Here's What You Need to Know Before Buying a E55 AMG Mercedes - Buyer's Guide

Buying a well used AMG Mercedes is a bit daunting. You can risk spending a lot of money if you choose poorly. This video won't make you an expert, but it will get you most of the way there to understanding the E55 AMG and its common pitfalls.

Mercedes extended the warranty on the SBC!

#amg #mercedes #e55 #v8

[LegitStreetCars]

Nothing has ever broken on an E55 and they are perfect. That's all I got.

[rogerdawe]

Hmmm. I've owned an 04 E55 for coming up to 6 years now and no SBC or Airmatic problems at all. They eat tyres and fuel, but its an AMG. You don't buy them for economy. Great cars.

[zollotech]

Just an FYI - Mercedes extended the warranty on the SBC for 25 years unlimited mileage. I think they did this warranty extension a few months back around August.

[TraxxofAOT]

1) SBC pump is now covered for 20 years unlimited miles
2) Smell of gas in cabin is covered 15/150k miles
3) important! 05-06 have a better supercharger, the 03-04’s have a different model number and isn’t as efficient as the 05/06 so you get better boost with less heat on an 05/05

Keep up the great videos! keeping the M113k relevant!

[MrMachacker]

Air struts and bags are not expensive to replace. Arnott makes aftermarket air ride for the w211 which is better than OEM for 1/3rd the price

[samspace]

Love E55 content, but nothing "shitty" about my 06 with 200, 000 miles! Its all in how you maintain it. I've went through one set of engine mounts, one set of air shocks (easy to do) and basic maintenance.

[JustinsSupercars]

I wanna buy an E55 so bad. BUT unfortunately the market here in Germany is pretty much non existent. There are many many great cars for sale. However you will never ever get rid of it again. Nobody wants to buy these cars. And Im not a fan of losing money. Its crazy to see those insane milages in the US. A car with 200.000km (125.000 miles) would pretty much be considered a piece of junk ready for the junk yard. It would be impossible to find anybody who would buy a car with this crazy milage. The E55´s in Germany have like 80.000km on the clock (50.000 miles).
Also the SBC brake is pretty amazing. Its not a bad thing at all. When it works properly its by far the best braking system you can have and stops the car much earlier than a normal brake.

[lr]

Best 7 things you can do with this car are 1: fit a larger inter cooler for the supercharger, 2: Split the cooling system, 3: Upgrade the intercooler pump, 4: Fit a 77mm clutched pulley, 5: Fit 550cc injectors, 6: Get a tune (Eurocharged, VRP, German Muscle etc etc), 7: 1 step colder plugs. That will give you the best price to performance ratio - assuming you do the work yourself you'd be into it for about $2, 000 to $2, 500. I went a little further with short headers and a 92mm throttle body but really the cost of those and having them fitted was not worth the gain. Oh and get the supercharger serviced as well. Great fucking car.

[Atreids]

SBC is probably one of the best braking systems around. Lots of features and very advanced. Probably a few years ahead of its time tho.

[cmbtint]

Im trying to explain the idea behind the SBC brake: The system was involved to increase or decrease the braking power for each wheel and to "sensor" how you brake to give you to oppertunity to decide whether its an emergency brake or a comfort one. The speed you hit your pedal does the magic. It recognizes how fast you push your pedal down and how far you do it. Normal brakes just build up one-time pressure and do not regulate after the brake has been hit. For example the SBC does the "brake/not brake" thing when it's raining itself. Regular systems can cause the car to become unhandable while the SBC is contaniously monitoring the pressure given to the brakes and switch those pressures for a better handability and last but not least safety reasons as its getting informations which wheel is how fast and whats necessary to adjust to keep you in lane while giving you the maximum stopping power. Another reason is for comfort: With the SBC System you can just slightly tap your pedal and it will stop the car real "soft" or even KEEPING it stopped when at a hill (push brake down, then release, you won't roll away). You don't need to release pressure when stopping at a red light for example - the system is doing the job for you. The system itself is a real improvement to normal hydraulic brakesystems, but like you said: In the early models it's not that reliable as a regular braking system and causes some as we call in Germany: "Stuck at kid shoes" which means the early adopters could get a version that's not that durable and cannot be switched or fixed reliable. But you're right: You have to service that thing a way lot more than normal brakes as it's giving it's brake states to the ECU which then, when a fixed value is reached switches the whole car to "emergency mode" and reduces the power. Beside that, its been an adopted system and not an invention of "Germans" ;). The first SBC was built into an Toyota, and Mercedes did not even built it in their Model 2006+ (Mopf) E-Classes. Now models like the Prius2 and some Lexus are using it.

