dfwx

My '05 CL65 had no body damage. However there were rock *****s/road rash upfront from its first owner (I'm 2nd), the clear was starting to let loose at some edges, and at various places the paint was showing imperfections.

It came from Mercedes with in special order Midnight Blue - a $4000 extra charge. I suspect it may be the only one made in that color.
The picture below is how it looked prior to the work (not body damage):



I had a custom car shop disassemble the body except the doors to avoid hanging issues on reinstallation, remove all molding (all window rubber molding to be replaced), all badges and all trim removed. I also ordered vented fenders. They took a significant amount of reworking to make the perfect as the molding were not good. I also had them slightly stretch out the rear fenders and the rear fender lips rolled under to between allow the 20 inch rims a bit of room.

After removal each body piece was taken down nearly to the primer and in some areas to the primer where the primer was letting go, checking, or appearing to start to bubble. Removing the body panels allowed address joining areas as that is where most issues likely would be, plus it avoided any paint puddling.

When each part was right, it was then sprayed, allowed to harden 3 to 4 days, wet sanded down, sprayed again, wet sanded down, and then again, with this repeated for 3 coats of clear in the same process. This 3 week painting process should produce a superior result to factory in durability without piling on a lot of paint. Part of the contract was that all sanding would be by hand - no power sanders or polishers allowed. Between the hand-labor body and paint work, no-power-tools limitation, plus the fender and reworking it plus ultimately finding rather expensive
Mercedes molding, this was not an inexpensive undertaking.





I had the Renntech carbon fiber motor cover removed to avoid damage to it during the work. The pix shows the Renntech air boxes.



The finished body and paint work. The front grill also was blackened other than the circled triple star left in chrome. The Mercedes hood badge replaced with an AMG badge. The blue is darker than appearing in the 2 photos below.



The front fender - prior to removing it and reworking it still again as the fender curve still had imperfections.

Despite my repeatedly instructing NOT to put any badges back on it, some hourly grunt at the shop found the new badging I had in the trunk and put on the V12 BiTurbo badging (and doing so badly). This badging in the photo came off when the fenders removed and again stripped and reworked. A 2nd new set of badging ordered (OEM) and the car currently debadged until it is trailers back from Renntech. I do not put pointless miles on it. It is a special occasions vehicle.

The shop owner expressed some regrets of taking the job as I held him to the standard of "perfect" - which he promised. It doesn't usually take 3 months to do a car requiring no body repairs.



It is currently debadged, but new badges including reinstalling the Renntech metal badges. It is a Renntech CL65 - not just Renntech software/programming - and currently is at Renntech's Lake Park FL locale for regular servicing, flushing the trans, replacing motor and transmission mounts, a new radiator(inspection showed the prior own had the radiator repaired and it seems best to just put in an new one), hoses, oil change, some other matters, checking it all out and with some additional upgrading in the works.

Grip Grip

From reading your thread, there is clearly a huge disparity amongst us CL65 owners.
On a more serious note, your CL looks outstanding!

Dr Matt

Would love to see that color CL in person. Sounds like it will be in mint condition. Where are you located?

Mine on the other hand will be run hard regularly, modded, and driven 12 months a year here in Alaska. Rock chips and cracked windshields are normal on any car that gets driven here and that is why I own it.

dfwx

Repainting was not an option. The original owner apparently had an unlimited budget on upgrading and servicing, but also it was clear he drove it to work and parked it outside - in Miami. He also must have occasionally drove on gravel roads. And he kept it clean, often "waxing" it with UV blocking silicon based "wax."

This was a mixed blessing to me. It was the color and that Renntech motor cover that grabbed my interest when I saw it on Auto Traders. An Audi dealer had taken it in trade, put new Michelins on it, and a couple months later after losing some Audi sales to it, urgently wanted it sold having hidden it in the back. Why it was costing them sales an interesting story.

The cosmetic issues were significant. The intense UV Miami sun, combined with a lot of humidity, for a decade was starting to take it's toll on the clear coating at edges, and there where hundreds of tiny white spots at the front and behind the wheels from rock hits - killing its sales value. On the other hand, it otherwise was clean and with $25K, maybe more, in performance upgrades.

I got it with 67K miles for $28K, plus a 2 year warranty. Like I said, they wanted it off their lot badly. Had it been cosmetically excellent, the price would have been significantly higher, plus it tempting to just fade in the fenders - when that would never stay a complete match over time.

While a OEM color repaint seems easy enough, it isn't, but the problems really diminished it leaving no option. The silicon wax has protected the paint color and prevented serious deterioration, but also was a real challenge since I was not agreeable to it being sprayed with what I call a "sticky coat" over it, nor can it be sanded off as it then just embeds in the paint. So over and over and over and over - each piece, that silicon had to be solvent removed before even beginning.

Some people believe a "repainted car" is a damaged car, but that only applies to bad or shortcut repainting. Except for garage babies, paint gives out. These CL65s are not collectables.

