves a ton on labor. Parts can be expensive, but thats not always the case.
Im currently in "restoring" mode with my CLS as well, which is basically the same bones as the E55. See my build thread (link in signature) for things I have done just yet (I have the CLS55 since end of april this year). Good luck with your choice @Jdmandeuroblood and let us know what it will be!
E55 was my first Mercedes, German car and Euro car of any kind. Was an 04 with 129k when I bought it. Mostly I find it pleasant to work on and while some parts can be pricey, you can usually find the right parts cheaper than other sources. I had mine sorted in a year or so and had just been enjoying it. 2 years and about 14k of driving, including a trip halfway down the east coast with the family. Mine did have pretty massive oil consumption but it probably needed a rear main and valve seals which I would have gotten to eventually if I wasn't totaled. I really can't see owning one of these if you don't DIY because if you have the money to dealer maintain a car like this, I think you'd just be driving something a lot newer...
What I really wanted was a V2 but I ended up with the E55 because for the price (June 2020) you just could not beat the value. Turns out I struck gold and it was a very cool car and I enjoyed making repairs bringing it up to snuff over time. I guess I could make a list of what I did over 2 years and 14k.
Hello all I am looking to purchase a W211 E55 amg but there is always that little voice saying don’t just because of the maintenance. How are the higher mileage cars on reliability if they have been taken care of. I have a BMW so I am no beginner to the German car needs but I’ve never owned a high performance aged AMG
I put 205k on my e55 before selling it. Had all the goodies you could ask for
During my ownership the only issues I had were airmatic blowing out (this can all be replaced with coilovers for about $1300 out the door plus install)
pulleys (upgrade those plastic ones to metal ones, youll never have a problem again)
Supercharger pulley bearings wore out also cheap and easy swap
03-04 models have a poor design on the radiator. i recommend swapping it out unless you go for a 05
E55 was my first Mercedes, German car and Euro car of any kind. Was an 04 with 129k when I bought it. Mostly I find it pleasant to work on and while some parts can be pricey, you can usually find the right parts cheaper than other sources. I had mine sorted in a year or so and had just been enjoying it. 2 years and about 14k of driving, including a trip halfway down the east coast with the family. Mine did have pretty massive oil consumption but it probably needed a rear main and valve seals which I would have gotten to eventually if I wasn't totaled. I really can't see owning one of these if you don't DIY because if you have the money to dealer maintain a car like this, I think you'd just be driving something a lot newer...
What I really wanted was a V2 but I ended up with the E55 because for the price (June 2020) you just could not beat the value. Turns out I struck gold and it was a very cool car and I enjoyed making repairs bringing it up to snuff over time. I guess I could make a list of what I did over 2 years and 14k.
I am in almost exactly the same situation. I bought mine at around 129k and over the last year + have run it up to 145k along with sorting out issues along the way. Mine also needs a rear main (not leaking enough to make me want to pull the trans yet) and uses a bit of oil. What was yours consuming? "massive" oil consumption sounds like quite a bit.
I am in almost exactly the same situation. I bought mine at around 129k and over the last year + have run it up to 145k along with sorting out issues along the way. Mine also needs a rear main (not leaking enough to make me want to pull the trans yet) and uses a bit of oil. What was yours consuming? "massive" oil consumption sounds like quite a bit.
It was an experiment for me but I enjoyed it and I would say it was a success. My consumption rate was typically around 600 miles/quart and historically it has gotten as bad as like 450 miles/qt. It never seemed to cause any issues but it can't be good for the cats. I would only see smoke under specific conditions. And those conditions were a cold start followed by an extremely short ignition cycle (like moving the car). The NEXT start I'd see a decent size puff of smoke. Otherwise, I guess it would also emit a cloud at times during WOT. It was something I was going to get to but obviously doesn't matter now...
A lot of people are buying up these E55's and E63's because of the lower price point. But, that is only part of the puzzle, as these older car needs maintenance.
And that is the part that shocks them, how expensive some parts and labor are on these AMG's, unless your a DIYer. The key is finding a highly maintained AMG, that won't cost you money a month after you purchase it.
Getting hit with a huge expense right after purchase, is a punch in the gut. Remember AMG stands for "All Money Gone"
It was an experiment for me but I enjoyed it and I would say it was a success. My consumption rate was typically around 600 miles/quart and historically it has gotten as bad as like 450 miles/qt. It never seemed to cause any issues but it can't be good for the cats. I would only see smoke under specific conditions. And those conditions were a cold start followed by an extremely short ignition cycle (like moving the car). The NEXT start I'd see a decent size puff of smoke. Otherwise, I guess it would also emit a cloud at times during WOT. It was something I was going to get to but obviously doesn't matter now...
Yes, that is pretty high consumption. Fortunately, mine does not use anywhere near that much. It does exhibit the same tendencies that you mention. I appreciate you responding with that much detail.
A week after I bought my wagon, I bought a car for parts from a 19 year old that needed money for a lawyer lol. It had just had close to $5k spent in sealing up the engine and new pulleys etc. Then the airmatic struts went out… Then the transmission went out after that. Not sure if he was telling me the truth, but he told me that he had bought the car for $11k. If that’s true he kinda got jipped considering it’s a salvage title car. I bought it for $2,500. It has 90k miles. Just goes to show how fast and hard you can get upside down on one of these things.
Used cars always come with risks but my life experience tells me the people who that kind of stuff happens to generally suck at buying used cars and probably could have used better decision making up front to avoid the situation.
Which is reason 374 why I don't like buying used cars at a dealer (especially older ones). They give you, what, 18 minutes with the damn thing, around the block once? Although one dealer let me take the vehicle home to my wife to try and we ended up buying it. That salesman was pretty wise.
A week after I bought my wagon, I bought a car for parts from a 19 year old that needed money for a lawyer lol. It had just had close to $5k spent in sealing up the engine and new pulleys etc. Then the airmatic struts went out… Then the transmission went out after that. Not sure if he was telling me the truth, but he told me that he had bought the car for $11k. If that’s true he kinda got jipped considering it’s a salvage title car. I bought it for $2,500. It has 90k miles. Just goes to show how fast and hard you can get upside down on one of these things.
Here’s the $5k invoice for your viewing pleasure:
Some of those part prices are insane. I'm glad I am able to all of my own work or owing an 55 wouldn't be possible me.
Same. You'd think that would lead to serious depreciation but these are much more solid than pretty much all the competitors and just as fast if not faster in many cases. Recipe for success.
I rebuild my tranny and torque converter + new radiator about 1.5 year ago when about 125K miles. Total cost $5000
Now 134K miles. This is the most expensive I have invested in my E55 in 12 years. Total cost less than $10K in 12 years so not too bad.
I have my CLS55 about 8 years so far about $5K. Airmatic suspension $3K for all 4.Tires, spark plugs, oil change, CPS and tranny service about 2K
I have spent $4K in my CLK55 for suspension, pulley, oil pan seal, rear main sear in 6 months. However it has 174K miles.
09-05-2022, 05:38 PM
how do you know