[AYoDrew]

I have an 03 E55 with 85K miles. About to throw some BC coilovers on it. Keep posting videos, I'll be following !

[donaldbryan]

I've got a humble '06 E350 (2nd owner, bought in '16) and my mechanic replaced the SBC pump in 2017.
Last year, Mercedes lost a long court battle and, after submitting the documentation to the local MBZ dealer,
I was issued a check from MBZ for the parts and labor.
So there's that.

[IHWKR]

Make sure it's well documented and timely maintained. Know how to do the work yourself and opt into a warranty if applicable. I have a 2006 s55 amg. Other than oil change and lightbulbs. The only things I've done on the car is a crankshaft sensor change, a flex joint replacement and a transmission mount replacement. The ABC is the most costly part to fix at generally 13k (which is why I bought mine with a bumper to bumper warranty). With this information and your due diligence there should be no problem with your Mercedes investment. Don't abuse the car daily. Have fun from time to time but care for your investment.

[alekmalarz]

One thing you should have mentioned in the most common failures is the crank pulley. I had mine go out but honestly wasn't all that bad to do.

[Tarmaniac]

The oil pump O-ring is a big deal, it is not the turbo. Its the age of the O-ring. The rod bearings will spin. The M113evo engine(n/a) has the same oilpump. Measure your oilpressure with a hot engine.
My CLK has low oil pressure. In a few months i gonna tear her apart.
Fixed it for not with a 10w60 oil. Be carefull mate!

[Boomboom-oxhn]

It must be just the US Mercedes cars that have all the faults. I have two Mercedes W211 cars one of them being a 2004 E55 AMG (Weekend fun car), my other being my daily drive 2007 Diesel E320 CDI sport. Both cars are very reliable but I do, do all the maintenance to both cars myself. Plus I only ever use genuine MB parts if any repairs do need to be carried out on either car. My AMG E55 has never broken down or let me down in over 3 years of owning it. My 320 CDI daily drive is bulletproof I've started to believe. I got so bored with never having anything to do to my E320 CDI other than change tires and pads plus services that I decided to change all discs n pads all round, plus changed all suspension/steering components at a total cost of £478.00 in which I thought was my time of course! Sweet motors to own if anyone is considering buying a Mercedes W211 Diesel or Petrol car. Key factors are, Make sure its been well looked after by its previous owner (No expense spared) if ever considering owning a Mercedes car. Happy motoring to you all!!

[teoman]

The SBC has a assisting function. Standing at a red light or in traffic you push the breakpadle more than usually and the SBC-System holds the brake by itself. Qhen you step on the gas the SBC-System unlocks itself automatically.

[anythingbenz]

SBC Braking System is still under warranty so that part of the video might as well not exist.

[harrycalibra]

Great video very informative I have the CLS 320 Cdi here in the UK 3 year's of ownership car has never let me down. One thing I would recommend is gearbox maintenance get it serviced every 35/40 k miles (oil and filter) 😉.

[dzodaj]

That sensotronic is a life saver, I had situations on the snow when I taught I have autopilot while braking, I was sure I will ditch out of the road but than SBC kicked in, or should I say ESP...that limousine is made to go crazy fast and heavy, old brakes just wouldn't do in all occasions...and it can go bad but not dead, it has dedicated small battery under the cabin filter.
No air suspension sucks, not the same physics at all. Rear air struts are repairable, it is around 200$ per strut here with a 2 year guaranty, and they can go over 5, unfortunately we are far away but I can imagine sending that by mail for reparation is possible and affordable if it is not a daily driver, and if you do the other part yourself. Not sure about front air struts, probably repairable too. They all bleed at the same place, when send dust or salt gets through protecting shield, that's why its good to check them every oil change, refresh that if needed. And they can go irreparably bad if not installed properly.