bennybelmont

There seems to be a lot of doom and gloom about these cars which i totally understand and agree with but from what i have seen not many posts about the positives.
So yesterday evening i went for a drive in my CL600. The roads were dry and quiet, so naturally let her rip!
I've never really had a car that you can have as a daily driver but in a split second can put a huge grin on your face and leave the opposition as a spec in the rear view mirror including some Ferrari's, i even beat my brothers friends new M5 with F1 pack on it (in a straight line that is ).

Yes they do break down a lot, yes ABC can be an issue to say the least but i find that personally when things are working, don't worry just enjoy them for what they are

Alex

pmercury

iTrader: (2)

don't worry, we know, nearly everything is Top apart from the ABC

tusabes

In terms of bang for the buck , no other car gives you as much performance and luxury for such a low price ..it's the best automotive deal in existence . Assuming you don't start getting hit with giant repair bills .

The purchase price is low but The repair bills on these cars can be higher then some exotics

pmercury

iTrader: (2)

agree 100%

be a average hobby mechanic and you'll be fine, I had about 25 cars
this is the first one I am a fan of
I love V12TT

tusabes

Another positive thing is the styling is fantastic and still looks just as beautiful today as when they were new . Mercedes really nailed the style of this car .

pmercury

iTrader: (2)

about the W215

"With its all-new exterior shape, the new Mercedes-Benz CL is the only two-door pillarless hardtop coupe in production and certainly one of the most beautiful cars in the company’s history."

-thecarconnection.com

stingray230sx

NEW GUY HERE, looking for a CL55 or CL 600 maybe, found a CL55 with Lorinzer package,[97000miles] but the dealer is asking a bit more[$18995] than the usual kbb/nada I guess due to the body kit/wheels? is that a normal thing, cause other than the wheels, a regular CL55 AMG is fine to me, although the body kit rockers do look quite nice, I can take or leave the fender vents etc, and since it's a CL55 I am gonna assume its engine was not "Lorinser'd up, is just normal AMG supercharged V8? its just the body kit / wheels?.


thanks for any advice


Douglas Hunt

tusabes

The aftermarket body kits actually reduce the value and number of potential buyers as most people are looking to buy a stock unmolested car

But of course a dealer will try to ask more money for it !! Wait till it sits unsold for several months then make a cash offer

stingray230sx

thanks, I have an amount in mind to offer and yea, there are several other AMG CL55's I am looking at, waiting on them to call/email me back, from their email sig it seems they are only in on mon/wed/Fridays so tomorrow I will see if they want to make a deal.


on another note, if I decide not to fly out and drive it home, can you guys recommend a car shipper, it seems as if Intercity Lines is highly recommended by the Ferrari guys on Ferrari Chat, any others I should consider?

thanks again


doug

stingray230sx

ok, you guys seem to read posts an answer for a newb with a ton of questions, im still looking at CL55's and one I found has silver trim instead of wood in the interior, so am I wrong in assuming its been painted? I find zero references to anything other than different wood trims available , and while it looks good,[especially the door panels, looks great actually] there is a scratch on the left console side next to the shifter and I couldn't live with it and would have to repair / replace and I don't think its an available finish unless you guys know something I don't [ highly likely, lol]

calgary

I have heard of carbon-fiber interior (aftermarket) but never of white interior. Are the leather door panels painted white or only the wood trim ?

tusabes

There was no factory silver or white interior trim , the wood was painted or wrapped

Post some pics we would love to see it!!

stingray230sx

none of these fantastic cars for sale in my town, so I am searching the web....that's how I bought my previous 330CI, then flew out and dfrove it home, so entertaining the same fo this purchase, just gotta find the right car.


cargurus site wont let me copy the pics , and while mileage is decent, I am afraid its been "pimped" out and I don't want that kind of stereo in my trunk lol, but the silver interior vs wood is interesting, see link below:


https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invent...436_isFeatured

tusabes

If you buy that car I will buy the stereo system components in the trunk from you since they will fit my car perfectly

stingray230sx

hello again, still on the search and the local Mercedes dealer just got a 2006 cl55 trade-in with 39K miles, I have a buddy selling in there, so after seeing my emails showing the new listing, I gave him a shout this morning right at lunch time. He didn't even know they had it but called me a few hours later touting its "super niceness" haha a car salesman to the end, lol.


