samwzhang

I have a 04' CLK320 coupe with appearance package. I had it in for service a week ago and the service center gave me a new C240 sedan as a loaner. To my surprise, it not only rides better, but is quieter, too.

I have no experience with sports cars, is it normal for a CLK to have noticeable worsened ride quality as opposed to C-class sedans? The 17' wheels are probably part of the reason but it should not be that much of a deal. I am starting to think that the ride quality issue has something to do with my car's alignment problem. I hit the curve once and left it as it was for about 700 miles. The service representative claims that the alignment adjustment is not covered by warranty in this case but they fixed it free of charge anyway out of "good will". Well I thanked him for that, however, right now when I drive my CLK320 which is back from service, I still feel the car has a tendency to pull right--- a problem my visit to the service center was originally for.

My questions are:
1. is it normal for CLK to have a tendency to pull to the right?
2. Is it normal for CLK to have worse ride quality than C-class sedans?

Just FYI, I live in San Francisco and the road quality is pretty bad except for some major streets. And BTW, the C240 loaner car was overall not as good as the CLK except for its quietness and ¡°softer¡±ride, IMO. When I first sat in a C240, I could not believe such low grade materials were used in a Mercedes. But then again, BMW didn¡¯t do much better in their 3-series¡_

Thank you for your time, and good night.

Frisco

many of the 2003 owners on this board have the pull to the right issue - mine certainly does. It's apparently some sort of camber design component issue (or something related) - search and my guess is that you'll dozens, if not hundreds, of instances of the same issue. MB has consistently tried to duck responsibility based on related posts on this site.

calboy

I thought the pulling was only with the clk 500's though, is it that correct? Has anyone with a 320 had this issue? As for the C240 being softer, it would make sense that the sedan was designed that way as the clk is probably targeted to people interested in sportier suspension which handles better but has a stiffer ride. Also, maybe the clk is stiffer.

VAHAGN MB

I've had my 04 CLK 320 Brill silver on black for bout 2 weeks now, It has the same problem. It pulls to the right,, im going to take it in for an alignment and see if that does anything. That is so weird.. Ohh and you know the 3 turning knobs for the air conditioning vents in the middle of the ****pit, right above the blue sliding knob, The light in one of the knobs, i thing its the right knob, went out on me,, So only 2 are illuminated.. Thats weird,, Anyone else with that issue?? Its a new car and already a light burned,,I had a 95 S320 and i rememeber some dome lights going out on that boat. Ohh and today,, I had the AC on LO.. both sides,, and it took a long time for the cold air to blow,, The air was hot,, HAs anyone had AC problems with there CLK? Im going to take it in for service soon,, Ohh and another thing,, THe FM reception is really bad,, Keeps flickering from good sound to bad sound.. Those are my CLK issues of my 2 week old car.

Anyone with similiar issues??

samwzhang

Hi, everyone, thank you for your inputs. I just came back from a 10-minutes drive to confirm the pulling to right problem.

I did a little bit of research on the pulling to right issue as Frisco suggested, and found out that it was not a problem with the wheel alignment but something associated with the camber component. Well that explains why my first visit to the service center didn't fix the problem.

I'm sorry to hear that hyepower is experiencing such inconvenience. I suggest that you inquire your local service center for more than just wheel alignment in order to really fix the pulling to right problem. As of the burned light and AC, I don't think they are normal. However, the bad FM/AM reception (plus loud windshield blade issue) are almost universal to W209 CLKs. Hopefully a pleasant service center visit will make up for the inconvenience... CLK is still a sweet car, 10 minutes of test drive just confirmed that.

VAHAGN MB

what is a camber component and can it be fixxed and is that normal..?

Guest0001

Hmm. When I had Stock 16s on my C320 my ride was like on a cloud. Very comfortable. Ever since I have upgraded to 17s and pilot sport tires it has harshened a bit. So it has a lot to do with your sport tires on the appearance package. Also the CLK is based on the C-Class.

As for a lowgrade materials. hmm. As far as I remember the C class and the CLK interiors look pretty identical, especially the center console. The materials used arnt too different. Im not sure about the leather though.

Frisco

Try 19s with a firm aftermarket suspension system...

Guest0001

How bad is it? What kind of suspension do you have?

Frisco

Bilstein PSS9 Coilovers set to '5' in the front and '4' in the rear, it handles like a dream and I can feel EVERY bump in the road.

Predator

I had my clk500 at dealer and they gave me a loaner, which was a 2004 c240 and i felt that the ride quality on my clk was much better. Also I couldnt believe how cheap the interior was for the c class. my clk had a much much richer interior.

Guest0001

I sure hope a 60k car has a better ride quality then a 35k car.

Predator

Just because the clk is based on c-class doesnt mean they are the same class. It seems like people assume that. They are two different classes.(not trying to downgrade c-class)

btw Is their a difference in suspension for clk320 vs clk500?

samwzhang

I may have answers to my problem as I just found out the tires on my CLK320 are continental sportcontact 2 which are supposed to be noisy and stiff. It is optimized for ¡°uncompromising performance¡± as stated in its official website.

Good news is it lasts for only about 11000 to 15000 miles... I will definitely change it to some quieter and softer tires when it wears out. Any suggestions on that, please£¿

BTW, according to Mercedes-Benz 2004 CLK brochure, the front/rear suspension, spring and shock absorbers for CLK320 and 500 are identical.

BrabusClK04

Friso, Why dont you post some pics of your sweet ride with the drop and show him......Im hoping your pic will have your new Kit on Too.....

Eich

Why is it good news that these tires wear out in a rediculously short amount of time? What's to stop you from replacing them at 11,000 miles even if they lasted for 40,000? At least then maybe you could use one as a spare or sell them to someone cheaply.

I've owned several cars in the past 15 years and I've never seen tires wear out as fast as some of the tires on this car. All my cars have been high-performance cars with wide, Z-rated tires.