While the "fast flagship" sedan is commonplace amongst manufacturers today, that certainly was not not standard in the early-mid 2000s. Save for the Audi S8 and a few others, most manufacturers didn't feel immediately compelled to throw a 500+hp engine into their largest and most expensive sedans. Now, of course, the practice is commonplace and that is due in very large part to the success of the W220 S55 AMG.
While we've written ad nauseum about the problems with early W220 sedans, we haven't written enough about the bright spots in that line, and this car is certainly one of them.
Powered by the long-adored M113K (following the 2003 facelift), this beast pushed 496 horses and 516 ft-lbs of torque when new. Save for the potentially terrifying (but brilliant to drive) ABC suspension system, this car seems to sit right in the pocket of hair-raising AMG fun without too many frightening "OMG please don't break" components to deride the ownership experience. Any MB enthusiast knows how robust (and tune-able) these M113Ks are, so if the 5G transmission holds up, you're going to get smiles for miles from this super-sedan.
This specific S55 AMG, located out of Newport Beach, CA is finished in the exceedingly rare combination of Alabaster White paint over Anthracite Nappa leather interior. The car is also well-optioned with Parktronic and Keyless-Go boxes ticked on the original window sticker. Ideally, the jack-hole covers should be repainted as they have discolored over time (surprisingly common for MB's of this era). On the bright side, they're all original and this S55 is accident free.
But the key to this MBs heart is the nice maintenance efforts by the seller and previous owners. These cars can be worth "a billion or a bagel" in today's market depending on the prior owner's efforts and this example commands a price concomitant with its history. At an asking price of $21,000, this is certainly priced well into the top of the W220 S55 market for a car with 75,000 miles, but the rare color combination and strong maintenance history might be enough to get the seller his number of choice.
The seller, @imolazcp on Instagram - who sent us this listing as a reader of @theMBmarket - just wrapped brand new Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rubber on the wheels to follow the fresh 75k mile service, so the car is freshly prepped for a new Ishmael who needs to find and hook his (or her) own white whale.
December 1st, 2020 update: The seller has notified us the car is now live on auction with Bring A Trailer. The full BaT listing along with the ability to bid can be found here.
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