BiTurboAmg

I have a dealer who called me and wants me to get the number 1 spot for the clk 63 black and has agreed to sell me the car at msrp whatever that may be. Is this car going to be as fast as the dtm? I am thinking of getting rid of the 65 for this car, but woud like to make this clk faster. I heard 530hp then 507 and now 500 with a weight of 3950lbs (which is not as light as I thought) My 65 dynoed at 553rwhp bone stock so maybe the 65 has a better hp/lb ratio? Give me your input guys and I must admit I am upset we dont get the CF door trim. One thing I loved about the gallardo SL is the CF door trims. How much power can be had out of th 63 motor. I would love to get 600hp on th clk 63 black.

Ted Baldwin

............My honest opinion is that this is nothing more than a hard top CLK63 dressed up to look nice. I now understand the reason Mercedes/AMG did not bring the hard top CLK63 to the US.........they wanted to be able to sell the black series at a premium. You would have to be sniffing something really strong to dump your 65 for a hard top CLK63.

Ted

BiTurboAmg

Maybe your right Ted, I was just looking at maybe driving it for a few miles then selling it and making some money. I was hoping the car would take off and sell for 20-30 over msrp and be like a de tuned clk dtm.

MercedesFTW

Which tranny does it have? The new 7-g???

BiTurboAmg

Yeah the 7g

lauer87

Id post this in the e55/63 forum because there would be more people that have tuned the 63 engines.

oldgixxer

Fom what I've heard the 7-G tranny wont handle more then 525 ft/lbs tq.
Dont dump the SL65 for the CLK

whoover

Biggest change is much more sophisticated suspension. Handling will be night and day better than the 65, but it won't have that effortless straight-line push. You'd be hard-pressed to get 600HP from the 6.2, but you know you can get 700 out of the 65.

The CLK Black should be a fine-handling, luxurious and fast coupe, but I'd rather have a 997 Turbo. If you're going for all-out handling, luxury seems to be the attribute to compromise. If you want straight-fast with luxury, there's no beating any 65.

rlee02135

i'm sure Kleemann will soon develop a supercharger for the 6.2 V8

i'd do it..the clk is so rare and beautiful...

C43AMG

...

wingless

So, to sell 350 special edition vehicles MBUSA prohibits US consumers from obtaining the CLK63 coupe. That's gotta help other manufacturers who instead permit consumers to obtain the desired vehicles.

CynCarvin32

I must disagree 100% here. This car is about dynamic driving while still being a mercedes. No 65 has any adjustable suspension, it does not have massive bucket seats, it does not have racing rubber from the factory, it does not have custom links in the entire from suspension (and some rear), it does not have a great looking wide body kit, it does not have a amazing diff cooler slug in the rear diffuser etc.

The CLK55 NEVER sold due to pricing in relation to the E55k. With the lack of a market mb cut production. People were begging for a black edition car for the states and this was the easiest car to pass us crash standards etc.

To say it is a gussied up car made to look nice is wrong. I think is a car that is built like a MB, can be driven daily, but still be used for track events and never have an issue. If you have ever tried to get an MB aligned for track use you would understand how amazing it is that the CLK black edition has camber plates (none exist in the world for that car) and that you can adjust compression and rebound.

Its a great car and when you consider its the price of a run of the mill SL55 I think its a value.

Alan Smithee

I think it's a great car as well for the reasons you mentioned...no sunroof, no back seat, true racing buckets (though unfortunately not in the US), ceramic brakes, coil-over suspension, forged wheels, and beautiful CF bodywork...it's a serious machine, not intended only for straight line high speed cruising like the XX65 cars, and definitely not just "dressed up to look nice".

That said, I have a hard time considering anything based on the now previous generation C-class platform costing $135k a value. A value would be ~$90k, IMO...anything more is a premium for rarity, which I'm sure many will line up to pay.

