xsever

You can install aftermarket ones since you intend on keeping the car for a long time.

Ptrigg17

I have checked into it and may go that route. i would probably have them installed professionally rather than DIY. I was quoted $600 for the rear and I believe that is far cheaper than my ruining the bumper cover when drilling holes into it. I believe I can also have a camera installed but I have both on my Q5 and I rarely use the camera, only listen for the beeps while I use the mirrors.

Austin Donel

Question, just purchased 19x8 TSW Rivage rims for my 09 CLK 350, does my car need to be raised/lowered & what tire/wheel offset do i need? any help would be welcomed.... my 1st MB

Yidney

First question is what are the offsets of what you just bought?

EDIT: Also, what are the offsets of the wheels you are replacing? It will be on the back of a spoke if original wheels - called "ET" probably. And are they 7.5" front and 8.5" rear? Assuming you are using a much lower profile tire so the overall diameter does not change much, you don't need to raise the car. Lowering is more of a cosmetic thing, especially with lower profile tires.

clydem

This is EXACTLY what I'm hearing. Indy said rear cats. I hear the noise under the hood.

I've replaced the water pump. Not difficult.

gaazmon

By rear cats do you mean the bubble resonators (the ones between the primary cats and the mid resonator)? Mine have been removed and were replaced with straight pipes (same with my mid resonator).

pvitoria

I dont have words to define everything but i love the shape, the look is timeless, no b pillar, mechanics everything is just great. Even though i have the less powerfull V6 in my clk 240 i love the sound and how it drives. After 15 years the paint looks great, of course i do polish it every year to maintain the paint. I do a lot of DIY with the maintanance and material and parts are cheap if you know were to buy them. I have a bit over 160k km atm and the engine is like new. Had to convert it to GPL a few years ago cause fuel costs rised a lot but i drive 100km with 11€ in urban if i drive it on the highway i can have 9lts per 100km of fuel costs. Resuming o love my CLK.

jrsteinmd

First and only owner of 2005 CLK 500 coupe now with 36k! miles.
Agree with all the glowing previous posts.

Fatz

I got a flyer in the mail today from the recently opened MB dealer in my city.... it said "Now is a good time to upgrade your MB" then suggested the CLA 250..... I thought "Ha"!

labguy

Oh, now that is rich!

Rudeney

Personally, I find nothing wrong with the CLA, except that I don't much care for FWD cars. I looked at one at the car show, and I've driven it's jacked-up wagon version the GLA and it was a nice vehicle compared to others in its class. I would not comapre it to a new W204 C-Class, or even a 10 year old W209 CLK, but a VW CC? Yeah, it's a much nicer car. The reviews these are getting for "not being a real MBZ" are a bunch of "fake news" If you go back to the W201, W202, and even the W203, they said the same things about it.

gaazmon

Lol. I have to admit it is a sleek looking car (mostly so with AMG sport package and lighting package), but a little too tight for my size. I think my only real gripes are the FWD and getting in and out the back seats. I like the GLA's look even more and I'm sure it would be fun with AWD and with the added power of the updated c/glc 300 engine with the extra kick.

But I wouldn't trade the clk550 for any those any day still.

TechSuperstar

Wow you guys don't drive much... I'm about to hit 200,000mi on mine in the coming weeks. Still running fine, no rattles. Largest fix so far was replacement of the rear differential when a bearing went. I had an indy put a used one in. Just realized it's been 100k since I've replace spark plugs or done a fuel filter change, about to have that done.

.. as for next car (prob next summer) its a real toss up.
1: Love the new 07 E class with all the electronics and lighting
2: Would also love a 2014 S550 if the price is down to $40k by next summer.
3: Runner up for me. a GLE coupe. Love the look, never had an SUV.

Merc Mania

Holy Moly. 200K miles and still going strong, with NO suspension rattles, is amazing testimony that the CLK was indeed built to stand the test of time

Fatz

I have about 128K miles on my 08 550. And I've been retired longer than many have worked... (almost as long as I've owned the 550)

Repairs have been more however; fuel pump, AOS, oil cooler/filter housing, window switch, sway bar bushings, cam plugs..... seat belt extender dying.

I've spent much more "hobby" money on performance and cosmetic mods than on repairs....

Merc Mania

For some reason Groucho Marx's comment about ageing comes to mind. "Growing old isn't so bad, when one considers the alternative".

