Edmunds Buys '05 CL65 Long-Term Tester
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 783
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2006 s65. Ford Excursion 6.0. Pontiac GTO convertible. Porsche 944 Turbo SCCA car. Wife-E550 and 968
Last two updates, I think it's starting to win over the naysayers...
http://www.edmunds.com/mercedes-benz...d-my-mind.html
http://www.edmunds.com/mercedes-benz...d-my-mind.html
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Joined: Mar 2009
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From: Chicago
W215 V12TT Build by Speedriven, W221 S550 4Matic
Last two updates, I think it's starting to win over the naysayers...
http://www.edmunds.com/mercedes-benz...d-my-mind.html
http://www.edmunds.com/mercedes-benz...d-my-mind.html
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 2,605
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From: Welwyn, Herts, UK
2006 S600
Last two updates, I think it's starting to win over the naysayers...
http://www.edmunds.com/mercedes-benz...d-my-mind.html
http://www.edmunds.com/mercedes-benz...d-my-mind.html
The brake pedal travel is frighteningly long
The steering wheel feels like it was borrowed from a school bus
The engine revs low, like an old-school big-block pushrod engine
It's too bad it's backed by such a mushy, syrupy automatic gearbox that saps out any snappiness this engine might have.
The steering wheel feels like it was borrowed from a school bus
The engine revs low, like an old-school big-block pushrod engine
It's too bad it's backed by such a mushy, syrupy automatic gearbox that saps out any snappiness this engine might have.
http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/t...no-tested.html
What's more, the CL65 was freakishly consistent. Each pull was almost exactly the same to the horsepower as the prior one
Very resistant to heat soak, too -- run after run, power kept creeping up.
After ten pulls it still hadn't nosed over, but it had finally stabilized to the
values you see above.
Very resistant to heat soak, too -- run after run, power kept creeping up.
After ten pulls it still hadn't nosed over, but it had finally stabilized to the
values you see above.
The comments on heat soak are interesting, as it suggests that owner's perceptions of limitations in the IC system may be down to maintenance rather than any design inadequacy.
Nick
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Joined: Jul 2013
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06 SL65AMG, 13 Tesla Model S 60kwh, 02 Jaguar S-Type 3.0, 12 S550 4 Matic, 07 E320 Bluetec, 06 LX470
Engine Mounts are required, not too bad on the S and CL but its an easy 3-4k job on SLs, Coil Packs go back almost always after an ECU tune, ABC is a toss up, some ppl can have no issues and some tend to have parts going out,
From 50-65k miles I have experienced replacing Engine Mounts, Coil Packs, 3 Struts, ABC Pump, Front Valve Block. These are almost always expected, everything else on these cars are pretty solid as long as regular maintenance is performed
From 50-65k miles I have experienced replacing Engine Mounts, Coil Packs, 3 Struts, ABC Pump, Front Valve Block. These are almost always expected, everything else on these cars are pretty solid as long as regular maintenance is performed
Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 128
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From: CA
AMG C63s Coupe
So it looks like even Edmunds.com can't afford this car :-) After getting $16k repair bill car is now for sale 
Another owner out of business.
http://www.edmunds.com/mercedes-benz...erm-road-test/
Another owner out of business.
http://www.edmunds.com/mercedes-benz...erm-road-test/
Out Of Control!!
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 13,799
Likes: 3,229
2014 E63S; AMS 100 octane ECU dyno tune; EDOK TCU tune; BB intakes; sprintbooster
Never own these out of warranty unless you budgeted for double the cost of the car during ownership or can do your own repairs
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,077
Likes: 80
From: Anchorage
05 CL65
This really shows the difference in owning one of these cars for those of us who do our own repair vs. the guys who pay for the dealership service. For just a little more than they spent to replace just the HPE hose, I replaced my:
HPE hose
both pieces of the main pressure hose
3 additional hoses
all 4 air cells
flushed my ABC system
replaced an idler pulley
had my A/C system recharged
And I have 5 liters of Petosin left over.
For what they paid to slap a set of pads on the rear I replaced pads & rotors.
It cost me about $900 less to replace my plugs than it cost them and took me about 3 hours. That was taking my time and fixing a few other things I found the dealer who worked on my car before had screwed up.
Basically, if you can do your own repairs these cars are still expensive to own and time consuming, but worth it IMO. Paying a dealership to maintain them would be insane.
HPE hose
both pieces of the main pressure hose
3 additional hoses
all 4 air cells
flushed my ABC system
replaced an idler pulley
had my A/C system recharged
And I have 5 liters of Petosin left over.
For what they paid to slap a set of pads on the rear I replaced pads & rotors.
