Mark L

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forums.

I recently inherited my late Aunt's 2001 Mercedes CLK320 coupe.

I'm new to the Mercedes world, been a GM guy my whole life, but instead of selling this CLK, I've decided to keep it and try and spruce it up a bit.

I cleaned the CLK inside and out, been testing numerous aspects of the car and have found a number of things that need to be fixed, both mechanical and cosmetic.


Let me start off by saying the car has a little over 202K miles on it, but as far as I can tell, runs great :knockonwood:.

The major damage to the CLK is on the driver's door and passenger rocker panel. The front air dam also is missing a piece and has a right fog light cracked. Here's some pics of the damage:

2001 CLK320 Coupe



Driver's door:


Passenger rocker panel:



Front air dam:





Roof antenna:

There's also something missing from the roof antenna, not sure if this is for satellite radio or some service similar to GM's OnStar?




So I plan on getting the cosmetic damage fixed at a body shop, I also plan on getting the entire hood and airdam reshot with paint, as there are a ton of rock chips on the hood that are pretty bad.

I thought I might ask what you guys figure would be a ballpark figure for the above mentioned damage. I don't want to get overcharged.




As for the interior. Overall it's held up pretty well, other than some minor issues.

The only mechanical issue I've discovered on the CLK is the passenger seat won't go back and forth via the button. The bottom part of the seat goes up and down, the seat tilts up and back, the headrest goes up and down, but the entire seat won't go back and forward via the seat track. I have no idea how to fix this. I'm assuming it may be the seat motor? Any help here would be appreciated.


Console:

The buttons all seem to work, but the wood grain console lid for the cup holders is cracked and I've been looking everywhere to find one, but have not had any luck. I have no idea how part numbers work for Mercedes, I know GM uses 8 digit numbers for all their part numbers. Here's some pics of what I'm referring to:





Window Switch:

The only button missing in the entire car is the little knob that controls the exterior mirrors. It is missing and I've also looked everywhere to find one with no luck:





HVAC Controls:

The HVAC controls seem to work as far I can tell, haven't used the heater yet, but I've noticed at night, only the right side of the controls light up, leaving the left side completely dark. Again, no idea how to fix this, any help would be greatly appreciated.




Clock:

I about pulled my hair out trying to find where the clock was in this car. I looked everywhere. I finally found it in the manual and figured out why I could find it, it seems the LEDs are all out, thus leaving the clock not working. I'm assuming this would be the same fix as the HVAC control, since both are not showing light.





Steering wheel controls:

My steering wheel buttons are peeling and they have this sticky feel to them. I found a how-to on the forum regarding swapping them, but I see they go for $300 for the pair, a little steep if you ask me. So I was thinking about taking them out, sanding them down a little and shooting some clear coat on them. Anyone ever tried this?







Any help with any of these issues would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to get this CLK back to looking good. I take a lot of pride in my vehicles and all my other vehicles are detailed weekly.


Thanks everyone!

mint

- On the body damage, I have no idea but I can tell you that with all that damage and the severity requiring repainting of the panel, a good job is definitely going to cost some money (I'm thinking $3kish for the monster dent and rocker panel damage) -- go to a few good body shops and shop around. On the upside, the part missing on the front bumper cover is just the tow hook cover so just buy one pre-painted off a vendor (do NOT get it from the dealer).

- The antenna mast is for navigation.

- I can't help you with the HVAC lighting.

- Missing gear selector pixels aren't related to the HVAC; your ribbon that feeds into the cluster is messed up and needs to get resoldered. Look up BBA Reman -- they've repaired a few people's dashes on this site. You can DIY but if you're not knowledgeable about soldering I wouldn't touch it.

- On the steering wheel buttons, I'm sure anything will come out well as long as you prep the surface well enough to accept the painting or whatever.

Mark L

Thanks so much for the input.

I found the thread regarding the instrument cluster last night, looks pretty easy to fix:

https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class...-temp-etc.html

Serndipity

I'm pretty sure just the dent/paint repairs are going to run in the $3,000 - $4,000 area.

Checked Kelly Blue Book and a 2001 CLK320 coupe private party sale is currently $4,560 in excellent condition, $4,260 in very good condition, $4,085 in good condition and $3,360 in fair condition. NADA trade in value is in the same range.

Given the 202,000 miles, it being 11 years old, how much do you want to put into the car (e.g. return on investment)?

