craftyhack

Hi All,
Just picked up a CLK63 yesterday after spending a good 6 months trying to find a car that would be a fun DD, a good time for the family of 4 every now and then to make errands enjoyable when the weather is good, had an "axe murder under the bonnet", had a well made interior, and had some fun bells and whistles (I am a geek by trade, love the gizmos), included a good warranty, with a budget of $40K. Ended up with a black with stone interior, 55k mi, only non-dealer installed options that it *may* be missing is pre-wiring for phone, dunno. I did find a Parrot CK3000/SW101c that the last owner installed, not sure what to do with that yet. Attached are a few pics from the dealer's website, super dirty right now from the drive how though winter storm hell. I got it from CarMax, and yes I know, but they have a great warranty (I went with 6yr, 125kmi, $50 deduct) and I like my local store, good people there, this is my 4th car from them. I really liked the SLK55 as well (that scarf option is cool as hell), but only two seats, not at the time in my life yet where one of those makes sense, at least not until I can afford a "stable" . Haven't driven a SLK55 AMG yet either, but a car that small with that much under the hood has to be FUN.

I have been researching mods, and still have more reading to do, but looks like my first one should be a Sprint Booster, and my next one might be replacing the stock NAV. Non-chrome wheels are on my list as well, dunno if I will stick with stock or not, cannot beat monobloc alum forged IMO, I spent a lot of time to find Champion RF62's for my RS with PS3's, but totally worth it. Will take a while for me to pick, lots of research to do!

I dunno if it is just me or I need to get used to it, but the COMAND NAV rivals the Audi RNS-E for suckage, it doesn't even have my home address that has existed since 1965, it has a 2009 map DVD . It seems that it is pretty light on features too and kind of clunky to use, my 04 CTS NAV works a lot better to me, which surprised me. Not a big deal, I didn't buy this for the NAV(rather than 6.2, woo hoo!), I don't think the German's are known for whiz-bang navs. I have an Excelon 9120 sitting in a box that I used in my Audi that I think I will put in the CLK63, but it looks like it will be much harder to replace in the AMG than in the Audi, where I apparently need to replace everything given optics connecting the whole system, oh well, should be fun!

I am coming from a 2004 CTS-V(still need to sell it ), pretty big difference, but I am missing the manual, I am assuming I will adjust.

Previous cars(all with various mods documented at AudiZine and other forums for my other cars):
2004 CTS-V (great car for the $, but obvious that they didn't completely prepare the chassis for a 400hp engine though, lots of clunking under hard shifting, and the mods to fix it are hit and miss)
2007 Audi RS4 sedan (wonderful daily driver, sold to buy a bigger house, she is dearly missed)
2004 Audi S4 sedan (another great car, was perfect until I test drove an RS )
<several normal cars skipped>
2000 Ford Mustang GT Vert
1988 BMW 325is

KevDol

Congratulations and welcome. I have the same car but it's black on black. Considering that they made 147 CLK63 Cabrios in the US, you will have the same difficult time I do finding other owners LOL. I have only owned mine since October of 2010 and I put it in storage for the Winter so I haven't really enjoyed it as much as I would like to.

craftyhack

Thanks! And 147 do what? Are you talking 2007, or period? I had absolutely no clue that they were that rare! Also, I was hoping that like the RS4 vs. S4 vs A4, there would be common parts between the CLK63 and other models, but haven't really dug in on that one yet.

It has been a pretty rough winter for sure, but spring is right around the corner, having it for 4 months now, I imagine you are excited!!

KevDol

Oops. Actually 143, CLK63 Cabrios produced in 2007, and an additional 100 produced in 2008. Yes the CLK is still a CLK so there are interchangeable parts.

I went from an E46 BMW M3 cabrio with the SMG trans to this CLK63. The M was definitely more "tossable" and had almost a go-kart-like capability compared to this CLK63. I can surely feel the additional weight and body roll when maneuvering in the CLK63. But, as nice as that engine was in the M3, this one is #%$^&@* AMAZING!!! OMG it just has power EVERYWHERE and revs to 7200 RPMS to boot!

I don't use mine as a daily driver (E90 330xi for that), but aside from the fuel consumption I can definitely see the CLK63 as a better and more comfortable daily driver than the M3 was.

I live near Boston, MA so I figure I have about 2-3 more weeks before the weather will be nice enough for me to unleash the CLK63 once again!

elijah

Congrats on your new beast and welcome!

