3 Point Fan

I love appearance of the W215 vehicles and am considering buying one as my next daily driver. However, I’ve heard horror stories about their lack of reliability, but I have not been able to find a good source of information on what the true issues are with these vehicles and what can be done to mitigate and/or permanently fix the common problems with these cars. The purpose of this thread is to start to collect this information about the 2000-02 CL500.

If you have owned one of these vehicles and have had problems with it, I would like for you to reply with an explanation of your problem in the following format:

1. What problem did you have?

2. How was this problem detected?

3. Why did this component fail? Please describe the root cause of the issue, such as a design flaw in the component, damage from road debris, etc.

4. Is there a revised component that prevents this from happening again? For components that have a design flow, has M-B issued a revised component to permanently fix this? Is it subject to a recall?

5. How do you fix this? Please include as much information as possible including the repair process, part cost, labor cost, etc.

Your input will benefit the forum as a whole. Please help to build this knowledge base on the 2000-2002 CL500.

STNTONU 510

Nice topic... I would also like to know. Anybody?

callchuck

Are you sure you want the answer. If you are going to drive this car for any length of time you had better be a master tech.

Great car but they built it to fail and suck the money out of you. Even if somebody gave you the car for free it would be to expensive.

Facts your ABC will leak and fail $3000 plus to have the shop fix it.
Your ECU will fail $700 new to replace $400 used
Your coils will fail $1200 a piece or $2400 to repair
Your speed sensor in the transmission will fail $700 repair
Your electronic shifter module plastice lever will break $2000 replace stuck in park.
Oil cooler in the middle of engine can leak 50 hours labor
The list goes on. You had better know how to work on this and buy parts on your own.

benz_addict

thirdmotion

I don't mean to steal this thread but it seems like everyone on this forum wants to scare people away from purchasing a cl or at least that's what it sounds like to me.
Am I the only proud owner of a w215 without any probs?
I've got 70k miles on my CL55, never had ANY problems with any of what callchuck listed or any other common probs such as the "ULTIMATE ABC" problem.
Am i the LUCKIEST CL owner ever?
Its true if something breaks down on these cars, it will cost heavily to repair for simple reasons, its an expensive car with expensive parts, not because it was "built to fail", mine oviously isn't.

Nonetheless, if you can't afford the repairs, you shouldn't even consider purchasing it regardless of how problematic or non-problematic it is, PERIOD. Buy something you can afford to maintain and not have to worry about something breaking everytime you fire up the engine.

I just don't understand how you can be driving around a car thinking "it was built fail", why not get rid of it and drive something that wasn't "built to fail" in your opinion?

Jud Chapin

Thanks for the info. What year is your CL, how long have you had it and was any major work done on it prior to you purchasing it?

StarPower

Post #3 in this thread has an itemized list of all the repairs I've done to mine since I bought it (about 1.5 years and 20,000 mi ago). I have to agree with thirdmotion about these cars. Sensors fail on any car of this age; the CL just has more of them to fail because of all the options and they cost more to fix because of the price and rarity of the car.

BlownV8

Mercedes is very consistent. If one breaks, they all will break. You can rest assured that if you have not yet had trouble with your ABC and some of the other sensors it is just a matter of time before they fail. The only way out is to replace the sensors before they fail and to replace all the hydraulic lines before they fail and wipe out the ABC pump.

thirdmotion

Jud Chapin, I have a 03 cl55 with 70k miles. I am the only owner of this vehicle and like i said earlier, i havent had any major probs. I live in NYC where roads are probably the worst in the nation.


"If one fails, all fail"...??? is this a joke? That would be a "Defect" and there would be recalls buddy. You are right about being matter of time before a sensor or something else in the car will fail, because the car has 70k miles!! Not to mention there are so much extra stuff in the car that other ordinary cars don't have, which will eventually fail over time. Lexus's have reputation for being reliable cars. I've owned 3 so far, ES300, IS250, GS430, all very reliable, but I had to replace O2 sensors on all 3 cars fail before hitting 70k miles, even had to replace catalytic converter on my previous GS before 70k miles, shocks/struts all started leaking/squeaking/rattling after 2 years. My CL55 is bullet proof compared to these. But then, something will eventually fail. This does not mean the car was built to FAIL. If you put it that way, ANYTHING and EVERYTHING in this world that humanity has created was "BUILT TO FAIL" cuz nothing will last forever..

I'm a very proud owner of w215. I've had nothing but pleasant experience with this vehicle for over 6 years and after 70k miles. The car impresses me to this day. I understand something will eventually fail and there are some common parts/sensors that go out before everything else and its something i would have to suck up and repair in future, not something to ***** about and tell other people that the car was built to fail.

Jud Chapin

Thanks for the info. It is good to hear positive stories like this.

