hi guys, i'm just a new member in this forum and would like to say hi to all of you. I'm about trade in my Acura CSX (JDM Civic) to a more luxury car. However, I'm still battling between 06 CLK350, 08 C300, 06 BMW 530i or 07 328i coupe. I know that it's kinda bias to ask for opinion while I'm at MB forum. My parents never had BMW but MBs all the time. But I supposed some of you have owned both brands so I would like to know.

After researching and asking people here and there, I still not sure which one should I choose.

What concerning me the most is reliability, resale value (after 3 years of use), drive comfort and gas consumption (i know it's kinda silly to put it into consideration, but I drive quite a lot)

I personally love the looks of CLK in and out. The 5-series also grew in me but not the interior.

What are the most common problem with CLK that you guys have experienced? Are you still loving the car each morning after 3-4 years of owning it or getting bored?

 

I have 63,000 miles on my '06 CLK350 Cab. Bought it in Sept. '08 with 21,000mi CPO from a dealer here in MA. Just recently the Check engine light came on and the cam sensors had to be replaced. This was my first non-maintenance visit to the dealer since I got the car. The V6 has pleny of power for me and gets me 25mpg in mostly highway driving. I consider that to be terrific mileage for a car of this type.

I'll stick with the dealership for maintenance until my CPO warranty runs out, even though the cost is damned high! However, with an 8qt oil capacity, you do get a recommended 13,000mi between service calls.

Bottom line... Love the car, would recommend it to anyone and will drive mine till she drops!

 

u get 25 on highway?

i get the same with the 550. sweeet. i have the fuel economy of a v6..

dude by a 550. same gas milage. more power..more fun.. all though i will say..in winter this car is useless...

 

no question.

get the clk

girls really like the car (trust me you are going to be like a pimp)

after all its a benz

 

Really? I always avoid to look at the 500 and 550 because I do not want to pay the fuel. But if it's just the same, I bet 500 is the one to choose instead of 350. Do you guys drive mostly highway? I live in Vancouver and mostly city.

 

well, the 550 has considerably more power than the 500, but the fuel economy is the same.

 

i do a mix of both.. and my average. when driving normally is about 20 25mpg. if just highway at 70mph i get around 26mpg, in the city 16-20mpg. if i drive like a maniac 14mpg,thats with constant flooring and breaking.. speeding between stop lights.. by the way iv gone around loops and turns at 65mph in this car without slipping. its awsome.. go for the 500 if u can.. i have the 550.. u cant go wrong.

 

My girlfriends family all BMWs, I and my dad MB. I have driven a few MBs and a few BMWs while looking for cars for my self and everyone else.
My take on them are as follows:
Out of the cars you've listed, gas millage will be about the same.
BMWs are tuned for more performance. they are a bit harsher ride but handles and turns sharper, sharper response on the engine and trany. MB are a more relaxed softer ride.

Every person will have their opinions about looks and feel of the car. Both look good externally, but to me i find the interior and electronics operation of MB way nicer (except the w204, looks awful to me) and more convenient.
I prefer pre 2006 models of MB primerally because allot of pre-wiring was still in place and you can easily add options to them if wanted to. later models seem to be harder to upgrade.
I love the CLK. best summer car in the world (my opinion) opening the sunroof and all the windows closes thing to convertible ever, w/o dealing with a rag top. besides, i don't like a full convertible feel anyway. The car in my opinion also can look mean with a few body mods, and you don't have to spend money on anything that's a 63AMG
In the winter i find it hard w/o a garage. I seem to be the only person around here that has his windows freeze up almost every morning to a point where i can't open or close doors
Even w/o warranty, i will roll the dice and would like to keep the car for a while. It just hit 50K and i'm hopping to get 100 out of it.
My only regret is not getting a 55AMG

Note: everything stated are my opinions, please do not bother trying to prove me wrong or shut me down in any way. thank you.
However, if anyone does have different opinions, please share. I would love to hear what others think.

 

^ Thanks for your opinion. I like reading it and I do appreciate what you said up there.

CLK 63 AMG is still way too expensive for me in Canada. Not so many CLK500 and CLK550 out there (used) and I'm still eyeing CLK350 from one of the local dealership that has only 17,000 kms with navigation.

I personally like sharper drive but since I drive quiet often, I also miss nice and smooth drive. I am currently driving an Acura CSX and I do engine, body and suspension mods. However, I've decided to stop modding car and move up to Euro (hopefully mod bugs won't bother me after I moved up). Prolly, I just buy a new set of bigger and nicer rims.

