The E55 Wagon is The Most Unreliable Car I Have Ever Owned…
03-12-2024, 06:15 PM
#1
The E55 Wagon is The Most Unreliable Car I Have Ever Owned…
…but now that I’ve sold it, I’m still combing through sale sites looking for another one. Pretty sure I’m just really dumb. That’s all!
The following users liked this post:
I.T. Guy (03-15-2024)
The following 3 users liked this post by 91180:
The following users liked this post:
Highline-Autos.com (03-18-2024)
The following users liked this post:
OldManAndHisCar (03-13-2024)
Trending Topics
03-15-2024, 01:37 PM
#8
In all seriousness though, “super solid” should never be a way to describe any high mileage amg or German car for that matter unless it is a 911 and even certain models of 911 can have terrible issues as well. There’s just constant repairs and upkeep and no matter what you or anyone tells you, it will never be good for a while. No light at the end of the tunnel with these things. If you want to avoid many of the headaches just get a GSF or ISF if you’re itching for a performance sedan. A GSF might be more expensive upfront, but you will be rewarded with minimal repairs and reliability that the e55 just can’t offer you. Besides if you pay retail for parts and labor at an indie, it will not take you long to get up to the purchase price of a GSF.
The silver lining to this is that a bunch of these currently mechanically totaled e55’s are going to be parted out adding to the rarity of the model. No doubt it will be an even more desirable car in the future. They just look great.
The following users liked this post:
C_Note (03-24-2024)
03-15-2024, 01:45 PM
#9
When I was looking, they were around $3k for a decent set with no bends or cracks. I ended up just buying a high mile sedan that already had them on for $9k then swapped out the wheels and resold the sedan.
03-15-2024, 09:21 PM
#13
03-15-2024, 09:54 PM
#14
Lol you guys ain’t seen nothing yet. They’re great until they aren’t and if it’s your only car, good luck. Airmatic, oil leaks, shocks (wagon specific issue), drive shaft stuff, rear main seal leaks, transmission leaks, brakes, differential, electrical, cosmetic stuff, suspension components, alarm issues, harmonic balancer, AC compressor, pulleys, fuel pumps. This is stuff that I had to deal with in the 2 years I had it. What’s funny is that the car was genuinely kept up with, and many of the parts had been replaced in the past already. Who knows, you guys might be right and I got a lemon, but I’m pretty sure that’s not the case. They’re all lemons!
In all seriousness though, “super solid” should never be a way to describe any high mileage amg or German car for that matter unless it is a 911 and even certain models of 911 can have terrible issues as well. There’s just constant repairs and upkeep and no matter what you or anyone tells you, it will never be good for a while. No light at the end of the tunnel with these things. If you want to avoid many of the headaches just get a GSF or ISF if you’re itching for a performance sedan. A GSF might be more expensive upfront, but you will be rewarded with minimal repairs and reliability that the e55 just can’t offer you. Besides if you pay retail for parts and labor at an indie, it will not take you long to get up to the purchase price of a GSF.
The silver lining to this is that a bunch of these currently mechanically totaled e55’s are going to be parted out adding to the rarity of the model. No doubt it will be an even more desirable car in the future. They just look great.
In all seriousness though, “super solid” should never be a way to describe any high mileage amg or German car for that matter unless it is a 911 and even certain models of 911 can have terrible issues as well. There’s just constant repairs and upkeep and no matter what you or anyone tells you, it will never be good for a while. No light at the end of the tunnel with these things. If you want to avoid many of the headaches just get a GSF or ISF if you’re itching for a performance sedan. A GSF might be more expensive upfront, but you will be rewarded with minimal repairs and reliability that the e55 just can’t offer you. Besides if you pay retail for parts and labor at an indie, it will not take you long to get up to the purchase price of a GSF.
The silver lining to this is that a bunch of these currently mechanically totaled e55’s are going to be parted out adding to the rarity of the model. No doubt it will be an even more desirable car in the future. They just look great.
You are correct however. A Toyota or Honda would be ideal if you wanted more reliability. On the other hand a GSF is not as fast at altitude as anything with the m113k Power plant and it is far more expensive to modify. You can get 700 hp with a m113k for a few grand if you are doing the work yourself. Anyway what I am getting to is it would be very hard pressed to find a better bang for your buck, maintenance included.
