omegaboost

Hey everyone!!

New on the board here and I've had my eyes on the 03+ CL600 for a while now. Now a V12TT does sound really nice and all but I just wanted to know, how reliable are they? Most people always tell me I should put money aside for maintenance or if something breaks etc etc but how was your experience so far?

If I can give you a little background on me, I own a modded 300zx twin turbo (guesstimate ~460+hp) and in the past 4 1/2 years of ownership I only put around 21 000km (dont know how much is it in miles). Dont drive it in winter and I'll probably not drive the CL in winter either.

So far the 300zx has been uber reliable. Can I expect the CL to be just as reliable if not more? What should I look for on those cars?

Any feedback will definitely be appreciated!! thanks!

02Drunkenup

should search or just scroll down the CL section to see what people have to go through with these automobiles. I own the platform sharing s class and that can get pretty hard on the wallet and its the simpler of the model range. On the V12 models the ABC suspension system is a liability, shocks are extremely expensive and so are other related parts, coil packs for the engine, electronics in general. I don't own one but I've read plenty and they are not the most reliable cars.

I think on the car you should check all the fluids, ABC fluid in particular, try ask the gadgets in the interior, and be sure that it doesn't show any malfunctions thru scrolling in the display in the instrument panel... should give you more input.

BlownV8

It will not be anywhere near as dependable as your Z car. If you are looking for something dependable, don't by a CL. It has earned a very poor reputation for reliability. Why do you think the value falls so quickly after it is out of warranty?

omegaboost

yeah I guess your right. Its just that right now im trying to look for something that can be just as fast as my Z (about 500hp) but can be driven daily, in winter and have all the luxury a man can ask. Not to mention, I want something that is built like a tank and I know most MBs are known for that.

The CL600 looked like the perfect candidate but its just the ABC problems thats' keeping me at bay really.

Houdini65

For starters the CL600 is on a different planet then your Z. It's Thor with a velvet glove holding a granite hammer vs a local carnival ride (your Z). I owned a older Z and a 350 plus a 370 and a GTR.
You are correct a Benz is built like a tank and the CL is ultra refined. Ahead of its times.
And the v12's were put in the GERMAN tiger tank and other WW2 tanks. MAYBACH v12's. With half the power they r today. So German engineering is pure surreal. To this day the only thing that has come close to the chassis and engineering and reliability is Lexus.


Torque moves relative mass and is the true number of a car's performance potential is TORQUE..HP is the equation from torque. This CL600 u want will have double your Z torque with just a tune and also be a 200 mph car that runs 11's without even using 12% load on its drivetrain. Like I said. WORLDs apart... U will see. BUY ONE. You will be amazed and in love and never let go. Ever

I can say I have had almost no issues with my old Cl600. I had a 2003 and a 2004. I did replace a ABC line for $418. That's all I can remember.
I currently own a CL65 Black Series conversion and it is a high mile car. High mile cars tend to be much more reliable IMO. And again with this 2005 CL65 I haven't put anymore money in it then maintanance and a tune. I am the only person among my friends who has has great luck with all my cars. I also drive and respect my supercars. My 65 is a darling. She will run a 10.82 1/4 mile and recently I did a high speed run of a local shut down highway and I got my CL65 up to 209 mph with more room to go. My car has not had one repair in over 35k miles I have owned her and now she is over 100k miles she still only loses 1 quart of oil per change and the car is a gem to own and drive. I have to say dollar to dollar and power to power. These v12's are priceless on performance and reliability. Also my ABC suspension has been great too. I get the system checked each oil change and it has only been repaired once under warranty way before I bought the car. Since then zero costs out of pocket.

Goodluck. Don't be discouraged. These cars are worth the repair costs which are very cheap through a private mechanic and worth every cent they are currently selling for. I now own 3 AMG's and my v12 is my favorite and most reliable so far.

BlownV8

He's back.

Vic55

And he's gone.

cjcalo

With the ABC problems and coil packs I think the CL is a lot harder on the wallet than a 300zx. I used to have a few 300zx twin turbos and to tell you the truth I didn't like them anywhere near the mkiv supras I had. If you really want to get a CL I would look for one where they had the maintenance done on them like coil packs, brakes, and abc fixes. What I can say about the CL is that the ride on them is very nice it just floats across the road. On the other hand its going to feel like a big bob sled in corners compared to your 300. I personally don't think that the v12s are very fast I think they are kinda slow. The CL is also a lot heavier than your car so 500 hp in the cl will feel slower than it does in your car.

There's nothing wrong with getting a CL but its best to be very selective and know who you are getting it from. Also keep in mind that there isn't much for performance modifications for the CL whereas there's lot of options for the 300zx.

My opinion of the v12 bit turbo CL is:
- high cost of repairs
- high maintenance
- really smooth ride and very comfortable
- takes bumps in the road like a champ
- handles average and there's nothing you can do to make it handle better
- not slow but not fast just a decently powered luxury car
- very heavy
- very little aftermarket performance modifications available
- back seat is almost worthless
- it pulls cougars the cubs don't care for it at all
- very inconspicuous on the road hardly anyone knows about them

zneB-sedecreM

Girls love my CL. I'm 22 and I have never seen a CL that looks like mine tho. Definitely not stock looking, so maybe my car's an exception

BlownV8

I don't agree about the availability of aftermarket modificatons or the comments about the car being slow. However, the term fast is always relative.

There are plenty of tuners that will give you over 100 hp with an ECU tune. There are some that will get you up to around 700+ hp and one that will get you to 800 hp for under $5K and that same one will get your bi-turbo CL to 1000 hp for around $20K.

