Former BMW owner researching 2014 thru 2016 E63 AMG wagon to purchase. Also is 3K a year for maintenance an appropriate starting budget for those years between 40k and 80k miles?
Thanks for any help and I am looking forward to the upgrade from bmw to MB.

$3K is probably high but a safe number and it depends on how much you drive. If you're just talking regular maintenance and not an uncommon issue it'll be more than fine.

Cars.com Autotrader BringaTrailer or simply just a google search is where I'd start.

Thank you.

No problem. If you find any you like or have questions about a specific car just post it up in here. Definitely get an S model and there are a lot for sale all over the country right now so if you're telling yourself you want a certain color combo and what not it should be available or likely will be soon enough so just be patient. I'd try to get a 15 or 16 with the lowest miles possible and certainly no accidents or damage on carfax reports. After that, it's just your preferences. Cars are all pretty similar and there aren't too too many options that are must haves that aren't standard. B&O sound is a nice add on to look for. I'd also try to find one that hasn't been modified but it's no big deal if it has. Some come with CCB brakes but truth be told I don't really see the value in them and are expensive as hell to replace. They jack up the price of the car too, so I'd avoid those. These cars are fairly reliable though so buy with confidence. Certainly far more reliable than any v8 TT BMW. That s63tu motor or whatever seems like an absolute gem when working but also turns into a massive headache on far more occasions than these motors.

Anyway, any questions just ask. Some good dudes in here that know what to look for and what they are talking about and we can do a better job if we have a specific car to look at.

I have no experience with that dealer, however, I like the Carfax app because every car listen (and there are admittedly fewer listed than Autotrader) has a Carfax history attached, so, for example, that one above, if I recall, had structural damage at arounf 22,000 miles. Up to you if you are comfortable with that. The pix are beautiful, however.

A lot of people love the CarMax (not to be confused with Car Fax!) warranty, but last I checked they do not have any 2014-2016 E63s (they had 2 older ones and one 2018).

Welcome!

Maintenance depends first if you have a warranty. Without it, you could swing many thousands from year to year, but the good thing is only a few components fail with regularity (airmatic).

Basic maintenance (fluids, filters, brakes etc.) is anywhere from about $200 to $2500 (or a little more) depending on where the car is on the maintenance schedule. I just had the 28k mi tranny service done via stealership for a little over $1K. That was pulling the pan, cleaning magnets, new filter, gasket, fluid and pan bolts.

DIY or indy will obviously dramatically reduce those costs. As will driving style (stock Michelins cost me $1,200). Out of warranty and all bets are off, just airmatic suspension failure will potentially set you back $1-2k.

But as others have said, these cars are not frying turbos like Audi’s or have catastrophic failures... the M157 and 7g seem like pretty bullet proof deals. Little things like plastic bits that break are frustrating but not deal-killers. You just will be paying AMG prices on top of your normal Merc/BMW premium.

Great cars!

Make sure to check Carvana. Every now and then they do have E63s, and when they do they deliver to your house, and you have 7 days to get a PPI done etc.
May be the best solution in Covid times.....

I scoured the internet looking for mine. All of the above mentioned sites plus autotempest. It took me about six months and I compromised on a couple of options (for example, I ended up skipping CCBs because I figure it is something I can add when the current brakes wear out). Happy with my purchase in the end, but surprised it took so long.

lastvin.org was very helpful. Basically once I found a car I was interested in, I double checked the options against lastvin. Some dealers don't know what should or should not be on a car. It also gives you an advantage in that you can see exactly what the car has or doesn't before the dealer posts the pictures online. The good E63s seem to go super fast, even in COVID times.

My next option I was about to pull the trigger on was a local indy dealer that I trust. I was going to have them search all of the auctions for what I was looking for.

Best of luck. The search can be fun!

I wouldn't say/know which is the BEST site to look for one of these specifically but I love using CarGurus. It lists how many owners, if it's been flagged as a lemon and if it's got a clean title (besides all other info like mileage, color, etc) clearly without having to read through lengthy descriptions of the vehicle (which are mostly copied off of somewhere else). Now, I'm gonna disagree a lil' here with a couple of these fine gents w/ regards to "skipping cars w/ CCBs". I am no expert but b/c my car is equipped with them I did a lil reading on the interwebs concerning this "issue". Yes, they cost a boat load to replace. However, the rotors are SUPPOSEDLY rated for 100K+ miles. Depending on how you drive and how much of your driving is done on highways... this may not even be an issue. Replacing steel brakes will run ~$3K? I could be off on those numbers... but they certainly need to be replaced way before 100K. I have seen threads where people were complaining about having to do their front brakes at before 30K (again, this is highly dependent on how/where people drive) Buying an E63 w/ CCB's won't cost you an extra $12K over one without them. Buying the parts after the fact and installing them should you wanna go that route... perhaps will.
Good luck and have fun on your search.

PS: Fender benders are one thing, "Structural damage"... I'd stay away from.

Following prices are for genuine CCB MB brakes (only ones offered) and Zimmerman Steel rotor replacement parts from ECS... Quick disclaimer - can you find them cheaper? Perhaps. I've used ECS as a solid source for German parts over the years on many of my cars so it's just what I use. If you can find them cheaper, cool, but probably not by much.

CCB's:
Front Pair = $8082
Rear Pair = $7250
Total = $15,332

Steel (zimmermans):
Front Pair = $992
Rear Pair = $238
Total = $1,230

Steel OE front and rear from ECS is as stated above at $3k.

Added on to this are Girodisc rotor replacements for steel which are $2500 front and rear.

This is ONLY for rotors. Not pads, little nickel and dime items, and not labor if someone else is installing.

Do with this info what you want. But if you buy a car with CCB's and keep it long enough that you have to replace them and want to replace with CCB's you better be ready to drop $15k-$20k. The good news is you can just put in steel ones once the CCB's need to be replaced. People argue CCB's last forever and what not but they will need to be replaced and if you're buying a used car with 50-60-70k miles on it...

Never buy a car with structural damage unless they are basically giving it away. And even then I still wouldn't buy it, especially not this car. Only car I'd buy with structural damage would be a Camry or a Civic that I'd expect to last me a few months for $1k that I'd basically just demolition derby everywhere I went.

I understand the views on the CCBs... I agree it will be costly to add once I do so.

Mine came with brand new rotors front/rear, so I figure I have time. Once the stocks wear out, I will convert to CCB at that time. In the mean time, I will look out for good deals on CCBs.


My thinking was that it is easier to add CCBs than to add other options such as pano roof or B&O sound. (Cost not considered...)