hi, i thougth id post a few pics of my 2012 cls63. just got it 3 days ago. it was hell waiting 4 months, but worth it:

obsidian black/black interior.
p. package
lsd
premium package
night view assist.

this car is one of the sexiest things ive ever seen.!

sorry for the crappy pics. i will rent a dslr and get some cooler ones.


i was hoping it would be a little more RAW. but i guess that's the way all these new turbo engines are. ie. the throttle response is kind of dull, unless the revs are up, then its pretty much instant. (hopefully a tune will cure this to some extent?)

the original impression i felt when i punched the gas was, it didnt seem to have 200 lbs more torque than my e60m5( which almost gave you whiplash every time you punched the gas pedal, it was just pure savagery, that thing)... in fact it seemed like it didnt have as much torque as the m5.

anyone else feel this way at first?


esthetically the car is gorgeous, especially the exterior.



oh and the exhaust note. musical, intoxicating. just perfect. (could be a little louder at idle.)

if anyone has any coments on my impressions id like to hear them.

thanks!


ps.... how did you guys make it through the 1000 mile break in period??? i cant stand it.!!

i have already done a tint and painted my corner markers. (and the bulbs)

 

Congrats and enjoy the ride! Absolutely beautiful!

 

I understand how you feel about a car you have spent so much money and there are still certain things that are not on point. I thought that the acceleration lag on the CLS 63 would have been cured by the release of the new one. It's just a shame. Also, i think that it's of no interest trying to compare the M5 and the CLS 63. The are totally different cars, that serve different functions. That will even make it worse especially when the feel of a new car wears off.

I can't afford this car at the moment. Waiting for the car to take a huge depreciation and then i would be willing to pay cash for it.

Beige/Cream interior would have done it more justice but all the same well done with the purchase and am not a huge fan of tint. It's slightly too much for a car of that pedigree. But if the tint is for your personal safety, then it's all good.

Once more congratulations sir and do enjoy the beast

 

thanks. you're right. its the complete opposite of the m5.

but for the interior of a car that's more expensive than the m5, I felt it should have at least equaled , if not exceeded the quality of leather interior.

wait. you're saying the previous clas63 had lag? the 6.3 cls? this is the first I heard of that.

 

Congrats! It's been a long wait...I know the feeling. I agree with the lack of rawness (although it's much better at 4000 rpm or so) so I'll end up tuning it...I don't really need more power, just more aggressiveness. Concerning your comments about the BMW, I dislike their look so much that I didn't consider the M5 at all. Be patient for another 1500 km until you can really try it at WOT...The transmission will get smoother too. Have fun!

 

Oh yeah, big time lag. Sir, you see people would always want more HP hence the reason they find the factory powered engines to be underpowered. There have been meteoric increase of threads about the CLS 63 slightly having acceleration lags at regular intervals.

I don't see why a car putting out 518-hp and 516 lb-ft of torque and adding the AMG Performance Package increases output to 550-hp and a peak torque of 590 lb-ft will need extra tune. We Europeans tend to be extremely leery with our licence because of tough laws on over speeding in Europe. We play safe and take a modicum of risk. Don't know how it is for you Americans. The CLS is a tourer and not a sports car. if i need a track car, then the 911 or Nissan GT will do just that.

From your profile, i see that you have the M5. If that is the case, then thrash the M5 on the tracks and cruise the CLS as a weekend car. Despite the M5 being more of an enthusiast's performance and raw car, i still by instinct and natural proclivity prefer the look of the CLS 63. It has the presence on the road, turns heads more than the M5 and grunts when you need performance. There is no beating AMG at their game. Am afraid but new cars have this transient amusements to them. If you still want extra grunt and performance for the CLS, take her to people with esoteric knowledge who know alot about these new engines and know what they are doing, if not it could be stratospherically expensive to reverse her back if things don't go smoothly.

Your CLS 63 AMG is a really really fast car. If am to vote between the M5 and CLS 63, it's irrefutable that your CLS wins hands down.

 

Congrats! Throttle response is definitely improved with a tune, and you do a resonator delete and you'll likely be very satisfied with the sound.

 

Having owned an S85 engine (m6) and an E92 M3 I know your feeling about the neck snaps. But that is more of a throttle response created environment IMHO. The BMW throttle in the M cars is craaaaazy touchy and infact almost too intense at times. Couple that with a N/A engine and that car can clearly "feel" more raw and edgey from a dig. But thats it... the M157 engine will just crush the S85 in street driving and even on high speed highway runs.

And as mentioned a tune will open up the throttle depending on your tuner and what throttle maps he has adjusted. My tunes on both my M157 cars have definitely given me more power but also more responsive throttle pushes.

