What an awesome machine
Hila
on 10/11/2016
Comfort Rating: 5
Performance Rating:
5
Interior Rating: 5
Reliability Rating:
5
Safety Rating: 5
Technology Rating:
5
Value Rating: 5
This is my first review I ever write on any car. I have owned more than a dozen sports car throughout my life, and I bought my 08 Mercedes E63 AMG 2 years ago. Until now, the power of this car still surprises me. I have owned more than 4 BMW M cars, until my first MB car before this one, which was the 1999 E55 AMG. I must say that I originally bought my E55 based on a good deal solely (my previous M car had really drained me and I took a loss when I sold it), and I did not know much about these cars, as all BMW fans will tell you, MB is a "Grandpa" car (nothing close by the way), but I was also just sick of pouring endless money in my 04 BMW M3 (within 6 months it was driven 3000miles only with more than 4k$ in repairs, and not once tracked). I took that E55 monthly to the drift track for more than a year, expecting it to fail at any moment, and drove the car to an astounding 287,xxx miles, with ALL components remaining stock expect for the water pump. The car was so reliable and with so much power, but it was time to upgrade as the body style was getting old, that is when I finally decided to upgrade to the w211 model. And man, was I surprised, it is like a somebody stuffed an angry a T-Rex under the bonnet. Superb acceleration, and brute force, I have taken out, from a full stop, more than 3 Lambos (Gallardo I should say), countless Maseratis and the likes by just pushing on the gas. Forget the power, but the styling is great, and the massive 6.3L naturally aspirated was more attractive to me than all the turbo systems they introduced in their later models, or superchargers before. I cannot stress how comfortable this car is, and if you control yourself enough to drive it normally (which is very hard with the engine rumble and people wanting to challenge you all the time), it is surprisingly good on gas at more than 25mpg on highway. I have to mention couple of things though, as all MBs, the AC vents just do not follow your command, it just blows sporadically across all vents (I had that same problem with E55, although not as noticeable), but I also heard of this with most MB owners I have met (I guess cooling is not a priority in Germany, but man we're in Texas, it would be nice to have Gulf Specs cars here (Gulf specs are cars that are sold in places like Dubai for example, and they come with bigger Radiators, compressors, water pump.... to deal with the desert heat), especially because mine is Black on Black. I noticed a big difference in cooling when I drove one there, the oil temperature would not bulge over 100c, while here it routinely goes to 113c, driving normally, with more temperate weather. Also, although my E55 had 287,xxx miles in the end before I sold it, the suspension was still stock !! Yes, stock. All bushings, control arms... except for the shocks, were stock and surprisingly holding pretty well after years of driving and putting more than 70k miles on the car. The w211 seems to have more sensitive suspension, I'm not sure if this is because of the air-shocks, that put more strain on the suspension for the sake of your comfort, or just the brute force that this car puts into action, you feel like the front end is going to lift in the air. Also, everybody that lives in Houston knows what kind of obscenity they call roads here, really embarrassing, but most of my bushings were nearing the end of their lives at 68,xxx miles which not a lot. These are the only draw backs I have noticed so far, but it will take a lot more to get me off this car, and I am planning to keep driving it past my old one and more.