It cost me about $900 less to replace my plugs than it cost them and took me about 3 hours. That was taking my time and fixing a few other things I found the dealer who worked on my car before had screwed up.
Basically, if you can do your own repairs these cars are still expensive to own and time consuming, but worth it IMO. Paying a dealership to maintain them would be insane.
Out Of Control!!
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 13,799
Likes: 3,229
2014 E63S; AMS 100 octane ECU dyno tune; EDOK TCU tune; BB intakes; sprintbooster
This really shows the difference in owning one of these cars for those of us who do our own repair vs. the guys who pay for the dealership service. For just a little more than they spent to replace just the HPE hose, I replaced my:
HPE hose
both pieces of the main pressure hose
3 additional hoses
all 4 air cells
flushed my ABC system
replaced an idler pulley
had my A/C system recharged
And I have 5 liters of Petosin left over.
For what they paid to slap a set of pads on the rear I replaced pads & rotors.
It cost me about $900 less to replace my plugs than it cost them and took me about 3 hours. That was taking my time and fixing a few other things I found the dealer who worked on my car before had screwed up.
Basically, if you can do your own repairs these cars are still expensive to own and time consuming, but worth it IMO. Paying a dealership to maintain them would be insane.
HPE hose
both pieces of the main pressure hose
3 additional hoses
all 4 air cells
flushed my ABC system
replaced an idler pulley
had my A/C system recharged
And I have 5 liters of Petosin left over.
For what they paid to slap a set of pads on the rear I replaced pads & rotors.
It cost me about $900 less to replace my plugs than it cost them and took me about 3 hours. That was taking my time and fixing a few other things I found the dealer who worked on my car before had screwed up.
Basically, if you can do your own repairs these cars are still expensive to own and time consuming, but worth it IMO. Paying a dealership to maintain them would be insane.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,077
Likes: 80
From: Anchorage
05 CL65
I realize that most people do not have the skills or tools to do it themselves. That's why I agree these cars are only worth owning for those of us who can. For people like myself it is a wonderful car. For the wrier at Edmunds, not so much.
Out Of Control!!
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 13,799
Likes: 3,229
2014 E63S; AMS 100 octane ECU dyno tune; EDOK TCU tune; BB intakes; sprintbooster
And I give guys like you lots of credit... I'm envious of your skills and can only imagine how gratifying it is to be able to repair your own car
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 42
Likes: 0
From: Milledgeville, GA
00 Lincoln Continental
A hose broke on a 10 year old car and they're surprised? It's expensive to pay someone else to fix it; not so much for yourself but you've got to be able to do it. Once one hose breaks it may be a good idea to do them all as preventative maintenance.
Ask a dealer for new coils and plugs and you'll spend enough to buy a used Camry. Do it yourself for $1500.
If they bought a 2005 Ferrari or Porsche they wouldn't be surprised at any of the repair costs but because this car can be had for $30k they think it should be fixable on the cheap?
My brother's 05 hasn't needed squat: it had a trans seal leak fixed by the dealer for $300ish and we've installed new coils and ignition module for maybe $2k. The instrument cluster backlight went out last week but is still covered under the longer warranty so that's a $0 fix with a brand new part. Oh, and while it was still under the CPO coverage it got a new idler pulley. When it goes out again we'll go with billet.
Oops, forgot one -- it also got a new battery sometime last year. All said, I don't think that's bad at all for 10 years in what was the highest horsepower car sold at the time. It isn't a DD, with like 42k miles on the clock today.
I'll snag a v12 for myself eventually -- probably a plain-looking S600 creampuff, and I'll wrench for myself whenever possible!
Ask a dealer for new coils and plugs and you'll spend enough to buy a used Camry. Do it yourself for $1500.
If they bought a 2005 Ferrari or Porsche they wouldn't be surprised at any of the repair costs but because this car can be had for $30k they think it should be fixable on the cheap?
My brother's 05 hasn't needed squat: it had a trans seal leak fixed by the dealer for $300ish and we've installed new coils and ignition module for maybe $2k. The instrument cluster backlight went out last week but is still covered under the longer warranty so that's a $0 fix with a brand new part. Oh, and while it was still under the CPO coverage it got a new idler pulley. When it goes out again we'll go with billet.
Oops, forgot one -- it also got a new battery sometime last year. All said, I don't think that's bad at all for 10 years in what was the highest horsepower car sold at the time. It isn't a DD, with like 42k miles on the clock today.
I'll snag a v12 for myself eventually -- probably a plain-looking S600 creampuff, and I'll wrench for myself whenever possible!
