Hey guys so I have been looking at getting out of my C5 S6 and into something newer and faster. Anyways I have been looking at a few C6 S6 and a few C6.5 A6 3.0T. I really like the cars but the other day I had a friend recommend me to take an E55 AMG out for a spin, I did that… DAMN that thing is quick! I loved the power, the interior was nice, the car looks beautiful and sound amazing, the best part is, is that it’s in my price range! So I’m not very familiar with AMG’s and I thought I would ask you guys if you knew anything about them. Reliability, and known issues. I have looked on line but I still need to get used to other forums. I am mostly on AZ. Do you guys have any pro’s and con’s or S/A6 vs E55? Also does anyone know of any good AMG forums?
Thanks guys! ???
from my knowledge all the merc cars are very complicated to work on. If your a work on it yourself kinda guy or you are really into working with your car get an audi. If you pay to have people work on your car the audi will cost less to have it worked on but both cars can be expensive.
The AMG mods last I checked were still expensive but not too bad compaired to audi. The V10 S is a special car with lots of future potential the AMG is a plug and play car.
I had an c6 s6 while my best friend had an e55 so I drove both extensively. The e55 was definitely faster but handled worse, and my friend preferred the interior, throttle response and transmission in the s6, he said my s6 was more fun to drive in 90% of situations. That said the e55 handles decent, interior is outdated but decent, and with minimal mods is very quick. If you are looking for rwd it’s pretty solid, I’d prefer an e39 m5 manual rwd to an e55 as that’s more fun to drive, handles well, and throttle response is nice. If you just want to blow cars away at hwy speeds a v12 tt or v8 kompressor is hard to beat by merc…either way both unique and special cars in their own way, but I see far more e55s then s6s…k
I used to own an '03 SL55, and I know where you’re coming from when you say the E55 is fast. The 5.5L kompressor engine is an absolute gem. It has no known weaknesses that I’m aware of and is essentially regarded as bulletproof. The rest of the drivetrain is pretty much the same. I actually liked the 5 speed auto that was in my SL, and I hate automatics. It sucked in manual mode, but I expected it to because it’s got a torque converter. What will get you on an AMG car is all the little doo-dads that like to break. Here is a link to the sale thread for my SL with the list of everything I had to do to my car in the short time I had it:
http://mbworld.org/forums/sl55-amg-sl63-amg-sl65-amg-r230/399496-fs-2003-sl55-amg-35-000-obo.html
MBworld.org was the best forum that I found for them. There didn’t seem to be many DIY guys in the SL forum, unfortunately. Just lots of guys that fixed their cars with their checkbook. There were some DIYs here and there, but they were sparse and there wasn’t anything major.
The thing that I would be worried with most about an E55 is the Active Body Control (ABC) suspension. The E55 shared this suspension with the SLs, and it is the Achille’s heel of these cars. They are prone to developing leaks and it is insanely expensive to fix. If a shock goes out on you (which is more common than it should be), you are looking at $700 minimum for an aftermarket rebuilt unit. A new one is way more. The dual hydraulic pump (suspension and steering) is also about a grand. Valve control block = grand. Then throw in labor if you can’t do it yourself. You need a vagcom like setup to do a lot of things with these cars. I paid like $900 on ebay for a chinese knockoff. I dunno about the E55, but the SL55 had electronically controlled brakes and you needed this system to disable it to change pads and rotors.
The 55 is awesome but really old now. I’d be inclined to look for a 6.2 of some sort.
Of course they’re all RWD thus useless in snow. And rain. And cold. And when the wind isn’t right. And when the tires aren’t right. And on Sundays.
The 55 will have the potential to do some ass rape however they’re usually poorly maintained and slower than they should be. There was one at the strip last time mistro, Badtoyz and I were there and we were all considerably quicker. It was cold after all.
I understand that about 90% of you are very biased and would take an Audi over a Merc. But for the money you really cant get much more power than that E55. I actually quite like the E55 interior, it feels solid (At least the E55 I drove) To be honest I would take an AMG over an M any day. I had a buddy that owned the E39 M5 and I was quite disappointed in it. I was expecting more out of it. Also I understand that there are tunes and TQ converters for the E55 as well to make the tranny better.
You forgot new tire day…
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/148367_497948221806_2076432_n_zps0893093b.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/76182_497948521806_2140210_n_zpsf1cbd4f8.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/73658_497948756806_8217518_n_zps50eda313.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/2fast4sanity/76061_497949226806_7113844_n_zpsfe708767.jpg
I might be wrong here but I belive the e55 had airmatic not abc which while not bullet proof is a tad more dependable, while the abc typically always fails, I believe the airmatic has slightly less problem areas and longer shelf life also will this be a daily v driver? My friend had his and only did reg service for 2.5 years and minimal miles with literally zero repairs. His car was an 06 one owner then cpoed then owned nby my friend, he just sold it with 70k for 21k and it was uber clean with 2k custom axel back. Hell u could probably buy from his friend for 22 or 22k if you don’t mind silver .