03-15-2024, 10:10 PM
#15
Around 130k-150k, a bit under 20k miles. Highish miles, but I come from a background where high miles isn’t an issue because genuine parts are dependable, made to last and service is predictable. I found out the hard way that the 211 platform isn’t what I’m used to lol
I’m just mentioning this stuff as a reminder to those looking at one of these things because of its cheap initial price and maybe a wake up call for people that own them already and have some blinders on. I still kind of do! Long story short is that you can easily get a $10k bill that will mechanically total your car if you pay retail for parts and labor from a specialist. It’s something that rarely gets mentioned. I’m pretty sure I found your comments from a few years ago reassuring and then proceeded to get wrecked lol
I’m just mentioning this stuff as a reminder to those looking at one of these things because of its cheap initial price and maybe a wake up call for people that own them already and have some blinders on. I still kind of do! Long story short is that you can easily get a $10k bill that will mechanically total your car if you pay retail for parts and labor from a specialist. It’s something that rarely gets mentioned. I’m pretty sure I found your comments from a few years ago reassuring and then proceeded to get wrecked lol
03-15-2024, 10:17 PM
#16
I mean 90% of what you listed is going to happen to any vehicle at 100k+ miles. Brakes, shocks/struts, rear main, oil leaks, pulleys, fuel pumps all go out on everything. Now these parts are more expensive and hourly rate on service work is higher rate so I can see how that would be an issue. Maybe because I worked on vehicles for 20 years I am used to these problems arising.
You are correct however. A Toyota or Honda would be ideal if you wanted more reliability. On the other hand a GSF is not as fast at altitude as anything with the m113k Power plant and it is far more expensive to modify. You can get 700 hp with a m113k for a few grand if you are doing the work yourself. Anyway what I am getting to is it would be very hard pressed to find a better bang for your buck, maintenance included.
You are correct however. A Toyota or Honda would be ideal if you wanted more reliability. On the other hand a GSF is not as fast at altitude as anything with the m113k Power plant and it is far more expensive to modify. You can get 700 hp with a m113k for a few grand if you are doing the work yourself. Anyway what I am getting to is it would be very hard pressed to find a better bang for your buck, maintenance included.
03-15-2024, 10:50 PM
#17
The problem with my car was that it came with a complete meticulous service history and many of the expensive repair items had already been done sometimes even twice before I did them a third time- something that caught me off guard. A 700 hp e55 makes me cringe and nod in approval at the same time haha
I would suspect that i am close to that at this point. Just did several mods so we will see how it goes. So far the only issue has been exploding plastic pulleys but that will soon be a thing of the past by monday. None the less a $5k CLS 55 + mods is definitely worth the smiles. I can say it is pretty rowdy, and sounds amazing.
03-16-2024, 08:50 AM
#18
MBWorld Fanatic!
OP.... Stock exhaust.... Or headers and free flowing everything?
Disney brake pump assembly is how old?
211 E-55 wagon only ever made it stateside via Canada where they got yet another amazing car we Yankees cannot have.
OP.... Good looking car.
Clearly you are not up for an old ‘Two-Elemon’ as we referred to them at the dealership.
Disney brake pump assembly is how old?
211 E-55 wagon only ever made it stateside via Canada where they got yet another amazing car we Yankees cannot have.
OP.... Good looking car.
Clearly you are not up for an old ‘Two-Elemon’ as we referred to them at the dealership.
Last edited by JohnLane; 03-16-2024 at 08:56 AM.
03-16-2024, 02:44 PM
#20
MBWorld Fanatic!
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: America
Posts: 2,360
Received 179 Likes
on
146 Posts
1999 C43 AMG, 2005 E55 Wagon
Or so I've read somewhere. Who knows.
03-16-2024, 03:09 PM
#21
OP.... Stock exhaust.... Or headers and free flowing everything?
Disney brake pump assembly is how old?
211 E-55 wagon only ever made it stateside via Canada where they got yet another amazing car we Yankees cannot have.
OP.... Good looking car.
Clearly you are not up for an old ‘Two-Elemon’ as we referred to them at the dealership.
Disney brake pump assembly is how old?
211 E-55 wagon only ever made it stateside via Canada where they got yet another amazing car we Yankees cannot have.
OP.... Good looking car.
Clearly you are not up for an old ‘Two-Elemon’ as we referred to them at the dealership.
I got the VMI for my car after it started going into the shop. That was a real wake up call for me lol. I think the front struts had been replaced twice each while it was being serviced by the dealer. Then the guy I bought it from replaced all the air components in one go ($8k bill) a few months before I bought it which made me think I was good to go haha. Couldn’t have been more wrong. Right after I got the rear shocks replaced ($$$ only option is oem since amg wagons are so rare), I took it to lunch and starting it up after, the driver side strut failed. If airmatic was the only problem with these things I’d say it was a solid platform, because you can get a sweet aftermarket kit from KW, but there’s just way more stuff that makes these things unreliable and a total nightmare to own. I feel bad for 2 elemon (as you put it lol) e500 owners. All the problems and issues that go with an e55 with none of the looks or power. They might as well be driving a Camry haha
Last edited by 91180; 03-16-2024 at 03:11 PM.