BlownV8

Yes, I believe defective at worst and extremely unreliable at best. You will see soon. Read the posts of other members on ABC failures, strut failures, coil pack failures, ETC, ETC.... Do you think your car was built on a different day and is some how more reliable than other member's cars?

CL recall:
https://mbworld.org/forums/cl-class-...cl-recall.html

Class action settlement:
https://mbworld.org/forums/cl-class-...-flooding.html

ABC problems:
https://mbworld.org/forums/cl-class-...-problems.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/cl-class-...xperience.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/cl-class-...ion-coils.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/3010456-post7.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/cl-class-...out-there.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/cl-class-...***-today.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/cl-class-...ure-cl500.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/cl-class-...ure-cl500.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/3195352-post4.html



I replaced $10,000+ in parts at around $78,000 miles. Just about every ABC line, two ABC pumps, coil packs, seat fan, intercooler pump, and an idler pulley that left me stranded. I'm sure everyone on this forum wishes you the best but be ready for a dose of reality.

thirdmotion

For me, a defect would be something you buy and does not work right away, not something failing after 60k-70k miles. Do you think everyone on this forum had their ABC pump blown? Or have the same problems you are having? I'm not so sure about that.

Dose of reality for me is that I've had my w215 for over 6 years and after 70k miles, its still problem free and runs strong. That's my reality buddy.

BlownV8

Yes, all the ABC systems will fail unless steps are taken to mitigate the failure. I believe the problem is not a design issue with the pump; rather, it is an issue with the hoses failing and causing a domino effect through the system. When a hose blows, the pump is run dry causing it to grenade. That sends metal fragments through the system. You not only have to replace the pump and hose but you also have an issue with contamination. I feel the second ABC pump on mine was knocked out by contamination because I would hate to think a new pump was defective from the start. The dealer has to be very diligent and flush the system multiple times to remove the contamination. Even then, all the fragments may not be removed.

The other items like coil packs and intercooler pumps will fail regardless. They all start the same way and at similar times in the vehicles life. I would view a defect as something that fails on almost all the cars within their life span and not just in the first 50,000 miles wile the car is under warranty.

With that in mind, the CL, IMHO, has defective parts. If they were not defective, the same parts would not have such a high failure rate. It would be a one off situation on a few cars. That's just not the case with the issues on the CL's. Owners are seeing failures across the board on the same parts as illustrated in the links I provided on the failures. If you read the threads on the failures, you will see the problems are very consistent. It is undeniable. Good or bad, the cars are consistent. You will have the same issues with your car. It's just a matter of time.

I'm not bashing you, your CL, or anyone elses CL. I loved mine and only got rid of it because I had the need for a larger vehicle. There was a ton of money sunk into fixing all the issues that are so common in the CL. In fact, I still look at the 215 CL and will own another. However, when I get another CL, I will go into the ownership with my eyes wide open and replace the ABC hoses before they fail and have an owners manual so I know how to replace the other parts when they fail.

Replacing the ABC lines is the one thing I can suggest everyone do at around 5 years and 75,000 miles and maybe even sooner. Mine gave no indication they were going to fail. Each time, I heard a loud pop and the red ABC light illuminated on the dash. It is very expensive when you start blowing hoses and grenading ABC pumps on the CL. Take the ABC lines to a hydraulic hose specialty shop and have them refabricate the hoses with lines that have a higher PSI rating than the stock ones.

callchuck

Hey I forgot to mention the plastic shifter lever that will break inside the electronic shifter and the car will get stuck in park. That is a $2000 repair. Guaranted to fail at any time....not a maybe just when! Good luck spending money good money after the bad.

obi55

guys... clam down with these attacks... with all said, im a partly proud owner of a 2003 cl500...

i must agree, these cars can break on you and very costly to repair.. but its had to say if they were built to fail as everyone i know that own any type of a luxury car complain about breakdown problems... it is common sense, these cars have extremely too many options built in it for the sake of luxury.. and these things when they start to malfunction, it is a headache, hence these negative threads written every where...

they are joy to drive, blast on a freeway, compliments to own, but if u dont have the pocket for it, i advise, dont even think about it.. (budget $5,000/yr)... i once got a speeding ticket for doin 105mph on a 70 highway, didnt feel a thing as i thought i was doing 65.. when the ticket came, man, it was hefty. oh well...

that said, it has cost me roughly $2000/yr for past 2yrs in maintaince and repair... keep in mind, some owners are lucky and some are not.. the unlucky ones do these writings out of frustrations.. so go figure..

callchuck

I have owned at least 10 new Mercedes over the last 25 years. You own a CL 500, a very different car than the 600, but still some of the same repairs to an aging car. Even the dealerships will tell you the CL 600 is a maintanance nightmare. I have never seen a car that had a MSRP of $140,000 and only be worth $17,000 today for a low mileage car in perfect condition. Go figure! Enjoy your CL, great car, just bad engineering on some of the equipment.