I'm currently looking for a 500E. Is there a particular year I should be focusing on? I'm curretly driving a 2000 E55 now...Do they pretty much drive the same?

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Make it a great day!
Jay E.

E55 '00 (Silver)
....SOLD

E500 '94 (Pearl Black)
...love my E500 so much!

Toyota FX-16 GTS '87 (Very Red)
...stored in my garage

Audi 4000CS Quattro '87 (Alpine White)
...Totalled

Mitsubushi Montero '91 (Blue)
...my daily ride

The 1992 500E has a slight bit more hp over the 1993-1994 (326 vs 315) but other than a few cosmetic differences on the newer models they are essentially the same beasts. I haven't driven a newer E55 but heard it has even more hp and torque while being more plush of a ride. Are you looking to replace or add to your stable? I know if you can find a decent one they can be had for very reasonable amounts of geld considering they were $80 grand plus new.

Jim
1992 500E

A 500E is a stiffer car than an E55 in that it's simply more brutish in its feel. The E55 requires less effort to work the controls, so when I drove one everything felt overboosted to me.

Performance-wise they are similar, although many believe the E55 is quicker. I do know the E55 feels quicker, and much of that may have to do with its lacking the adaptive rear suspension of the 500Es-when you launch a 500E hard, the rear struts stiffen so much that there's virtually no squat. Nice feature, but it veils the rate at which you're picking up speed.

Good luck with your search!

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"If God had meant for us to walk, why did he give us feet that fit car pedals?" Sir Sterling Moss

Michael
2014 E63S Estate
2006 SLK55
1995 E500
1986 Porsche 944 turbo

Michael, my impression of the stock 500E is that it's actually quite soft. Are you talking about a 500E with upgraded tire/wheels?

Also, my understanding of the self-leveling rear suspensio on the 500E is that it's designed strictly for compensating heavy load, similar to the one on the 560SL and not so much as an active suspension?

In general, I find the E55 easier to push fast especially since it has all the electronic enhancements like ESP.

Don't get me wrong-the 500E is quite a plush vehicle, but as far as driver inputs go a 500E requires more brake & gas pedal pressure to do their thing, and the steering is less boosted.

As to tire/wheel upgrades, I felt that installing 17s had minimal impact on ride quality.

The adaptive rear suspension on a 500E is more sophisticated than the units on TEs, Sls and others I know. My rear end stays VERY flat on hard cornering, so I'm pretty sure that rear suspension's doing more than load-leveling alone.

As to pushing it fast, a 500E definitely has less of a safety blanket in that it comes with ASR & ABS only. As to whether it's easier or harder to push, all I know is that if you do, it's a BLAST

__________________
"If God had meant for us to walk, why did he give us feet that fit car pedals?" Sir Sterling Moss

Michael
2014 E63S Estate
2006 SLK55
1995 E500
1986 Porsche 944 turbo

Yeah, that push on your back is certainly addictive! One very good aspect of the 500E is that it's even more of a wolf in sheep's skin.

I'd simply add that 500E brakes work fabulously-only time they fail to amaze is when subjected to hard track use-buy race pads and you're set

As to E55 brakes, they're even bigger so must be quite impressive too

__________________
"If God had meant for us to walk, why did he give us feet that fit car pedals?" Sir Sterling Moss

Michael
2014 E63S Estate
2006 SLK55
1995 E500
1986 Porsche 944 turbo

The 500E's rear self-levelling has some additional springs in the strut for anti-squat/dive.

The front struts have additional buffers esp. since the front sway-bar is actually not as stiff as a SportLine swaybar.

:-) neil