 

thanks . I agree on all points you made.

 

Oh and one other thing- the ESP button limits torque so you need to push it once to get almost all of your tq and if you hold it down then it will be off and you will get the full compliment of tq. I dont recommend turning it off as it deactivates some other safety features like brake assist... but more importantly it does take out the electronics that control the car with that much power. Its kind of like driving a car with DSC off which can become quite a rodeo in the hands of the wrong driver.

I like to drive in ESP sport (one push) and if Im doing straightline runs I would opt to turn it off.


and Fawk the break in- drive it hard up and down the rpm ranges, push the seals...

 

actualy now that i think back, i did turn dsc off completely after a few days of getting used to the m5. i remember the extra viciousness was intoxicating, so i left it off from then on. just had to remember to exersice caution when in taht mode, ie, i would just limit WOT runs to straight line only. but teh m5 was pretty composed even under these situations, just some minor tail wag, but nothing too crazy.

havent turned off the esp completely yet on the cls though, although i have used sport handling mode.

so it doesnt get too skittish under WOT for straight line?

 

thanks

 

you have a non tuned PP car- you should fine from a roll in ESP Sport...


Here is something else I realized which should make you feel better about the M157's---- the throttle is backed up to where most of the power is past the 50% modulation. I remember kind of wondering the same thing about my CLS and where was the TQ (supposed to be 590lbs) and as I learned the in-sensitive throttle I found the sweet spot. I was used to the GTR and my PDK 997.2TT. Once I got used to this I was driving the crap out of the car and I didnt even have a tune yet.

So when I got my wagon in February I was already used to the throttle and where the limits or lack of them lied.

Once you get a tune, the boost will come on much faster and your car will be transformed. Match this up with the remapping of the throttle and you will find its the perfect setup- not too touchy and not too mushy.

 

Same experience at first...took me a week or two to figure out the sweet spot. It's actually further away than the C63 on the gas pedal...at least half way through. Still not as raw as you may want it to be though.

 

also kind of don't get the idea of how low end torque applies. it'd supposed to have all 590 lbft after 1750 rpm. but if I punch the gas in say 4th gear, at 1700-2000 rpm, there is nothing. feels no different than an m5 if you hit it at that speed and gear. ...

I actually was in manual mode the other day, driving iin 4th, and decided to pull out to overtake a vehicle that was in front of me. I thought , ok, Its showing 2000 rpm's, I'm in 4th gear, I should be able to just step on it and I'm gone. right?

didn't happen. there was a person pullin up behind as I went over in ther lane to pass and they had to slow way down, it really puzzles me.

 

I know...by the feel of it, the pull is peaking between 3500 and 4500 as opposed to between 4500 and 5500 for n/a engine maybe...don't feel much pull below 3000. The other point to not forget is that she accelerates much faster than what we feel behind the wheel...The luxury comfort feature I guess.

I know it's crazy but since I got the differential oil changed, the car feels looser or less resistant to take off.

 

Looks good!

I also believe the sluggishness is partially due to the cpu learning your driving pattern. Really wish there is a rest function as in past generation MB cars.

Yes, the CLS exterior is really breathtaking. Really like the current MB's current design language. Current BMW's exterior, on the other hands, is not really exciting. From 3 to 5 to 7--all of them look quite similar, just different in size.

 

+1. I can't quite tell apart a recent 5 series from a 7. The rear design is so similar. Only the size difference separates both. If i drive a 2012 7 series BMW, i would not like to be in the same league or platform as someone driving a 5 series. BMW should do better considering the price difference when purchasing these cars. The interior setup is the same, GPS is in the same position. There is nothing innovative, original and creative.

Though, i must confess that i love the front of the new BMWs. The grill is more of a statement. Very imposing and aggressive looking. I like the shape of the rear only that they should have made the rear end of the 7 series differ from that of the 5.

 

I can't disagree more. having sat in the new f10m5. I have to reluctantly admit it outclasses our cls in every way on the interior. the leather is way more supple, the center armrest not only is leather, but has a soft cushiony feel that feels so nice under your elbow... cls has no cushioning whatsoever.

- and yes the idrive screen is in the same place in all bmw's but the screen is like TWICE the size of ours. !! and when your inside, you just get the feeling that every single last detail was thought out obsessively. ie,
- instead of piano gloss black thats prone to finger prints on the center stack and center console they have a satin black with a gorgeous "sheen " to it. and leather instead.

tell me what's easier to fit ? a piece of plastic or leather?

in all seriousness, they just don't mess around, these guys.

to continue,
- as I said before, the dash, and entire surface of the doors are covered in stitched merino leather, even right down to where the doors meet the floor.

