This is a new thread for me. I found a marketplace ad a few weeks ago for a too-good-to-be-true offer of a 2006 Mercedes E55 AMG. Car was listed as non-running for years, clear title, close to me, and far too low price to be right. I sent a message to the seller, thinking that this is either a scam, or that the car had to be gone. To my surprise, the seller responded with more pics, info, and yes, the car was still available. I made arrangements to go look at the car the following day. I went and sure enough, there was a very neglected E55. It hadn't run in three years, a family of rats was living under the hood (they were there when we opened it) and then the real kicker: the owner had a "friend" who 'knew electronics' work on the car. This gets to the real reason the car was so cheap. Every single electronic module imaginable was opened up, and laying out. Many had been disassembled, and the ECU had been soldered on in truly bizarre ways. The AIRmatic suspension had lost all of its air, and the car was more or less sitting on the ground. The steering was hopelessly locked. Providing battery power did absolutely nothing. I gave the man his money, and it took six adults and a 12000# winch 90 minutes to get the car on my trailer.


I had my own, true to life barn find! My son and I stopped to eat, and to bask in the glory of our new prize!



We got the car home, but not before we stopped at a car wash, and knocked down the filth at least one level, and made the car a bit more appealing to Donna. It didn't matter. She declared the car hopeless. Oh, challenge accepted. Game on! With the help of MB gurus @Dave2302 and Deplore, we spent the next two weeks going through all imaginable tests. I did manage to repair the ECU, and bench checked it. However we found that the front right Pre-fuse, front SAM, EIS, ELV, and a ton of other smaller items all needed replacing and/or reprogramming. Stepping me through DAS and making heavy use of the XHorse VVDI MB key tool, I am happy to report that the engine sprang to life! And it runs beautifully!



The steering was still locked, and I had a ton of error codes from throughout the car. In addition the car's suspension refused to lift, so the car was at this point stuck in the middle of my yard where we managed to get it unloaded from the trailer. After a few more days of tinkering, Deplore delivered the 'secret sauce' it took to unlock the steering (and I didn't even need a cutter, drill or jackhammer!). After repairing a few air lines, the rear and front left of the car rose. Unfortunately a fitting in the front right is broken, and I am currently awaiting replacement. However, the other three corners came up enough to be able to move the car, and that's what I did. The car moved all of 40 feet under its own power for the first time in years.

After inspecting things it appears the car has a few tasty mods, in addition to the nice BBS wheels on it. There are headers and big downpipes, and a larger crank pulley, along with an ECU tune. The A/C blows cold, and even the radio decided to work! Three of the four rats were eliminated, and I am hoping that traps set for the fourth are successful, soon. As soon as the rodents are confirmed to be deceased, the car can come in the shop for the usual litany of M112/M113 fix ups. New belts, plugs, valve cover gaskets, oil, filters, and in this car's case: the addition of an engine mount. That's right, addition! The right side engine mount is not in the car! Perfect opportunity to raise up the engine, and also address an E-class weakness of oil pump pickup tube o-rings. This is a common high mileage failure that results in a blown engine. We don't want that to happen, so the oil pan will be coming off, and the o-rings replaced. After that, new motor mounts, fluids, and a LOT of cleaning.

Next up will be roadworthiness fixes, and interior deep clean, along with a headliner replacement. A ton of thanks to both @Dave2302 and @Deplore. Without them, this would have been most assuredly a parts car. They have helped me meet Donna's challenge! BTW, now she is hoping this will become her daily driver. Keep watching here for more progress!