If I do mostly city driving, do you think I'd still better off getting CLK500? Will it make a big fuel consumption difference compared to CLK350? Right now I'm running 10km/L with my Acura 2.0L inline-4 engine 155hp only. I assume I will pay more on gas with CLK, am I right?

 

No, i would not get a 500 if it's mostly city. People may say that you get same mileage as the 6 cyl, but if you are not moving and siting in traffic all 8 cylinders are firing and wasting gas. i would not. I get about 15.5 if i don't go crazy when in traffic in the morning. I have gotten as low as 14. Sorry, don't know what it would be in km
(edit) Yes even with a 350 you will pay more than with a Honda 2L engine. Ahh... sometimes i miss my rice rocket days.
But a 350 has 100HPs more And i would think that CLK will handle as good if not better than TSX. Get aftermarket swaybars and 18 inch rims with lower profile tires and i think you'll be happy. That's what i'm planning to do.

 

Only mods are springs, wheels & quad exhaust. Need I say more?

 

Buy the 350. Mike

 

Here's my opinion...........I would NEVER buy any Mercedes without the AMG body kit look. Get a 350 if that what you want but at least try to find the one with the AMG body kit option. The regular one look NASTY and cheap in my opinion.

 

LOL.

Andy

 

agreed, stick with the 500/550. had the car for over 2 years and still puts a smile on my face every time i get inside...

 

^ I like those quad exhaust look. How much do you spend on those mods?
For the AMG looks, it's kinda hard to find one here unless you get 63 AMG which I won't.
I like to get 500/550 but I'm worried about the gas consumption since 90% of the time I will do city driving. If you have been in vancouver, you will know what I mean. Mostly it's city drive.

 

njzprettyboy, i think i just released a bit in to my pants, that's hot. I should have saved my money and done a dual instead of getting single Eisenmann

Mka77, beautiful wheels, i want those on mine!!!!

csxian, all i can say is that back when i had a 320 i would constantly get 21+ now that i have 500, i'm lucky to get 18. same driving habits, same area.

 

^ thanks... That explains a lot. I regretted that I didn't buy a sport series of my car that has 50 more hp with same gas consumption but I think 350 and 500 is a totally different story.
I miss my dad Brabus Monoblock V.

 

Wheels/new tires $1200
Springs/install $430
Quad exhaust $800

I sold my old wheels for $550 though, and my old tips for $300...I came from an Acura TL on which I spent approx $40K on mods alone....as I have grown older, I prefer the clean sporty OEM look.

 

The quad exhaust is a cat-back or just axle back? What is your spring and wheel's brand?

 

I have a 350 and my only regret is not getting a 500 or a 550

 

I've been a BMW owner since the 80's but have switched over to Mercedes in the past two years. I try to do my homework before buying and have found the AMG models in the early 2000's offer a huge amount of bang for the buck and reliability to boot. While I'm not crazy about the quality of construction of ML's compared to BMW's X5 line they're still nice SUV's.
But what impresses me the most is the gas efficiency of the Mercedes engines. For some reason BMW sucks at this. BMW 4.0l V8's often get 12-16mpg. My E55 averages 18-20 and that's city driving. Hard to complain about the horsepower you get with that gas mileage. Leaves me smiling all the time!

 

Nice set up. How much did that exhaust run you? very nice, looking to do something similar to my 500

 

oops didnt see your post above

 

Hi guys,

Piggybacking on to the TS, I too am also thinking about jumping headfirst into MB with a CLK in the next week or two. My main issue is reliability. I have absolutely no previous experiences with MBs. I plan on taking advantage of purchasing an extended warranty from where ever I decide to get the car from. I've found a few CLKs here in my area (Texas) that are EXTREMELY sexy and sub~50K miles. I'd like one with lower miles obviously, but I'm trying to keep my monthly payments considerably low.

Is there anything I should look for/ask about while searching? Any mandatory maintenance that should have been taken care of around the mileage category that I'm shopping in?

I've grown out of my modding stage with previous vehicles, so I won't do much more than maybe wheels, tint and drop. This MB will just be a daily driver to work and back (Houston traffic is TERRIBLY) so gas mileage is sort of an important issue.

The other cars on my list that I'm looking at are: BMW E90 sedan, Infiniti G35 Coupe, and a Nissan 350Z, but based on styling alone (exterior and interior), the CLK is my 1st choice.