Running Costs for an e55 w210?

[joeyj26]

Hello all,

I'm new on here and seeking some advice. Basically I have been looking at w210 e55's. I have reached an age where I can afford to buy and insure one, and the want to own a big V8 won't go away. And for me AMG's just have something special, and the old w210 has aged well, and now looks proper old skool cool.

I know its going to be crap on fuel, so thats a given, but I'm talking about service costs, oil, tyres, etc. They are obviously going to be higher, but are we talking astronomical? Say compared to a regular 2 litre diesel?

And what are the like in terms of reliability? Ive heard they can be pretty solid mechanically?

Thanks in advance,

Joe

 

[AMGeed]

If you find good example of a W210 E55, the running costs are not a lot more than for a smaller engined W210. Obviously once the extra fuel costs are taken into consideration, the tyres being wider section are dearer and fully synthetic oil is recommended.
I'm guessing you are still fairly young, so in spite of knowing most of the running costs, the reality is, these are expensive cars to run. As long as you are prepared for that, they are very reliable mechanically and great fun to own.

Oh, welcome to the forum too.

 

[BenzedUP]

The brakes are expensive on the E55, plugs and ht leads, it's an AMG so it's going to be expensive but it's one of the cheaper AMGs to run, mainly because they are bullet proof!

Only thing that lets these cars down is the rust!

 

[andy27168]

Front brake discs are now only £54ea. and pads about £57, not expensive anymore.
The biggest running cost on a 210 or indeed any MB of a similar age is keeping on top of the ongoing maintenance and the rust.
There is no real difference in running an AMG of this period (other than fuel), regarding replacement parts, it shares a LOT of parts with the smaller engine models, which could be sourced from a breakers if required.

 

[BenzedUP]

Ohh, I remember when I replaced mine years ago, they use to be mega £££

I did love my old E55, it was one of the best with every option minus rear blinds!


Sold it to a friend who kept it for years and did over 100k miles in it, great car!

 

[joeyj26]

Thanks for the advice guys. I had braced myself for the prices to be sky high, but it doesnt sound massively unreasonable. Definitely worth the trade off for that V8 noise and getting to say I own an AMG

Ye, I've read rust can be an issue, but to be honest I'm not worried about the car being a garage queen in mint condition. Obviously I want it to be decent, but at the end of the day they are like 15 years old, and I am gonna use it.

What sort of ball park are you looking at for a service? and how often do they need doing? and the same for belt changes?

 

[John]

Welcome to the forum.

I didn't buy my first V8 until I was 29 although I nearly did at 26.

Can't offer any advice on the W210 but good luck finding one!

 

[andy27168]

Ball Park figure A service from a good independent approx.£150, B Service approx. £300, I,m sure one of the forum sponsors will speak up if I have quoted incorrectly.
The service time will depend on how the Assyst system in the car has been set up but generally cars of this age work out the service intervals electronically taking into account how the car is driven, oil quality, mileage covered, if the oil level remains low this can decrease the mileage to when the service is due.
All this is taken into account by the cars computer and once reset will countdown from 10,000 miles, and applying the previous stated parameters will calculate the miles to the next service the most I got was 18,000miles between services, so the countdown in the service due miles though never went up it just slowed down. It should be noted that the above is overridden at 23 months which at that point it will count down in days to a service date of no longer 2 years.
Service called for alternate between an A and B service, there is no service requirement for a gearbox service, as they were deemed sealed for life, but it is generally excepted that the box should have the oil and filter changed and flushed, as this will improve the gear changes and improve the longevity of the box and TC.
Also the engines used Mobil one fully synthetic oil.

