Am I mad?!

[MarkCL]

Just wanted an opinion really - basically I've spotted a 2001 (Y reg) E55 AMG for sale in a colour I love, with FSH, low miles and nigh on all the toys I would love to have including COMMAND. Thing is, I'm actually already perfectly happy with my C43 It's just gone through its MOT no problem, I've had all the niggly things sorted by Oliver at Prestige, only thing I want to do with it is get the paint/bodywork brought back up to scratch to sort out the few paint chips and bits of minor rust that are just starting to appear. Mechanically my car is sound and solid and everything is working perfectly and I KNOW my car now - would I be nuts to chop it in now for an unknown like this?

So - if this E55 has been looked after (it's low miles for the year & has full MB history), is it likely to be a well put together car or am I skating on the thin ice area of when MB REALLY started going downhill? Registered 1st March 2001 so it just falls in to the 7 year VED trap that will bring the road tax on it up to over £400 in a couple of years too Any thoughts or suggestions etc welcome

Thanks,
Mark

 

[tromppost]

its only money, go for it.

 

[Qcut]

All those in favour, say 'aye'..............................'aye'

 

[stumpy]

Just do it and worry about it later though make sure you check the known weakspots of the 210. It's your money, and we'll be dead a long time..............

 

[Aussie Nick]

The 210 is a good car .It has been maligned by some problems in Europe.
You are moving to a bigger body.The 430 motor is one of the world's best kept secrets.great power low fuel consumption.
You probably will not do better with the 55

 

[JEZ.S320L]

All those in favour, say 'aye'..............................'aye'

AYE.! AYE.! AYE.! - but I be as anvious as F**k, if you DID Stumpy is right - your time on Earth, is not a dress rehersal.

 

[Dave's E55 AMG]

I'd hang on a while longer and go for a kompressor

Your C43 is just as good.

 

[joem]

2001Y is about on the limit of what Mercedes will do for free with regards to any rust - and I would think there will be some.

If you do buy it, take it straight to your nearest dealer for a rust evaluation.

Door tops, wheel arches and cross members are all worth a look. You have 8 years from manufacture for a no questions asked repair.

 

[The German Flower Pot]

do waht i always do

buy a 2nd car and keep both then when your happy with the 2nd car sell the 1st one and as your in no hurry to sell the 1st you will not get shafted when you try to sell it

 

[turnipsock]

"ask me the question"

"E55 AMG, Deal or No Deal?"

 

[MarkCL]

Well guys, thanks for the responses What can I say? Looking at it I certainly think it would be a nice step up and if it's in as good condition as I think it is then I may well hang on to it for a long while...though I thought the same about the C43 to be honest LOL! I'll go and have a look at it and see how much they'll budge on price I guess - watch this space 8) Dave - much as I love the next gen E55, I think that kompressor motor might just be going a little too rich for me at the mo the way petrol prices are rising - this W210 E55 won't be that much difference in mpg to what I'm already getting from the C43 but one like yours is a fair bit worse on that front. Think this'll be my last big blowout before I get hitched etc - sure as hell won't get the chance again once THAT happens LOL!

Cheers,
Mark

 

[Dave's E55 AMG]

We'll have a chat about it at the GTG, hopefully talk you out of the wedding and getting you married to V8 kompressor instead.

 

[st4]

We'll have a chat about it at the GTG, hopefully talk you out of the wedding and getting you married to V8 kompressor instead.

LMAO. I heard the supercharged W211 car is 20mpg plus, not nearly as bad as you'd think.

Personally if the C43 is still floating your boat, I'd keep it, and save up for the W211 supercharged. It still has some depreciation to do, your C43 comparitively little.

 

[MarkCL]

Well I went to have a look at it today and I have to say..not impressed Yes, it's newer than mine, yes its lower miles but..what happened to the quality?! For the first time I've been able to experience first hand the drop in build quality between the last of the proper Mercs (1999-2000 ish) and the first of the lower quality work. This car was a March 2001 model and I was so dissappointed its hard to put in to words. Although it was pretty much as clean as it looked in the ads and had all the stamps in the service book etc I just felt an overall feeling of tattiness oozing from it that is just wrong coming from an MB I came away feeling it was not only overpriced but if I'd been offered a straight swap for mine I would have said no - yes, I was that unimpressed.

Back behind the wheel of my C43 and it just felt so solid and well screwed together that I decided then and there that its just not worth changing mine unless I get a lottery win or wait a long time for a decent AMG replacement to depreciate in price enough for me to afford it

Can't shake a feeling of sadness now - never thought I'd ever feel an AMG wasn't worth the effort but that one was, and the scary part was that it was a GOOD one for that year! Ah well - at least I still have the C43 8)

Cheers,
Mark

 

[MarkCL]

Quick addendum to my last post - had the opportunity to look over a 2000 V reg E55 on Sunday at Oliver's (Prestige) birthday GTG and I had the total opposite experience to the last E55 I looked at! Here was a facelifted E55 that was a year older than the one I'd been to look at yet the quality was still there! It felt more solid, everything worked as it should and under the hood and in the cabin it all looked so much better put together - no nasty bubbles under the paint making you wonder about rust etc - definitely in this case a car I actually thought was worth changing mine for I'm not saying that it probably wasn't on the slippery slope of downhill quality - heck, mine probably is even though it doesn't feel so to me - and it has had some things changed and some work done to correct albeit minor faults etc that really wouldn't have been there on even earlier cars, but at least that one was more what I had expected from an E55 8) Certainly if it had been that car on the dealer's forecourt I would have been making a deal instead of walking away feeling so down. It certainly makes me believe that there's a real window of cars to avoid between the begining of 2001 and the end of 2003/start of 2004 - just a shame that it makes getting a new MB that you can be really happy with that much harder...

Cheers,
Mark