5 Hot AMG Mercs You Can Bag For Under £10,000

The superb new Mercedes A45 AMG might now be the entry level hot Merc, but at £37,000 before you even add any of the eye-wateringly expensive options, it ain't cheap. Happily, there are some superb - and much cheaper - alternative ways of getting a 'Benz with those exciting three letters on the bootlid on the used market.

1. C36/C43

It seems fitting to kick this list off with the C36, as it's not only the cheapest way into AMG ownership, it's also the first 'official' AMG. Before this car, AMG were a third party tuning company, but an agreement in the early 90s would see AMGs sell through proper Mercedes dealerships, before the German car maker took a controlling stake in 1999.

Using a heavily modified version of the M104 inline-six, bored out to 3.6 litres, the C36 puts out a respectable 280bhp. Mated to an auto 'box, it's a much more laid back proposition than its original rival, the E36 BMW M3, but it's also a lot cheaper to buy and run, with prices starting at a mere £3000. This example looks to have been cared for, with a full service history.

Fancy a couple of extra cylinders? A later C43 like this can be bagged for not much more, and it packs a lightly modified M113 4.3-litre V8. There are only 20 extra horses to play with, but the soundtrack makes it worth a look. Interested? Check for rust around the wheel arches, a common problem for the W202 C-Class, and do your research if you want a C43, as problems have been reported with the gearbox.

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2. CLK55 (C209)

That's right, you can pick up the hot AMG version of Merc's pretty second-gen CLK for as little as £7k. Of course, it's not going to be as exciting as the ultra-rare DTM or later CLK63 'Black' limited edition models, but with a 354bhp V8 packed into a coupe body for very little cash, you can't go wrong.

This CLK has reasonable mileage and a full service history, so could be worth a go. You'll have to pay a bit more if you want a convertible, but you will be able to hear that delectable V8 noise a little better.

3. SLK32

The standard first-gen SLK was never a particularly exciting car, but AMG was able to produce a corker out of it. A supercharged 3.2 litre V6 producing over 350bhp makes for a pretty potent package in the dinky SLK, propelling the roadster to 60 in only 4.5 seconds.

If that sounds like a tempting purchase, give this one a look; it's well priced and has reasonable mileage for the year. Make sure you check the clever folding hard top functions properly though, as problems can be pricey to sort out.

4. E55 (W211)

350bhp not enough for you? Look no further. For the quick version of the W211 E-Class, AMG strapped a supercharger to the already powerful 5.4 M113 V8 to drag the power up to a titanic 469bhp.

The bodywork of a W211 E-Class should fare much better than the rot-prone W210 that preceded it, but as with many Mercedes, pay attention to the electrics. E55s have big kit lists, so there's a lot that can go wrong, and predictably it can cost a pretty penny to put right. This 2003 model breaks our theoretical £10k budget by a fraction, but it's worth it for the lower mileage and FSH.

5. CL65

If the E55 isn't quite exciting enough, look no further than the CL65, with its twin-turbocharged 6.0-litre V12. It has an epic 600bhp on tap, but it's the torque figure that's the most impressive, at a tyre-shredding 738lb/ft. There are never many of these bonkers CL65s on the used market, but incredibly, examples do occasionally crop up for not much over 10 grand.

Electrics will always be a bit of a worry on a CL of this vintage, and if you drive it properly you'll probably get through a set of boots every week, but with all that power for £10,000 it has to be worth a go. Is it possible to do better for the cash? We don't think so.

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