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From: In my garage
E55, GLS450, GL63, GLE350
My brother's 05 hasn't needed squat: it had a trans seal leak fixed by the dealer for $300ish and we've installed new coils and ignition module for maybe $2k. The instrument cluster backlight went out last week but is still covered under the longer warranty so that's a $0 fix with a brand new part. Oh, and while it was still under the CPO coverage it got a new idler pulley. When it goes out again we'll go with billet.
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 42
Likes: 0
From: Milledgeville, GA
00 Lincoln Continental
Yes! TEN YEARS and it needed a couple of easy items. Oh, the humanity!
I've wrenched my own cars for the past 20+ years. No, I'm not a professional mechanic - I'm an IT guy. I've just lived by the philosophy that if someone else can learn to do something, I can too. Coil pack & plug changes are easy in this car. It's no more of a PITA than doing the same job in my Lincoln Continental -- which also needed coil packs last year, albeit for a much lower cost (Ford parts are $200 x 8 btw, but of course I went aftermarket).
If you've got to pay someone to do every repair on your car you should get a new one every 3-4 years. That's for any car. What other car in this category needs just gas and oil changes for a decade? Not one!
I caught the idler pulley before it failed. It was leaking grease/oil and it was an obvious issue. The closest dealer is 30 miles away.
So yes. $3k in repairs after 8 years (on a 10 year old car) is nothing at all on a car that was $190k new and just under $100k as a used CPO purchase. That's less than the sales tax amount!
I've wrenched my own cars for the past 20+ years. No, I'm not a professional mechanic - I'm an IT guy. I've just lived by the philosophy that if someone else can learn to do something, I can too. Coil pack & plug changes are easy in this car. It's no more of a PITA than doing the same job in my Lincoln Continental -- which also needed coil packs last year, albeit for a much lower cost (Ford parts are $200 x 8 btw, but of course I went aftermarket).
If you've got to pay someone to do every repair on your car you should get a new one every 3-4 years. That's for any car. What other car in this category needs just gas and oil changes for a decade? Not one!
I caught the idler pulley before it failed. It was leaking grease/oil and it was an obvious issue. The closest dealer is 30 miles away.
So yes. $3k in repairs after 8 years (on a 10 year old car) is nothing at all on a car that was $190k new and just under $100k as a used CPO purchase. That's less than the sales tax amount!
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From: In my garage
E55, GLS450, GL63, GLE350
How may miles did he drive it for those $3k in parts? Even if he owned for all 10 years which he didn't, that's the equivalent of over $5k in dealer repairs in 42k miles. Sorry, I feel that's a lot for a low mileage car and definitely not squat. For a CL65, it is very low for 10 year old car. However, it will increase exponentialy over the next 42k miles unless you proactively replace all the hoses, accumulators, clean the valve blocks, and flush the ABC fluid every few years.
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 42
Likes: 0
From: Milledgeville, GA
00 Lincoln Continental
He got it with 19k miles on the clock. What can I say? We live in a small town and his office is literally 500 yards from his home. Of course the CL isn't his daily anyway so that keeps the miles even lower.
So few things on these cars fail as a result of mileage; most of it is due to old age. Coil packs & ignition transformers quit because of old electrical components within. ABC hoses fail because the rubber is old. Vacuum-powered items inside the car fail due to old cracked hoses.
The cluster was known to fail early and MB increased the warranty to 10 years. It's also a $50 repair if you DIY, so it's not a lost cause either way. If you pay them $2300 for a new unit that's your business!
Anyone with a car older than 5 years should maintain it proactively. Trying to do it reactively will mean constantly chasing failures rather than doing it on your schedule. This car is just getting warmed up. Soon it'll get a tune just to make it interesting, and to keep up with today's cars. Nothing else makes effortless power like the ol' v12 so it isn't going anywhere!
So few things on these cars fail as a result of mileage; most of it is due to old age. Coil packs & ignition transformers quit because of old electrical components within. ABC hoses fail because the rubber is old. Vacuum-powered items inside the car fail due to old cracked hoses.
The cluster was known to fail early and MB increased the warranty to 10 years. It's also a $50 repair if you DIY, so it's not a lost cause either way. If you pay them $2300 for a new unit that's your business!
Anyone with a car older than 5 years should maintain it proactively. Trying to do it reactively will mean constantly chasing failures rather than doing it on your schedule. This car is just getting warmed up. Soon it'll get a tune just to make it interesting, and to keep up with today's cars. Nothing else makes effortless power like the ol' v12 so it isn't going anywhere!
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 8,882
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From: In my garage
E55, GLS450, GL63, GLE350
MBW Editor
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Front Page News!
yeah, this was too good not to write about!
https://mbworld.org/articles/edmunds...ght-hilarious/
https://mbworld.org/articles/edmunds...ght-hilarious/
