innkeeperfred

My wife has a 2006 CLK500 convertible that she loves problem is that the cylinders started to leak ( a very common occurrence in 10 yr old MB's) and before we could get it fixed the SRS light came on. A very reliable indy checked the car and told me that it was a failed SRS unit and had to be replaced by a Dealer as they have to match it to the Vin and he could not do that. He told me I would be looking at around $1400 for the replacement and another $2000 to fix the roof cylinders. Question is is it worth putting $3400.00 into what now is a 12 year old car?

Racin_fool

Do you plan on keeping the vehicle for a few more years or have you already looked at trading it in? If you love the car and plan on keeping it, there is no reason not to keep the vehicle safe with all systems working normally. If you have already toyed with the idea of getting rid of it, find something newer and clean this one up and put it up for sale.

Rudeney

The SRS control unit is not a dealer-only job. You can actually install a used one and if it comes from an identical car, no coding is needed. If it's not identical, then it requires only simple coding with SDS. The only concern with a used SRS module is that there is a limit to how many events (air bag deployments) it will tolerate before shutting down. Obviously you'd want one that is event-free.

As for replacing the hydraulic cylinders, I'd buy rebuilds and not new OE parts. Check with Klaus at Top Hydraulics for a good aftermarket source.

labguy

I love this answer. Sometimes we are too quick to throw a math formula at an issue like this.

I would also add that you should consider the rest of the car. Is it in reasonably good shape overall? If you can repair one or two items, even at a cost of a few thousand dollars, and then be able to drive the car for several more years, it might be worth fixing.

Yidney

I don't look at these decisions as the cost of repairing a 10 year old car. I look at it as the cost of buying a replacement vs. the cost of repair and what I will have after I repair it. If I still like the car and am not looking for an excuse to get rid of it, then I'd repair it unless it has 150,00 miles on it and is otherwise tired. I don't really have the "new" car bug yet so I have no doubt that I would repair those same issues on mine, although I'd do the work myself, so maybe it's better to say I have no doubt I'd spend that much on mine.