now this one is low miles, but way over the usual ask I am seeing online, and his response is that they are a Mercedes dealer so it will be a better car, instead of a car traded to a regular car dealer....I dunno, most of the cars I have looked at seem really nice so far, I mean, they all seem to have little wear on the interiors etc, and maintenance can be verified with records I would think, no matter who's selling the car, is it really worth more to buy from a Mercedes dealer or??


though I am intrigued by a 39k mile car, be almost like new, going to look at it in a few days, he says it had a rear diff leak that they were fixing , and it was getting oil change etc, so he's gonna call me when its done


thanks guys for any and all help, I appreciate it

ItalianJoe1

From my two CL600s and working at Benz, I don't care too much about mileage on these cars. All the normal trouble spots are gonna happen with age anyway, even if it has half the mileage. The more they sit, the more they break.

Find a car that's clean, most are as people didn't go spend 100k+ and tear them up, and they are only really getting cheap now that they are 15 years old. Then, look for good maintenance, but in reality that's not gonna save you from age issues. The car is old, it's gonna need PSE repairs, suspension repairs, seals, gaskets, etc like any old car. The problem is that a lot of the systems are dealer-only, so it's expensive to maintain.

tusabes

Low mileage means almost nothing since all the common failure items will fail even at low mileage due to the age of the car

stingray230sx

thanks, as diy'er I hope to keep some of this in my garage, with help from the net etc.........and I agree, the ones with 80+ K miles still seem really clean interior wise, and at least they were used and not garage queens.


as a former 330CI owner I was spoiled with the realoem site to discover part numbers and parts diagrams, is there anything similar for the W215?


on another note, I see you are in Miami, there is one or two FLA cars on the cargurus site, how does the FLA weather treat them?

ItalianJoe1

They are definitely not that special, if you can work on a car you can work on these cars, it's just a lot of systems that are all temperamental but the info is out there and the community support here is amazing.

The FL cars are great, no rust, very clean despite the mileage. That being said, both of mine came out of Cali, as that's where they were available when I was looking, and I would only personally consider a black/black/amg pack car. So my options were limited.

There are a good amount of very nice ones I see in the shop here, 500/55/600/65, doesn't matter, all keep up well and have the same age breakdown issues.

I would go for a V12 if it's an option, the engine is just something special, on paper it's not much faster than the 55k, but it drives so different and the buttery smooth powertrain with 600lb/ft of tq is really well matched to the nature of the car, IMO.

stingray230sx

yes, I originally wanted a V12 for sure but I am infatuated with the AMG side and very few of the CL65's around ......


anybody know about how to look up parts online or is it a dealer only thing to find out what you need?

ItalianJoe1

WIS/EPC software is available, it's the full MB parts catalog.

There's very little difference on an "AMG" CL, compared to some other cars. I would love a 65 but for 1/3rd the money you can get a 600 right now and it's damn near the same car in the real world.

stingray230sx

yes, that's what im finding out, and I love the idea of the V12 twin turbo.


I fell for these cars when Clarkson picked one to drive against hammonds BMW in one of their "challenges" and have been looking for a while, I might have to hold out for a CL600 twin turbo, oh the humanity


and where might one find this WIS/EPC software?


**edit** I found it online , thanks for the heads up


thanks again for all your assistance


doug

stingray230sx

ok, I have another question, this regarding how to pay if I am buying a car say from California, or Utah without traveling to see the car ie: bank transfer or? just wanting to protect myself, both cars are at dealers if that makes a difference........


I bought a car from an ebay listing before that had ended, but I flew out to Denver for that one and paid with a cashiers check and drove it home, and that's not going to be possible for this one, so this is new to me, though with all the CarMax / Truecar etc ads it seems it happens all the time

Danoh1

If it's a dealer, I wouldn't worry. I sent a cashiers check from my bank, with the car VIN on the check. I stapled it to a simple contract stating that presenting the check for deposit constituted acceptance of the contract. Photo copied the check to the single page contract. You have all 3 elements of a valid and legal contract. Offer, acceptance and consideration.

I felt covered and had no issues at all. The dealer sat on the deal "waiting to clear" longer than I thought reasonable. But the funds were good and the deal went through. I'm driving a V12 Mercedes almost every day and really enjoy it.

stingray230sx

HEY THANKS, that's good to know, I am looking at a v8 supercharger car locally but have found a nice CL600 out of state so now I have to decide...sigh