 

[Lenny63]

A lot depends on howfar you want to go - if you find a good example you'll want to keep
It in tip too condition and your maintenance costs may reflect that

I did 5k last year in my C43 and the only actual and necessary issues I incurred were a replacement water hose (£50), oil cooler seals (£120 fitted) , exhaust repair (£100)

Everything else I did was preventative maintenance and was my choice to do so for peace
Of mind - I would almost day for certain had I not done these , the car still would've eaten up the miles without issue

Fuel isn't as bad as you think - heavy left foot an I'm gettin £130-140 miles out of £40

My supercharged Cooper S gets very little more

Get er bought and enjoy - I would
Personally wait for an enthusiast owned car from
The forum if possible

 

[merc85]

Forum car would be a good buy for sure

 

[fishmk1]

I've got an E55. Round town I get 18-22mpg and 35mpg on a run. £90 of 95RON gets me 300 miles and £90 of 99RON gets me 350 miles. It doesn't seem to make a difference how you drive it round town either. I think cars like this use a lot of fuel because the engine is running! xD

One thing that surprised me were number of spark plugs - they have 16. And it's not like an Alfa twin-spark where there's one cheap one and one expensive one per cylinder; they're ALL expensive! Just to buy them is well over £100.

Fuel isn't as bad as you think - heavy left foot an I'm gettin £130-140 miles out of £40

You're a crazy person driving an AMG with your left foot, Lenny63. How many legs you got? I've tried braking with my left foot but never accelerated with it. Sounds fun actually I might give it a go ;-) Gives a more accurate fuel consumption figure averaged across both legs too lol

 

[fishmk1]

Rear tyres wear on the inner edges quite badly on older cars where springs have sagged due to camber (still within factory tolerances too I might add). Having worn out a £450 pair of Goodyear Eagle F1's in about 6 months I now run premium tyres on the front only and budget (non-sided ie. no 'inside' and 'outside' markings) beauties on the back. This means I can swap them about on the rims to even out the wear and maximise the life of the tyre. It also means if I absolutely ~have~ to do a burnout (you know, in like, a full-on combat situation or whatever) I can do so without crying.

 

[alexanderfoti]

If you get one with ADS no sagging suspension issues (at least on the rear).

Rust will be the biggest problem, I bought mine with no visisble rust, 1 year later I sold it due to it needing 1500K in bodywork repair.

 

[alexanderfoti]

Ohh, I remember when I replaced mine years ago, they use to be mega £££

I did love my old E55, it was one of the best with every option minus rear blinds!
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Sold it to a friend who kept it for years and did over 100k miles in it, great car!

You werent missing out, mine had the same options as yours plus the rear blind, but it kept getting stuck. Its a real pain to change as well, as there is no access to it from the boot.

 

[DanMorgan]

I'm 21 and have a E55 W210 as my daily. During my 3 months of ownership I havent occured many bills etc (touch wood). Fuel wise I get around 275 miles to 90£, but im stuck in traffic every morning and have a heavy foot when im out of it.

I removed the center box and precats (keeping the original back box) which was worth it to hear the v8 burble. I also have a 300SL 24v and that was worse on fuel but my w124 300CE does a little bit better. But all honestly its how you drive.

 

[pimpdriver]

I'm 21 and have a E55 W210 as my daily. During my 3 months of ownership I havent occured many bills etc (touch wood). Fuel wise I get around 275 miles to 90£, but im stuck in traffic every morning and have a heavy foot when im out of it.

I removed the center box and precats (keeping the original back box) which was worth it to hear the v8 burble. I also have a 300SL 24v and that was worse on fuel but my w124 300CE does a little bit better. But all honestly its how you drive.

How much is your insurance?

 

[pimpdriver]

I was going to see this car, sounds very good. I had a good chat to the owner but I bought an E320cdi instead:

Used 2001 Mercedes-Benz E Class E430 AVANTGARDE for sale in Nottinghamshire | Pistonheads

 

[DanMorgan]

How much is your insurance?

I have it on a classic policy, it was £100 from early September until January renewal

 

[pimpdriver]

I have it on a classic policy, it was £100 from early September until January renewal

Wow!

 

[HarpreetSingh]

Welcome to the Forums my man. Like you, i decided to head over to the AMG World from the VAG scene I havent looked back since, the best decision i ever made!

As everyone else has said, the body work will let you down and the expenses arent too bad. Get yourself a nice independant who can give you some pointers and wont want to help himself to everything in your pocket (trust me, they do exist). I warrant the wise words of AlexanderFoti... he's very learned in the world of W210 AMG's

Enjoy your stay here dude, looking forward to seeing your ride once/if you get it