draculr

I'm needing a new car for myself as a daily driver. I have previously owned a w212 E350 and currently have a 2009 CLK280 in the family without any issues but I've always liked the idea of owning a w208 CLK. I just love the German muscle car looks of that car.

I've found myself a seemingly very, very well kept 1999 CLK320 with only 62k miles on it which I think I will go inspect. It was a one owner car but the owner unfortunately passed away. It actually looks closer to being new in the pictures but we'll see how it is in person. From what I hear the m112 engine and 5 speed auto are pretty much bullet proof but I've never owned a car older than my 2008 CLK280.

I have a lot of questions and am hoping someone here would be able to help steer me on the right path!
- What do I need to know about trying to daily a car that's pushing 25 years? I always hear people talk about "rubbers and hoses falling apart", how real of an issue is that and are we just talking things like motor mounts and suspension bushings which I can DIY or a lot more than that?
- There are sometimes 2 years between services but in that time it had only done less than 2500miles so I'm not sure if I should be concerned about that? I thought cars should be serviced every year regardless of miles?
- Is it easy to install a double DIN CarPlay unit and reverse camera in the w208 to bring the tech up to modern standards? I don't like driving something without either sensors or a camera!
- Is the transmission okay if it hasn't been serviced at all up until this point?
- Does the w208 have the same stepper motor setup for air vents as the w209 or are they normal manually operated vents?
- The car has to be something that won't leave me stranded as I'll be relying on it for work, is it a bad idea to go for a 20+ year old w208 even if it's in great mechanical shape?

rob8

I've had my 2003 CLK320 Cab W208 for about 12 years now, 181k miles and going strong and is my daily driver. You should replace the hoses, mounts and bushings if they appear to be dry rotted or in otherwise bad shape (except for radiator hoses all the other rubber parts are original on mine). No big deal there.
As for a double DIN installation...easy! Remove the stock radio and the plastic cubby hole pocket below it. Between these items there is a thin plastic separator which you can remove with a utility knife...et viola! A perfect double DIN opening! You will of course need the proper wiring harness adapter...with that no wire cutting required.
The transmissions in these cars are quite solid, but I would change the fluid and trans filter. You will need an aftermarket dip stick to check the level, since cars of that era had "sealed for life" with no dipstick. Mercedes later reversed course on that stupid idea. As far as I know the vents are controlled by the computer...not sure of the details but there are no manual levers involved.
I must admit this car did leave me stranded once. Totally my own fault. I had replaced the fuel filter with some no name cheapo piece of junk. It started making a strange high pitched buzzing noise and then one day on I95, equally distant from home and my destination, the car stalled out. Very expensive tow to a ripoff "only game in town" shop. Turned out the guts of the filter completely collapsed inside! Lesson learned...only use Mann or Hengst filters and no cheap replacement parts!
The only other issue I ever had was the ESL (steering lock) The motors get weak and struggle to unlock. Mine was getting funky so I replaced it with an emulator...see my thread on that. Note that the 99 uses the type 1 lock (like mine), not the newer one which you can fix with cheap motors from Ebay. Make sure when you insert the key it unlocks smoothly.
So as you may have guessed, I say go for it!
Rob

2MERKS

Definitely get all the fluids changed reinspect the brakes tires and mechanical parts and bits! Look for leaks, snd go from there. To me the w208 is a simple older car unlike the latter built type of the mid 2000s. You dont havr to worry about airmatics, nor self leveling items. As for maintenance is relatively simple lots of u tube vides to access. I will agree with others and go for it.
R
2Merks

draculr

Unfortunately the one I went to look at wasn't the best of examples so I'll have to keep looking. Good ones don't come up too often!

2MERKS

Sorry to hear that..keep your head up...