Did you mean SLK55 because the CLK55 is basically the same car you just bought with a different engine...??

craftyhack

Owning an E46 M3 is on my bucket list so is owning an E92 ), fantastic cars, I suppose I am preaching to the choir on that one...

I am in KC and it has been pretty crazy, based on what I have seen in the news you guys up in NE have really taken a beating! Good thing you have that IX...

Thanks! And yes, SLK is what I meant :/. I am still learning about Merc's line ups, and to be honest, between BMW, Audi, and Mercedes, I think that learning Mercedes is giving me the most trouble. I studied the following article among others ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes_W209 ), where I think it indicates that I have a W209 (really A209), but I am still trying to grasp the logic between the classes, the classifications, and generations, etc. so that I can actually remember (vs. memorization), but WOW, the lightbulb hasn't lit for me yet .

I was looking at this one: http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car/...tml?id=6995106, seems like an OK deal for a fully loaded SLK55. Yep it has high miles, but the warranty almost makes up for it for me, the walk around person said it looked new inside and out. Besides not really having a trunk or 4 seats, I am not really a red car guy, but I was still 10 minutes from buying that one (on the phone doing the transfer paperwork, I figured I would keep my CTS-V as my practical car), when I got the email that they had lowered the price on the CLK to my exact budget, and I figured it was fated. I would like to put that front end on the CLK, I dunno what it is about that SLK front end, but it really clicks with me, I wouldn't change a thing. Same thing about the back-end and the wheels, whoever design this car hit a homerun. I love the CLK63 so far, but that SLK55 is on my list, perhaps a monster like this one if one ever pops up again : http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merce...t_15368wt_1165

JAA-CLK63AMG

Nice to hear someone talk about the CLK63...hardly ever any news about upgrades or anything regarding this car..anyway welcome to the club. :-)

craftyhack

Thanks! In my case, I may pioneer a bit when it comes to electronics since that is my background, I had to do the same for the Audi to integrate all of the features of the head unit into the factory systems of the car (BT, GPS, CAN bus for things like ACC power point maintained until door is open, putting relays in all the right places, etc.), but not so much for the mechanical side . I will post what I figure out for others if I ever get time to redo the infotainment system, but that is about all I am good for.

In the Audi world, we had a performance shop called JHM that was awesome, where they have the small shop feel(I think they are rather small, at least manpower wise), but big (good) shop feel. I really don't know how they did all of the things they did with the resources they had (no sleep and really smart people?). They purchased at least one of each car that they built parts for to really learn it and as a platform to design and test their parts, and posted their project car and part development progress on the forums which was really cool. They have quite the catalog of performance parts that are super high quality, and in most cases the prices were incredibly fair; for example, their replacement brake rotors were fantastic; much lighter, stronger, cooler, and cheaper than OEM to boot. JHM was the exception, given the norm for aftermarket Audi shops was to assume that because someone has a relatively expensive car that they like to burn money. I understand the you get what you pay for concept, but when a company has a part for $10 for an A4, and that exact same part (EXACT), and they assign a different part number for the RS4 and charge $100, that pisses me off, even Audi does that :/. Talk to a thrifty in the know Lambo owner where they get screwed even more (lots of common parts between a Lambo and an Audi/VW). There were also reasonably priced smaller shops, but their products weren't well thought out, lower quality, etc.

Back to the point... JHM was like the perfect company, great products, support, etc., and reasonable prices. They have all the right bang for your buck upgrades for performance and handling, great priorities on what to put their effort into, where they even let the forums drive their priorities on what to develop. Is the a shop like that for Mercedes?

I have found some of the boutique Merc shops so far in my research, but so far their prices are pretty crazy, and I am not certain if there is value, or if they are just crazy .

AMGY

Looks great!

bzliteyear

congrats...I LOVE my CLK55 Cab white/blk...so I can only imagine how much more fun the CLK63 cab is. One observation: despite the smaller overall appearance, the backseats of the CLK is actually quite room and I think bigger than my 540i. Further, I think it also has more leg room than my W124 E320 cab(that was built on E-chassis).
Enjoy!
PL

Silver-Baron

Hi Craftyhack,
I am new to the forum also and only posted some questions so far.
But when I read your post I thought I was having some strange deja-vue. What is going on? Did I already post my experiences?
My story is exactly like yours.
Just got my CLK63 after long search, got extra warranty, had a 2004 CTS-V before, miss the manual, liked the nav better..and on and on and on... Just tell me know you also live in Ontario and I go nuts.

draz.amg

good looking car

C280 Sport

Beautiful car!! Happy Motoring!!!

craftyhack

Thanks all!