Search for Renntech, Brabus, and Speedriven. Your desire to go fast will only be limited by your budget or creativity/ability to do the work yourself.

The CL handles very well for a car with its heft. You can't defy the laws of physics but ABC comes pretty close. It handles much better than it should.

zneB-sedecreM

I agree with you that there is a lot you can do with the 600 series V12, because it's shared with other platforms (CL, S, SL). However, if you're looking into modifying the appearance of the car (interior and exterior) there are so few things available that can be done to the W215 visually without making it look gaudy. Not that many companies make accessories for the betterment of the CL aesthetically, which is a shame, because to me the W215 is the most underrated and most beautiful design that MB has created (excluding SLR/SLS) since the 00's.
Which is why I had to get my hood, front bumper, rear bumper all custom molded and cut and vented and had to go through Euroteck to get side skirts, lips and a diffuser made, plus many more custom things I have.
It's cool though, because to this day, I see more W216 CLs than I do W215s on the road.

cjcalo

I think this car is a hard car to alter its appearance while looking good. Most of the ones I have seen make me ashamed to own one as they seem to be more ghetto'd out than anything.

I have to disagree. I have the speedriven ecu/tcu on my car I'm in California so we only have 91 here at the pump. Some carry 100 but they are few and far between so I got the tune for 91. It helped out a little but not a lot. Marcin told me I would get around 60hp over stock with this tune. He said 93 gives around 75 over stock. If I wanted 100 hp over stock I would have to run 100 octane in the car and tune it for that. Now that to me would be lame to take away a complete driveable street car that's able to fill up anywhere and turn it into a car that has to run on 100 only. And in terms of bang for buck what do the other things offer like bigger heat exchanger, bigger intercooler, ic pump and intakes? A whoppin 20 hp? They hardly offer anything for the amount of money spent.

And making the cl a 1000hp car? Now tell me who and how many have done that reliably? These kits are in their infantile stages with no real testing. 1000hp is gonna require everything under the sun to have it somewhat reliable and things are still going to break. And it will be over 20g's for that hell the twin turbo kits are almost that just themselves. I've seen higher mileage cl65's go for 20-22k and if I had to pick weather to spend that much money to build mine into a 1000hp CL which would require race gas and break all the time or buy another CL65 with higher mileage I would defer to the latter every time.

I like the car for what it is. I think people get too high on it.

zneB-sedecreM

I agree. I rarely have ever seen one that someone customized and I liked.

omegaboost

btw since the ABC is the main issue on this car that really keeps me at bay, I've read that all the ABC components have been updated 07+ (i think) and were still compatible and much more reliable than the 03+ system. Is that true??

I'm so down to pick one of these up but I dont want something that will spend more time in the garage than on the road.

1995E320Cab

Looks - CL with AMG body package, lowered and the right wheels will get you lots of attention. Done right they are a class act !

Power - You can pick up a very well cared for lower mile S600 / CL600 for $20K + / - range. For $1K do a ECU tune 100 hp / tq (the 600's get more hp / tq on a tune that the 65 do) For $5K do the new Speendriven 800 HP kit, and you will be faster than 95% + cars on the road.

Do your research on this site, if you can maintain them yourself for the most part then they are not that expensive to own.
.

omegaboost

yeah I do everything myself. If I would've paid someone to work on my 300zx, it would have costed me a fortune but I saved alot so thats my game plan with this one as well. Again, I just dont want to be stuck with a car that will spend more time in the garage than on the road. Then again, I barely do mileage. I did 13 000 miles in 4 1/2 years of owning my Z simply because I do everything locally.

zneB-sedecreM

The CL loves to take your money away and make frequent visits to shops. You just never know with these cars

1995E320Cab

Ive had my CL600 for 10 months and about 6K miles, with 0 issues.

See here for some info on my car .... https://mbworld.org/forums/cl-class-...wner-here.html


The PO had the few standard issues these cars have resolved before I bought it, so all has been great.

I know I may be looking a a few $K in upcoming surprises, but really what high end modern car out of warranty does not have this same concern ?

I think the CL get a bad wrap cause most, don't understand these cars so they just take them to the dealer and pay thru the nose to get them fixed.


Look up all of FormulaZR post, you will learn a lot, read, read, read that is so much great info on this site.

.

cjcalo

Like I said before, look for one with service records and one that had problem area parts replaced like abc parts and coil packs.

I think Speedriven is great I like their customer service and that's why I chose to go with their tune. Its true the tune on 600s pick up more power than the tune on 65s because the 600s are detuned more from the factory. I don't see how this car can get 800hp consistently on 91 especially in the summer with temps 90+ unless bigger snails are used.

I've seen very few of these CL's done up right in terms of looks. There's a few here on this site I can't remember whose car they are but I complimented them when they posted pictures. However, most of the CL's I have seen look ghetto in fact if one didn't know any better they would look like dubbed out SC300's blah! Call me crazy but I think its hard pressed to beat the looks of the stock 65 wheels.

Quadcammer

maybe 3 or 4 years ago. nowadays a 215 is just a used car.

Das Geld 2

I love this guy. Can we keep him VIC?

Come on.

1995E320Cab

Not to bad for just a used car

Quadcammer

not to say its bad looking, but its old news. wouldn't generate any attention by me, thats for sure.

cjcalo

x2! Why was he banned in the first place?

Quadcammer

the same old schtick gets annoying. Its like clockwork.

Most powerful engine in a production car (not true anymore i don't think)
only 184 built
most reliable car out there
best interior ever
reference to GTR, mustangs, GNX, etc etc.