W215 reliability? That’s two words I wouldn’t expect to see in the same sentence typically. The biggest fault is the abc system, by far. there are plenty of bushings, sensors etc that seem to not fair extremely well past 100k miles. And good luck with your crankshaft positioning sensor

however I do believe through mercedes service bulletins, recalls, this forum/benzworld, and through general knowledge, the car is perfectly capable of being a reliable platform - if and ONLY IF you are willing to work on this car yourself.(or spend plenty on a mechanic)

this was half the reason I decided to try coilovers on this platform, most other reliability issues had been solved by the time I came to ownership of this car around 2012. The main hold up with this platform was the suspension and finally a kit came out and I tried it. Now we have 3/4 different companies offering suspension alternatives to this car. The suspension is no longer the Achilles heel of this platform.

as with most electronically laden models, the earlier model years are often the worst in terms of reliability. I’ve heard of plenty of peculiar issues on this car, and maybe I’ve just had a particularly reliable model, but most, of my features still seem to work.

I have an issue with my cigarette lighter not working, could’ve been from my doing, and could also be easily fixed. I think my rain sensor doesn’t work perfectly, again, I think this was because of a cheap windshield replacement before I owned the car. Could just be the sensor itself, it IS 16 years old after all.

The reputation of the crankshaft sensor in m113 engines should qualify replacing it as regular maintenance... same goes for the transmission, disregard mercedes advice on the “sealed for life” nonsense and invest in a dipstick. Yes they are $70 OEM and you should probably get used to paying funny amounts for seemingly trivial tools like the transmission dipstick. This is a $100k car, with a waiting list to get imported into the US when it was new.... you aren’t going to replace an entire exhaust for $500 like te eBay exhaust kits for Honda civics. I think I heard the facelift models don’t even include an engine oil dipstick? Lol. I have the electronic oil level sensor in my car but I still prefer the dipstick for oil changes etc

All in all, if you are willing to do the work, and address the inherently flawed abc system, especially problematic on the early models(make sure you get your recalls address), the W215 can be a great platform. I would shy away from the v12 models for the average mechanic, the engine bay is already cramped enough for regular work on the v8...I can’t imagine having to lift the engine or drop the subframe every time I had to address the power steering or alternator..

i will admit this car was largely engineered to work well during the initial warrantied years, and some plastic components may not fair well over 20/30 years. You’d better get handy with JB weld, it’s funny how a $100k car is the one that has most acquainted me with such a crude product like JB weld... but overall this machine was engineered quite well

i have 5 cl , four cl500 and one cl600
it makes no sense that there’s both a abc and power steering filter system yet Mercedes never specified intervals for fluid /filter changes . I guess they thought it would last the lifetime of the car .

They eventually changed their recommendations for fluid and filter changes every 40k Miles for the transmission . They should have also specified abc and power steering fluid and filter changes at the same interval . This would be a $1000 ++ service by a mb dealer every 40k miles but well worth it

i believe most abc failures are because the fluid was never changed until 50/60k miles at best. I think if all abc cars had regular fluid changes every 10k miles then we’d see about 1/3rd of the same issues with abc

I could not agree more. I had my CL55 for 10 years and 100,000 miles and never had an ABC or any other major issue. Best car I have ever owned.

However, i also had an expert mechanic maintain it on a regular basis. Maintenance is the key.

The ABC system makes the car handle like none other and is like an E ticket ride at Disneyland. Personally I prefer the 55 over the 65 because I like the instant gratification/roar of the supercharger. But either way, an awesome car!

I think the negative comments about the CL have to be taken in context. There are a lot of people here seeking fix it answers that buy old junky non maintained CL’s for $5K and then cry about the cost of fixing things and the lack of reliability. DUH!

I think the experience of long term owners who have maintained their cars is far more relevant to the overall reliability of the cars—which is second to none.

ctravis595 I really dont know what your deal is.

You appear to have appointed yourself as the CL God and issued an edict that all CLs are unreliable pieces of crap, especially the ABC system.

When someone dares to not follow your teaching and wont drink your sacramental Kool-aid, you bring fire and brimstone down upon them.

