Mercedes Benz and AMG Owners

Molemanmus said:
In the market for a CLS55 AMG - as far as I've read the engines are pretty solid with few gripes to look out for. Anything in paticular that I should be concerned with?

The plan is to fit a smaller pulley, X-pipe and a remap.

(Anyone know of a good one going? - Not many decent examples around!)
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As it uses the 5G tronic, check that it changes gears properly up and down - noises when changing from P to D when cold are common but nothing to be too concerned about. Thankfully these older boxes are cheaper and easier to repair than the later 7G tronic due to a different valve body design.

Try and get a look at the front suspension in particular - these cars are old now so it'll likely be needing new drop links, new control arms, etc if they haven't been done already and it's been driven hard. Check the engine and gearbox mounts for noise too (you can easily tell the gearbox mount has gone if there's lots of vibration through the cars interior) as they wear quickly.

Otherwise you're buying on condition and general impression and I'd be expecting FMBSH up to a certain point and then MB specialist at least. Don't buy one at the top of your budget and then expect to not have to pay anything else - you'll likely end up spending at least £1k sorting small problems out on it, potentially more purely because of the age of these now.
 
Yep pretty much what I expected and have read.

I've heard that the 5G tronic is a pretty strong box (more so than the 7G tronic).

Saw one today which was "mint" in the photos and online but not that great up close - the supercharger whine was very very loud on idle and accelerating, is this normal?
 
Had a nose and test drive of a 67 plate A45 today as a potential replacement for a Golf R and had mixed feelings.

Looked lovely in silver with the aero kit, interior was also nice with the exclusive pack of full leather (and the plain exclusive pack as well, not the AMG one, which drops all the red accents everywhere which I preferred).

Felt very small inside even compared to a Golf and boot seemed very small.

Driving it gave mixed opinions as well, felt quick of course but on the face of it didn’t feel as strong/urgent as the Golf. Now I would put a lot of this down to driving on some busy unfamiliar roads somewhere I’d never driven before, with the salesman and wife in the car, so wasn’t feeling totally at ease with things.

Didn’t have long either which didn’t help, car had the sports exhaust so sounded ok, however the silly ‘sound generator’ button was on the whole time which made it a little annoying in the cabin with the noise being pumped in. Would need another go with that switched off to see makes it any better.

Nice barks and bangs from the exhaust when pressing on though which was fun, and ride felt firm but not uncomfortable.

Also as lovely as those AMG seats are I’m not convivnced yet how comfy they would be on long journeys, again part of this down to not spending ages faffing with all the adjustments that can be made with them.

Got back in the Golf after and whilst there’s naturally an element of familiarity after almost 2 years in it, felt a lot more at ease in the cabin, with space and visibility.

Definitely felt softer than the A45, more roll and bounce.

So overall it was nice but not convinced yet, would need at least another longer drive in the car to really get a feel for it.

Need to now find an RS3 locally to try.......
 
RS3 is blunt but probably a fair all rounder a nice place to be and quick. Like the Golf R and A45 then. Depends what you want in a car I guess, all 3 nice motors by there are more dynamic motors out there.
 
Oh for sure there are far more dynamic cars out there, quite fancying a bit of a brute force and ignorance type thing next ;)

Plus have access to a Cayman when I need to scratch that itch, that is a lovely little drive.

M3 is also on the list :)
 
I get that, sometimes something that removes you from the world but goes really quick and feels good to be in makes sense, especially if you have something special in the garage. This is why I bought an R8 so I could keep the miles off the Polo and know, if I need shock and awe I had a Polo....GTI.
 
Merc are keen, called me up this morning asking if there's anything they can do to 'take me out the market' with the car. Well a stack of cash off might help...
 
Housey said:
RS3 is blunt but probably a fair all rounder a nice place to be and quick. Like the Golf R and A45 then. Depends what you want in a car I guess, all 3 nice motors by there are more dynamic motors out there.
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RS3 sounds incredible, the noise alone could win you over.

