Fast Luxury Sedan - $10k

Ted DuPuis said:
I've gotten to where I hate shopping for cars (I used to love it). Nobody really makes what I want, and I don't like to spend a lot of money. The one real shift is that I used to make projects out of everything. Now I've realized I don't keep cars long anyway, so I'll do a few things as necessary but then sell. My wife's E38 I basically rebuilt, but she likes it a lot so I foresee keeping that a long time. I know a 191k E55 is not going to live much longer before it loses its economic viability. As 35 AoA correctly pointed out, there are reasons this one is this cheap. :)

I've never owned a Benz, but have always wanted to. We looked at a 2000 S430 when we bought the E38 two years ago. The interior was much blander, which was a negative to my wife.
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Isnt the e38 a Mercedes product?:idea:
 
Jaybird180 said:
Isnt the e38 a Mercedes product?:idea:
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1997 BMW 740iL

The pre-facelift E38s are more reliable. Stronger tranny (5HP30 vs 5HP24) and lacking VANOS. Ours was poorly maintained, but I took care of that.
 
35 AoA said:
e38's are nice cars, and still IMHO timeless and classy…..
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My cousin (20 years my senior) owned E38s when they were new. I remember riding in them in high school and wanting one. Yay depreciation!
 
Bill Jennings said:
Give is a pirep after you've flogged it some.
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I drove it to work this morning, that's all I've driven it thus far.

It's fast.

It has great torque. The supercharger engagement (it has a clutch) isn't perfectly smooth in my opinion, but that may have to do with how I was modulating the throttle, and could have to do with the mileage. More research is required, it could also be that the clutch is going bad and in need of replacement. I love the low-end torque, and the engine has a great sound to it. Basically the same engine as your CLK430, just bigger and with a blower. Because the blower is clutched, it really has two power modes - with and without the blower. Without it still is very torquey and responsive. With, it's just fast. I got on it and highway acceleration is great. It almost never goes about 3,500 RPM thus far, and has no need to. I did floor it and let it get up in horsepower. It's much nicer than my VR4 was, even though it makes about the same horsepower. The VR4 was reasonably torquey, but very laggy. This has no lag, and way more torque. It has something around 520 ft-lbs of torque I think, and 469 HP.

The cruise control will maintain a set distance from the car ahead of you (which is adjustable). This is actually a pretty nice feature and one that I enjoyed using. I guess I tailgate people, though, as I set the distance at the shortest allowable. :)

The tires are pretty close to bald (I expected that) and it needs an alignment, so I need to get that done.

It has a brake fault, not sure why, and the brakes feel pretty numb. This is a complaint on these cars because of the fully electronic braking system that has no physical connection between the brake pedal and the hydraulics. I need to investigate further and figure out first off what's wrong, and if the brakes are doing what they should. They don't feel like they work great, I need to do a hard stop still.

It's quiet. Not entirely whisper quiet, but it's also 13 years old with 190k on the clock. I haven't pushed the suspension much, but it has an air suspension. I do like the fact that I can adjust it for "comfort" or one of two sport settings. My back roads going to my house are a bit rough, so the "comfort" setting is nice for those. Sport for the highway is nice, although comfort does just fine. The engine makes a very nice rumble, AMG got the exhaust tuned about perfectly. Supposedly the SL55 has a slightly different exhaust which creates an additional 15 HP.

The interior and exterior wear like iron. They're immaculate. This is one of M-B's hallmark traits, in my opinion, and part of what drew me to the car. If you didn't check the odometer, you'd think it had 1/3 the miles it does. The seats also have a bunch of adjustments, which I like. I need to play with them some more.

For the high miles, I still feel like I got a good car (at least today) given that I don't expect to drive it for more than a couple of years. We'll see how I feel about it after I drive it more.