Ted Baldwin

.............Of course the CLK55 did not sell well. You forget that CLK55 had a 150HP deficit and was priced the same as an E55K. The new CLK63 has the same egine as the E63 and instead of finially introducing a desirable AMG CLK to the Us, they kept the fixed roof CLK63 and introduced the black series. By withholding the fixed roof CLK63 from the Us market it means that MB never really understood why people did not buy the previuos CLK55. To what do you now compare the black series to? The market doesn't have a fixed roof CLK63 in order to compare and see all these wonderful improvements in the black series. Problem with MB is not in building great cars, it is in understanding their customers. The maybach, the SLR the previous SL65, CL65, S65 all great cars but huge sales flops. Of course a select few wanted a track ready car, so those few now have the CLK63 black series. But how much better is black series compared to a fixed roof CLK63? Despite your belief that it is better, you actually don't know because the regular CLK63 is not and will not be available for on road comparison. It would be like BMW witholding the new M3 from the US market and only introducing the M3 CSL and saying trust us, buyt it now for $130K


Ted

BiTurboAmg

Always right Ted and I will tell you how good/bad the clk63 blk is. I am going to get and if I like it and it is great then I will dump the sl if it is not then hopfully I can get what I have into it and call it a day. I did want the gt3 but I will not pay 20-30k over msrp. Maybe vrus can hook me up with some cf door trim like the euro version

wingless

The problem is not with MB, they envision, design, test, then build outstanding vehicles. The only MB shortcoming is the absence of a high-performance manual transmission vehicle. Instead the problem is with the domestic vehicle importer, MBUSA, and the artificial obstacles they construct to prohibit US consumers from realizing an ideal vehicular solution to automotive requirements.

allenjdmb

Huh?
People who buy 100k + cars--and I'm damning myself here as well--don't have any "automotive requirements", and they aren't looking for any "ideal vehicular solution", whatever that is. These cars are nothing but entertainment. The problem is that the base bodied CLK, with any engine, is just pretty boring. Pretty car, and nice to drive (I've owned several 208's and 209's, from base 320s to 55). The factory, in their infinite wisdom (?), decided that the cab would be a way to see if they could get the CLK 63 to sell. It still doesn't. It just doesn't ring the bell of enough customers, and doesn't have the street cred that less expensive cars do. Line up a brand new CLK 63 cab (or coupe if you could get one) next to a 3 year old SL, and the moderately interested customer will easily gravitate to the SL. This isn't Europe where a 175mph factory modified car can regurlarly play. Hey, I love them too, and love the understated power and presence of them. But here in the US, there is just too small a market for every one of these neat toys to be a sales success. And BTW, any hint of a manual transmission would take me right out of the CLK Black market. MB simply cannot make one. If the F1 style tranny is good enough for Bernd Maylander, it works for me. I'm more aggravated about the fact that it doesn't have a sunroof available.
Given the mess that DC and MBUSA have made of a once proud brand, it's going to take a while before ANY MB car is going to be the ultimately desired piece.

C43AMG

Are you serious ?

TA-9FF

The 7G is god-awful, and I doubt it'll be able to use all that power the Black has.

The SL65 is better suited to use its power. I'd keep the SL.

wingless

Sorry, that sounds like a requirement. Those who spend $100K, or more, on a vehicle have LOTS of requirements, except for you, of course.


Sorry, that sounds like an ideal vehicular solution.

The point remains, if the US market were served by a vehicle importer who used the clout of this market to influence MB design, to create vehicles that satisfy our market, instead of creating obstacles for vehicles already designed, then we would be better served.

Alan Smithee

MB absolutely does build cars specifically for the US market. V8s in the E-class were a direct result of Toyota launching the Lexus brand here years before they went global, and the V8 E- and CLK-class continue to be primarily for the US market; same with big sixes in the C-class.

Europeans primarily buy diesels and small displacement motors unavailable here across the MB model range...and manual transmissions.

