Dziner82

Hey all,
to build on the momentum of the maintenance ***** thread that 03basesedan started up a bit ago...

i just purchased a 2001 CLK55. i had been watching them online for about 8 months and finally one popped up when i was ready to buy. Interestingly enough the dealership i got it from said it was online for awhile but i searched online pretty good and it never showed up for me until about 2 weeks ago so i think they must have had some of the info on the car wrong that was causing it to not pop up when searching for CLK55.

anyways, on to the car. Its black/black with 57,000 miles. 2 owner car, the dealership i got it from had serviced the car for the past 3 years that i know of.

overall i would say the car is in 7/10 shape and with a bit of work i think i can easily get it to 8-8.5 of 10

here are the main issues on the car when I got it:
drivetrain/chassis:
-no issues that i know of, the valve cover gaskets were leaking/seeping a bit but the dealership replaced them as part of the sale.

exterior
- front bumper is missing the lower grille trim peice and has a fair amount of scratches on it but no cracks that i saw. also 2 holed int he front center from the license plate bracket that i dont need in michigan. will check with the body shop if they can patch those or better to just leave them there and paint over. i dont want body filler popping off the car if the bumper flexes when hitting autox cones at speed.
- rear bumper has a bunch of scratches as well, i plan to have both bumpers repainted- passenger side has a bunch of scratches down the side of about half the length of the car, not deep at all, hopefully they can be buffed out
- there is no rust on the car, and i didnt see any dents really
-wheels have bad oxidation on the machined lips just like the ones on my C43, anyone know if when you go to a wheel refinishing place are they able to salvage the lips or do they have to grind the oxidation down and just paint over it?

interior
- seats have no tears but are cracked pretty bad in many places.
- there is an issue with the pneumatic system, when you start the car it tries to air up for a few mins then just stops and no pneumatics work. but im pretty sure this is because on the passenger side the top of the seat control is popped off and air shoots out of the lower portion of the controller. It looks like the plastic snap fir inthe front of the controller is broken off and thats why it separated. i try to pop it back on but i cant seem to get it to go back together. anyone have a link to a thread or a schematic on how this piece goes together or comes apart? ive only halfheartedly messed with it since its so cold out, so im hoping thats an easy fix. i sort of planned on swapping the stock heavy seats out for racing seats anyways, but not sure when i will actually do that.
- no sound from the radio, the dealer thinks its the amp and is supposed to buy and ship me a used one. again, hoping once i swap the amp it will be up and running. it has the command system, which i need to look into more to see if any of the features of that are still useful?
- driver side mirror has a bronze tint and kind of blurry (i think this is an issue that happens often?), passenger mirror is ok but i swear over time it slowly points itself downward and i have to re-adjust it back to the optimum position.
the wood trim on the drivers door seat controls is warping away from the door trim, like rolling up at the edges a bit. its odd but its still on there pretty good and not flimsy at all, so i dont want to push on it to hard in fear it will snap.
- everything else in the interior is still working as it should be.

the car was stock, which i liked so i know what im dealing with when i decide to change anything.

i will try to post some pics soon once it warms up a bit outside. i bought the car in connecticut and drive it home to Michigan. it was a nice ride and the car felt great.

my c43 will move over to my daily driver once i turn in my lease vehicle in april and the CLK55 will become my motorsports car; track days and autocross.

I will have to double check compatibility but my plan is to swap over the bilstein B8 shocks from the C43 to this car. also the adjustable rear camber arms on the C43 will go to this car, and i plan to get a set of H&R springs for this car to lower it just a bit and a bit stiffer to match the B8's.

i love the power increase, its not as noticeable from a stop or slow speeds but when you are holding rpms in 3rd gear and you punch it i can really tell how the extra torque kicks in and catapults you up near the triple digits much faster than in the C43

do you guys know where the redline limits are for mph in each gear on this car? i haven't really tested it yet. on the C43 1st gets you to about 37mph, 2nd is about 68, 3rd is 100ish, and 4th is really high, never got high enough on a track to know where 4th tops out at, somewhere near 150 ive heard. just wondering if its the same gears on this car.

I look forward to really getting acquainted with the car once it warms up a bit and spending more time onthis board and not just eh C43 forum . seems like forever since i was researching these cars so its really nice to actually have it! spring cant come soon enough!