For me I sum them up as:
Golf R: The most fun, the most urgent and totally insane once tuned. But bland, sounds pants and nice but average interior. Most useable, cheapest to run and blends in.
A45 AMG: Best looks with aero pack, best most sporty interior, upshift gurgles and the paddle shift is a touch more engaging than Golf/Audi DSG. Oh and you get a Merc/AMG badge, means a lot to some! Stands out in a crowd the most, has the badge.
RS3: Sounds bloody incredible, interior quite nice especially if well optioned, but the basic cloth in Golf R is nice, can you get a suede option in RS3 to be more race car? Best sounding and the fastest, insanely quick with just stage 1 map.


As you have access to a Cayman, for me it would make the choice simple, go sledgehammer and all out power, get the RS3 and throw a stage 1 map and DSG map on it and be flying down the quarter mile in under 11s and owning all the GTR's with ease. :D
 
Got my A45 back in february, it's a great car but I still think it's overpriced, will have it for a few years though.

Late grey 2014.
 
Might be joining the E220d club!

Speaking to my local dealer about a new E220d Estate, 4matic, premium plus, command online and 20" alloys. Which is pretty much the spec I was after and there is one in the country apparently. Seems that not many people spec 4matic on a E class estate
 
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Went to a Merc dealer today to put my name down for the A35 that’s coming soon. Anyone else interested in the A35 at all ?
 
Just posted this in the other thread - picked this up over the weekend, our new W205 C class estate. Replacing an older W204 C class saloon.

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Will grab an interior shot when it's not raining/hailing! Certainly not as schmoozy as Housey's E class, but the W205 facelift is a fair step-up from the old W204.
 
The Renault interiors and fittings put me off Mercedes.. A-class (A45 and the biggest diesel) are a bit lackadaisical to accelerate too. Felt like driving a Peugeot (or a Renault?). Maybe the higher end Mercs are better? Although even the S-class seems to share buttons and plastics with the Megane.
 
S class interior design is fantastic but many materials seem to be derived from wheely bin plastics...certainly not up to Audi or BMW standards or even lexus
Shame really as the design is up there
 
Ev0 said:
Had a nose and test drive of a 67 plate A45 today as a potential replacement for a Golf R and had mixed feelings.

Looked lovely in silver with the aero kit, interior was also nice with the exclusive pack of full leather (and the plain exclusive pack as well, not the AMG one, which drops all the red accents everywhere which I preferred).

Felt very small inside even compared to a Golf and boot seemed very small.

Driving it gave mixed opinions as well, felt quick of course but on the face of it didn’t feel as strong/urgent as the Golf. Now I would put a lot of this down to driving on some busy unfamiliar roads somewhere I’d never driven before, with the salesman and wife in the car, so wasn’t feeling totally at ease with things.

Didn’t have long either which didn’t help, car had the sports exhaust so sounded ok, however the silly ‘sound generator’ button was on the whole time which made it a little annoying in the cabin with the noise being pumped in. Would need another go with that switched off to see makes it any better.

Nice barks and bangs from the exhaust when pressing on though which was fun, and ride felt firm but not uncomfortable.

Also as lovely as those AMG seats are I’m not convivnced yet how comfy they would be on long journeys, again part of this down to not spending ages faffing with all the adjustments that can be made with them.

Got back in the Golf after and whilst there’s naturally an element of familiarity after almost 2 years in it, felt a lot more at ease in the cabin, with space and visibility.

Definitely felt softer than the A45, more roll and bounce.

So overall it was nice but not convinced yet, would need at least another longer drive in the car to really get a feel for it.

Need to now find an RS3 locally to try.......
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Any specific A45 questions feel free to ask away. Had mine for a year now. 67, with Aero kit, sports exhaust, adaptive suspension, upgraded speakers and entertainment kit, etc etc.

Basically, I did the same as you (though test drove the A45 extended for a day). And for me it felt the most engaging and the only one which had a sense of a soul attached to it. RS3 is very capable (only the very new ones, previous generator too dull for me). Golf R is super quick, but just didn't tick the boxes for me. Focus RS also worth a look ,just feels a bit of a step below the other three, in everything other than the price.
 
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