About 7 years ago, I bought my first E55 in SoCal and drove back to TX. I owned it a couple years, learned some lessons but ultimately didn’t have the cash flow to really care for the car like it deserved. I’ve thought often about it, and I’m finally ready to get one again. However, of the dozen or so messages I’ve sent out on FB, autotrader, or other platform - I’ve had hardly any responses from private sellers. Are people really just not motivated to sell? I’d be incredibly responsive selling something so significant. Just insane. That said, if anyone has an E anywhere in TX or surrounding states, I may be interested!

I’d also like to shout out (and brag a little) that I have the privilege of living in the same city as the legend himself, bbirdwell. My first round of ownership included a couple visits from him personally and I am eternally grateful for it. In the world of social media and declining relationships, it’s so refreshing to come in contact with people who genuinely care and are willing to educate and share in their experiences. So, thanks again bbirdwell and hopefully this time around, I can leave you alone!

 

This for sure is a world of declining relationships. As the years go on it baffles me.

 

Look at it from the sellers point of view. They're probably getting tons of "yo bro, I will totally buy it bro" and then they don't show up. Its painful to sell things these days.

R.K.

 

See if @ArmoE55 still has his E55 for sale. He posted about it a couple of months ago and I regarded it as a good deal.

 

I can't stand it and I will even pick and choose what I will sell on Ebay since some things are used and people want a used price but a new item and will ***** to Ebay about it.

 

Chalk it up to the continued decline of our entire culture.

They're almost certainly getting mobbed by a mix of "3,500 cash today, get it ready" and "10k for a 20 year old car???? are you crazy????????"

 

I'm thinking of selling mine ... had a lot of fun making it run perfect (thank the legend and SICAMG) but garage space is limited. The car is now "immaculate". Has 71K miles. Has a CarFax "incident" which previous owner says was a garage door closing on trunk (in his words: car to contact? Never). Always garage kept. Interior is perfect. No dinks or scratches. As SICAMG would say: stock except headers, no cats, c63 muffles, 550 cc injectors, ECU and TCU tune. It's quiet and smooth, but when you step on it, it's a beast. If interested, drop me a line. I can send pictures and "stuff".

 

Thanks for all the replies! It looks like I’m headed to Kansas City next week to pick one up…to be continued

 

Hi what color is your E55 that ur thinking of selling.
I have a black one and a white one. I am looking for another nice color.
thanks

 

A half dozen W211 E55 listings are on Cargurus. Any of those work for you?

 

If you love overly priced high mileage cars with little to no records sold at a dealership. See my other comment. I found one, thanks.

 

I only buy from private sellers. No dealers. Very happy with my experiences. Plus it's fun to drive back in ur newly acquired ride.
😎

 

brsilves, you are to kind thank you !!

Samw124 I hear you but listen to this story on a dealership sale. My son was looking for his dream car for about 10 years LOL and finally had the money. He tells me he found one at a dealership local to us so I'm like hmmmm. He sends me pictures with all the info and I scour threw them. Something is not right. The price is great plus 60k for miles but the car is NOT what they are claiming it to be and I tell my son we have got to go look at it. If you guys know anything about a W204 C63 car's there where standard C63's,P30,P31,507 and Black series. They are advertising a standard C63 but I come up with a P31 from the Vin which is a HUJE step up that has many 507 options. This car turns out to be a factory monster but we say nothing to this knuckleheads and they do not know this some how. I then start the car...it stinks/smells. I say to the sales guy there are no cats on this! He says yes there is but they put it on the lift and guess what, no cats. I now inform them that this is federally illegal to sell but we work a fantastic deal, no questions asked, sign an agreement and out the door we go !!!!
So long story short I hate dealers but this one slipped threw the cracks and ended up in our laps so one positive review for a dealer for me !! Just one. LOL

 

Hi. It's silver with a blue leather interior. Here's a couple of pictures.

 

@brsilves PM me some info. If not me, I know a fellow here who is looking for another E55.

 

That is very clean. I am looking for either blue, green, red.
I havw a white one and a black one and a cls55. Id like to add a bit more colour

Your car certainly sounds like a very nice example. Looks very clean
😎

 

Alright, picked up in Kansas City yesterday and made it home to San Antonio in one piece. I grabbed a higher mileage, modded example so I know my hands may be full, but overall car is in good shape with good records. PO is a retired AF pilot and was very up front about the car.