GatorMB

Hey DZ,

Sounds like you found a real GEM that has potential to hold value for some time.

I hate to see cars like this with low miles going to the race track full time but if it makes you feel any better I autocross as well. My car is a bit more seasoned so to speak.

I can help you with some of the inquiries.

The Pneumatic seats will start working once all leaks are discovered and resolved. The disconnects for them are cumbersome and brittle by now. There is no harm when they break. You will need some Poly tubing some brass or similar splice fittings and a cigarette lighter to repair them.

A glue on replacement mirror can be found on Ebay use silicon as the double back tape will loose adhesion and sag eventually.

Your driving habits will determine the shift points and the power curve because the car has adaptive strategy. This means if you slumber from light to light on Friday and race on Saturday the car will disappoint until you learn to reset the systems.

I usually reset once a month after commuting through the sea of Asian imports.

On Autocross day 2nd gear is all I normally use. I stay within the cars SCCA class B and remain competitive with Mustang and BMW. My autocross efforts are mostly to keep my driving skills well honed and share chatter with the other folks. It is for fun and something to do with all that muscle without damaging the car.

You can find seat parts on e-bay but consider installing some recaro racing seats for road courses.

Enjoy, Gator


Note: You will never hit a Cone again. This chassis is a charm

Dziner82

Gator,
thanks for the feedback.

half the reason i want to take this car to the track is simply because the AMGs have no representation there
i see C63s every now and then but never the older stuff, i love being different

well noted on the seat system, im hoping if it can just pop the top of the control unit next to the seat back on it will be good to go. if that doesn't work then i might just start looking into a set of recaros as you mention.

i saw on pelican parts the auto dimming mirror is the one on the drivers side and much more expensive than the passenger mirror. will check ebay next. i did just order the Bose amp off ebay yesterday.

for the shift points, i understand the adaptive shifting, but thats only in standard 'D' setting right? when you use the touch shift it will hold gear until redline until you bump it up to the next gear (of course you know this) but doing the 'manual shifts' the MPH per gear is fixed based on the ratios of the transmission right?

im assuming the gearing is similar to the C43, but i know this is a slightly upgraded transmission. in autocross with the C43 i was usually in 1st and 2nd only as well. but with the added torque of the 55 engine i may be able to use 2nd more and 1st i imagine will be pretty torque-y... cant wait to test it out

just a cpl hours ago i ordered the H&R springs and then went outside in the 10 degree cold weather to do the weekly startup for both cars. im ready for winter to be over!

GatorMB

but doing the 'manual shifts' the MPH per gear is fixed based on the ratios of the transmission right?

Good question I never questioned the abilities based on the speed. I watch the tacho. save the engine, trans, brakes, tires lastly.


Most of the courses I have been on are engineered for P cars. Holeshot is a instant turn or a reverse chicane with serpentine cones, depends on the amount of space available for the track.
We can top end with them but tend to plow once the tires are heated.
I try it both ways and first gear leaving the hole into the hair pins is rough. It is best to utilize brakes rather than downshift all the time. My 2 cents.

Best, Gator

03basesedan

I like this thread :-)

floridawriter

The Pneumatic seats will start working once all leaks are discovered and resolved. The disconnects for them are cumbersome and brittle by now. There is no harm when they break. You will need some Poly tubing some brass or similar splice fittings and a cigarette lighter to repair them.

Gator, can you expand on this for those of us with non-functioning seats?

Dziner82

in the c43 i found there was seconds to be gained by downshifting into first but that was with 60lb/ft less torque than the CLK55 :-)
was also wondering about the shiftpoints via mph for dragstrip results. the C43 only shifts twice in the 1/4 mile, but its at the very top of 3rd at the end trapping at 98-99 mph. articles on the CLK55 say it traps the quarter at 105-107 so im wondering if thats still in 3rd or if it has to shift into 4th at that point i will find out here in a couple more cold months ;-)

Dziner82

still too cold to go out and snap pics of the car and all the small problems i know of so far, though i did make the following progress:

- received the H&R springs in the mail from tire rack
- made an appt at a local shop (different one than i had been taking the C43 to) to get an oil change and inspection.
- received a used bose amp in the mail from ebay, again too cold to go out and swap it to see if that fixes my audio problem
- got a quote from the local wheel refinishing guy, see attached pic of the wheel, all 4 are about in the same shape, though this wheel maybe the worst. the C43 wheels have the same issues but slightly less corrosion/oxidation

Dziner82

gator,
for your mirror fix above you are saying to just get a regular non dimming mirror and tape it on top of the blurry stock one?

im finding that replacement auto dimming mirrors are not cheap anywhere

so far i haven't found a non dimming mirror that i can just swap out for the existing one. the non dimming passenger mirror is not that expensive, so i would do that if i could.

