E55 AMG - Newbie needs help..!

[voodoo]

Hi all,
Considering one of these beasties as a replacement for my '03 WRX Impreza.

Looks far more subtle, seems on paper it has monster performance, looks comfy and well equipped. Plus, I lose the image and worries of Impreza ownership. I'm tired of all and sundry wanting to race me and I think I'm getting old now (33)..!!

I'd be looking at anything 2003->, with some mileage up to say 40k and a full MBSH for a budget of circa £35k..? Does that sound about right..?

What do I need to look for/avoid with this car..?
Is it essential to pick these up used from MB dealers or would an independent garage be fine, but with a seriously good look over?

Also, calling actual owners (past or present), what sort of fuel consumption do you get as an average? I'm getting about 22mpg (220miles out of a £45 tankful) at the moment, what's yours doing?

And finally... servicing, what sorts of costs am I going to be looking at? I'm currently averaging £450p/a with the wrx, would the AMG be about the same?

Any other info or pointers would be VERY much appreciated.

Cheers,
Nige.

 

[Gollom]

Welcome!

Same happened to a friend of mind who pulled up at lights in his Impreza and the 'yoofs' in the car next to him were heard to mutter "Look at the old man driving that car!" Ben is not yet 30....

Really helpful bunch on here and you will certainly see replies. Your expected mileage would be useful so someone can give you an idea of servicing costs etc.

 

[whizzkid11]

Its certainly a good choice of car - in terms of car.

Having in the market for one for well over a month, I have seen a few, and yes althougha budget of £35k would get you what you are looking for, the residuals of these are cars dropping like anything.

There have been a handful of E55 on AT and a few others which have been sitting there for weeks/months, not selling. MB Direct in Birmingham had a black 03/52 model with 40k mile on clock up for window price of 29,999 and it took them nearly 2 months to sell - having enquired about it they placed a residual value in 24 months time of £9,600 - thats just over £20k in 2 yrs.

To pay £30k for a car that is 4yrs old and to still lose a further £20k in 2yrs was simply too much of a throwaway for me.

I would look at a budget of about 27-29k for a 2003 car and for 35k I would be looking at least a late 2004 model. Moving forward COMAND is a must - the one a MB Direct did not have command either, just the APS satnav.

Anyways - best of luck in your choice... with the intro of the facelift E and the E63 - the E55 will only get cheaper - so don't rush...

rgds
Was!

 

[voodoo]

Your expected mileage would be useful so someone can give you an idea of servicing costs etc.

Thank you Gollom. I'm expecting an annual mileage of around 12k, it'll be a mix of all types of driving and driving styles, as sometimes I'm foot down and other times, I'm 65mph on the motorway on the unhindered inside lane..!

Any idea how many miles I'd get out of a full tank in one of these beauties and how much it costs to "fill 'er up"..?

Don't fancy going much worse than 220miles/£45 really.

Cheers,
Nige.

 

[Satch]

Just remember it is an 80 litre tank, 17.6 gallons in old money.

 

[BTB 500]

At the end of the day an E55 is surely a bigger and heavier car than an Impreza, so on urban driving (accelerating and decelerating) the fuel consumption will be worse. Steady speed cruising may be similar, overall it will depend on what your mix of driving is.

My 5 litre SL is more economical on the motorway than my VW Sharan (not so good at carrying kids & dogs though)

 

[whizzkid11]

Thank you Gollom. I'm expecting an annual mileage of around 12k, it'll be a mix of all types of driving and driving styles, as sometimes I'm foot down and other times, I'm 65mph on the motorway on the unhindered inside lane..!

Any idea how many miles I'd get out of a full tank in one of these beauties and how much it costs to "fill 'er up"..?

Don't fancy going much worse than 220miles/£45 really.

Cheers,
Nige.

Hi Nigel,

If you are concerned about fuel consumption, then a 5.5litre V8 is NOT for you.

These cars to meant to be enjoyed, you will struggle with fuel consumption especially on shorter runs.

The 70litre tank on them, at 92p/litre (V-Power) you can work what it will cost to fill them up...

Maintainance will be more than a Scooby, or any japenese car.

regards
W.

 

[LeighW]

Maintainance will be more than a Scooby, or any japenese car.

Except a Skyline, or an Evo (I know this...)

As for mpg, you'll use more around town than your WRX, my old WRX did approx 20 - 21mpg around town, my CLK320 is worse than this and it's a mere 3.2. An E55 will most likely by around 13 - 15mpg around town.

 

[glojo]

What a nice choice of vehicle. A member called Guy has\had an excellent E55 estate. I have not heard from him for a while but he is a knowledgable person with a wealth of information on this model.

