bentleymp21

I do not know what all of the differences are, but is the 5 speed transmission better/more reliable than the 7 speed?
Anything I should be aware of?
I am looking at an 04 cl500 now with 50k miles on it.
And I will continue my search for a cl until I find my baby!

Thank you for any help and advice.

awiner

The 03 and 04 were pretty much identical.

The 04 came with the Tire Pressure Minitoring System as well as Sirius as an option. Navigation on the 04 was DVD as opposed to CD.

Also, the 04 had its fiber network running the MOST protocol vs the 03's D2B protocol.

bob55

Taillights and Nav system were updated in 2004.

awiner

Tail lights were updated in 2003 actually.

The only change in the Nav system for 2004 was that the Nav disc became DVD as opposed to CD. The unit itself looks exactly the same (again from the 2003 facelift).

bentleymp21

I was told the 04 was the first year with the 7 speed Transmission. Is this correct?
I also heard the 5 speed was a bit more solid. Any validity to this?

awiner

I believe you are right after doing a little research. It appears the 2004 W215 (NON AMG) model did in fact come with the 7 Speed while the CL55 AMG retained the 5 Speed.

If memory serves me correct there were early issues with the 7 Speed tranny most notably being "clunky".

It is a fact that the 5 Speed transmission (722.x) were tanks.

mf219

Yup my '04 has the 7 speed and you described it exactly- it can be clunky in downshifts. It goes thru the gears incredibly smoothly under acceleration though . It can also be shifted manually, but why bother

w1spurgeon

We have an '04 and it has been a maintenance nightmare from day one. We bought it used with 66k miles and now has 96k. In the 3 yars we have owned it, we have paid over $4500 in repair/maintenance costs. Never again.

BlownV8

What issues did you see? $4,500 in repair/maintenance for that stretch is very low for the CL.

w1spurgeon

Failure of the ABC pump
Failure of all four tire pressure sensors
Failure of front drive shaft flex disk (replaced both front and rear)
Failure of noisey harmonic balancer (may not be correct name, don't remember)
Replacement of leaking valve cover gaskets
Replace spark plugs ($531.00)

etc, etc, etc

BlownV8

Hate to say but that's not too bad for a CL with your mileage. I spent more than 3x that amount on my CL. These cars are not cheap to own once the mileage starts getting up there. It's too bad because the 215 CL is one of the best looking and driving Mercedes built.

w1spurgeon

I spent $4500 on maintenance on my 2004 CL500 in 36 months and you spent 3 times more on yours? I can only conclude that you are an even bigger fool than I.

XZACM102

I usually spent about $4k/year on service/repairs for my CL55. If you spent just $4k for 3 years owning this car you should consider yourself lucky
When I was shopping for CL65 I had a chance to look at one dealer maintained car -MY05 whose owner spent $66k in 6 years, half of which was covered by warranty.

Back to the topic, prior to owning CL55 I had 04 CL500 and also experienced issues with the 7 speed transmission. Cost me $1500 at the stealership

leewalton

I agree. That is cheap!

leewalton

If 4500 in 3 years US expensive, maybe you would be better served with a Nissan maxima.

SLCL

My record would be year 2010 where I spent $8,985 for the 05 CL55 with only 4850 miles driven (I've average about 5K miles a year on this car). It could have been a little bit less if I was not nitpicking about it. It's around $3,500 to $4,000 yearly on other years and only around $1,300 so far this year (fingers crossed).

3 years, 30K miles and $4,500 ... I've spent that much on my CL55 ... then I woke up!

Back to the OP, the 2004 was also heavier than 2003 but the NAV DVD based alone was worth it.

2014CL600

I just sold about a year ago an 04 that I sunk 15k into and it only had about 40k miles. I took a bath and got rid of the POS. The tranny on the 04 and up is HORRIBLE, I had to replace the module in the tranny itself and it still shifted like hell. Hard, was always hunting where to shift. Plus the 04 is a one year only fiber optics system and is nothing but hell. My car would do the craziest things. Sometimes I had a radio, sometimes I didn't. Sometimes I have Navigation, sometimes I didn't. Some I had a phone and sometimes I didn't. I finally unloaded it and took a bath but it was a lesson well learned. The 03 is the perfect answer. Stay away from any 04. Ask any service adviser he will be more than happy to tell you which one is the best. Good luck.