One of my friends is trying to get me to get a custom plate for it. I've never had one and they're cheap enough here, so I'm considering it. The following options have come up (all of which are available in Kansas):

TRACTOR
ATOBAHN
CLOWD9
310FLYR
IFLY310
BYBYCOP (that might not be a good idea)
FLYTWIN
MOREPWR

Feel free to come up with more options or give your opinions on the options above. :)
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I drove it to work this morning, that's all I've driven it thus far.

It's fast.

It has great torque. The supercharger engagement (it has a clutch) isn't perfectly smooth in my opinion, but that may have to do with how I was modulating the throttle, and could have to do with the mileage. More research is required, it could also be that the clutch is going bad and in need of replacement. I love the low-end torque, and the engine has a great sound to it. Basically the same engine as your CLK430, just bigger and with a blower. Because the blower is clutched, it really has two power modes - with and without the blower. Without it still is very torquey and responsive. With, it's just fast. I got on it and highway acceleration is great. It almost never goes about 3,500 RPM thus far, and has no need to. I did floor it and let it get up in horsepower. It's much nicer than my VR4 was, even though it makes about the same horsepower. The VR4 was reasonably torquey, but very laggy. This has no lag, and way more torque. It has something around 520 ft-lbs of torque I think, and 469 HP.

The cruise control will maintain a set distance from the car ahead of you (which is adjustable). This is actually a pretty nice feature and one that I enjoyed using. I guess I tailgate people, though, as I set the distance at the shortest allowable. :)

The tires are pretty close to bald (I expected that) and it needs an alignment, so I need to get that done.

It has a brake fault, not sure why, and the brakes feel pretty numb. This is a complaint on these cars because of the fully electronic braking system that has no physical connection between the brake pedal and the hydraulics. I need to investigate further and figure out first off what's wrong, and if the brakes are doing what they should. They don't feel like they work great, I need to do a hard stop still.

It's quiet. Not entirely whisper quiet, but it's also 13 years old with 190k on the clock. I haven't pushed the suspension much, but it has an air suspension. I do like the fact that I can adjust it for "comfort" or one of two sport settings. My back roads going to my house are a bit rough, so the "comfort" setting is nice for those. Sport for the highway is nice, although comfort does just fine. The engine makes a very nice rumble, AMG got the exhaust tuned about perfectly. Supposedly the SL55 has a slightly different exhaust which creates an additional 15 HP.

The interior and exterior wear like iron. They're immaculate. This is one of M-B's hallmark traits, in my opinion, and part of what drew me to the car. If you didn't check the odometer, you'd think it had 1/3 the miles it does. The seats also have a bunch of adjustments, which I like. I need to play with them some more.

For the high miles, I still feel like I got a good car (at least today) given that I don't expect to drive it for more than a couple of years. We'll see how I feel about it after I drive it more.

One of my friends is trying to get me to get a custom plate for it. I've never had one and they're cheap enough here, so I'm considering it. The following options have come up (all of which are available in Kansas):

TRACTOR
ATOBAHN
CLOWD9
310FLYR
IFLY310
BYBYCOP (that might not be a good idea)
FLYTWIN
MOREPWR

Feel free to come up with more options or give your opinions on the options above. :)
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I've had an '05 for quite a while as my daily commuter. I enjoy this car as much or more than any other car I've had, and prefer it over my 911. I'm at the point now where I've been eyeing a Cayenne Turbo, but I just love this car. It's getting up there in age and has ~138k miles on it now, but it's really in great condition and I don't know if I want to part ways with it. Ping me if you ever have any questions on it, I would strongly recommend signing up on MBWorld, a lot of great resources there.

The AMG's are entirely different from the regular cars, they seem to wear better and last longer. The big question mark is the Airmatic suspension, but you can get a lifetime warranty replacement airshock from Arnott (which I have done) and they swap out quicker than most conventional shocks. Brake replacement cost has gone way down in the last few years. It's low enough I don't even attempt to turn rotors anymore.

