It's be a while since I posted, the car runs fine, and I enjoy driving it.. I have had it maintained and even had the shop fix an oil leak last time. I haven't neglected the car. I expected some things to break and don't mind fixing some things and leaving some non-essential items unrepaired, like the NAV and CD Changer. But I never expected it to decline so quickly and turn into a hood Benz in such a short time. Wife won't even drive it anymore... I planned to get some items fixed this spring and do some other things myself but then this morning I go look and the clearcoat is failing on the hood, so now it looks like a pile of garbage and I've lost my motivation and don't know what to do. Couple that with the fact that values tanked right after I bought it and it's not saleable in it's current condition.. Let's see if I can remember all that is broken so maybe you can help with what I can do and what needs to be left alone. First of all, the CD Changer never worked and the NAV only works when you don't need it... That's OK, I can live without it. All along the car had the issue of the headrests popping up and it scares the crap out of you and is a royal pain to reset especially with my joint pain. I suspect that's one of the reasons why the seller sold it. My airbag light is on, both cables under the seat that control the seat bottom being able to pivot forward to allow rear access are broken, the seat belt extender on the passenger side no longer works. Keyless Go to lock and unlock the car has failed, The convertible top will no longer open, it halts during operation but I suspect that's just a switch somewhere as the hydraulic system still works. And the transmission has a hard 1-2 shift when cold. Both a transmission shop and my European car mechanic said not to touch that, it will turn into a transmission rebuild. They said it probably won't get any worse.... I don't know whether to invest the thousands to fix this stuff or cut my losses and trade it in. Thing is, it's an extra car, I don't need to trade anything in. My other car is fine. So if I sell it, what's it worth with all this broken? Man I really like Mercedes and I'm not poor but I think I should have bought a newer car and not a convertible. I wish it were a newer E550 coupe... But for the time being I'm putting miles on it taking me to work. My 2016 Mustang only has 35k miles on her because I have ole Bessie here...

 

What color is your car? if it's Mars Red, the paint issue is a known problem. Otherwise, I suspect the failure is "environmental" because modern car paint (especially MBZ) is really good and rarely fails like that.

The transmission is likely low on fluid. I'd say change it and the filer, and properly set the level.

The headrests are likely popping up because of a defective rollover sensor and I think that requires replacing the soft top controller to fix. But I would start by pulling codes (and also to check the top operation problem). Scanning codes would also get to the bottom of the KeylesGo problem. But you need a tool that reads MBZ systems - not a generic OBDII ECU scanner.

The airbag wiring (common problem) can be repaired, and the seatbelt presenter is also a comon issue that can be repaired. The forum is full of help for these problems.

Personally, I'd get to work on fixing these things. Yes, you'll spend some money, but a 12 year old MBZ car will need some TLC.

 

How many miles on this car? Who was the previous owner? I ran into the same issue with my first W209 CLK. A 2004 CLK320 Cabriolet. I paid a very good price for it. Has all the options and had low miles. The issue was the previous owner beat the heck out of it and also failed to upkeep it. Me thinking I know everything said ehh its not so bad. It just needs a professional cleaning... Well about $6,000 later the car runs 100%. Me personally I would fix it and see where it goes maybe. I can tell you the Mars red issue is a MB issue on ALL MB's with that color. And I agree with Rudeney the trans issue isnt an issue. The other issues I think are going to be a pain in the neck. Problem is with these CLK's is that it is not the upkeep. It is buying one that the previous owner failed to upkeep. I have 3 of them. 2 out of 3 the previous owners kept nice. My 04 was a pile when I got it.

 

It was my car. It is storm red. I came here for the first time in many months and see this. No, I did not sell it because the headrests popped up. They never once popped up when I owned it. It was one of the most immaculate and well maintained 550s on earth. It is now apparently neither of those things.

 

Oh my.. So you keep it 100%. Now he buys it and it goes to hell? Are you sure it is your car? Maybe the OP can post some pics so you can tell us if it is yours.

