Help me pick a car

Andrew Jonell · **Joined:** Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:43 pm **Posts:** 1350

MikeWhitney wrote:

Tentatively picking up a black on black 2003 S55 AMG on Monday in Atlanta. Hopefully the deal will go thru and it's not a complete POS.

It's a bit of a fixer-upper but I'm willing to put up with a lot of BS the price

I've had a lot of success with buying luxury cars from Georgia with a few friends. :v

clinehall · **Posted:** Tue Jan 27, 2015 9:10 am

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Dragged it home last night. Now ordering parts

Patrice Bousquet · **Posted:** Tue Jan 27, 2015 2:23 pm

Nice,
Cline, this might be your next car.

clinehall · **Posted:** Tue Jan 27, 2015 2:51 pm

Patrice Bousquet wrote:

Nice,
Cline, this might be your next car.

It would look good with some CHA logos all over it!

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Tue Jan 27, 2015 4:58 pm

MikeWhitney wrote:

Dragged it home last night. Now ordering parts

Dragged it home? You had to trailer it back or were you able to drive it back? So what's wrong w/ it?

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

RodneyWright wrote:

MikeWhitney wrote:

Dragged it home last night. Now ordering parts

Dragged it home? You had to trailer it back or were you able to drive it back? So what's wrong w/ it?

I chose to trailer it because I did a solo trip. It's drive-able but wouldn't have been a great idea.

Problems:
- PO ran off road and ripped the front bumper off. Damage is limited to cosmetics, slightly bent oil cooler, broken headlamp washer, and cracked rad fan. From what I can tell so far. Hood, fenders, frame, headlights, etc are all fine.
- The engine has a passenger side bank lifter tick. Not uncommon with these engines, usually attributed to a chunk of RTV from a valve cover replacement or something lodging in one of the oil passages. Also made worse by not driving very much. Need to pull the valvetrain on that side and clean or replace that lifter. Not a huge deal.
- Car has been sitting for 6-12 months without being used.
- Battery is shot
- Needs rear tires
- Noisy idler or pulley
- Something's leaking in the LF area of the engine compartment
- Paint needs a good detailing

That's all I can find at the moment. The good?

- Body and interior are very very nice. Just a couple of door dings and a few flakey interior panels (crappy rubberized paint), hardly any "wear"
- Looks like it was very well maintained for most of it's life
- No visible crash damage or paint work
- All the electronics I have tested so far work fine, including the butt massagers, auto-closing doors, air-conditioned seats, automatic body control, and all the other state-of-the-art crap on a $100k car in 2003.
- Car was dealer-maintained until 2 years and 4k miles ago
- Trans seems to shift fine

The PO is a car nut but is young (college age) and lives with his parents. Inside his folks garage he has a bunch of K- and B-series honda stuff. He just got in a bit over his head with this car I think, barely drove it, and tore it up enough that it forced a desperation sale. He kept saying over and over when I bought it that he wished he had the money and space to fix it so he could sell it for $12k.

I have money and space

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Michael Westerfield wrote:

What about some type of used AMG machine that can be had for pennies on the dollar?

I do need to mention that the Other Mike W wins the prize in this contest. Congratulations!

George Bright · **Posted:** Thu Jan 29, 2015 7:50 pm

Given your fondness for things BMW.

325ix

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Well, that escalated quickly

Chad Culbertson · **Posted:** Fri Feb 20, 2015 12:51 am

Wow, that did escalate quickly!

I'm guessing this wasn't just for shits and giggles and it turns out something was very broken?

Chuck Branscomb · **Posted:** Fri Feb 20, 2015 9:54 am

We want details, details, the story!

steve remchak · **Posted:** Fri Feb 20, 2015 10:02 am

I want to know about the 944 ... ?????

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Fri Feb 20, 2015 10:41 am

While I'm sure this isn't fun, it's cool to see the recirculating ball steering sitting in the engine bay. Hopefully it goes well Mike. - AB

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Fri Feb 20, 2015 11:05 am

ouch.... what happened?

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