Bought an E55!

[asad7860]

Hi all. Thanks for the advice re purchasing a 2003 E55. FInally found one. It is the same one that Cyclone 1 had gone to see. Overall relativley clean. 65,000 miles, 3 owner, full MBSH, last service 2000 miles ago, with drive belts, spark plugs, front discs, and pads all round done. Spoke to Walsall mercedes and their service chap said the car was fine - had been maintained regardless of cost. He has kindly offered to fax me the last few invoices.

It does have a crack in the front bumper - but this is only visible from underneath. I think some plastic weld, or even araldite can take care of this. Performance is good, slighter quicker than my C32, but the sound is what makes the car special.

Spec is good, including the full nav, harmon kardon, changer, sunroof, phone, dynamic seats, keyless go, ventilated seats etc.

There is a very slight vibration in the steering around 75mph (on a private road). So i got the front whels balanced and noticed that the inside of the front tyres were worn right down. Had the tracking checked and hopefully this will solve that issue. naturally the way the car sits will result in slightly uneven tyre wear due to the camber. but i'll have to wait and see.

Overall - I am very happy. once I give it a wash - i'll post some pics (if i can figure out how to).

FInally driving back from the midlands on the M6 to Lancashire, I averaged 25.9 - with the cruise set at 70 mph. The follwing day - driving around town returned a more E55 like 14.8mpg.

Al

 

[Howard]

Great news ...... has the squeal from the supercharger been fixed ?

 

[e55]

Congrats on the new car..............I would think its more than just slightly faster than your old C32. Looking forward to seeing some photos.

 

[asad7860]

Great news ...... has the squeal from the supercharger been fixed ?

Re the queak, I had the advantage that I knew what to potentially look out for and did alot of searching on the american forums, prior to viewing the car. The squeak is sometimes audible at low rpm when you have been driving gently and then floor the throttle, I am led to believe it is the sound from the clutch which engages the supercharger. The squeak lasts about 0.1 sec. I am led to believe that this is normal. The chap at Walsall (Merc service) thought it was normal too. Now I hope that it does turn out to be normal! Time will tell. There certainly is no delay or interupption in power delivery. My C32 used to make a similar noise too sometimes when the s/c engaged.

 

[asad7860]

Congrats on the new car..............I would think its more than just slightly faster than your old C32. Looking forward to seeing some photos.

you're right - it is more than slightly quicker than my C32,
slightly more weight, and alot more power!

 

[Cyclone1]

Hi,

Glad you like the car, wouldn't mind if you pm/email me what you paid.

Did you notice the damage on the rear bumper and also did you check that the seats are fully wrking (compared to some other's I've viewed yours will need looking at).

Has the vibration disappeared with the wheel alignment you've had done, as on my test drive it was also noticeable at very slow speeds.

Do you have any other plans for the car?

Cheers Jules.

 

[Cyclone1]

I can also send you an HPI report for the car if you like, did you have this done? Plus I have a full run down of all warranty work done on the car as well as it's original specification when new.

Jules.

 

[asad7860]

I can also send you an HPI report for the car if you like, did you have this done? Plus I have a full run down of all warranty work done on the car as well as it's original specification when new.

Jules.

I don't seem to have the email or PM option - neither can i see yours - what is you email address? - I will send the the info.

regards

Al

 

[Cyclone1]

All details emailed.

Jules.

 

[e55]

Great to see fellow members helping each other out on this forum.

 

[BaldGuy]

might want to remove your email address after a while.....

 

[JasM]

Congrats on the purchase. It's great to hear your happy with the car, clearly you have made the right choice. Also post some pics when you can.

 

[Cyclone1]

might want to remove your email address after a while.....

Done. Thanks.

 

[smillion]

Congrautlation on the car - you will love it.

PS Mine chirps on pull away and Mercedes Benz of Oxford said to ignore it - most of them do......

 

[NewMB]

Mine chirps on pull away and Mercedes Benz of Oxford said to ignore it - most of them do......

Mine did it too and I was advised by MB Colchester that this is normal and nothing to worry about.

 

[asad7860]

Still not got round to washing the car and posting pics. INcredibly the timing of my purchase was all wrong! Viewed car on 18th July. Wife went into labour 2 days later (10 days early) - picked up car on 22nd July. Have been out in it for a few drives - mainly to purcahse nappies and baby bits from the furthest supermarket I can find! But what a car. What a sound, I am starting to understand the big difference between the C32 and the E55, not justi n performance - but as a complete package.

 

[Cyclone1]

Sound wise I forgot to mention that I think the exhaust resonators have been by passed, hence it sounds nice and throaty compared to other E55's.

Jules.

 

[stevieb15]

Still not got round to washing the car and posting pics. INcredibly the timing of my purchase was all wrong! Viewed car on 18th July. Wife went into labour 2 days later (10 days early) - picked up car on 22nd July. Have been out in it for a few drives - mainly to purcahse nappies and baby bits from the furthest supermarket I can find! But what a car. What a sound, I am starting to understand the big difference between the C32 and the E55, not justi n performance - but as a complete package.

Congrats on both new arrivals

 

[rlowy]

Chirping E55

Congrautlation on the car - you will love it.

PS Mine chirps on pull away and Mercedes Benz of Oxford said to ignore it - most of them do......

Mine did to and the garage said ignore it. But I persisted with them because it didn't do it when I first had the car. It started becoming noticeable about 35 - 40,000 intermittently and then persistently after that.

In truth it began to drive me mad and I felt the car became less smooth as I tried to drive around it and the power delivery seemed jerky.

Anyway I got the garage to have a look at it earlier this year and asked them to specifically inspect the compressor clutch which they did and found it was worn and replaced it. It’s a big job, two days in the workshop as in the refitting they have to lift the engine up.

I have an extended MB warranty and it was fully covered with that.

But wow what a difference when it was done. Much smoother, brilliant instant power delivery no chirp and noticeable more power.

Over time you forget what the car was like when it was new!

I recommend you to get it done.

Regards

Richard

 

[Cyclone1]

Mine did to and the garage said ignore it. But I persisted with them because it didn't do it when I first had the car. It started becoming noticeable about 35 - 40,000 intermittently and then persistently after that.

In truth it began to drive me mad and I felt the car became less smooth as I tried to drive around it and the power delivery seemed jerky.

Anyway I got the garage to have a look at it earlier this year and asked them to specifically inspect the compressor clutch which they did and found it was worn and replaced it. It’s a big job, two days in the workshop as in the refitting they have to lift the engine up.

I have an extended MB warranty and it was fully covered with that.

But wow what a difference when it was done. Much smoother, brilliant instant power delivery no chirp and noticeable more power.

Over time you forget what the car was like when it was new!

I recommend you to get it done.

Regards

Richard

Hi Richard,

It's good to hear that an Owner has actually followed this through to an effective fix (well hopefully for another 40k miles).

Many people / owners are easily satisfied when a Dealer tells them that this issue is normal and to live with the squeak, but if it starts to make a squeak then something mechanically is starting to wear and will eventually fail. MB probably weighed up the risk of how many failures would occur over what mileage versus cost of replacement of the clutch unit, and decided not to make this a recall. It is understandable as the likelyhood of failure of this unit is probably going to be inexcess of 100k miles, however what Owners might not pick up on is a slight deterioration in performance (you can get used to a good thing!) and for me I would always want the correct fix if it is available.

Anyway, I am still searching for that elusive E55.....Is nobody selling at the moment?

Jules.