 

No the car was maintained very well previously. I didn't mean to sound like I'm blaming the previous owner. It's just getting old and it's a Benz. It's not Mars red and I too am surprised of the clearcoat lifting.. I'll have my euro mechanic check the trans fluid as I don't think there is a fill tube I can check. I have finally obtained a code reader that is supposed to be able to read MB specific systems. It's just a lot of little things failing all at the same time due to age... I wonder if I can do something about those clear coat spots to keep them from growing... My first thing is get trans fluid checked although I think he would have done that at the last oil change. Next is fix the switch that is preventing the top from operating... The hydraulic system is fine. Then I guess the SRS wiring should be fixed since that may prevent the SRS system from operating. The simple fact about these cars is there's no free lunch with them and there is nothing else that combines all the qualities that they have. That's why we have them and it's not just because of a brand name. Expense is a problem... That's my frustration... I'm currently sitting at home and missed a week of work cause I hurt my hip last weekend so that's a huge sum of money missing there. And I'm so close to debt free I don't want to put the repairs on a credit card. The other problem is now my son wants a car and I can't have four cars here.... I already have 3. I can't let him drive this it's too fast. And even my V6 Mustang is too much for an immature driver. So that's something I will be dealing with later in the year. At least in March my house and Mustang are paid off and I can pay cash for some repairs and it won't be cold and wet out and I can do a couple small things myself...

But I plan to leave the popping headrest problem alone. I think that will be very expensive or maybe even not possible to fix. Like u said Rudeney, the control unit has to be replaced. Funny thing is , EM fields can trigger it. It has happened many times in fast food drive thru and twice when my son put his book bag in the trunk containing a laptop in sleep mode but possible transmitting some wifi or bluetooth signals. But on the plus side, they haven't popped up in over a month which is the longest stretch so far.

 

No it arrived in about as good shape as any 10 year old MB I'd ever seen.

 

Ya know..... Who knows what happened to the car while in transport?!?! I won't transport a car again. If it's too far to fly and drive home..... I'll skip it. They shipped it under a muddy jeep in the rain! And it has a few scuffs that an owner like Yidney is just not likely to do..

 

Well to update I traded the car. Sure I took a bath but it would have been the same if I fixed everything... With everything going on and no flat space to wrench it was not practical for me to try and fix or pay someone to. And with the paint failing.... Well paint work worthy of a Mercedes would have been another expensive thing... Other parts on the car were failing too paint wise... And with the headrests popping up whenever they felt like the wife refused to drive it because it scared her. It's really jarring when it happens and happened about biweekly since I had the car. Fixing that would require a new headrest control module and that would be very expensive I am sure. We took it in for Spring service and did that... and mechanic said it needed brakes and tires which we knew were close... Man this thing ate those new back tires I put on it a couple years ago! If I had tried to sell it I would have got nothing it had too many broken items..... And we needed an extra car that was suitable for a teenager to drive on occaision and this was not that for sure! Neither is my Mustang and I was not losing that! IT only has 37K miles! So we traded it on a Honda Passport that the whole family loves... So that makes our extra car a Honda CR-V which is suitable for a teenager to use. I may own a Benz again one day but 2 things need to be different, first, it needs to be newer.... 10 years seems to be the tipping point where value and parts just fail. And second, I need to be more committed to budgeting for repairs or have an extended warranty I can use at a dealer or indy shop. Def not convertible next time... An E550 is nice, but only with a warranty... For now I'm not worried about the car in the driveway anymore... It's a shame, we really liked it... And I'm sure it's destined to become a hood Benz but maybe not, some mechanics were eyeing and drove the car. They know the driveline is great so if they wanna buy it cheap and fix it that would be great. Hopefully that's where it ends up... Right now I'm working 6 days a week since I got that cortisone shot in my hip and will be out on disability as soon as doc approves my surgery... My son wants us to replace the CR-V with a newer C250!!! Wife and I roll eyes.. She says not another Mercedes!!! I'm not ready for one yet but they look nice but I think I'm not ready to go through that again.... Shame because there really is nothing like it and I'm spoiled forever by the power. I'll stick around. I'm always a Benz fan....

 

Oh does anyone want to buy the Coolstream CarPro bluetooth to iPod interface adaptor or my iCarsoft benz code reader?