MB sends over what our market demands; those of us interested in an MB with coil overs, no sunroof, manual transmissions, etc. are not MB's primary US market.

allenjdmb

Unfortunately. The cars that MB sells in the US ARE the cars that American customers have demanded. Though we love them and covet them, the unique and to us, desirable, models don't mean a damn thing to most of MB's customers in America, nor to management. To them, they are just a pain. They give lip service to wanting to provide these specialzed products, and in a way, I suppose they do. There are in fact AMG models of every chassis available, even though no one wants them. MB has to draw the line somewhere, although we each would like a piece precisely as we want it (for me, a sunroof in my CLK63 black, e.g). The BMW guys make the same argument all the time: come on, BMW, build us a hot rod with no sunroof, roll up windows, etc, that will go fast. Fact is, they simply cannot sell them, at least not in enough numbers to certify them (see: e36 M3 LTW).
And yes, I suppose that entertainment is a requirement. But if anybody requires that I have to take an MB with a manual transmission, then I absolutely pass. That ain't an "ideal vehicular solution", WTH that is, for anyone, except a BMW dealer.

Alan Smithee

Well, I think DCX is seeing the light. With BMW building nothing but ugly vehicles now, they see BMW die-hards looking for somewhere to go, hence a more sporting model line for US customers including the CLK63 Black, no-cost sport package in the E-class, unique bodywork for the new C-class sport models, etc. While the CLK63 Black is an expensive and limited production model, I'm hopeful it is being used as a halo for a more sporting next generation CLK.

CynCarvin32

You kind of answered the issue yourself and agreed with me. Yes I know the power differences between the E55k and the 2004-2005 CLK55 and that is why they both FLOPPED in the market. A 2005 CLK55 was a great car just not as snazzy as a blown 500hp 4 door that drove like a pile of poop.

So they stopped production and felt that a 80-85k coupe in the us market was not going to fly very well. With that no CLK63 ever showed up either even though I think it would have sold very well.

So now AMG goes and offers the Black edition car in the usa and people get angry with the pricing and how its just a hard top CLK. It goes beyond that and is more a factor of ability to import a car like this. The SLK did not work for the US market due to side impact laws as the airbag is in the door and not in the seat. The SLK used those same carbon fiber doors and this means no side impact protection. On the flip side the CLK could use a bolstered up OEM frame with the same old side impact system as the normal car. So here is the Black Edition for the usa.

MB customers are different than BMW customers as AMG people like power and comfort instead of power and cornering ability. This AMG is for the people who have always wanted a race track worthy AMG not a big heavy sedan ready to go drag race with american muscle cars at the local Thursday night street races.

I am just happy to see AMG changing their focus towards sporting cars. AMG should be more than just a massive lump with a ho hum chassis. If people want to go 1/4 mile racing get a used SL600 and take it to RENNtech but if you want a car with equal abilities in acceleration, braking, and cornering I think the Black edition is a huge step forward. Slowly I think AMG will focus their cars towards being sports cars (other than with the large body S and CL cars) and let the tq monster crew go with 600's.

The debate with the Maybach and SLR comes back to the fact that they were too expensive for their level of exclusivity. Both had roots to normal MB cars and neither was all that exotic. The SLR and a gussied up 55k engine and the maybach was a over grown W220 with a recirculating ball steering system instead of a rack. People in that market want a purpose built car like a Phantom or a CGT. Had the SLR been harder edged and had a racing bread motor it would have done far better than it did.

Also the CLK suffers from the oh its just a c-class coupe syndrome and asking people to fork over 90k for a C-Class is really difficult. Look at the price of a used CLK55 and you see how quickly they fall to C320 pricing. US customers look for class and style with cars not really performance on the bigger scale. They would rather get a bigger E55k because it has more presence and is more justifiable as a 90k car.

I see the black edition car as worth 130k all day long.

Blk04cobra1

From what ive been told, you'll be lucky to get a Black series period...unless you have some major pull at your dealership. Ive been told that all of them have been presold, whether it be to private parties or dealers, but good luck getting one at MSRP if they will truely be as rare as planned.