Not sure what you mean by my post makes me different from other CL65 owners other than it isn't even close to bone stock. While I kept the OEM fenders, the CL65 (in my opinion) is way too understated in appearance. The attitude people have towards it completely changed with the vented fenders and blackened grill. No one did a glance at it before. It just looked like another Mercedes. Few people have a clue what a CL65 is.

dfwx

OK, you mean my limiting using it and trying to keep it mint? True and for some reasons. First, I have a one-off proto type Italian SUV (LaForza) - the last one they made. While production models were boring and the company went broke, their prototype has a Maguson supercharged big V8, the body designed by Pina Farina and the interior done by Maserati on a GM 4X4 drivetrain. Short Wheel base. Very sharp looking. Very fast. They hoped dealers would pick it up. They didn't and the company went broke. After it sat in storage over a decade, the owner died and the estate sold it - cheap. Lucky me.

That's what I drive the hell out of, although many bitterly complain that as a 1 off prototype I should warehouse it.

The CL65 is a very costly car to maintain. All cars have limited miles you can put on it before they have issues anyway. To me (and the Mrs) it is a hyper performance luxury car and it only due to the dismal resale value of it that I would have bought it. $100K cars are not in my budget (though it seems $100K boats are).

In my opinion, the W215 CL65 if the limitations taken off it and with performance upgrading is still the finest hyper performance luxury GT2+2 ever made - and shames its rivals such as the Bentley GT 2+2, XKR Jag (which I sold to get this) etc. Because it is 600 pounds lighter, no W216 CL65 could ever match it - and there are now probably less than 150 of the W215 65s left.

I want to keep this car the rest of my life. So I don't want to run it into the ground - like I do with every other car I've ever owned just racking up miles on it. I tend to greatly abuse my vehicle (other than the Harleys) - literally drive them til the drop and literally give or throw them away.

I also think they are so maintenance intense they are not suited as a daily driver - ie a person's only transportation - unless you have piles of $$ solely for that maintenance. We have an R350, Cooper Mini (classic) custom with A/c), 2 trucks (big and small), a 4X4 full sized SUV, and the super LaForza, plus Harleys. So why burn up the car that is a work of art to my view? Instead, I am going to continue to "perfect it," meaning more upgrading (performance etc.) A bit like a hobby.

I'm in central Florida on Florida's West coast.

hpV12

You've ruined it with those corny-looking front fenders. How ricer of you.

Oh yeah, nice color.

Grip Grip

That's not very nice. FWIW, I'm not a big fan either, but I'm a little surprised at times at how direct you guys can be on here. Why be so cruel???

Anyway, to the OP, welcome to the NO MERCY forum. There's like 10 people posting in here about CL65's, why run the newest one off?????

dfwx

Would you say the SL65 has ricer looking fenders?


Its a matter of what a person wants of course and the personality being portrayed. Mercedes puts vented fenders on most their performance oriented models. I did not see any wide body kits I liked or would have opted for one. But in my opinion the CL65 is boring looking from the side plus wish the rear was not so square. Nothing I could do about the rear. In my opinion, the W215 CL65 was a marketing failure for 3 reasons, one of which is it did not look like a $180k car nor look particularly fast either.

They are true vents, not faux, so will serve some function in allowing some heat out of the motor compartment without doing something I would see as cheesy like putting louvers on the hood. It get HOT here in the summer.

320 dreamer

not sure i like the vented fenders but appreciate the time and effort you put into them.

as for the rarity of your color heres a way to confirm what you have.

contact this gentleman. he confirmed i had 1 of 8 everest green slk32 built in the world.
Dr. Nils Beckmann
Mercedes-Benz Classic
Brand Communications
Daimler AG
000-C107
70546 Stuttgart/Germany

Phone +49 7 11 17-2 26 29
Fax +49 7 11 17-790 56611
mailto: nils.beckmann@daimler.com

he can give you the details you seek

tusabes

Welcome !! You have a laforza psv? So do I!! I believe 3 were made. Has the Rare gm running gear instead of the Iveco .

I'd love to see some pics of your laforza . Mine is currently disassembled to the shell for a complete repaint. I'm debating whether to sell it or finish it out

dfwx

I really like the straight spoked wheels rather than what I have.

Definitely do the ECU tune. 75 more horsepower and over 100 ft/lbs torque. It is the latter that makes a very notable difference. That extra torque equals 25% the total torque of an Audi R8 and nearly 20% of a Z06. It is what would have your 65 coming on like a gangbuster on the last 3rd of the quarter mile. If straight line racing is your thing, the ECU upgrade should be your #1 priority.

dfwx

I thought they only made one so this is news to me. I bought this one:



I haven't taken care of it and it is falling apart. Door handles don't work. One door jammed. A trash pick up truck put a small dent in the side. The gauges are absolutely cheesy, just cheap hotrod gauges - and they reflect badly at night in the windshield. Rear hatch doesn't like to open. The side lights were just bondo-ed in. Fog lights were not connected. Rear lights do and don't work. Terrible quality work. I paid too much for it in retrospect.
A real crowd pleaser though for the unique look.
I paid someone $500 for a spare front end he claimed he had, but never got it.
But for what it is the PSV is plenty quick.