Regards,
John

 

[GRAV888]

Mine (depending on the driving style ) does between 6 and 14mpg around town.
Worst motorway was when I came back from Ian Walkers 2 yrs ago and did a tank full for a 270 mile trip.
Best motorway was when I did a 340 mile trip on just over 3/4 tank (I did have the mrs with me, so that's probably why )

Go for it, get the E55 and have the time of your life
Watch out for IBW though, he will try and 'borrow' it at gtg's

Edited to add: mine is the W210 N/A version

 

[mb240]

Regarding fuel consumption, my CLK55 does around 26-29mpg on the motorway at 120-130kph (usually around 10 km/l, you multiply by three and take a bit off hehe). I have done fairly regular 250-70km trips on half a tank (62 litre tank in the CLK), if traffic is light and it's just cruising.

Around traffic it goes to around 5-6 km/l, so around 15-ish mpg for 20kph speed traffic (very heavy traffic in Dublin).

That is the M113 "E55" engine from 2000 and was used until 2002 I think. I think the 2004 E55s used the M113 (E55ML) version which added the supercharger and around 150bhp more, so undoubedtly the fuel consumption would be less, but I wouldn't say by much.

 

[Brett]

My CLK55 Cab got 24mpg on a run from Oban to Markinch yesterday. Am averaging around 22mpg but use a heavy foot on a regular basis, and that figure will plummet.

Servicing is ok until you need disks and pads, then it hurts.

 

[LeighW]

Mine (depending on the driving style ) does between 6 and 14mpg around town.

6?????

 

[Howard]

Leigh,

You've not been for a ride with Grav then ?

Come to Bridgewood Manor and you'll understand ...

 

[GRAV888]

6?????

You should come to the Kent gtg and have a ride (I might still have it then, if not, something more deadly )

Howard just beat me to it above.

 

[NorthDownsMerc]

Hay Voodoo, sure I remember seeing you on ScoobyNet when I had my WRX 300 (NorthDownsScooby). Welcome to "potential" Mercedes ownership.

Best to think of the "55" as PPP'd WRX except without all the power squeezed into 3000-5500 revs. Smooth over all the rev range, with a good pull, but not the raw power. The Scooby just feels faster for some reason...although on paper it's around the same...'cept in the twisties ;-)

Different class of car as you would expect though, and a better class of forum too

For ref I got 28mpg out of the WRX300 but only 26 from my S500, but the bigger tank means I go for much longer between fills (and no super either).

Rich

 

[voodoo]

Ah yes, I recognis North downs scooby indeed..!! Hello again..!! Do we all follow a similar path with cars..?!! Did you notice I dropped the V8 bit off my username to slink in here incognito..?!!

Right then, down to business. Regarding mpg, I'm currently getting around 22mpg. That's probably because I have a habit of wearing "cat" boots resulting in me having heavy feet.

Dropping a few mpg but trading a smooth ride, v8 rumble and total luxury seems a fair trade off to me. I'll get a cheap hack to run around the town, keeping the main car for 10miles+ trips so it warms up nicely and gets used as it should. I'm also used to older big engines having a carburated petrol 7.6ltr pick up sat in my lock up, but am curious about these modern injected lumps and how clever they are.
Thinking about it, Gordon Brown will love me.
Plus, thinking about the extra grunt, I won't have to wear such heavy boots any more to travel at the same rate of knots, therefore, being kinder at the pumps..?

Would the Merc servicing be that much more expensive..? I'm currently getting the wrx serviced at an indy as opposed to the main dealer and it's still hitting me for circa £500 every 12 months/10,000miles. I would have guessed the amg would have been around the same mark..? As for brakes, I understand these are a bit special and may cost more than the wrx's current Pagids at £130 a pair and the std discs at about £150ish.

What are the drawbacks with these E55's..? Surely there must be more than just fuel consumption and pricey brakes..?

Seems a better car than an e39 m5 at the moment.

Oh... and here goes nothing.... can you fit a towbar on these beasties..?

Cheers for all the replies so far,
Nige.

 

[GRAV888]

No, you cannot fit a towbar.
Well, that is not quite correct.
You could fit the towbar to it, as I wanted to last year, but was told that I'd put my foot down and rip the floor out

 

[Brian WH]

No, you cannot fit a towbar.
Well, that is not quite correct.
You could fit the towbar to it, as I wanted to last year, but was told that I'd put my foot down and rip the floor out

Why the hell would you want to fit a tow-bar to an E55 AMG anyway. There are plenty of cheaper and more appropriate shed-pullers?????

 

[awg454]

Hi I had untill november a w211 e55 i ran it for appox 12,000 miles and averaged 15.7 mpg on a run i could get as high as 28 mpg, if driven hard as low as 6 mpg town driving between 12 - 15 mpg.
I had a couple of problems the worst seems to affect most w211's i had to have a new gearbox and torque converter and radiator due to the rad leaking antifreeze into the transmission fluid (if you search on here you will find out about this) this affects w211 built between i think april 03 and sept 03.
the other main problem i had was the dynamic seats kept failing whist this didnt stop you driving it was a pain keep taking it back to the dealer!!
i would not want to run one with out the dealer warranty,having said that they are a great car i have replaced it with a 911 turbo and i would say the e55 feels quicker it just lacks the traction of the 911.
hope this helps a bit