- the door sills have the ///M logo on all 4 door sills, on ours just the 2 front door sills get the AMG logo, on the rears it's just a plain piece of aluminum. what were they thinking? ... "ah.. the logos on the front, thats enough, they won't care about the rear door sills" . but when you see these extra considerations , you have to take your hat off to them.

- the parking system has cameras on the side of the car and shows you a birds eye view for parallel parking.

the m5 has soft close doors. not offered on the cls or e63 as far as I know.

hate to have to admit all this but as I'm a fan of both MB AND BMW, I have to give credit where credit is due.

despite all this,(and there actually more , ie the m5 is about 8 grand cheaper, loaded) I still ended up going with the cls, it's just too damn sexy.

 

Great review, very objective!

 

sounds like you and vic will be first in line for the new beemer

 

no not at all. i still love my car. there are just some things i wish were different.

 

+1. Boy, the BWM idrive is driving me crazy. What a thought out invention. Just the size alone, the colour display and birdview mode where you see the blue clouds is simply mind blowing. Comparing it to the 7 inch screen satnav we get in the CLS, it's just a damn shame. There was no update of satnav in the new CLS. They simply used the same NTG 2.5 HDD software in the last (09) CLS on the new 2012 CLS except that they changed the position of the GPS to look more like Audi/BMW GPS setup. For me that is no innovation.


You nailed it.

I think mercedes Benz is still dwelling on their past glory while other car manufacturers are waking up to reality. Although Lexus is not really as popular here in England as it is in America, but i had the opportunity to go on a test drive in the Lexus LS 600h 5.0 L 4dr. Boy, the interior set up, technological accoutrements both for safety and otherwise put really the S class to shame. That car moves and it's damn quiet inside with enough power and torque to put a million dollar smile on your face when you need extra grunt. The only negative thing about them is the depreciating factor. Lexus cars plummet like French cars hence the reason why people here avoid them. But on the whole, they are capable and reliable cars.

Honestly, apart from the night vision assist technology common in the CL & S class, what else can Mercedes come up with that can really put other car manufacturers to shame? I believe they have reached the apex of their invention. Audi offers soft door closure as standard in the S8, W12 and A8. Mercedes will not offer night vision assist in the CLS or soft door closure. Having owned the A8 D3 (05), the MMI setup and wood display everywhere in the car really put the (04 to 05) S class to shame. I don't blame people who upgrade their cars so easily. The crux of the matter is that people get so bored with the little that Mercedes offers. If mercedes takes on board the concerns of their customers, how they feel regarding attention to detail, there will not be any necessity to upgrade certain things like tuning engines or changing interior design to look like what they want a true car to look like. During 3 years of ownership of the Audi A8, i was never bored of driving this car. It had everything to the point that i couldn't even use all of them before i got rid of it. When the CLS arrived, 3 months down the line, i was bored already. I got so accustomed to the few technology it came with and there was nothing else to really make me linger for.


Mine is Audi & Mercedes with the exception of few BMW models like 6 series, i really love the shape of this car. I like the old shape of the 3 series (E46) coupé. Boy, till present day, this car still turns head. I liked the X6 when it newly came out, but no longer now. It's look has really aged within a short frame of time. Apart from these few BMWs, nothing else in their line-up interests me.

I can't agree more. I would say BMW 7 series 2012 won hands down compared to what Audi and Mercedes offered this year 2012. The new A8 is like an over blown A4 from the rear and the S class fitted with bling bling LED running lights strips like Audi is not a good choice for a car of this pedigree. I like the Audi A8 new GPS with a touchpad and google earth technology. That is awesome. Look at BMW, they don't use LED strips but look at how great looking and appealing their cars are. When you see a BMW car coming from afar with the newly designed Angel lights, boy, i trafficate and let him go. Those Angel lights intimidate one on the road more than the LED strips which Audi invented first in the first place before everyone copied them.

 

actually the cls does have night view assist. i have it. but its nothing spectacular. and i dont really see how its a safety feature, since you have to take your eyes completely off teh road to see it...?

if i had mytime back i would have gotten the driving assistance package instead... oh well.

but no soft close doors. would have been really nice as lots of times after i get in, i find my door doesnt fully close, as i like to close the door lightly, then i see the "drivers door open symbol" as i drive off and have to close it again...

im going to ask my dealer if distronic plus can be added. should have gotten it...

 

Instead of the soft close, we got the slam close...

Look at the bright side...your car will just get better the more you drive it. Plus you may have not explored the WOT zone above 4000 rpm yet (this gas pedal needs to be floored to be rewarding). And you could add a tune eventually. From a personal point of view, I like the car more now (3000 km) than before as the car feels more fluid and I learned about her sweet spots in handling and acceleration. Just drive more!