My post that you took such umbrage to was not even addressed to or aimed at you (I know it is hard to believe that people don't actually think about you constantly).

For the benefit of potential CL buyers, I merely hypothesized that the reliability opinions of long term CL owners who regularly maintain their cars should be given more weight than the reliability opinions of new owners who bought poorly maintained, cheap cars.

To me that seems like a self evident statement and I was hoping to help potential CL buyers parse through all of the differing points of view (a number of which are in this very thread) and share with them my experiences as an owner of a CL for 10 years. However, you apparently took great umbrage to my post and ordained that my actual real life experience should be ignored. You obviously view as heresy my statement that my CL was the most reliable car I have ever owned.

I believe a picture tells a 1000 words and here are 2 pictures that tell the whole story. The first is my grey CL55 with 100K miles and the second is your black CL with 56K miles. I think I know why you have such reliability issues but I will leave it to the readers to draw their own conclusions.

Thanks BlownV8. I had heard that the V12’s had more issues but then they are much more complex than the V8s. However, at the end of the day you are driving a V12 supercar. Who wouldn’t love that!

My CL looks better even when body trim was missing haha

To be frank you’re just annoying, you come into these forums to talk ****.. but ironically you don’t even own a 215 lol. Your head is THAT far up your *** that you don’t even realize it either...

When you come into a sub-forum with the intention of telling everyone they either;
A) didn’t maintain their car properly
B) drive a cheap Mexican taxi cab if they convert to coilovers
....then don’t be surprised when people call you a jackass....

You can’t even answer the original question and tell us about all these folk with $5000 CL’s, you just deflect and keep running your mouth. Your mechanic made a small fortune convincing you to maintain your Abc system and even though you’ve sold your AMAZING CL, you are THAT deep in denial that you return to 215 forums to claim your investment in ABC was wise... hell, most real W215 owners don’t even bother with these forums anymore

What kind of weird **** is that? This isn’t 2002 anymore...your “advice” that ABC is a system that “only the most elite of car owners know how to maintain” is practically useless. You are talking about 14-20 year old cars, any ABC system not regularly serviced from the beginning of ownership is doomed and you agree. So what are you accomplishing by being here?

also I never once said 215 or ABC was crap, I’ve just reiterated the WIDELY accepted opinion that ABC is problematically unreliable at best and at worst caused some 215’s to even catch on fire lolllll

Then buy another one and quit talking ****. Just a suggestion ya know, not trying to play ‘CL god’ or whatever you claim

Just wanted to add, I’m not sure many folks are switching to coilovers just to “save money”. I think it’s the same reason you want to upgrade the stereo despite being a purist who prefers OEM

ABC had a very unreliable reputation when these cars were new, now after 15-20 years, I feel it’s only logical to believe the unreliability of these systems increases with age/wear

you have to realize, no one buys a W215 with the intent to save money lol. I think you can buy a brand new Kia for $9000...

The unreliable nature of ABC, that could even be deemed unsafe(suspension systems failing at highway speeds surely isn’t anything to gamble with) just isn’t something people wanted to deal with. There are plenty of world-class cars who use coilovers, and the W215 is still a great car with ABC removed.

Those who take huge stake in ABC make me wonder whether they believe the rest of the W215 to be garbage, besides Abc.

I’ve had my cl 500 for 8 years It’s a year 2000 that came without navigation screen ..never seen that in another cl w215
Anyway
today I just completed its 286000 mile
never had a transmission issue or fluid change throughout its 19 yr life and it came with history as long as my arm! Every single receipt and repair
In 19 years
Replaced two abc high pressure lines with higher rated ones that I had made at the local hydraulics hose place..$35 each
its on its second ABC pump and I replaced all the o rings in the ABC valves ....less than 3 bucks but 2 hours of work
one ride sensor required replacing
two suspension struts have been replaced
wires in door repaired
washer bottle sensor replaced
one seat squab
every ball joint and bushing on suspension has been replaced some two or three times .
wheel bearings still good
still has original exhaust system
They where built pretty well I think and running on propane really economical to run with propane half the price ...tank in wheel well..