Overall these cars are beasts, as you're quickly figuring out, I would keep it stock and enjoy it (that's what I did) because going down the rabbit hole of performance mods is addictive and expensive :D:D
 
guardrail said:
I've had an '05 for quite a while as my daily commuter. I enjoy this car as much or more than any other car I've had, and prefer it over my 911. I'm at the point now where I've been eyeing a Cayenne Turbo, but I just love this car. It's getting up there in age and has ~138k miles on it now, but it's really in great condition and I don't know if I want to part ways with it. Ping me if you ever have any questions on it, I would strongly recommend signing up on MBWorld, a lot of great resources there.

The AMG's are entirely different from the regular cars, they seem to wear better and last longer. The big question mark is the Airmatic suspension, but you can get a lifetime warranty replacement airshock from Arnott (which I have done) and they swap out quicker than most conventional shocks. Brake replacement cost has gone way down in the last few years. It's low enough I don't even attempt to turn rotors anymore.

Overall these cars are beasts, as you're quickly figuring out, I would keep it stock and enjoy it (that's what I did) because going down the rabbit hole of performance mods is addictive and expensive :D:D
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Appreciate the advice. I was going to join MBWorld (I think I have an account on there from 10+ years ago when I was fixing a 560SEC for a classmate). I figured out how to set the clock over lunch. I have to reset the tire pressure monitor system (and check the tire pressure - I think it might be low in general). And I have to figure out what this brake code is. Any thoughts there?

It also has a bit of a rough idle, at least it seems rougher than I think it should be. That might have to do with the slight exhaust leak. It goes away as soon as you're off-idle. Throttle response is instant. It looks like someone put a K&N filter in it. I know on the BMWs that will tend to screw up the MAF, not sure if that's the case on these cars.

It will take a bit of getting used to as it drives slightly differently than my previous/recent cars, but I can tell I'm really going to like this car.

I decided before buying it that I'm definitely keeping it stock. I don't want to go down that rabbit hole of modifications. I did that with my VR4 and wish I hadn't, at least not to the degree that I did.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Appreciate the advice. I was going to join MBWorld (I think I have an account on there from 10+ years ago when I was fixing a 560SEC for a classmate). I figured out how to set the clock over lunch. I have to reset the tire pressure monitor system (and check the tire pressure - I think it might be low in general). And I have to figure out what this brake code is. Any thoughts there?

It also has a bit of a rough idle, at least it seems rougher than I think it should be. That might have to do with the slight exhaust leak. It goes away as soon as you're off-idle. Throttle response is instant. It looks like someone put a K&N filter in it. I know on the BMWs that will tend to screw up the MAF, not sure if that's the case on these cars.

It will take a bit of getting used to as it drives slightly differently than my previous/recent cars, but I can tell I'm really going to like this car.

I decided before buying it that I'm definitely keeping it stock. I don't want to go down that rabbit hole of modifications. I did that with my VR4 and wish I hadn't, at least not to the degree that I did.
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No common MAF issues that I'm aware of. Rough idle could be plugs/wires (there are 16!). Also cleaning the throttlebodies (there are two) can help. Mine tends to have a slight wavering idle when cold but I wouldn't call it rough per se.

Ahh the Brake code...I forgot about that. Do the brakes work well? Is the on dash code 'VISIT WORKSHOP - BRAKE SERVICE' or something else? These cars don't have ABS, instead they have electric assist braking which has a pump and valves that control each caliper individually. So BOSCH decided that there should be useful life defined since the system is so critical and it literally counts the pedal cycles. After a certain number, it will start to show an alert that the system needs to be serviced. You are *supposed* to flush the brake system annually along with some other maintenance to make sure the pump/valves don't fail. Basically, the code could be as simple as resetting the brake computer to note service done, or an early indicator or pump failure. The pump is $1800, Mercedes even extended the warranty to 10 years on them because so many failed. I had the code come up 1 week after the extended warranty period this last year but thankfully it was just the service reset, a quick $65 service call at the Benz dealership and it was good to go. If the pump fails...you have no brakes. Like think diesel truck without the hydra-boost pump (since that's basically what this is) so be mindful! Lot's of threads on the SBC system, worth the read through.