Personally if gonna deal with the little mercedes gremlins I’d like the v12 tt in the 600 or 65 series as they are fairly impressive with a tune at Hwy speeds, but from a dig please see above, an s6 or 3.0t a6 would be better suited to about 70 mph, again rwd vs awd, I like slamming gas and having all power to ground with immediate throttle response vs. Seeing the traction control flicker everyone I touch the gas 
Real question is what are you looking for in a car?
I think you are going to find that most guys around here are pretty hardcore Audi fans, so obviously most peoples opinion, and especially mine, are going to be biased.
I think the best advice comes from Sakimano here. Front engine/RWD and high power limits the car’s in anything but fair weather conditions. So, you might be faster 25-50% of the time in the Merc, but much slower and less safe the remainder of the time (depending on where you live)
I also came from an C5 S6, which I absolutely loved, and went with a v10 S6. You are coming from a car that does almost EVERYTHING amazingly well, and going to a car that is faster in certain conditions, in a straight line. Just be aware of what you are giving up.
I would say, take them all for an extended test drive, and see which one you feel passionate about. If none of them, then keep looking.
Good Luck and let us know what you choose!
Echo statement above…here’s a clean unmolested one http://mbworld.org/forums/mercedes-vehicles/590114-2006-black-e55-amg-sale-80k-mi-20k-pa.html
http://mbworld.org/forums/mercedes-vehicles/583412-sale-2006-e55-57k-flint-gray-great-options.html or clean lower mileage modded one…
What’s the price gap between e55 and e63 6.2? The 6.2 is so much cooler to me and more up to date.
I’d try hard for a 2010 6.2. The w211 looks too much like the w210 to me.
It would be a daily driver. I drive about 7 miles to work. Also I live in Charlotte so we might see 1 maximum 2 days of snow a year. Even when we do get snow the whole city shuts down cause no one knows how to drive in it. It’s funny to me because I just moved out here from UT and over there even if we had 2 fee of snow on the interstate everyone was still going to work. :o
Either way it’s going to be a hard choice because I don’t track my car and the power is awesome! The plan either way is to keep whatever car I get for about 3 years and then trade it in for a C7 S6 when the price drops another 10-15k. ;D
Yeah the 2010 na 63 is nice still 30k+ but actually handles much better and 6.3 is solid, I yhink there were some stud or hg issues yho, but yeah
I’d 100% avoid any ABC car, just like the advice above. It’s a fucking nightmare. The costs I found are even more than quoted above, because the hoses all leak, and many of them require the engine to be moved to get at them. And if you blow a hose or strut? Likely your pump fried too, if you left it on for an extra minute, so chalk up a bonus $2000 for that.
Do you need the room? I’ve had the e39 M5, b8 S4 stage II, an S600 with the V12TT, and I recently picked up a C63 with the forged motor. There’s no comparison which car I want to drive daily - the C63 is near-perfect to me. I’ve driven the early model C63s too, the early interior is a little lacking like the E55, but otherwise it’s fabulous. The trans programming is like a true manual when in “M” - it doesn’t upshift for you and will downshift to redline no problem.
The only thing to watch for the 6.2 motors is the soft rockers that wear out (get them replaced with the SLS rockers if it’s in that range of build, at some point they fixed that) and that the mileage is incredibly dismal. The C63 is also a little stiff and, if you’re a big guy, the seats are incredibly tight. But you’d probably hold as much value in a C63 compared to a E55 over the next couple years…lots of kids will want to pick up a C63 in a few years. The E55…not so much.
Both are going to be high maintenance and personally I know a better and affordable Audi mechanic, unless I’ve got someone in my corner, I’m not switching teams. I truly feel like the Big 3 German automakers “borrow” ideas from each other. You can see it on every level from design to technology and they each have their own pros and cons. If I gave you an E55 or an S6 or an M5, you’d have fun and probably wouldn’t complain.
Solid point for a used car. My NSX mechanic is recently ex-Mercedes and now at the new Porsche dealer but still works extra time out of his shop next to his house - it was a big factor in getting another Benz. Never found a good Audi indy here.
so true. rwd not so great most of the time
Did you buy a 507 coupe?
No, 4-door with the P31 package. It comes with the forged motor at 480 hp, and the limited slip diff.