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W210 Mercs - specifically the E55 AMG Estate

Dammit

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23 Sep 2016
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3,135
Anyone here know much about them?

I'm tempted, but wondering about parts availability, rust, cost of common parts that need replacing at the age/mileage the cars are now.

There's one on eBay at the moment which "has some rust on one wing", plus that old chestnut "aircon could do with a re-gas", which I believe is code for "hasn't really worked/worked at all for the five years I've had it".

= I don't want to buy it and find that there's £10,000 worth of work to do to get it to my standard (which would be no rust, perfect paint and everything works).
 
Engines are bullet-proof
air-ride suspension issues =£1000 a corner
brake-assist module has to be replaced? > £600+

Other service items available from ECP :thumb:
 
Both the E class and C class of 2003-2007 suffered corrosion on rear wings and roof near top of windscreen. Those that were maintained by Main Dealers beyond the standard three year warranty had this corrosion checked at every service and fixed FOC through MB bodyshops under the terms of the 30-year MobiLo warranty against perforation.

Sadly, too many dropped out if main dealers invalidating the 30 year perforation warranty and had dodgy cosmetic fixes before being sold on.

The AMG engine is basically sound but the hydraulic pump for the active suspension can play up.

Apart from a few members on this forum that have an E class in AMG or non-AMG firm, I recommend you post your enquiry to the MB forum fir a more comprehensive feedback if ownership experience.

I have an E220 (W211) from new now on 124k miles. Very reliable car, never gone outside of main dealer and well looked after by the main dealer on price for everything. General wear on ball joints can be high, requires replacing at around 50k miles. Can occasionally snap both front coil springs (individually) and may find the car lop-sided after being parked up. Straightforward replacement.

AMG tend to be high mileage examples needing work based on main dealer mechanic feedback when I was thinking of an AMG SL55 as another weekend car. The sports body hood mechanism is prone to failure the water leaks into the boot that shorts out the hood motor and of course the hydraulic pump failure for the suspension can be very costly.

MB owner forum highly recommended as well as an inspection from a main dealer or Indy specialist.
 
Thanks for the info - any forum you'd recommend?

I presume a main dealer would perform a pre-purchase inspection if asked?
 
I have a 2005 E class W211 Estate. Full Main Dealer History from new, now on 147,000. The previous owner's Main Dealer bills are eye-watering. Makes an OPC look like a Pound Shop.

I've just had the brakes done, a service, a couple of sensors but had to have all the Diesel Injectors re-seated because it was starting to smell a bit, which they do. Fortunately I only had to have one injector replaced but that alone was £190 plus vat and fitting. I'm glad it wasn't all six. Bill was around £1200 at a local garage and I got off lightly.

Worse thing was, the brake warning light didn't go out after the pads and sensors were replaced.

There is an hydraulic brake pump on these cars called an SBC unit and when that pump has reached a certain amount of activations, the brake warning light will come on. The brakes still work perfectly well, but they could fail at any time literally leaving you with 10% braking power - that's if you can manage to press the pedal to the floor down in time and apply a lot of pressure.

The price of the new pump is £1000 plus 5.5 hours to fit :eek: It's either scrap the car time or pay up. I'll be down nearly £3000 by the end of it.

Some of the pumps can be reset by a Star Diagnostics, but not all. Mine couldn't.

There are some dodgy firms about that offer to over-ride the whole system, turning that brake warning light off and re-setting the pump software. It can last a week or three months before the brakes fail. These firms are quite popular with the Motor trade. Say no more.

I can't stress enough to check and ask a potential seller about the SBC unit. If they have had the fix to get the car sold and not told you, you could be playing a very dangerous game of Russian Roulette with yourself and the public.

I'm on the mbclub forum - a very jovial bunch of guys, passionate about their cars and extremely helpful. Just like here :thumb:

https://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums
 
But I have to say, these cars are seriously cool, comfortable, fast and generally lush. But like everything that was mega-money when new, when things go wrong you need deep pockets. If I were in the market for one now, I would buy off a forum member and you must have full service history, and I wouldn't buy anything with any rust. As for the E55, I bet they go like a bomb but fuel consumption on those boys is small and the smaller engined 320 returns 30mpg and still goes like stink if you get it chipped.
 
Thanks - I've registered on the site and I'm waiting for my account to be approved. Has to be the V8 I'm afraid - always wanted one.

In an ideal world I'd swap this:

33936501195_605b4514e3_b.jpg


But I suspect life won't be that simple!
 