You can buy a rip-off service tool for these called the STAR tool. May be worth it as you can do a lot of these maintenance resets yourself, they run around $450.

The only modification I would really consider is the Kleeman mid-length headers and removing the initial cat's. That still leaves two cats and doesn't change the exhaust tone or ground clearance, but the factory manifolds neck down significantly at the collector and leave lots of room for improvement (and heat).
 
bikert said:
Nice! Congratulations! I love those torquey AMG engines. Everyone talk HP, but a flat torque curve is your real friend ;)
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Yes it is. I've always been a torque guy. Don't like high RPM engines. Maybe that's why I'm attracted to airplanes?

guardrail said:
No common MAF issues that I'm aware of. Rough idle could be plugs/wires (there are 16!). Also cleaning the throttlebodies (there are two) can help. Mine tends to have a slight wavering idle when cold but I wouldn't call it rough per se.
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That might be it. Cleaning the throttle bodies might be a good first step. I'm sure the plugs/wires are old, so I'll need to look into that. And of course, who knows how old the gas is (I filled it up this morning).

Ahh the Brake code...I forgot about that. Do the brakes work well? Is the on dash code 'VISIT WORKSHOP - BRAKE SERVICE' or something else? These cars don't have ABS, instead they have electric assist braking which has a pump and valves that control each caliper individually. So BOSCH decided that there should be useful life defined since the system is so critical and it literally counts the pedal cycles. After a certain number, it will start to show an alert that the system needs to be serviced. You are *supposed* to flush the brake system annually along with some other maintenance to make sure the pump/valves don't fail. Basically, the code could be as simple as resetting the brake computer to note service done, or an early indicator or pump failure. The pump is $1800, Mercedes even extended the warranty to 10 years on them because so many failed. I had the code come up 1 week after the extended warranty period this last year but thankfully it was just the service reset, a quick $65 service call at the Benz dealership and it was good to go. If the pump fails...you have no brakes. Like think diesel truck without the hydra-boost pump (since that's basically what this is) so be mindful! Lot's of threads on the SBC system, worth the read through.
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Yes, it's the "BRAKE SERVICE - VISIT WORKSHOP" code. The brakes still do work fine it seems.

You can buy a rip-off service tool for these called the STAR tool. May be worth it as you can do a lot of these maintenance resets yourself, they run around $450.
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I do all my own work, so that's probably something that I'll need to invest in.

The only modification I would really consider is the Kleeman mid-length headers and removing the initial cat's. That still leaves two cats and doesn't change the exhaust tone or ground clearance, but the factory manifolds neck down significantly at the collector and leave lots of room for improvement (and heat).
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Those look nice, although for $1k I think I'm going to just fix the exhaust leak (whatever it may be) and leave it alone. I'm sure the headers would make a nice benefit, but I've decided going in with this car that I'm going to leave it stock and spend my money (and time!) elsewhere. Part of why I bought this car was that it was something that, out of the box, should be powerful enough (it is) and thus not require me to dump money into. This will be a fun daily driver and allow me to focus my time and money on other things like house and airplane projects.
 
Spend $100 on a good obdii reader, will save you a lot in the long run if you know how to use it. Get one that graphs the data.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Yes, it's the "BRAKE SERVICE - VISIT WORKSHOP" code. The brakes still do work fine it seems.
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I think that's the simple reset. Get friendly with a Benz service shop or dealer, quick fix.


Ted DuPuis said:
Those look nice, although for $1k I think I'm going to just fix the exhaust leak (whatever it may be) and leave it alone. I'm sure the headers would make a nice benefit, but I've decided going in with this car that I'm going to leave it stock and spend my money (and time!) elsewhere. Part of why I bought this car was that it was something that, out of the box, should be powerful enough (it is) and thus not require me to dump money into. This will be a fun daily driver and allow me to focus my time and money on other things like house and airplane projects.
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Probably a cracked manifold, the heat is pretty intense.
 
