MrBell

Hi,

I am debating between a 2012 E63 and 2014 E63. Both are low mile wagons. I'm new the MB world, current ride is a Volvo Polestar wagon. Besides the obvious differences, RWD vs AWD and different body work which would you buy and why? I like the 2012's sleek look but 2014 has better cabin tech and is still under warranty.

Is there any difference is ride quality? This is important as I live in an urban environment with crappy roads.

Thanks for the advice!

E55Dimon

Where do you live? Any snow? Plan on modding/like tire spin?

Coming from a stage 2 2012 cls63 into a 2014 E63 it's a world of a difference to me simply because of AWD, especially tuned etc. The suspension is the same - springs in front, airmatic in the rear, also some small refinements like the navigation etc.

Go for the AWD. I loved my cls dearly but didn't want to garage it in the winter again and the tire spin (having to ease into the gas off the light).

Can't go wrong either way, these engines are some of the best and mod friendly in the world.

MrBell

I'm in Seattle... snow/ice are rare. Before my Volvo I had a Porsche Cayman and BMW M3, both rear wheel drive and had no issues. It comes down to if better car-tech and AWD are worth the extra $15K? I'm having a hard time deciding.

2012 merc amg

I had a 2012 e63 amg wagon. It rode very harsh and the roads in New England where I live summers are horrible. I bent a few rims, popped a few tires and got really tired of getting jarred around all the time. The trans jerkiness kind of bothered me too especially in city driving or in parking lots, that kind of thing. I traded that car in for 2015 S550 4 door and could not be more happy. Rides over the bumps like a riding on a cloud and the engine performance with 450HP and loads of torque especially when in Sport Trans mode has really surprised me, its nearly as much fun to drive as the AMG was and the handling when in sport suspension mode is not bad at all for such a heavy car, when the Bridgestone Turanza's that are currently on the car wear out I'll put Micheline Super Sport tires on the it and that will step up the handling so it's even better. I actually like this car better than my 2012 Amg Wagon and for the wagon plus 20 grand it was a no brainer, 3 years newer, half the mileage and in mint condition, I got lucky on this deal. The AWD does really help out too, does not as unstable when I get on it hard as did the 2wd AMG. If I wanted near identical straight line performance to my stock AMG wagon I could simply do a tune on the twin turbo motor and It should run the 1/4 mile in low 12's as did the AMG, so pretty close in speed with the tune. Probably not gonna do that though because I want this S550 to last a long time and not stress the car out too much.

MrBell

Oh, that's a bummer to hear. My main gripe with the Volvo Polestar is the stiff suspension/20" wheels. I was hoping the E63's magnetic shocks and air suspension would smooth out the bumps and not be as fatiguing to drive. I did test drive a 2014 and thought the ride was not bad on rough roads. Perhaps the 2014 has a more compliant suspension? Anyone care to chime in?

2012 merc amg

I don't think there is much of a difference in the 2014's vs 2012's ride quality from all I heard and research. Neither car has Magnetic shocks, the Caddy's have that and they do ride better, I had a 2013 CTS-V Wagon before the 2012 Amg wagon and the CTS-V actually rode pretty good with the 19 inch wheels like my AMG had. Other than that though I thought the CTS-V was crap and thats why I traded it in after just a year on the 2012 AMG. I currently have a 2018 AMG Wagon on order, but my hopes of it riding any better than my 2012 are not gonna happen because it's gonna be just as stiff if not stiffer than the old car. The Amg's really are not a very comfortable car over rough roads, In Florida where I live winters the car rode fine as the roads are not so broken up. Thats where my new AMG will spend most of it's time and the S550 here in Rhode Island which probably has about the worst roads in the country from what I've seen.

MrBell

If not magnetic, how does MB/AMG adjustable suspension work? There are three modes from what I understand.

christsay

A big component to ride quality will be rim size, can we go down 1" and still clear the brakes? I don't think this is an option with the CCB but with traditional steel rotors I think it might work.

Anyways, I love my '14. The '12 will be a lot less expensive and if you can find a well cared for wagon you could put the 30k saved into a track car I wanted AWD and a warranty.

They'd both be biturbo and for regular street use I can't imagine the divorced cooling change will matter much.

As far as cabin electronics my '14 is nothing to write home about and I can't imagine you are losing much with the '12. I think the '12 will have the updated steering wheel and cluster, i.e. no clock in the main cluster. My co-worker has a '10 E63 sedan and the cluster and wheel look very dated today.

