2002 Mercedes Benz C32 AMG

2002 Mercedes Benz C32 AMG

This was actually a really cool and fun car.  The AMG company has been around modifying Mercedes since the 60's, but I would argue that this was the first car of the modern era when they were tuning them as an in-house group - kind of like the M Sports division for BMW.  It made a difference.  Older AMG Mercs were sort of "aftermarket-y", but this one felt like a factory car with attitude.

The C-Class is the smallest of what I call the "adult" Mercedes, and they're a bit too small for me to be honest.  I wouldn't have bought this car as a long-term driver, but I definitely drove it while I had it.  It's luxurious, yes, but it's also fun. That's what AMG added to this car.  Today's C63 is a maniac!  It's a true beast, but this one wasn't quite over the top.  That was its charm.

There are styling and cosmetic updates, but the engine is what got the majority of AMG's attention.  This is a supercharged 6-cylinder and it puts out about 350 horsepower.  More than enough for a car that isn't overly weighted.  On sticky roads you could pull a 0-60 time of 5.2 seconds.  That's very quick - today.  

I liked just about everything with regards to the interior - I just needed it to all be a bit bigger.  That's a statement about me more than it is about the car really.  If you like 3-series BMW's, you'll love the way this one feels.  

When I bought this car it was only a few years old, but it had about 70K miles on the clock.  It certainly didn't look it though.  I never had a single problem in the year or so I owned mine, but I've heard horror stories about maintenance on these.

I liked my car in the quintessential Mercedes silver.  It also looks fantastic in the MB 'Mars Red' color.  Regardless, you can buy these today for very little money. The only thing that should give you pause is the maintenance, but that can be said for a lot of cars really.  They made these for only three years, and I've heard only 1500 per year.  These will be collectible someday, but that's not a reason to buy one, and is a long way off.  You buy this car to drive.  If you're thinking about an older M3, you should really give the C32 a look.