So I've been on the prowl for a comfortable car that my wife will enjoy riding in. I've also been wanting to satisfy my love of owning a variety of cars that serve a purpose the others may not. My wife loves the Vette but I don't take it everywhere and certainly wouldn't give it to the valet at the hospital for her check-ups. The truck is too stiff for her and she just doesn't like the ride. The bird....well we know that answer.
I watch too much youtube and got hooked on the Legit Street Cars channel. The guy happens to own a turbo 4th gen but also loves his older Mercedes since he is a master tech. He has a E55 on the channel and went through a lot of changes/updates/maintenance that I thought was interesting.
So...I started looking around for one of those and found with some miles, they aren't too expensive. The M113k engine is said to be pretty bulletproof and same goes for the 5 spd trans. Of course, good maintenance is needed and being an older german car, it's going to break and need parts. I looked around and checked out one of the cheaper ones. It presented well in pictures but in person, it was really rough. It also didn't drive well and for having a tune, didn't feel like 469hp. I didn't see any others within reasonable distance so I diverted my search to a 06-08 Lexus LS460. Gina's old Lexus RX was a great vehicle so perhaps we would have a similar experience with another from the brand. I took a look at a couple and while I def liked the premise of the vehicle, the examples in the price I was shopping were just hunks of trash.
Since I wasn't finding what I wanted, I was thinking I should just go get a super low mile lease car for like $150 a month. I dabbled in that idea for a bit but then decided that wasn't me.
So I started searching for E55's again, ideally an 05 or 06 (last years) since they had a better blower and less issues overall. I came across one in VA which was wildy overpriced but well optioned. I sent the guy a message and after a good deal of back and forth, we came up with a price that was much more in line. I showed Gina the car and she was surprisingly enthusiast about the purchase (this is new....). We decided to make the trip with the truck and trailer to go on an adventure. Upon seeing the car, as expected it was a bit rougher in person but the general bones looked good. The car lived in Texas and then VA so it clearly didn't see any harsh winters. The car was on a lift so I got to inspect the underside. Everything looked clean except for a few things. Both rear wheels had a crack on the inside hoop, the passenger side skirt was mauled by a wolverine and there was an oil leak which looked to be from the oil filter housing/cooler assembly. The guys were a little bit shocked I took out a caliper to measure the rotor thickness. Other than that, not bad. It drove fine for clearly having damaged wheels. The ride was comfortable, the massaging/dynamic seats worked and its all basically there. The engine revved smoothly and the trans shifted nicely as well. However....the guy decided to tell me last minute that he painted the grill and hood insert black. He said it looks more aggressive and while I suppose it does, I don't love it. A deal was made and on to the trailer she went.
A quick rundown of the car.
06 E55
116k
Supercharged 5.4L V8 / 5 Spd Auto
Options:
- Pano roof
- Bi-xenon HIDs
- Navi (useless nowadays)
- Sat radio
- Harmon Kardon radio
- Massaging seats
- Dynamic Seats
- Power Rear Sunshade
- Distronic Cruise
- Keyless/Push to start
- Parktronic
Mods:
- 76mm pulley
- Eurocharged tune
- Carbon fiber side skirts, trunk lid lip, top of rear glass lip and exhaust valence
- 19" Wheels from a CLS63
- 25% tint
Like father, like son I suppose.
The car is currently at All Time Auto Body getting "refreshed". I have a list of items they will be addressed along with some maintenance work while it's there. I should hopefully have it back in about a week.
More to come.