I do need to address a few things. The supercharger pulley sounds loud. I remember my stock bearing exploding one day in the driveway, so I need to address this one. I didn’t have a smaller pulley so not sure if they’re any louder than stock?

the biggest issue is a pretty significant vibration. Transmission was rebuilt ~1k miles ago by a legit shop using southern hot rod parts for an OEM+ spec, stock converter. In neutral revving there’s pretty significant vibration. I know the car has aftermarket motor mounts but to me it feel like more vibration than that. Additionally, at speed it feels MUCH worse. Anything north of 80 feels like your teeth will fall out. It’s a pulsating type vibration, say 2 seconds off, 1 second on and I feel it almost everywhere in the car (seat, floorboard, steering). I’m going to jack the car up this weekend and peek at everything but I’m nervous it’s something major. The tranny shifts strong, motor pulls hard, suspension was very competent on the drive home so I’m racking my brain. A transmission mount would be the best case scenario but not sure my symptoms are consistent with that.

About 1 mile into Texas I hit a pothole on I35 in a construction area and blew out the front passenger tire and cracked the wheel. All the shops around were closed so I limped home 350 more miles on the space saver. I’m surprised by how well it handled it but I took it slow. Hopefully this is not foreshadowing my future experience with the car lol.

I’m still very happy with the purchase and look forward to getting dialed in over Xmas!

 

Congratulations
I hope you have fun getting everything running smoothly.

Vibrations could be prop shaft donut or whatever it's actually called.
Engine mounts for sure should be checked
transmission mount
Center bearing of prop shaft.

Just my own knowledge from a few years. Many people on here havw been working on these cars for 20 years so hopefully u can get more info.

 

If it vibrates in neutral or park it is not the driveshaft, guibo joints or wheels. The only thing turning on the transmission is the torque converter and the input shaft.
Engine wise look very closely at the engine harmonic damper for any wobble with it then start chasing engine mounts.
If driving it gets worse, than could be possible out of balance wheels, center bearing or bent rim. Do one thing at a time and keep track of it.

 

Still have some diagnosing to do. Transmission mount looks nice, it’s a creative steel mount. I did notice though, if I put a pry bar between the black metal crossmember rubbing under the mount, and either side of the shaft running through the mount, and I can move the tranny up with zero resistance. Surely this isn’t supposed to happen? Stock oem mount is available local so I’m debating starting with that tomorrow.

 

Stuttgart, Germany front plate. Pretty cool. I also bought my car off of an Air Force F16 pilot.
Listen to Gary (SICAMG) as he knows his stuff.
Could replace the supercharger pulley bearing as pre-emptive maintenance. I think I have a couple of spacers around but I need to look. Haven't needed them in years....
My .02? At idle and revving I would suspect motor mounts. At road speed, I would suspect driveline. It is possible the Guibo joints were replaced but the driveshaft was not installed in the same rotational position You can always put the car up safely(!) on jack stands, put the transmission into drive, and run the car up to 90 mph indicated while moving a piece of chalk close to the driveshaft to see if it is out of balance. Scary but doable. I've only done it twice so your experience may vary. Long hair ponytails not recommended.
Let me know if I can assist.

 

All good points. Very kind of you Barry. I’m going to replace trans mount tomorrow with OEM as my first touch point and continue from there. I’m off for the next 2 weeks, maybe we’ll have an opportunity to catch up. Would love to!

I was told pulley is a 72mm, and I can’t find anyone who currently makes that size. I need to verify the outside diameter to confirm, but have no idea where to source the bearing for it. I wonder if I’ll have to purchase another complete pulley instead.

 

I may have the bearing for that pulley if it is a double bearing pulley.
On a side note to anyone who is thinking of this I put a Creative steel transmission mount in and it absolutely vibrates at a certain rpm in park or neutral ,very subtle but there, and switching back to stock, no vibration so just my two cent's if you where to buy one. It does keep everything locked in place for high horsepower though so that's why I put it in.

 

Good news! The tranny mount made a big difference. There is still a similar vibration leftover but not as severe leading me to believe motor mounts need to be done also. PO figured because it had aftermarket mounts they must be fine but the transmission mount was destroyed. Tons of play laterally and front to back.

Only bummer being under the car is seeing a pretty decent oil leak. I’m going to degrease everything and see what I can find. Overall much happier now, and only $70 out the door thanks to Birdwell’s guy at the dealership! Thanks for the shoutout!

 

Don't forget to disconnect the main battery before attempting to unbolt the upper bolt on the passenger side motor mount. The battery connection to the alternator is only as 1/2" or so away from your extension. Also, unbolting the the steering rack makes it much easier to slide the driver's side mount across the front of the car to replace the motor mount.

And, if Keyless-Go, keep fob far away from the car when reconnecting the main battery.