When Benz and AMG Team Up on a Sedan This Is What You Get:
The E350AMG, The Sedan for the Man.
When I set out all those many years ago to buy my first used car, I wanted a powerful four-door sedan. In those days in Canada there were basically three classes of good used sedans to choose from in the “sane” price bracket: 1) boring, 2) classy, 3) muscular. The fourth option, the sports sedan, was something that Europeans had. We didn’t have that. Nope.
The Boring Sedans had, by the standards of the E350AMG that we are looking at here, crappy braking and crappy handling and were gutless. Looks were nothing to write home about either. The Classy Sedans had better looks, but still no handling or braking to celebrate. The Muscular Sedans, with American muscle car engines and drive trains, had so much power that, when you floored the throttle, you’d leave your face behind you, five seconds ago and 60mph behind you. But you did have to have positraction (an LSD) to do that, otherwise it was just burnout city.
And you had to have all that fun in a straight line, and not expect to stop all particularly quickly either; unless you whacked into a wall or into the rear end of the guy in front of you. That would stop you right quick.
The Fourth Option
But these days there is a fourth option: The sports sedan; just what we are looking at now.
A proper sports sedan like this Benz E350AMG has got the classic looks, the excellent handling, the strong braking, and the big-time power that would have been my sedan ideal back when I got my first set of wheels. My guy had it good on the power and O.K. on the looks, but handling? Forget it. Brakes? Big huge drums all around. Not something that I’d want to rely on today. And what was that old car of mine? A 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme with four doors. Pretty well like this guy here, but I had the black landau roof.
I know that it’s no comparison to a 2009 E350 AMG, but it was what I could get at the time and no regrets. (He sure taught me to respect the pedal on the right. And then he taught me to dream of having an LSD.)
What You Get with a Good Used E350 AMG from Japan
The Benz 350AMG is the perfect mid-size sports sedan. He’s got lots of room inside: roomy cabin for driver and passengers and a quite big and deep boot for lots of luggage. He’s got lots of power under the hood with 270ps coming in at 6,000rpm and 36kgm at a nice low 2,400rpm. The car only weighs just under 1,700kg (3,740lbs) so you’ve got very nice power to weight (say, 6.2) and torque to weight (say 48) ratios. (Of course, Sir, it’s an AMG.) You’ve got the AMG sport package and the twin exhaust and aero front bumper that come with the package.
He’s an excellent cruiser but not a “big hog,” and this is a key point of the value of the E350 vs. some of the other AMG super rocket cars: decent economy. The E350 AMG is, of course, the AMG “take” on the E-Class Mercedes sedan, which I’ve always thought has usually been the consistent best seller in the Benz stable. (Fellow petrol heads, correct me if I’m wrong on this.) So it’s kind of mid range, executive luxury but no bloat.
Our E350 AMG here went “back home” to Europe, as so many of our high end German used cars do. He’s a perfect example of why it is best to find your used German sports sedans and luxury sedans here in Japan and then ship the car you choose back to your home country using the safe and efficient shipping systems that we use at Japan Car Direct. (We arrange all the shipping and Japan-side documentation for you. You can find out about the whole process of buying a used German car from Japan here.)
Buying a good used Mercedes Benz from Japan means that, for reasonable money, you are getting a car in better condition and with lower miles on him than you can get for the same money if you buy in Europe. It’s very straightforward. Japanese owners of high end German machines absolutely treasure them and, interestingly enough, don’t put anywhere near the number of kilometers on their machines as is typically the case in Continental Europe or the UK. Check out the odometer here, guys, look at this: only 68,077 kms (42,301 miles) on our used E350AMG:
So, yeah, loved cars in good shape at good prices, and with low mileages. See here on our JCD site for more on the whole topic of good used German cars from Japan.
Lots of Good Used German Cars from Japan
This very fine example of the fourth generation of Mercedes Benz’s E-Class sedan was found here in Japan and is now in the possession of a very satisfied customer in Europe. We quite commonly export fine German LHD luxury cars and sports cars back to Europe because these cars are treasured and well maintained by their Japanese owners, and when they come up for sale at the Japanese used car auctions or at the car dealers or private sales here, we can make them available to buyers worldwide who are seeking a quality second hand piece of the best of German engineering.
Like this 2009 E350 AMG with only 68,000kms on it.
With its all-alloy 3.5 liter V6 keeping front end weight down, the E350 has an excellent weight distribution of 930kgs over the front axle and 830kgs over the rear axle. All the luxury and high tech safety features are here in this car and yet, being an AMG, the sportiness that Benz combines so well with the luxury for which they are justly so famous gives what must be nearly the perfect driving experience for a vehicle in this luxury sports sedan class.
And the body design gives another of Mercedes Benz’s signature combinations: Full size sedan luxury plus that “don’t mess with me” hard body look that is just so “Benz.” This car speaks for its owner and says: “I’m here. I know what I’m doing. And I know how to do it.”
- Mercedes Benz AMG 300TE
- Porsche Boxster
- Mercedes Benz SL55 AMG
- Porsche 911 Turbo 930
- Mercedes Benz AMG CLS63
- Audi TTS
What do you think? Nice, eh? And these cars are just some examples of the sorts of high end German iron that is moving from Japan and going “back home.” And these are just my recent personal faves.
Popular Destinations for Used German Cars from Japan:
Germany! Poland! USA! UK!
With the newer used German cars from Japan, our most popular destinations are Germany and Poland. (You’ll find the import regulations for Germany here and for Poland here.)
But we also have customers in the UK who are looking for good German cars with UK-side drive (right hand drive / RHD) and, since Japan and the UK drive on the same side, the selection of used RHD German cars in Japan is high. (UK shipping regs are here.)
For the older and classic German cars, especially your air-cooled Porsche 911s, our American customers (see here) for the import regulations for the USA) have a serious appetite for these beauties.
These treasures are so sought after now. You’ll find our Porsche 911 from Japan page here, and our Porsche 911 Blog posts here and here.
So, from Benz to Porsche, from AMG to BMW, if you want to buy a good used German car from Japan you are in a good position these days (time of writing: mid 2021) to get the car you want at a good price.
Turning back to our Mercedes Benz E-Class AMG sedan here, the feedback we got from our customer in Europe was that he was very happy with this car. Very happy. This was the sedan that he wanted. This E350AMG was certainly the sedan for that man.
If you are looking for good used German iron, your car is here in Japan and we can help you find him and ship him home. Register with us here and we’ll get the luxury wheels rolling.
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