-chris

christsay

vs the Polestar.

I test drove a Polestar wagon and the E63 is much more compliant in Comfort mode. The best thing is in-cabin adjustment, I think you could have softened up the damping on the Volvo with the adjusters on the shock but I think ride height adjustment would require getting the car in the air.

The E63 suspension adjustments change rear ride height (air spring) and firmness of the dampers front and rear. C = tall, and soft. S = lowered and stiffer, S+ same height as S but even stiffer damping. The rear air springs also adjust for load automatically.

I drive around the city in C all the time and it's just fine. I have more complaints with the road noise from the stock pzero's than anything else.

-chris

C Smith

I suspect the system is just like any other insofar as there's an electric motor at the top of the shock that turns a valve that acts to increase or decrease oil flow inside the damper, softening or stiffening the shock, respectively. It's similar to aftermarket shocks with compression adjustment, only the car does it using stepper motors atop the shock so you can adjust it on the fly from inside the car.

If if you don't need the AWD, get a '12. If you can find a '13, get that one. Those two represent the last of the RWD, big-engined, mid-size AMGs. They're more fun to drive if you like driving with the tail out, which it sounds like you do given your past cars.

Silverp30wagon

This is why I got my 2012 almost a year ago. I like being able to do burnouts, drive with some oversteer, etc. The AWD takes the fun out of it for me. Sure, you won't win any drag races against a AWD wagon but how often do you do that anyway? Plus, I'd rather break traction than break parts. I may be old but I'm still a kid.

christsay

sometimes I wish I had less traction

-chris

Silverp30wagon

My tune left me with 585whp/696 wtq and I really have to try hard to really spin the tires most the time (in dry). The factory LSD works surprisingly well.

chiromikey

You probably won’t lose any either...

vikingdiesel

Pretty much what everyone said about AWD VS RWD. I live in Chicago/Milwaukee area but I would never drive this car in the winter regardless so to me AWD is pointless, id rather have a faster car and RWD will always be faster if you end up tuning them. If you're looking for a daily and you're using it during winter then skip the RWD one since it'll be useless in the snow. I bought my car as a weekend/ summer car and performance and 1/4 mile is more important to me than AWD, it comes down to how you're going to use the car.

kponti

I cannot do a standing burnout and I have a rwd 585/730; rwhp/rwtq 2012.
This car has too much traction for the power it puts out.
I would go for the newer model (hindsight being 20/20) since the rwd hardly acts as such due to imo the torque limiters. You get the upgraded cooling system with it.

chiromikey

I’m scratching my head. How can you not do a standing burnout? My 2012 can do a standing or rolling burnout, pitch sideways around corners, or any other hooligan moves I feel like attempting.

C Smith

I'm with you. My first set of tires lasted ten days. I can't imagine not being able to do a burnout in the car. One of its best attributes is the ability to turn rubber into smoke.

chiromikey

Here’s how a set of tires properly dies!

XCARTELX

I previously owned a '13 E63S wagon and now a '16 — personally, I think there are pro's and con's of each model year. I loved the ability to whip the rear out on the '13 with a blip of the accelerator, but after being an Audi Quattro guy for many, many years before MB, I do appreciate how planted the '16 feels coming out of corners.

Aesthetics are personal thing; my wife prefers the non-facelifed '13, while I appreciate the sportiness of the facelifed '16. The LED headlights are a HUGE improvement over the '13, but otherwise the 'cabin tech' is hardly noticeable, albeit I have never been in a '12, which may have some other differences.

Ride quality suffers on both cars. Tiny sidewalls and ultra wide tires will do that, but that's why we have a Range Rover in the stable as well, for those long road trips when comfort is a major consideration or bad weather / dirt roads will be encountered.

TX E55

TESTIFY, BROTHER!

kponti

I can light up the tires as long as I am moving. Pitching it into the corners is also very doable (but I was able to do that in a 2014 as well). Even with traction control off, I get a stumble when I try to do a standing burnout. If I get rolling, I can light up the tires easily.

chiromikey

These cars can be so frustrating!

C Smith

There is one thing that the facelifted cars got that I really wish my car had, and that's a turn signal stalk in the correct 10 o'clock position rather than the 8 o'clock position. It's my only real gripe with the car.

christsay

When did they change the cluster? I never understood why they put the clock on the left in the early cars.

Also, low on gas, happens a lot :P

2014:

2012:
https://cdn-ds.com/stock/2012-Merced...4343cf4da4.jpg

-chris

-chris