GatorMB

Gator, can you expand on this for those of us with non-functioning seats?

I sure can:


This is the type of quick disconnect found on the pneumatic connection for the seat. Breaks easy




This is instrument rated pneumatic tubing, brass fitting is barbed. use a cigarette lighter to bond them to the benz tubing.


I was in HVAC control systems at one time. other materials might be available at the local hardware but this works for me.

gator,
for your mirror fix above you are saying to just get a regular non dimming mirror and tape it on top of the blurry stock one?


Yes, I have dark tinted windows and it is suitable for screaming headlights in my mirror.
The E-bay is supplied with double back tape, In Florida rain and heat will degrade the tape.

I used some black RTV silicon to make it right. No thrills but it was cheap and will never discolor again.


Filling cooler for the Daytona 500.


Enjoy, Gator

Dziner82

well, a few updates on the car. I had a chance to have a full inspection done at a local German shop nearby that i trust. here is the laundry list:

- Steering wheel is off center (will fix with alignment)
- There is a driveline noise from rear that may be tires, bearings or differential (they looked into this with stethoscope, cannot find any issues the noise is not loud and may be normal for the car, or may just be the tires)
- Right rear quarter panel appears to have been replaced (no big deal)
- Lower front bumper is broken and grill is missing (i have the part for the grille but will try to repair the front bumper since its so expensive for a new one, the bumper repair will come after the mechanical stuff)
- Antenna wire is dangling from rear bumper (they secured this)
- Trunk button grommet is torn (will post a pic soon, I need to try and find the part # for this, all i can find is the full assembly for the trunk button and lock, i cannot find just the rubber grommet)
- Driver's side of cowl is broken and loose (i snapped this back into place, seems fine to me)
- Left rear seat backrest cable is loose (this is the cable to release the seatbacks in the trunk, looks like it might just be able to pop back into place, haven't investigated it further)
- Veneer on driver's seat switch is peeling (this is annoying and a visual eyesore, but doesn't affect anything so this will be on the back burner)
- Glove box dampening seems too stiff (no big deal, back burner)
- The rear sunshade went up but does not go down (we got it back down, but it just needs a new switch, cheap repair but back burner for now)
- Segments of instrument cluster illumination are inoperative (looks like one bulb in the cluster is out, still easy to see at night so... back burner)
- Stereo is inoperative and antenna is broken (roof antenna is not broken(?), just missing the cover, so its an exposed wire right now, i ordered the cover. Also received the replacement amp from ebay, swapped it out and radio is working now!)
- Right rear brake hose is twisted (will replace with SS lines when i swap the brakes with C43)
- Front brake pads are worn (will replace with brake swap)
- Front brake rotors are below minimum thickness specification (will replace with brake swap)
- Air filter is dirty (will replace)
- Fuel filter appears original (ordered filter, will replace)
- Engine mounts are worn and tearing (ordered parts, will replace, along with the trans mount)
- Differential leaks from pinion seal (the shop replaced the seal)
- Left front wheel bearing has slight play (seems odd for a car with low miles, will have another shop that will do some of the other work inspect the bearing again, they mentioned it may need 'adjustment'?)
- All four tires have slight feathering on inside edges (no big deal)
- Front lower ball joints have play (ordered parts,replacing these)
- Both front wheels are bent. (wheel refinishing guy repaired these)

So it seemed like a lot of stuff to fix, but as of now I have all the parts purchased and working with a friend of mine and his shop over the next couple weeks to do the work. Pretty confident everything will get taken care of and i will still be under budget of what i was shooting for for a low mileage CLK55 in great shape.

will try to get more pics up as it get nicer out and i get less busy

Dziner82

some more updates:
i wen out to replace the air filter and just like 03basesedan it looked like the air filters had never been changed!
see the picture below showing the dirty a$$ filters and all of the sand that i dumped out of the top of the airbox.


also, when taking off the air intake i saw this white hose dangling near the firewall, it looked like it was originally tucked up behind the weatherstripping. does anyone know what this hose is for?