I also have one of the standard production ones, also in white, with the Ford 302. Rusting badly at the hood. Paid only $2K for it. VERY nice black interior (my PSV has a blue interior and doesn't look good. Would like to put the black interior and its dash into it.

That you have one means its a small world indeed. I was told the one I bought was one-of-a-kind. I guess not. Do you have a pix of yours before disassembly? Same motor in it?

tusabes

I've got pix on my work computer I will get them up ASAP

Did you get yours from that guy laforza MZ in California ? Or did he pass away? He was selling your Turin for $20k last time I checked with him a few years ago

Here is one in Europe
http://www.nyaasmaskin.no/images/laforza006.jpg

Here is another with grey /black interior

http://www.lascointl.com/laforza/3.html

http://www.lascointl.com/laforza/2.html

http://www.lascointl.com/laforza/1.html

dfwx

This area is about 70% retired folks and there is an incredible variety of showcars the guys do. Hotrods. Old muscle cars. Customs. Restorations. Resto-mods, from the 20s thru today. They are meticulous and pour time and money into them. For the size of this community the number of them is astonishing. My neighbor is building a low-boy up with a build up old 409 motor. He'll have a thousand hours in it when done. Much of the work those guys do is incredibly detailed and flawless.

The debate between remaining OEM, mostly OEM with appearance and performance upgrading, and radical alterations is an endless one. There are those for which the measure of a car is how exactly it is as manufactured. For others, the measure is how much you did to change it.

I do not see the W215 CL65 as a collectable - although should be - and it will continue to decline value. I kept the OEM fenders of course and could pop them on anytime. Personally, I think the W215 CL65 is boring looking in terms of a performance car - and other than Mercedes people no one gives them a second glance - and I saw no body kits I liked as I don't like the low squarish front air dams and certainly not jutting out rocker panels or squared off lower rear. The attitude people had towards my CL65 totally changed merely with the fender swap. Now they take a second look and start asking "how fast will it go?" and "beautiful Mercedes."

Though so simple, merely blackening the grill added a performance look to it.

Then again, except for the rear wing, I like the WALD kit other than the price because of the width it would add for tires - and I know Merc folks curse it as hedious. The price of the kit, though, is absurd and it is outdated plus that awful rear wing. I regret not having removed the tiny rear air foil on the rear trunk in the body work.

A change I would like to make in the future is to eliminate the moon roof. I really don't like moon/sunroofs and it would look much cleaner without it.

dfwx

I paid $30K and bought it from someone in Chicago or somewhere near there. I paid too much. I think, though, it was the car of the California guy, but not sure.

tusabes

Here's an old psv ad

BlownV8

The SL fender and what you've done to your car is not the same at all. SL looks good the fender you have choosen does not.

Zax63

If you read his write up he mentioned that he asked the badges not be put on and it was a local decision by the body an while assembling. It has since or will soon be rectified. I, too, am wrestling with how to cool the engine compartment of my S, I may resort to some vents if anyone has a good suggestion...

BlownV8

Without the badges, it would look much better. Not sure it would look great but it would be a huge improvement. Please post a pic without the badges.

hpV12

It's not cruel. I'm just not amused by ricer looking bodykits on MBs. And no OP its not the same what the fawk man srsly??? SL fenders v CL, different generations at that.. yeah, nice work. Cant wait to see the neon lights he adds underneath

The sides remind me of that pos ASMA kit.. such garbage.

pman

Beautiful car are those wheels for current cl?

dfwx

There are people who think they somehow have bragging rights by boasting that they did absolutely nothing to their car and that it is exactly like everyone else's.

I suppose that is easiest and definitely cheaper anyway.

Personally I think the "ricer burner" fenders on the Mercede's McLaren look great. Did you send a hate letter to Mercedes about how they ruin the McLaren's looks?

dfwx

They also advertised a black one claiming that one was an armored vehicle with bullet resistance glass and bullet resistant material in the body - why they called it a PSV (Personal Safety Vehicle).

dfwx

I'm not sure about Dr. Matt's CL. I like the straight spokes look on his.

They are 20 inch AMG rims on mine. I question if the are the orginals though. W215 CL65s came with 19 inch wheels. I don't know if 20 inch wheels may have been a dealer option, a factory option or added later. The speedo is correct for the tire/wheel combo, but that can be computer corrected.

Because the W215 Cl65s have 60mm offset, few other Mercedes rims correctly fit, though people tend to advertise they do.

For those who want to drag race and don't care of appearance, curiously the closest wider rims are certain Lambo models which have 18 inch rims - 9.5 wide and 60mm offset in the front and 13 inch wide, 68mm offset rear. I suppose with the suspension on high a drag racer could just leave 3 inches sticking out. If the suspension set to high it unlikely they would hit. To protect paint, a person could just temporarily use metal screws to hold a 3 inch wide aluminum strip to the rear fenders' inner lips.

Grip Grip

It took me an hour to clean my car up tonight after hitting the track, so I may have to give that a shot.