AMG Owners / Past owners

[dewolf]

Buying a 2005 C55 on Monday. Has full service history and 130,000kms. Has the M113 engine. It's black with grey Napa leather. It's a very nice looking car. Drives very, very well. It has a factory fitted CLK63 front bar and grill.
Any owners, or past owners of this era AMG have any input on maintenance etc that may help me. This will be my first AMG.

Cheers
Scott

[RANDY P]

Rear main seal!

rjp

[slow&rusty]

I own the big brother to your newly acquired W203 C55 (congrats BTW), an '06 E55. I am the 2nd owner and bought the car when it was a little over 2 years old as a factory CPO, so have owned it now for over 13 years. My car also has the M113 (except it is supercharged) and the 722.6 trans.

My ownership has been a fantastic experience and really good report card. The engine and trans are bullet proof and the interior looks and smells almost new. No failing headliner, no temperamental electronics, no leaks or drips. Build quality is top notch as can be expected from MB and AMG.

Keep it serviced, fresh fluids and it will continue to be a rewarding experience.

Interestingly I test drove the C55 when it was brand new in 2005 and 2006 and was very impressed. Great power to weight ratio.

The CLK63 came out in 2006, so I'm not sure what you mean by "factory fitted" front bar and grill as those items were not available in 2005.

[Googam]

I have a red '07 CLK63 Cab. I've owned it since 2013. It only has 39,000 miles. Luckily I've had no major problems. Notice though how low your front spoiler is. I've repaired mine twice. You need to sneak up on curbs. Brakes & calipers are expensive & complicated. The Brembos have like 8 fine tune adjusters to set each caliper correctly. My top has had issues, no concern to you. Obviously, everything on the car can be expensive & there are a lot of little niggly things I've ignored. Seat A/C blower doesn't work, one of the fine tuning seat adjustments gave up & I'm developing a short in the antenna so the radio kicks out sometimes. But the 6 disk CD works fine. I will never sell it. It is the finest road car I've ever owned. Loves to cruise at 80 mph, about 2,800 rpm. It's a 7 speed auto. My try for a once in a lifetime top speed was just over 150. This link has helpful info.
https://mbworld.org/forums/clk55-amg-clk63-amg-w208-w209-45/

[Scott Watkins]

My first AMG was a 2013 S65 massaged by RENNTech. A beast!

Current is a 2016 S65 and love it when my grandson says "Papi lets go scary fast"!

[LWJ]

Buddy has an E55. Zero issues and he drives it like Ricky Bobby.

[Bill Douglas]

A black car in Australia

It would be a ****** to get into after being parked in the sun.

[dewolf]

Originally Posted by slow&rusty

The CLK63 came out in 2006, so I'm not sure what you mean by "factory fitted" front bar and grill as those items were not available in 2005.

Sorry, should have said 'dealer fitted'. Apparently there's around 40 parts required to do the job.

One thing I noticed is this car is running Evans Coolant. Anybody use that stuff?

It is quite low. It has Bilstein coilovers all round so I can at least raise it a couple of centimetres if needed.

[slow&rusty]

If that car is fitted with Bilstein coilovers and the red calipers it was definitely owned by an enthusiast plus the red shadowline badges.

I only use the blue G48 in my E55 and my M119 (SL500), I do not have any experience with Evans. Apparently, Evans can raise the engine temp a bit, from what I've read.

[masraum]

Paging OneWhippedPuppy...

He's a big time AMG guy. I think the last that I remember hearing, he had two, one for him and one for Mrs OWP.

[WPOZZZ]

'06 E55. It was a hoot to drive and handled surprisingly well. Leaky fuel pumps were a problem. It was like a 930, you only punch it in a straight line!

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by dewolf

Sorry, should have said 'dealer fitted'. Apparently there's around 40 parts required to do the job.

One thing I noticed is this car is running Evans Coolant. Anybody use that stuff?

It is quite low. It has Bilstein coilovers all round so I can at least raise it a couple of centimetres if needed.

"Evans Coolant" has been recommended by Jay Leno. It's waterless and he uses it in his cars.

There's also an Australian made option.

Waterless Coolant | Car Radiator Coolant|Radiator Coolant Flush

[dewolf]

Originally Posted by slow&rusty

Keep it serviced, fresh fluids and it will continue to be a rewarding experience.
.

What oil do you use in the trans?

[sugarwood]

How old is the seller?
Mods like tinted windows and red calipers are a red flag.

[slow&rusty]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

"Evans Coolant" has been recommended by Jay Leno. It's waterless and he uses it in his cars.

There's also an Australian made option.

Waterless Coolant | Car Radiator Coolant|Radiator Coolant Flush

Leno only uses is on cars that sit a lot to avoid internal corrosion on the water jackets, for a newer car that gets driven there is no need to use Evans.

Originally Posted by dewolf

What oil do you use in the trans?

I buy MB's trans fluid but the Shell 134 ATF is the correct stuff, if you need an alternate.

Originally Posted by sugarwood

How old is the seller?
Mods like tinted windows and red calipers are a red flag.

Easy now, I am a mature owner and I like red calipers and tints. LOL

[speeder]

Yep, someone just commented about the heat in Australia, tint sounds like a necessity.

[dewolf]

Thanks for the info good people. Hopefully I also have trouble free ownership.

Tint is pretty much a prerequisite is Australia. The Aussie sun will kill almost everything. South Australia is the driest state, on the driest inhabited continent on Earth. A cold winters day here is 13C.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

How old is the seller?
Mods like tinted windows and red calipers are a red flag.

tinted windows are pretty much a requirement here, so nothing weird about tinted windows.

[dewolf]

Well....turns out to be a fizzer. The car was listed in Victoria as a repairable write off. Perhaps salvage title in the US. It listed it as heavy structural damage, left rear, right rear, rear. And light structural damage to front. Clearly got a big rear ender that forced it into the car in front.
Nope..don't want that car. Might start the hunt for an E55 of the same era.

[slow&rusty]

That's too bad.

But on a positive note the E55 is twice the car and hard to argue with over 500-torque from the factory with the same M113 engine, my car spins the tires well into 2nd gear and I have 19-in wheels.