‘Fewer Than 200 Came To The USA’

Many of today’s performance cars are simply loud when they’re standing still. They just look aggressive with their over-the-top aero and yawning grilles, giving away their intent before they even start to move. However, there was a time when manufacturers could be more subtle, and this was the case for Mercedes-Benz in 2005. It brought a particular wagon into the US in vanishingly small numbers that turned out to be the ultimate sleeper buy. When parked, it looked perfect for school runs or airport pickups, but beneath the surface it had enough torque to embarrass contemporary sports cars. And today, collectors have rediscovered its existence.

Mercedes Barely Told America This Existed

Mercedes originally introduced its US-market W211-generation E55 AMG Sedan in 2003. It was quite an ordinary executive car on the outside, but the vehicle nevertheless hid significant performance beneath the surface. Mercedes then decided to bring in a very small number of wagons to the country on special order, and they arrived for the 2005 model year. One enthusiast source claims that Mercedes imported only 193 of these vehicles into the country, and another put the figure at only 126 E55 AMG wagons coming here for the 2005 and 2006 model years. It’s probably safe to fewer than 200 came to the USA.

This was a time when Mercedes was in full “subtlety mode”, as the company preferred its vehicles to do much of their talking through performance, rather than styling or presentation. As such, the company made no real effort to broadcast the E55 wagon’s capability. Instead, the car wore slightly deeper bumpers, 18-inch wheels, quad exhaust outlets, and came with a discreet V8 Kompressor badge. Other than that, it looked remarkably restrained, and a casual observer wouldn’t give the Mercedes a second glance in a supermarket lot, unaware that there was a 469-hp engine under the hood.

The Wagon Was Quicker Than The Sedan

Credit: Mercedes-Benz

The centerpiece of the E55 wagon was AMG’s M113K V8 engine, a supercharged development of the already well-proven M113 unit. It displaced 5.4 liters and, with an IHI supercharger pushing air into the V8, generated 469 horsepower at 6,100 rpm and 516 pound-feet of torque from just 2,650 rpm. Those were some serious performance numbers in the early 2000s and would be quite impressive today, and AMG sent all that output through to the rear wheels via a five-speed automatic transmission.

Independent testing recorded a 4.1-second sprint to 60 mph and a 12.5-second quarter mile at 114 mph. According to those testers, the E55 wagon also accelerated harder than the E55 sedan, even if it packed an additional 256 pounds. This superiority may have been down to weight distribution. After all, the sedan was carrying just 47% of its weight over the rear axle, compared with 51% for the wagon, which may have helped the rear tires find traction. So, even though the E55 wagon had a theoretically more practical body, it was still slightly more capable than the sedan itself.

The M113K Is Why Enthusiasts Still Want One

Credit: Valnet/Carbuzz

AMG’s M113K engine is one of its most potent creations, dating back to an era when outright performance was still cool. This was before AMG shrank back into a world of small-displacement turbocharged V8s, cylinder deactivation, complicated hybrid systems, or electrified powertrains.

The M113K had a relatively simple design. It was an aluminum V8 with one camshaft per cylinder bank, three valves per cylinder, and a large supercharger between the heads. And it delivered its power quite differently from the naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8 that would later replace it in the E63 AMG.

The M113K produced a significant wall of torque right away while the driver of the E63 had to rely on plenty of revs. This made the supercharged E55 feel really fast without its driver having to chase the red line. The five-speed automatic box seemed to suit the engine’s personality as well and was quite capable of handling its torque. Although it didn’t have the rapid-fire shifts commonly associated with a modern dual-clutch transmission.

Enthusiasts can sample this fabled M113K in the far more common E55 sedan, and it must be one of the relative AMG bargains today. But in the used world, collectors are now starting to chase the wagon. Its rarity may make it a great catch, and it also combines the sought-after M113K in a body style that was always relatively rare in America.

Sources: Mercedes-Benz, Bring a Trailer.

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This article originally appeared on CarBuzz and is republished here with permission.