PaulS said:
Spend $100 on a good obdii reader, will save you a lot in the long run if you know how to use it. Get one that graphs the data.
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Yea unfortunately most of this runs on the BCM and not the PCM and that's proprietary. You can read simple check engine codes with a reader, might as well go with the cheap one for that.
 
AdamZ said:
SUGRPOP
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While I like it (and it's available), I think that might give the wrong impression.

guardrail said:
Probably a cracked manifold, the heat is pretty intense.
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If that was the case then I would go for the headers for sure. If I have to replace a part anyway, then an upgrade that won't get me going down a rabbit hole is worthwhile.
 
guardrail said:
Yea unfortunately most of this runs on the BCM and not the PCM and that's proprietary. You can read simple check engine codes with a reader, might as well go with the cheap one for that.
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You can glean a lot of info if you can monitor the fuel trims and other sensors. I found a sticking egr that way that otherwise I wouldn't have found. Also solved hard start issue for my Mercedes (cam sensor) in 30 seconds once I plugged in.

I agree on the proprietary bus readers, you can get them, but they'll set you back $5,000.00 .


I'd get one that can graph (about $150) versus just a code reader, worth it IMHO.
 
ISAVDOG?
 
I call BS. No way can the vanity plate "TRACTOR" still be available in KS. ;)

Mark
 
Woohoo! More things pop up already! :)

Current list:

- Check engine light
- Front marker lights out (left and right)
- SRS light (this one I knew about when I bought the car)
- Brake service light
- Now also getting a light saying visit workshop which I believe is about the air suspension? The picture is of the car with the arrow in the middle going up

It does drive very nicely and makes lots of power. The Distronic (automatic distance from the car ahead on the cruise control) works very nicely. I have to admit I really like that feature, even though I didn't like it when it first came out. My biggest peeve with cruise control is constantly having to adjust it for cars ahead/behind. This takes all the work out of it for you, you just set the speed you want and how far away you want to be and it goes from there. It maintains the set speed until you get near a car in front of you, slows down to maintain distance, and then when you get in the left lane accelerates again.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Woohoo! More things pop up already! :)

Current list:

- Check engine light
- Front marker lights out (left and right)
- SRS light (this one I knew about when I bought the car)
- Brake service light
- Now also getting a light saying visit workshop which I believe is about the air suspension? The picture is of the car with the arrow in the middle going up

It does drive very nicely and makes lots of power. The Distronic (automatic distance from the car ahead on the cruise control) works very nicely. I have to admit I really like that feature, even though I didn't like it when it first came out. My biggest peeve with cruise control is constantly having to adjust it for cars ahead/behind. This takes all the work out of it for you, you just set the speed you want and how far away you want to be and it goes from there. It maintains the set speed until you get near a car in front of you, slows down to maintain distance, and then when you get in the left lane accelerates again.
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The air suspension is likely the front shocks leaking, look for cracks in the epoxy on top of the shocks. It's a pretty easy fix, you can buy new caps with orings and no epoxy required for about $50 on ebay. New shocks, oem, are about $1,000 each. For the fix you need a tool, which I have and will sell you cheap if you want to do it yourself.

Oh, and the leaking shocks might have burned out the compressor too, another couple hundred bucks on ebay, make sure you replace the relay too.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Woohoo! More things pop up already! :)

Current list:

- Check engine light
- Front marker lights out (left and right)
- SRS light (this one I knew about when I bought the car)
- Brake service light
- Now also getting a light saying visit workshop which I believe is about the air suspension? The picture is of the car with the arrow in the middle going up
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1.) Get a scanner and check the codes
2.) Ah, yes, marker lights. Seemingly a quick replace, but acres of plastic under the nose have to come off to get at them.
3.) Scanner may help here as well?
4.) Probably the dealer for the brake stuff. I waved the white flag on SBC and let the dealer handle brake related stuff. Didn't need to lose a finger to a snapping caliper. (self test)
5.) Scanner again?