If you search the forum, you'll find a lot of DIY articles that span replacing the lighting behind the heater controls, fog light replacement (BTW, you can get a new lens for $19, but replacement requires getting behind the bumper), clock/temperature pixel repair etc.

If it were me, I would do the minimum cosmetically, focus on keeping the car running mechanically and enjoy the ride.

I'm doing exactly that with my 2001 CLK 320 cabriolet. While it's in excellent condition, with less than 80,000 miles, but only worth plus or minus $9,000, my plan is drive it until it's last breath.

Mercedes are not cheap to repair, but thankfully the W208 has been problem free. To date, my only issues have been replacement of a MAF and both front O2 sensors (caused by bad gasoline but covered by extended emissions warranty in my state). Replaced front brake pads at 70,000 miles (e.g. rotors OK and rear pads were only 50% worn).

Again, this forum has lots of DIY mechanicals, common problems (not to many), just don't skimp on the quality of the replacement fluid specifications (e.g. Mobil 1, coolant etc.).

rsparso

You need to clean the coating off the wheel buttons before doing anything else. I mild liquid cleaner and then scrape off the coating.

Mark L

Thanks for the replies guys.

I don't want to put that much money into it, as it is a nearly depleted asset. I might sell it in 6 months or so, but plans right now are to just drive it. I love driving this car, it gets me from A to B, but like I mentioned my other vehicles are in immaculate condition, I detail them regularly. It's just killing me the ways the dents look. I'm gonna go get some estimates this week and see what they say.

The interior lighting is the only thing that I'm not happy about. I gotta see if I can fix the ribbon connector for the gauge cluster.


Do you know where I can get a replacement fog light lens, or perhaps the part number? Is there a thread for part numbers in this forum?

I found the thread on how to fix the gauge cluster lighting, but haven't ran across a thread pertaining to the heater control lights? I'm not being lazy, just trying to navigate my way through this forum.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Mark L

Anyone know what piece is missing in these photos? Can I just order that 1 piece?

mint

I already answered that in my first reply -- it's the tow hook cover and yes, it's one piece.

Mark L

Thanks, I found this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercedes-w20...6fcac2&vxp=mtr

Serndipity

http://www.autohausaz.com/search/pro...15015@Foglight

For $10 more, you can also get the lens from the parts department at a Mercedes dealership.

myworld

paintless dent removal on the door... http://www.bumperdoc.com/service-vid...nt-repair.html
place by my house there pretty good.

Mark L

Thanks so much, I"m gonna get the front end taken care of this weekend.

Thanks, but I looked them up and they're only in SoCal

bobbyjo9

Dent pro does the paintless repairs here in the Bay. Im sure they have a solution for you in the valley. As long as the metal hasn't been creased, they can pull some crazy dents out. These are 2 stage paint jobs and that =$$$. Sorry but I dont see the front half being painted in your budget. Plus with the work on the pass quater, you wouldnt want to paint the fender and quater but leave the door factory paint. It'll never match.

Mark L

When you say 2 stage, are you referring to base and clear, or something else?

bobbyjo9

Yes... Base/Clear as opposed to an "all in one" single stage paint. Materials for the single stage will run ~ half as much and of course less labor, but this will show in the finish product. Single stage paints are ok... but they just lack the depth of a good two stage finish. If you choose to spot paint in single stage, ill bet the repair will be glaring! A metalic silver will not be as forgiving as say a white or even a black. You can get away with alot more on contured areas like bumbers because of the shadows. Flat body panels next to each other are a challenge to match.

Mark L

I found this on eBay earlier:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/180889439783...84.m1423.l2649

It seems it may be cheaper just to replace the entire door vs getting it repainted.

Your thoughts?

Is it that difficult to replace the entire door, or do I need special tools to do it? Does the computer have to be reprogrammed or anything?

Thanks-

bobbyjo9

Well... replacing a panel rather than repairing can be a good option. Might be my eyes, but I see rust along the impact strip and a ding by the handle. At $450 to your door with no inner panel, I see you going backwards with the one you attached. No special tools required but you do need to know how to adjust a door AND window as well as wire up all those goodies in the door. Resetting the window memory is no big deal but I see your current door a better choice. Have you checked into having it "poped" out? With the amount of damage on your car, I'd be very careful to not get carried away with the cosmetics and just enjoy the ride. To get it back to OEM appearance, you will be spending FAR more than the value, and still have a high mileage car to deal with.