Teething problems with a new purchase
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: May 2021
Posts: 8
Likes: 2
CL500 W215
Teething problems with a new purchase
Hi All. I am completely new here and new to the world of Mercedes. I have picked up a CL 500 at a fairly reasonable price, the previous owner seemed to have taken fairly good care of it mechanically but there are a few problems which need troubleshoot and I missed when checking the car out. Hopefully it's not a bad omen for underlying problems! Anyway, hoping someone may be able to point me towards some guides or information. Fair warning, I haven't searched for these. Apologies. It is late here and this is more of a brain dump for the bits I have come across so far.
* Passenger door does not lock / unlock with central locking. Either the button internally or remote key fob. I read something briefly about checking for a hissing noise for leaking air, but I haven't done this yet. Is this a common fault?
* The rear blind does not raise / lower. My guess is this will not be an easy fix, based on my previous experience with BMW's and how difficult this part is to access.
* The rear headrests do not raise / lower.
* Washer pump seems to not run.
* I got a dreaded ABC warning pop up on the way home. The chap I bought it from and his father both seemed pretty on the ball with the car and telling me how often I need to do oil changes for the suspension, how to maintain it, only to use Pentosin oil etc. I know it's sat for a while so hoping it just needs a top up (it was dark and I didn't have a rag to check it so will do that tomorrow). The warning was white not red.
* Passenger door does not lock / unlock with central locking. Either the button internally or remote key fob. I read something briefly about checking for a hissing noise for leaking air, but I haven't done this yet. Is this a common fault?
* The rear blind does not raise / lower. My guess is this will not be an easy fix, based on my previous experience with BMW's and how difficult this part is to access.
* The rear headrests do not raise / lower.
* Washer pump seems to not run.
* I got a dreaded ABC warning pop up on the way home. The chap I bought it from and his father both seemed pretty on the ball with the car and telling me how often I need to do oil changes for the suspension, how to maintain it, only to use Pentosin oil etc. I know it's sat for a while so hoping it just needs a top up (it was dark and I didn't have a rag to check it so will do that tomorrow). The warning was white not red.
Junior Member
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 72
Likes: 17
From: St Pete Florida
02 CL500 | 06 E350 4M
Hi All. I am completely new here and new to the world of Mercedes. I have picked up a CL 500 at a fairly reasonable price, the previous owner seemed to have taken fairly good care of it mechanically but there are a few problems which need troubleshoot and I missed when checking the car out. Hopefully it's not a bad omen for underlying problems! Anyway, hoping someone may be able to point me towards some guides or information. Fair warning, I haven't searched for these. Apologies. It is late here and this is more of a brain dump for the bits I have come across so far.
* Passenger door does not lock / unlock with central locking. Either the button internally or remote key fob. I read something briefly about checking for a hissing noise for leaking air, but I haven't done this yet. Is this a common fault?
* The rear blind does not raise / lower. My guess is this will not be an easy fix, based on my previous experience with BMW's and how difficult this part is to access.
* The rear headrests do not raise / lower.
* Washer pump seems to not run.
* I got a dreaded ABC warning pop up on the way home. The chap I bought it from and his father both seemed pretty on the ball with the car and telling me how often I need to do oil changes for the suspension, how to maintain it, only to use Pentosin oil etc. I know it's sat for a while so hoping it just needs a top up (it was dark and I didn't have a rag to check it so will do that tomorrow). The warning was white not red.
* Passenger door does not lock / unlock with central locking. Either the button internally or remote key fob. I read something briefly about checking for a hissing noise for leaking air, but I haven't done this yet. Is this a common fault?
* The rear blind does not raise / lower. My guess is this will not be an easy fix, based on my previous experience with BMW's and how difficult this part is to access.
* The rear headrests do not raise / lower.
* Washer pump seems to not run.
* I got a dreaded ABC warning pop up on the way home. The chap I bought it from and his father both seemed pretty on the ball with the car and telling me how often I need to do oil changes for the suspension, how to maintain it, only to use Pentosin oil etc. I know it's sat for a while so hoping it just needs a top up (it was dark and I didn't have a rag to check it so will do that tomorrow). The warning was white not red.
My rear blind does not go up. It can be a bad relay (under the the right passenger seat), bad motor or mechanism. I'd not fix it. I live in Florida and have tinted windows FWIW
Washer pumps are cheap. My reservoir leaks...lol. It's a bad pump, tank is empty, bad switch or maybe fuse (I don't recall what circuit that system is on)
White ABC warning means you have some life in it..not much. Red and you're dead. Scrap that ABC and put coils in it, pull out the ABC module and put on a W220 Non-ABC power steering pump. I did exactly that two years ago and I love it. No more worries about ABC failure...the mental peace is enough.
Welcome to W215 Life
https://mbworld.org/forums/cl-class-...onversion.html
Last edited by BoxxMann; Jun 5, 2021 at 04:44 PM.
Welcome to the zoo!
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: May 2021
Posts: 8
Likes: 2
CL500 W215
If your headrests do not come up then your air pump or bad lines are the culprit. My CL does not lock, headrests don't go and the trunk doesn't pop open; the pump is bad but I won't replace it. The locking/headrests/trunk/soft close are on air, so if some parts are no working it's a leak, bad pump or something else related
My rear blind does not go up. It can be a bad relay (under the the right passenger seat), bad motor or mechanism. I'd not fix it. I live in Florida and have tinted windows FWIW
Washer pumps are cheap. My reservoir leaks...lol. It's a bad pump, tank is empty, bad switch or maybe fuse (I don't recall what circuit that system is on)
White ABC warning means you have some life in it..not much. Red and you're dead. Scrap that ABC and put coils in it, pull out the ABC module and put on a W220 Non-ABC power steering pump. I did exactly that two years ago and I love it. No more worries about ABC failure...the mental peace is enough.
Welcome to W215 Life
https://mbworld.org/forums/cl-class-...onversion.html
My rear blind does not go up. It can be a bad relay (under the the right passenger seat), bad motor or mechanism. I'd not fix it. I live in Florida and have tinted windows FWIW
Washer pumps are cheap. My reservoir leaks...lol. It's a bad pump, tank is empty, bad switch or maybe fuse (I don't recall what circuit that system is on)
White ABC warning means you have some life in it..not much. Red and you're dead. Scrap that ABC and put coils in it, pull out the ABC module and put on a W220 Non-ABC power steering pump. I did exactly that two years ago and I love it. No more worries about ABC failure...the mental peace is enough.
Welcome to W215 Life
https://mbworld.org/forums/cl-class-...onversion.html
My PSE pump seems good. One of the headrests works and the other doesn't. My guess is there is a break in the line which runs to the right hand side one at some point after it splits. The passenger door and driver bolster both seem to not work. The only thing I am going to resolve is the passenger lock, I'm not too fussed about the rest.
I pulled up a fuse diagram and checked, the fuse is blown for the motor so I am going to try replacing that. If that doesn't resolve it then I will leave it broken. I'm in Dubai and have side and rear tints as well, but if it's just a fuse then happy days.
Washer pump is already sorted!
The ABC I am going to think about as and when something more happens. The guy I bought the car from made out that he maintained it well, so we'll see. Buying cars out here is completely hit and miss though, and it could have been BS, so we will see. There is a Merc garage near me with Star diagnostics, so I will take it in there to get the codes read and see what that shows.
The body work has a lot of oxidation, but a lot of that should come out with a good machine polish. It also has some scratches etc. so I never expect it to look perfect. The interior is pretty clean overall, but the fabric was hanging off one A pillar and both C pillars, so I have ordered replacements for those.