One of the reasons we went with the E320 CDI vs a V-8 was to avoid the air suspension.
 
Good info, thanks. Paul, if it looks like it's the front shocks as you describe I'll contact you about the tool.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Good info, thanks. Paul, if it looks like it's the front shocks as you describe I'll contact you about the tool.
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No problem, and the brake issue is probably worn pads, merc has sensors on the pads. I've never changed them before on a mercedes, but it doesn't look hard. I'd do pads and rotors if that is the case. Dealers charge big bucks, I got roped in when I had them change oil in mine, then kicked myself after when I remembered about the sensors.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Woohoo! More things pop up already! :)

Current list:

- Check engine light
- Front marker lights out (left and right)
- SRS light (this one I knew about when I bought the car)
- Brake service light
- Now also getting a light saying visit workshop which I believe is about the air suspension? The picture is of the car with the arrow in the middle going up
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Perhaps remove the bulbs or LED's associated with those pesky lights. Problem solved. :D
 
PaulS said:
I'd do pads and rotors if that is the case. Dealers charge big bucks,
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Hmm, last time we had the dealer do brakes it was $700, that was for new rotors/pads on all four and a fluid flush. Not cheap, but not outrageous either.
 
It wouldn't surprise me if it did legitimately need brakes, in which case I'd do pads/rotors. I'll see...
 
The car has a very nice MFD in the speedometer that displays warnings and all kinds of other info. I'd rather not turn that off, especially since I can scroll through the warnings easily enough.
 
Throughout the history of mercedes air suspension, many folks have just thrown them in the garbage and purchased aftermarket conventional sport struts/springs/dampers. Much less maintenance required, and generally a sportier and stiffer ride. Not everyone's thing but it isn't detrimental. If you get a little spendier, adjustable set ups can offer you a lot more flexibility as well.
 
35 AoA said:
Throughout the history of mercedes air suspension, many folks have just thrown them in the garbage and purchased aftermarket conventional sport struts/springs/dampers. Much less maintenance required, and generally a sportier and stiffer ride. Not everyone's thing but it isn't detrimental. If you get a little spendier, adjustable set ups can offer you a lot more flexibility as well.
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That's true for most air suspensions I've found. But I also find the factory setup is usually pretty nice. I swapped the stock electronic struts for coil-overs in my VR4 and really regretted doing that. It's a good thought, though, and I'll keep it in mind. Right now the car tracks like a freight train and is very stable, so I'm not seeing a need to upgrade the suspension.

I realized I was putting the car in optional "high ground clearance" mode, and that's when it turned on. Oops. I'll keep driving and see if it comes back.

Does anyone have a good source for the STAR tool? I see all sorts of places online that sell it, most of which are in China and I've read bad things about those places.

I do need to buy bulbs for the marker lights and do those.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
That's true for most air suspensions I've found. But I also find the factory setup is usually pretty nice. I swapped the stock electronic struts for coil-overs in my VR4 and really regretted doing that. It's a good thought, though, and I'll keep it in mind. Right now the car tracks like a freight train and is very stable, so I'm not seeing a need to upgrade the suspension.

I realized I was putting the car in optional "high ground clearance" mode, and that's when it turned on. Oops. I'll keep driving and see if it comes back.

Does anyone have a good source for the STAR tool? I see all sorts of places online that sell it, most of which are in China and I've read bad things about those places.

I do need to buy bulbs for the marker lights and do those.
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Check the front struts for leaks out the top, use soapy water. If it is leaking you need to fix it otherwise you will burn out the air compressor, which will set you back about $300, plus you will still need to fix the struts.
 
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