eddieo45

let's hope all that anecdotal evidence about the fuel economy being about the same is correct!!

CLK550 $wagger

Congrats!!! Enjoy!!!

Pufftrees

Congrats man

Louie D

Congrats !!!!!!

eddieo45

thanks guys; looking forward to putting my clear corners on (now where did I leave those??) and painting those big brake calipers (rowdy red or dignified black?) and let's see if I stay true to my "always debadge" credo now that I have the big digits on my a$$! (hmmmm, maybe I drop the "0" and pose.....NOT!)

F1Bobby

Congrats and you'll love the CLK550....

eddieo45

I love already and I haven't even picked it up! Can't wait to get it clayed and buffed!

gaazmon

Congrats! Damn that interior is S E X Y and with P3 package too that car is awesome. Enjoy

Mka77

Car looks great. Enjoy it!

eddieo45

thx; window sticker not available but auction tear-sheet says P2 not P3...what's the diff? Google search on some docs I found show owner named Isaac with NYC/Fla addresses...I wanna find him; only got one key!

Yidney

There was no P3 in 2009. I have an '08 P3, and all it adds to the P2 is the ventilated and multi contour seats. In '09 they just made that a separate option instead of a "package" that was only one option. Does your seat have both ventilation and the multi contour airbags? I think they may have separted them in 2009.

togaclk55

Congrats. I have a feeling you will be at the gas station frequently .

gaazmon

P3 was same as P2 plus ventilated seats and driver's multicontour

Really? Wow how lame they did that. I know for 09 heated seats came standard and ipod interface too right? Ya I don't care for the ventilated seats, just miss the multicontour for my back especially with the lowered/sporty suspension on these 550s

Rudeney

That's a great looking car! I love the two-tone interior. Now you can rest easy not worrying about the balance shaft issues in the CLK350, and enjoy that 5.5l V8. And don't worry about the MPG - I'm almost always north of 18mpg per tank. Contrast that with my wife's Jeep GC which has never seen 18mpg, even on the highway, ad in the better ride, and more fun of the CLK, and well, I have no complaints.

eddieo45

I had over 27000 miles on my "since reset" setting on my CLK350 and MPG was 19.5; this CLK550 had all of its 16617 on "since reset" and it was at 13.7, but I reset it and got 18.5 for my first day of greater Boston highway traffic, about what my wife's E350 gets when she's lucky.

[finally, after 10 years and 6 MB's between us: a matched set!]

The car, awesome as it is, has a few issues to keep me occupied for a while: 3 Pirelli PZeroNero's (one with a sidewall bubble up front) and a single nearly bald Conti means I'll be calling Luke for at least 2 new tires. Paint is beat to crap with stains, swirls and faint scratches so some detailing love is in order (my car broker says to "wet-sand" it); should make my debadging decision before that. Oh, and I think I'll smoke the tails and my clear corners (should've swapped out my side marker LEDs on the 350 before sale; oh yeah: got $12,500 for the 350 at the wholesale auction, less selling fees)

Yidney

I happened to notice in the photo that your ashtray door is open a little, which means it probably sticks and doesn't open by itself like almost all CLK ash trays I've seen. It's a design defect, but there is a permanent fix that will take about a half hour I can tell you if you are a DIY person at all. It's a small thing, but it bugged me. Mine works smooth as silk now.

eddieo45

do tell! I love a good DIY, the more MacGyver, the better! that pic is from the auction's condition report, and I haven't noticed it being an issue in the all-too-few minutes I've spent in the car so far. I had installed an iPod cable in the ashtray of my CLK350, so I almost never had it closed but I look forward to filling this car's ashtray with change and keeping it closed most of the time (I'll remove the chrome piece designed to hold cigarettes though). If I plug my cellphone charger in I always use the rear seat 12v adapter.

Yidney

[QUOTE=eddieo45;5588233]I had over 27000 miles on my "since reset" setting on my CLK350 and MPG was 19.5; this CLK550 had all of its 16617 on "since reset" and it was at 13.7, but I reset it and got 18.5 for my first day of greater Boston highway traffic, about what my wife's E350 gets when she's lucky.

My "since reset" had not been reset since the car was new when I got it at 28,000 miles. It was at 19.9 mpg, but just as important was it averaged 30 mph in that time. 30 mph seems slow, but as an average that's actually a lot of highway driving. My around town commute and errands averges only like 17 mph with stops at lights, and only 14 mpg if I'm lucky.

On a side note, when I saw the orignal owner had never reset the odometer it made me think of cost of ownership in a new way, which is usually expressed in cents per mile, which is hard to appreciate since it's just pennies. I saw that the 28,000 miles had been accummulated in 930 hours of running time. With the original sticker price, tax, allowing for gas, tires, etc, and then what he must have traded it in for given what I paid, I figure it cost him right around $65 for every hour he actually drove the car. Wow. Hope he enjoyed it.

Yidney

Confirm that it sticks and I'll post the DIY. If the pic is just misleading and it works ok I won't bother. It should open fully very smoothly with no help from you.

AMGY

Congrats 550s are awesome cars

eddieo45

It works fine, thanks. I hope I never do remove it, as I removed the ashtray and wood trim from my 350 so many times the ashtray didn't click in soundly and the upper switch row didn't sit right.

I do like that, and it doesn't include gas or repairs! I have read before that $per mile is much more valuable than MPG, but you'd have to rely on estimates or after-the-fact data. Back to your car's original owner, you're saying he paid $60,450 ($65 x 930) MORE than he got in trade?? My 2009 CLK550 had a MSRP of $68,650 (ouch) but I paid $24K for it, so 930 hours would've been $48/hr....I didn't note the hours on my CLK350 but paid $22,500 for it in 2009, drove about 37000 miles and got $12,500 for it in 2013. $0.27 per mile, not bad (until I find the time to add up all the maintenance and repairs, at least....)

eddieo45

these tiny wear spots will bother me; I might try that leather paint I saw in a thread somewhere:


this not-so-tiny wear spot bothers me even more. Isaac must've liked his tunes LOUD!!!:

Rudeney

the volume up button on the steering wheel is a common problem. Mine is probably a year or less from looking like that. You're lucky the cupholder is in good shape - the chrome on mine if flecked off - and the trim ring is easy to sway, but it only comes as the whole $100 cupholder assembly.

On, and I would not wet sand - I'd do the whole wash, clay, polish and wax routine first. That's much less harsh on the finish and usually solves all but the worst scratch problems.

@Yidney: What's the ashtray fix? Mine became really "slow" to open, so removed one of the damper mechanisms on one side, but now the other one is getting slow, too. Is there a better fix?

Yidney

The center console is not actually leather. It's fake leather. But leather dye will work. I've seen steering wheel button on e-bay

gaazmon

+1 i'd like to know as well since mine does it too

My astray release switch was weird so I put some WD-40 and cleaned where the lever goes in and out under the tray that can be removed itself and now its great

And I see from the pics he does have multi contour driver seat. Schweeeeet