Buying guide · 2003–2006 · M113K supercharged V8
Mercedes E 55 AMG W211
Everything that decides whether the one you are looking at is a good buy or an expensive one.
23-page guide, A4 and phone · 4-page inspection card · instant PDF · VAT included
In the guide
What the Mercedes E 55 AMG W211 guide covers
- 01Every fault this engine has, and how much work it is
- 02The SBC brake system, its counter, and the warranty extension Mercedes-Benz USA announced in 2018: which cars it covers, and why it can decide whether a warning light costs you nothing or a four-figure sum
- 03The six places to check for corrosion — including the three panels on this car that are aluminium, which most buyers do not know are aluminium
- 04What is simply twenty years old — and can be left alone
- 05The inspection card: the whole viewing on paper, in order, to take with you
- 06What to say to the seller, and what to keep to yourself
From the guide itself
This is how it reads
This is what one of the twelve looks likeLast Real Engines
2 · Front lower control arms and the thrust arm bushings
Half a day per side, plus an alignment · expensive part, easy access
The best-known W211 suspension item. How you notice it: knocking or creaking over bumps, and the giveaway that is specific to this car — the steering twitching under gentle braking at low speed. That symptom is this item far more often than it is anything expensive.
No rush, but plan on it within a year or two, and sooner if the front tyres are wearing unevenly, because then waiting costs you a set as well. Have the alignment done at the same time; without it the job is only half finished.
And this is how the card readsLast Real Engines
- 1 · The cold start · do nothing else
- 2 · The crankshaft pulley · thirty seconds, and almost nobody does it
- 3 · The engine bay, engine off
- 4 · Round the outside · corrosion and wheels
- 5 · Inside, ignition on · keep it short, the battery
- 6 · The test drive · half an hour, and it must get properly hot
What €24 buys, put next to what it saves
Whether you pay for an SBC unit at all can come down to a warranty question, not the condition of the car — and almost nobody selling one knows the answer. A crankshaft pulley left to break up has taken front covers and water pumps with it. The guide is €24. It will not stop any of that from being needed — but it does tell you which of them you are looking at before you agree a price, and that is the whole of the difference between paying for a car and paying for someone else's postponed maintenance.
VAT included · sold by Lemon Squeezy as merchant of record · questions first? buyersguide@lastrealengines.com
Start with the free guide
The six questions that decide whether this car is a good buy
- The brakes, and whether they are still under warranty.
- The supercharger complaint that is three completely different bills.
- The crankshaft pulley, which you can inspect yourself with the engine switched off.
- The suspension, which is priced per corner.
- The gearbox, and one connector.
- What has already been paid for.
Start with the free guide: what this car is, and the questions that decide whether the one you are looking at is a good buy or an expensive one.
Before you buy
Questions
What exactly do I get?
The full guide as a PDF, 23 pages in A4, plus a phone edition to read at the car; and the inspection card, 4 pages to print and take to the viewing. €24, VAT included.
How is it delivered?
Straight after payment you get a download link for the guide, the phone edition and the card. No subscription, no account.
Can I get a refund?
EU consumer law gives you fourteen days to change your mind. For digital content that right ends the moment delivery starts, provided you agreed to that at the checkout. If the file will not open, or you were sent the wrong car, write to us and we will fix it or refund it.
Who handles the payment?
Lemon Squeezy, who sell the guide to you as merchant of record. They charge the VAT at the rate of your country, send the invoice, and email you the download link. We never see your card.
Why are there no prices in it?
Because a price we cannot verify is worse than no price, and because a price would be wrong for most of the people reading it: workshop rates across Europe differ by a factor of two or three. What does not change is how much work a job is, so every point says whether it is an hour, half a day, a day, or a week in the workshop. Ask your own workshop for its hourly rate, and every hour in the guide becomes your own number.
Is this advice about a specific car?
No. A guide tells you what to look at; it is general information about the model and not advice about a specific car. Have every car inspected before you buy by someone who knows the engine.
More Mercedes-Benz guides
Going to look at a Mercedes E 55 AMG W211?
Take the guide and the card with you.
23-page guide, A4 and phone · 4-page inspection card · instant PDF · VAT included