I am in Missouri myself, never been to anywhere in Canada, on my list to go someday though .

I am enjoying it so far, but I think I need to bring it in to the shop to get some work done. Minor stuff I think, but 1) headlights seem to need adjusting, they point all the way down it seems so when I drive at night, like 5-10ft ahead of the car is illuminated, and past that, DARKNESS. Not fun to drive at night at all, many roads here have no lighting whatsoever, so without the NAV screen up, I cannot even tell if the road is gonna curve ahead, etc, I am driving by instruments . Looking at the headlights from the front of the car, it does look like they are tilted down and wedged that way, i.e. no space between the bottom of the headlight and the framing that holds it, and a bit on top. Also, when turning the aiming feature doesn't seem to work(it does have the auto turning headlight option). 2) If I am coming to a stop, and at say ~3-4mph I brake fairly hard, then let off, then brake fairly hard again, there is a terrible clunking in what feels like the front end of the car. There is also some clunking when going over speed bumps, etc. 3) The lumbar and bolster controls don't do anything (need to check a fuse maybe), looking forward to those adjustments when I get them working! Finally, 4) When I floor it, it seems really-really jerky, even when I am say going 40 and roll up to 70-80, it is like a bucking bronco. It almost always does this, but not every time. Traction control kicks on too, so maybe this is normal? I have never had this much power and an auto before, so maybe it is supposed to do that, I dunno. I have summers and am on normal road when I try this, where the ambient was like 60, could I be losing traction that much?

Even with this stuff, don't care, the car is awesome, the sound intoxicating, and damn is it fast! I really enjoy the top down driving, and while I can certainly tell it is a cabrio when driving it over rough roads because of cowl shake and body twist vs. a more solid feeling sedan, I don't care! It is fun to drive, the open air is great, and the interior is awesome!

Thanks again for all of the kind words .

Stiggs

Oh no, chrome wheels?

craftyhack

Yep, top of my list to change, I like the look of the 63 BS wheels, I assume no way they will fit given the wheel well differences, etc., but figure I can use SLK55 AMG wheels (saw in another thread)? Still gotta do some looking to see if they will bolt up OK, right width, offset, all of that stuff.

blackdomer

Hi, Craftyhack! Congratulations!!

OK, so I, too, am a new CLK63 owner as of 12 March 2011. LOVE IT! Like you, I had no idea how rare it was. I haven't posted pics (yet), but it's Cadet Blue Metallic with black interior. A BEAST with the throttle down. Although this is my fourth MB (2006 C350 4Matic [gone], 2009 C300 4Matic, both for the wife and a 2003 E320 [gone]), this is my first AMG and I see what the fuss is about!

I'm looking for a shop in the Chicago area to install HIDs (with flicker-eliminating wiring/ cap) and bluetooth, if possible, so I guess the search begins.

Enjoy!!!

kc2ntlh

Congratulations! Looks like you snagged the one I was looking at. If you don't mind, how much did you end up paying for it?

Happy motoring!

craftyhack

Congrats, I am sure you will enjoy the car, it is a beast, and a family(ish) cruiser all at the same time!

I just got off of the phone with Carmax, and when they were driving my car to the local Benz dealer to get some things looked at, the check engine light came on for them, and the dealer said it needed a new intake manifold :O. The list of all of the stuff they are fixing for me while I drive one of their other cars, all for no charge (I love Carmax ):

R/R Door panel leather panel (driver's side)
Cloth upholstery (either cleaned to new or replaced)
R/R Seat Comfort Control Pump (what pumps up the air bladders)
R/R Passenger side view signal lamp assembly (condensation in it)
R/R Glove Box Latch (was loose)
R/R Intake Manifold (and related gaskets, etc. of course), maybe this was what made the car jerky on acceleration, although I never saw a check engine light
R/R Control Arm bushings (the clunking I was talking about)
Head lights to be adjusted (or adjusters/head light assemblies to be replaced)

I guess who ever had it last was a bit rough with it with the 55k mi they put on it, thank god I have b-to-b warranty until 125k mi, or 2017 .

I wonder what this bill from the Benz dealer is gonna look like for poor Carmax :/.

Great service too, they have been leaving VMs at least once a day with play by play updates, I have NEVER had that with a dealer or another mechanic before, I normally have to call to get that kind of info.

Anyway, looking forward to getting it back, I sure hope none of these parts need to come from Germany!

I don't think this necessarily reflects on the quality of the car, so much as the treatment. It looks and feels like a pretty solidly built car.