My first post...forgive me if I sound like a total NEWBIE!!!
dberrym...I, too, am from San Diego and was wondering why you went all the way to Chicago to take delivery on your E55? I am in the market for an '04 - '06 E55 and was just curious. I joined this to learn about the pros and cons of this car. Thanks guys!
Welcome and good luck in your E55 search - it's a good time to get a great deal on these cars.
My E500 came from Chicago - I bought it at the Mannheim auction there. I got a great price, at the time I bought it (2006) E500's were selling at auction for up to $3K less in Chi-town over the Riverside and NorCal auction prices. Plus I wanted to do a road trip.
The E55 was picked up in NorCal. Found and bought it same day from a broker that had a deal go south and was willing to be aggressive for a "buy it cash" deal.
Barry
PS - daily driving is seeing 17-18 MPG in the E55 with a mix of 85 MPH and stop and go freeway commuting; 15 on back roads.
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Barry Mattingly
current toy list:
'03 E500 - now Wife's daily driver
'04 E55 - MY daily driver
'69 911 - vintage/SCCA GT2 racecar (owned 28 years )
'87 930T - for sale (owned 19 years!)
FFR Cobra - for fun
'05 Excursion V10 (toy puller)
So I just got home from picking up my '04 E55, over 400 miles in one day...about 200 m iles at 80-90 MPH on I5, almost three hours going through LA late afternoon traffic (15 mph average), and another sprint at 85 or so to San Diego.
I got, per onboard trip computer, 11.5 MPG in 60 miles of stop and go traffic; about 14 MPG during 60 miles of mixed traffic (i.e. up to 80, back down to stop, up to 80 for a few miles, back to a stop, etc - this was over the Grapevine, so factor in steeply climbing and descending terrain), and 17.4 from the 80-85 MPH stretch between OC and SD. AC was on the entire time and part of the I5 north of the Central Coast area was spent at over 100+ (quiet, don't tell anyone) with the trip computer showing 8 MPG...
I'm expecting 14-15 MPG in daily driving with the E55 - over the same roads, in 2 years of daily driving, my E500 has averaged about 17-18 MPG. Again, I have a heavy foot and am somewhet aggressive.
Your biggest problem with either car, but particularly with the E55, will be staying out of the throttle, just to hear that V8 growl. : )
Barry
You drive like me!
My 55 is a daily driver and in the city (with hills), I average around 14mpg. As you know, it's hard to keep the car at 70 because it just begs to go faster, but IF you can, I've been getting around 21MPG. My best so far is 24mpg.
If you are worried about gas mileage you are in the wrong place my friend. The E55 is horrible on gas. Hell, if you bought the car brand new you got socked with a $1700 gas guzzler tax. That should be explanation enough. If you are looking for economy this is not the car. I will tell you this, nothing else is more fun to drive! They are awesome cars! Speed, luxury, technology, and comfort. economic NO! More fun than an Escalade though. They get about the same gas mileage as that. Bad! Who cares just buy it. You only live once!
My 55 is a daily driver and in the city (with hills), I average around 14mpg. As you know, it's hard to keep the car at 70 because it just begs to go faster, but IF you can, I've been getting around 21MPG. My best so far is 24mpg.
But hey, you gotta pay to play.
Actually, I've been surprised with the E55, in about 1200 miles since picking it up I am getting around 16 MPG in daily driving, which includes a fair amount of stop and go traffic (CA style - up to 80, stop, up to 80, stop, repeat ). On a recent trip to Julian, through the 2-lane twisties as fast as conditions and traffic allowed, I saw almost 20 MPG over 120 miles. Not bad for 469hp...
I have a 2007 E63 not E500/E55 and live in Canada like the original poster.
On the highway I get 12L/100km (20mpg US) at 1000m (3500'). In the city stop and really really GO, I get 18L/100km. (13mpg US) Best mileage was closer to sea level, 10.0L/100km = 23.5mpg on a US gallon.
I only drive 10,000 km per year, or 6,000 miles in the E63. Say it depreciates $20,000/year (I wish! looking at the $23,000 cash back the dealer is offering on the new ones).
Metric: depreciation is about $2/km, fuel is about $0.20.
or in US, depreciate about $3.30/mile, fuel is about $0.32/mile.
The kicker is, I spend 10x as much on depreciation as I do on fuel. So the price of fuel even when oil is $150/bbl is of no consequence.
). On a recent trip to Julian, through the 2-lane twisties as fast as conditions and traffic allowed, I saw almost 20 MPG over 120 miles. Not bad for 469hp... 
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