Hey everyone,

I’m new to the group and also new to Mercedes in general. Always been a car guy my whole life so pretty much got a good grasp on understanding how things work.

I recently just picked up a 01 CL500 amg with 166k miles for a good price. Sadly I had to deal with the suspension issues.... I had the fluid flushed and rodeo done with new filter. The old fluid was black and smelt burnt.... 3 days after doing this the high pressure hose blew out when I was driving to work at 5am.

After doing a lot of reading on this forum I opted to get the strutmasters kit with module. I installed the kit a few days ago and all went well. Car drives great for regular cruising and the module to delete the abc error works like a champ.

I have been trying to figure out a problem that the car has been showing since I bought it. When I’m cruising 30mph or higher I get a howling noise from the rear. Previous owner put new tires on the car all around and stated that he thought it was the tires making the noise. My concern is it’s the rear diff bearing or something like that. I plan to get it on a lift and do a rear diff flush.

My my question is does that seem like it would be the diff or is it true that tires really make a loud humming noise like that? I thought it was a rear wheel bearing but it’s more of a consistent sound than a choppy whirring noise that most cars make with bad wheel bearings. I’m really hoping that it’s just a bad wheel bearing and not the diff or even lucky enough that if I flush the diff and possibly go with a thicker fluid that it will help with the noise.

The car drives fine otherwise. It’s just the noise that is killing me haha. Thanks in advance for any advice. Happy to be a part of this forum.

Noises in the rear can also be the abc

i deleted the abc system and went with strutmasters. All the lines are not fully removed yet tho. Could it be the old accumulators making noise even tho the system is no longer being fed? I looped the tandem pump so it’s feeding back to the reservoir. I plan to remove the rest of the system. Accumulators and all the silinoids in a week or so.

I also just realized today that it’s taking a very long time for the car to warm up to operating temp. Eventually it will get to correct range if I’m stuck in traffic 85C on the gauge, but then when I start driving again 35-40mph the car temp will drop to 77C-80C range.

Im guessing it’s the thermostat? It’s probrably costing me some mpg’s as well if the car is always trying to warm up. Not good for the catalytic converters either. 2 of them are slowly starting to develop a rattle. This probrably contributed to that.

I had a question... Are there any strut braces available for the W215 platform? I figured since I converted from abc to strutmasters that a strut brace would be a good ideal!

I did a bit of searching but didn’t find anything really on this topic. Just completed a headlight restoration using the 3M kit and it definitely did the job. Headlights are lookin super fresh now!

Cl 500 AMG Never Sean Cl500 AMG from 2000 - 2002 they came cl55 without supercharged .. From 2003 and up supercharged 5.5 Cl55 AMG so ther is no way cl500 amg ppl usually they put AMG badge cuz it cost $10 however real AMG cost $20k

Sorry to break it to you bro. AMG appearance package can be purchased for the cl500. It was a added option at the dealer and I also have proof of those from the original purchase receipt. AMG bumpers, side skirts, and chrome amg mono block rims which came in a staggered configuration. Pretty sure it was like 5k more added to the 90k price tag on these cars when they first came out.

Of course it’s not a real AMG car but they are referred to as the CL500 AMG “appearance” package car.

i would but I no longer own the vehicle. Plus I don’t have the old paperwork on me as of right now. I just checked the wiki and it says amg appearance package can be purchased for the cl500 tho.