03-17-2024, 12:42 PM
#22
You don't need 700HP in this car, 550-600 is plenty. I wouldn't want any more power with this car/motor. Especially on the roads we have in the States, not to mention traffic/congestion - this isn't the Autobahn glory where you can cruise at 120+ for minutes on end. It sucks here, almost like keeping an alpha lion caged to tame it down. They used this car for sales in the US and did well.
As for owning this car out of warranty - I've owned three AMGs (over the course of 12 years) out of warranty and have had nothing but regular maintenance. Warranty was never a selling point for me. There are tons of crap problematic cars with warranty that I wouldn't touch let alone own. I did my homework, checked it out properly, and made my decisions. I came back for a third time. I kept coming back. This machine is nothing short of amazing if you take care of it. There are so many manufacturers nowadays just out for the buck (BMW and Toyota with the new 'Supra', for instance), they sacrifice staying true to building great cars. The quality of 'new' cars nowadays isn't as great as people think from new cars. It's all about how fast and who has more gadgets inside.
Lastly, complaining about maintenance cost for a once new $80K++ price tag in the early 2000s is actually rather amusing; you're not maintaining a Honda Civic - buy an almost $100K car expect the maintenance to be on par as the miles go up. Do people who regularly own Ferraris and Lambos think about the cost of the brake jobs? Or routine maintenance? Just as some food for thought, the clutch job alone is $15K on a Murcielago (an older Lambo).
As for owning this car out of warranty - I've owned three AMGs (over the course of 12 years) out of warranty and have had nothing but regular maintenance. Warranty was never a selling point for me. There are tons of crap problematic cars with warranty that I wouldn't touch let alone own. I did my homework, checked it out properly, and made my decisions. I came back for a third time. I kept coming back. This machine is nothing short of amazing if you take care of it. There are so many manufacturers nowadays just out for the buck (BMW and Toyota with the new 'Supra', for instance), they sacrifice staying true to building great cars. The quality of 'new' cars nowadays isn't as great as people think from new cars. It's all about how fast and who has more gadgets inside.
Lastly, complaining about maintenance cost for a once new $80K++ price tag in the early 2000s is actually rather amusing; you're not maintaining a Honda Civic - buy an almost $100K car expect the maintenance to be on par as the miles go up. Do people who regularly own Ferraris and Lambos think about the cost of the brake jobs? Or routine maintenance? Just as some food for thought, the clutch job alone is $15K on a Murcielago (an older Lambo).
Last edited by ArmoE55; 03-17-2024 at 02:02 PM.
03-17-2024, 02:37 PM
#23
You don't need 700HP in this car, 550-600 is plenty. I wouldn't want any more power with this car/motor. Especially on the roads we have in the States, not to mention traffic/congestion - this isn't the Autobahn glory where you can cruise at 120+ for minutes on end. It sucks here, almost like keeping an alpha lion caged to tame it down. They used this car for sales in the US and did well.
As for owning this car out of warranty - I've owned three AMGs (over the course of 12 years) out of warranty and have had nothing but regular maintenance. Warranty was never a selling point for me. There are tons of crap problematic cars with warranty that I wouldn't touch let alone own. I did my homework, checked it out properly, and made my decisions. I came back for a third time. I kept coming back. This machine is nothing short of amazing if you take care of it. There are so many manufacturers nowadays just out for the buck (BMW and Toyota with the new 'Supra', for instance), they sacrifice staying true to building great cars. The quality of 'new' cars nowadays isn't as great as people think from new cars. It's all about how fast and who has more gadgets inside.
Lastly, complaining about maintenance cost for a once new $80K++ price tag in the early 2000s is actually rather amusing; you're not maintaining a Honda Civic - buy an almost $100K car expect the maintenance to be on par as the miles go up. Do people who regularly own Ferraris and Lambos think about the cost of the brake jobs? Or routine maintenance? Just as some food for thought, the clutch job alone is $15K on a Murcielago (an older Lambo).
As for owning this car out of warranty - I've owned three AMGs (over the course of 12 years) out of warranty and have had nothing but regular maintenance. Warranty was never a selling point for me. There are tons of crap problematic cars with warranty that I wouldn't touch let alone own. I did my homework, checked it out properly, and made my decisions. I came back for a third time. I kept coming back. This machine is nothing short of amazing if you take care of it. There are so many manufacturers nowadays just out for the buck (BMW and Toyota with the new 'Supra', for instance), they sacrifice staying true to building great cars. The quality of 'new' cars nowadays isn't as great as people think from new cars. It's all about how fast and who has more gadgets inside.
Lastly, complaining about maintenance cost for a once new $80K++ price tag in the early 2000s is actually rather amusing; you're not maintaining a Honda Civic - buy an almost $100K car expect the maintenance to be on par as the miles go up. Do people who regularly own Ferraris and Lambos think about the cost of the brake jobs? Or routine maintenance? Just as some food for thought, the clutch job alone is $15K on a Murcielago (an older Lambo).