I just checked the MOT history of the car on eBay - 27 miles between 2012 and 2017. Here's the latest MOT report:

Advisory notice item(s)
surface corrosion under vehicle
corrosion on brake pipes
Nearside Front brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (3.5.1i)
Offside Front brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (3.5.1i)
Offside Front Inner Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)

I suspect it's going to need everything that could be thought of as a consumable replacing (brake discs, brake pipes, tyres, bushes, seals, belts).

I'm walking away from this one.
 
I have an E55 AMG saloon (w211) on an '04 plate which I've owned for over 4 years. The engine & gearbox are bullet-proof as long as the oil is changed regularly. The supercharger is sealed for life and "never goes wrong" (or so my indie tells me).

Aside from tyres & fuel, it eats brakes & Merc will happily take £2k off you for a full set of discs & pads. I change mine every 15K miles for under £300 from Eurocarparts. Other than that, bottom suspension arm bushes wear (I've had them all replaced over the 35K miles I've had the car) & a couple of minor failures which both cost about £200 for my indie to fix, it costs buttons to run considering they were £80K plus new. Insurance is under £300 pa including business use, VED is £285. For such a fantastically comfortable & fast car, it's an absolute bargain if you can find a good one. The later cars were better for rust & mine is actually pretty good with only the odd bit on the leading edge of the rear arches and, strangely, an inside door seam.

If you can find a good one (the estates are super-rare) & 22mpg doesn't put you off, do it, you won't regret it.

ETA: Buy the best you can afford. If it's under £12k be very wary as there's usually a good reason why it's that cheap...
 
The Sensotronic Brake Control (SBC) had a number of update patches applied by MB Main Dealers both in and out of warranty. Take the VIN to any MB Main Dealer and they will print out all the work carried out by ANY MB Main Dealer.

Any car that does not have full main dealer history is unlikely to have had the patches on the SBC and other areas.

Unlike Porsche cars, this is a marque that has owners wanting to maintain main dealer history. The gearbox oil was a once-in-lifetime change at c45k miles. Make sure its been done. I had mine done again at 100k miles by main dealer. Ball joints as already mentioned. The ABS wheel sensors on rear wheels corrode and may need changing. All to be expected. In 124j miles I have had both replaced at different intervals.

The Service Schedule if its on ServiceAssyt is essential to be carried out on time.

Main Dealer will carry out a very thorough PPI and will interrogate the ECU using STAR Diagnostics.

I am on my third set of discs in 124k miles with the third set on front at 100k and the rears changed at 120k miles. Brake pipes on mine are fine.

Don't touch a car with corrosion - easily spotted on rear arches and front edges of front wings. Main Dealer will confirm any work carried out under the 30 year MobiLo warranty. It covers not just body corrosion (from inside out) but mechanical failure and flat battery. I have used it for snapped coil struts and in one hours the car was flat bedded to main dealer and i was issued a courtesy new E Class by Enterprise Car Rental.

If your intended purchase has gone outside of main dealer servicing and maintenance then it will have lost this warranty.

There must be a North/South divide at play because I have never found Indy prices at a sufficient discount to tempt me to take my car outside of main dealer and use all the facilities of courtesy car and the MobiLo warranty and breakdown cover. My rear discs were replaced recently using genuine MB parts all-in around £400. There is a specialist Indy in Stockport who is ex-MB and he only uses MB original parts for servicing (filters etc) and brake discs/pads.
Even ball joints (made by Lemforder) he only used the genuine MB parts.
 
Just to add that my local MB dealer wanted to gouge me £130/h (probably more now) for labour whereas my indie is ex-MB, has the Star diagnostics computer, can apply all the software updates & only charges £70/h. My last E service cost £235. He services all the MB taxis in Reading & has been there for years. Mine was a 1 owner car & when I added up the box of invoices that came with it, I realised the owner had spent over £80k maintaining it at the said local MB dealer over the 8 years / 96K miles he'd had it. I doubt I've spent much more than £5k in my 5 years / 35K miles of ownership, including tyres. It simply doesn't make any sense to me to be paying through the nose to maintain a full MB dealer history on a car that has lost 90% of its value. Corrosion I can keep on top of myself. As I only paid £9k for the thing in the first place, if it expired tomorrow I would be sad to see it go but would always look back fondly on the ownership experience.

The only time I've had to call recovery was for a puncture - no spare in the E55 :(
 

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