Returning to the subject, hearing about these high mileage CLK's that only require relatively minor repairs needed to stay roadworthy, is music to the ears of folks like me who will shortly get to own a one for the first time - a 2009 CLK550 fixer-upper in my case.

sailorben

Yes the CLKs age very well. I had a prefacelift on 138k when it kept me safe in a nasty crash, and my newer facelift 07 CLK now has 144,448 and counting.

Across the two, I've only ever changed the odd suspension parts, a thermostat, and an idler pulley. Other than that and general maintenance, they've been very easy to love.

The quality of my interior on my current CLK really begs believing. It's black/black/black with aluminium dash and the Napa leather. Not a sign of wear anywhere, not a single squeak, no scratches, it looks very present and could easily be mistaken for a brand new interior.


I really do love this car. I toyed with changing it for a Jaguar XJ many times, but at 21 I'm still a tad too young to resign myself to that. But other than the facelifted W216 CL... (out of my budget as a student for quite some years yet) ...with the same levels of reliability, class/stylishness and driving characteristic; not much else appeals to me!

bonspy

I agree with someone along the way who stated, "You make it sound like an imposition." LOL
Mostly because I love the car! With nearly 400 bhp and nearly 400 ft/lbs of torque, 0 to 60 mph times similar to the supercars in the 1980s, a beautiful interior, a very solidly constructed sound and weatherproofed convertible top and handling that is always crisp and taught the more relevant question would be "why would I want to get rid of it?" If the car is re-chipped the 155 mph limiter goes away and the car (I am told anyway) is capable of 186 mph and that certainly is fast enough for me, on a track, of course.
My wife and I like the car so much we're thinking of buying another one, the only thing we'd like different is to buy a coupe this time.

NedNederlander

Little late to this and it feels like all has been said but I want to share that one thing i really love about our 2009 CLK550 that isn't matched by any other car we've owned is that every time i get in and sit down so many senses are happy.

SMELL: It smells like real, leather just a soothing "ahhhh", this what luxury smells like - it's not the chemical new car smell (and it's not the Griot's leather conditioner i use), it's just the subtle hint of quality leather
SIGHT: The visibility is wonderful, obviously the pillarless design helps with no blind spots but it takes me back to the other cars with a great greenhouse effect, not that much but also not a closed box like a new camero
SOUND: The V8 just sounds great, not too loud in the cabin but just enough and when you want to pass it's there for you
TOUCH: The interior rivals so many newer cars, it is top notch quality... just the right amount of wood trim on the dash & doors. The quilted leather on the doors is excellent quality, they didn't choose to save a few bucks here. I also really like the big, honking chrome plate on the the door jam

Ok, felt the need to share, all better now

abqhudson

Good point. My old CLK does smell like real leather!

A good friend just bought a spectacular 2010 CL550. I like my 09 CLK leather better - looks, smells, and feels different.

Rudeney

MBZ actually has employees who smell the cars. They want them to smell like leather and not cheap plastic. They even smell for objectionable odors in the adhesives and paints used in the cars and will make changes when the "smellers" report these.

Fatz

I'm retired and would be willing to relocate for that job....... Heck, I would even give up my aftershave so not to influence the accuracy of my smell assessment.
Maybe a job as an AMG exhaust listener would be better for me, but my hearing is probably starting to fade....

Kelvin Bellrose

I just got the car in December, and I absolutly love it. The looks, the quality of build, it's so easy to drive and to see out of. Comfortable seats. Loaded to the nines,
so bloody fast. Easy to work on. Parts are available. The car is made to work on, with easy to get at parts. leaves most every other car in the dust.
Really good milage. Tires are not super expensive. The sound is quiet and little road noise. wooshes away without a lot of fanfare.
Love this car.

Reanimation

I agree they are very easy to work on, Ive done a Turbo swap in 4 hours, water pump and thermostat in 3 hours, brake calipers, suspension arms, track rods among other things all with basic tools.

Rudeney

That is one of the things I really like about MBZ cars - they are easy to work on. Part of it is in their longitudinally-mounted engines (I hate working on FWD cars with transverse-mounted engines and transmissions). The other part is that the MBZ engineers did a good job making most things easy to access and work on with common sense. Of course there are some challenges, but not everything can be perfect.