The last part of your post is pretty much my point exactly. It’s a reminder that the e55 or any Mercedes Benz product from the last 20-25 years for that matter is not engineered for durability or reliability. It’s funny how you point out bmw and Toyota being only out for a buck and you exclude Mercedes lol. Your point about Ferrari and Murci maintenance is moot because a lot of times, expensive repairs either don’t have a financial effect on the owner because the barrier to entry is decently high (20 year olds making $40k a year can’t buy them). And that’s the thing with the e55, lots of people buy e55’s that can’t afford the repairs or fixes and lack mechanical know how. A terrible combo for euro ownership that happens all the time. On top of that, prices for many of these older supercars have appreciated in recent times so you actually profit off the money spent by fixing them up even at retail prices (if you want to look at it that way). This is something that you absolutely cannot do with an older higher mileage amg Mercedes or really anything European except for supercars and some 911’s. Just for a frame of reference, in your rebuttal to me, you are comparing the maintenance and repairs of this often $10,000 car to the upkeep of a Lamborghini or Ferrari. This should be a wake up call for anyone that owns or is considering owning one lol.
Despite what you think, there are actually cars in the e55’s class that will cost you almost the same as owning a civic which is why the e55 is essentially just a poor choice for anyone lol. It is a really good looking car though and I’ll admit that I’m dumb enough to buy another one. If you can afford to make the wrong decision over and over again, then why not! I technically can’t, but like I said, I’m dumb!
Last edited by 91180; 03-17-2024 at 02:45 PM.
03-17-2024, 02:54 PM
#24
You probably didn’t own any of those Amg’s for very long if you didn’t have to repair anything. If what you’re saying is true, you and sulaco are the exception not the rule.
The last part of your post is pretty much my point exactly. It’s a reminder that the e55 or any Mercedes Benz product from the last 20-25 years for that matter is not engineered for durability or reliability. It’s funny how you point out bmw and Toyota being only out for a buck and you exclude Mercedes lol. Your point about Ferrari and Murci maintenance is moot because a lot of times, expensive repairs either don’t have a financial effect on the owner because the barrier to entry is decently high (20 year olds making $40k a year can’t buy them). And that’s the thing with the e55, lots of people buy e55’s that can’t afford the repairs or fixes and lack mechanical know how. A terrible combo for euro ownership that happens all the time. On top of that, prices for many of these older supercars have appreciated in recent times so you actually profit off the money spent by fixing them up even at retail prices (if you want to look at it that way). This is something that you absolutely cannot do with an older higher mileage amg Mercedes or really anything European except for supercars and some 911’s. Just for a frame of reference, in your rebuttal to me, you are comparing the maintenance and repairs of this often $10,000 car to the upkeep of a Lamborghini or Ferrari. This should be a wake up call for anyone that owns or is considering owning one lol.
Despite what you think, there are actually cars in the e55’s class that will cost you almost the same as owning a civic which is why the e55 is essentially just a poor choice for anyone lol. It is a really good looking car though and I’ll admit that I’m dumb enough to buy another one. If you can afford to make the wrong decision over and over again, then why not! I technically can’t, but like I said, I’m dumb!
The last part of your post is pretty much my point exactly. It’s a reminder that the e55 or any Mercedes Benz product from the last 20-25 years for that matter is not engineered for durability or reliability. It’s funny how you point out bmw and Toyota being only out for a buck and you exclude Mercedes lol. Your point about Ferrari and Murci maintenance is moot because a lot of times, expensive repairs either don’t have a financial effect on the owner because the barrier to entry is decently high (20 year olds making $40k a year can’t buy them). And that’s the thing with the e55, lots of people buy e55’s that can’t afford the repairs or fixes and lack mechanical know how. A terrible combo for euro ownership that happens all the time. On top of that, prices for many of these older supercars have appreciated in recent times so you actually profit off the money spent by fixing them up even at retail prices (if you want to look at it that way). This is something that you absolutely cannot do with an older higher mileage amg Mercedes or really anything European except for supercars and some 911’s. Just for a frame of reference, in your rebuttal to me, you are comparing the maintenance and repairs of this often $10,000 car to the upkeep of a Lamborghini or Ferrari. This should be a wake up call for anyone that owns or is considering owning one lol.
Despite what you think, there are actually cars in the e55’s class that will cost you almost the same as owning a civic which is why the e55 is essentially just a poor choice for anyone lol. It is a really good looking car though and I’ll admit that I’m dumb enough to buy another one. If you can afford to make the wrong decision over and over again, then why not! I technically can’t, but like I said, I’m dumb!