GatorMB

That is a vacuum line from my previous post. The connections were identical so I photographed the engine for ease of access. One end connects to the engine and follows down below the ECU to the AC system.

You do not have to get overly complicated with vacuum fittings. the pneumatic fittings might blow apart or leak.

To repair the line in the photo simply find the other end. (on the engine) I believe, and connect with windshield washer tubing found at the local auto parts supply.

If you need OEM I am sure Mercedes will have the line.

Cheers

03basesedan

Dziner82, we appear to be in the same boat with these cars! I'm not sure why people neglect the air filters and the fuel filter. Also, I'm almost positive no one replaced the rear diff. fluid on mine ... ever. I can't describe how irritating that is.

I'm excited to see your updates!

FYI, I ran a gear speed calculator a while back. Here are the tire sizes and the gear ratios for a W208 CLK55:

Front tires: 225/45/17
Rear tires: 245/40/17
1st gear: 3.59
2nd gear: 2.19
3rd gear: 1.41
4th gear: 1.00 (1:1 gear, use when dynoing)
5th gear: 0.83
Final drive ratio: 2.82

Based on these specs, here are the gear speeds. I shift at 6400 because of my tune, but I think the stock redline is 6000?



In other words, ride out third until the end of the 1/4mi in your CLK! At the line, I'd leave the tiptronic in "3". This should stop it from doing an early upshift to 4th at the end of the run.

Finally, and maybe I missed this, but how much are you getting charged to get your wheels cleaned up?

Dziner82

Great info!
Is that a simple calculator you use? Any chance to get the info for 225/40/18 and 255/35/18 tires? Not sure how much it will change but I know they are slightly different heights. 43mph in 1st will be great for autocross, the C43 only hit 37 in first before redline, so look like the speed points are definitely different between the 2 cars, at least on paper.

The wheel refinishing was $100 a wheel and additional $100 to fix bends in the fronts. So it was 500 total for me.

I will give a better update on the status of everything else soon, responding from my phone now.

03basesedan

This is the calculator I use: http://car-videos.net/tools/speedrpm.asp
It's an obscure site, but I've been using it for years.

I assumed 235/45/17 when I ran my numbers since it seems to be between the front and rear sizes. My understanding is that a 225/45/17 should be roughly the same diameter as a 245/40/17 when one accounts for the difference in tire width. I further assumed this was the case b/c OEMs, except for BMW and VW, want to have precise speedometers. I ran the numbers with your tire sizes, and the speeds are identical (see below). If you're thinking about using a square setup, I'd recommend at least considering the additional weight of wider tires as well as larger wheels. Rotational efficiency is something few take seriously, but I guarantee it'll make a big difference!

Here is 225/40/18:




Here is 255/35/18:



The increased redline is especially useful when one is having fun in 'Mexico' from a 60mph roll. One can start in 2nd, gain a jump, and shift into 3rd at around 75. It makes a big difference. Is this a plug for the benefits of an aftermarket tune? Maybe ...

Dziner82

So i have the C43 back in my possession, the suspension swap between that and the CLK55 is complete. still some loose ends to tie up on the CLK, but should have that back in my possession monday/tuesday.

motor mount and trans mounts were replaced. the stock motor mounts were in perfect shape, so we are thinking it was the trans mount that was not quite solid that was causing a lot of movement in the motor when revved/brake torqued. the place that did the inspection said thats what they saw and figured it was motor mounts, but they were fine.

i had the kmac bushings in my C43 but i guess they didnt use anti-seize when they put the bolts in because we couldn't get them out to swap the control arms, so the K-mac bushings are staying on the C43, will probably get another set of crash bolts for the CLK55 to run some negative camber for autocross.

the next real thing with that car is the front bumper, its busted off in the center at the bottom, the stints that bridge the gap in the lower grille area are separated. we have a plan to hold them together with some nut/bolt type mechanical setup so that they wont separate at all, then can just repaint the bumper and hopefully save about $700 from buying a new one. im at least willing to try that before buying a new one.

then its time for a serious buff/wax, interior detailing on the CLK55. so probably another few weeks until its where i want it to be before i will start driving it. but at least i will have the C43 to keep me happy as a daily driver until then. i turn in my chevy cruze lease at the end of this week :-)