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Loving this 2014 CLS550. Started off looking at E550 4matics, but... 28K miles, CPO - something like 44 months of warranty. Already got pulled over - just a warning, all good.
Maybe it's the lighting. I see some brownish/goldish hues like you'd see in Indium. If it wasn't already obvious, mine is IG/beige interior.
Enjoy your new ride.
This summer we purchased our 2014 CLS550 in Oregon and drove it back to Colorado. I got a 83 in 55 zone.Fortunately it was in OR, and apparently they have a one time get out of reporting the ticket thing if you are out of state and dont have any record there. just had to pay the fine. These cars do move fast! Just put a clear bra on, as Colo is hell on front of vehicles and windshields due to dirt and rocks on all the roads.
Everything in life is a trade-off. CPO is more money which gets you a warranty (1 year, unlimited miles), with extended MB warranty available (up to 2 more years). Private sale is less money, but no warranty. Given that the difference in price might be several thousand dollars, this is a better deal....unless something goes wrong that is covered by the warranty. Overall reliabilty seems good for this vehicle, so if maintenance records and inspection by mechanic is OK, this could be a good deal.
That said, mine is a CPO, with 2 extra years of coverage. This is a very personal decision, and everyone will see it differently. Me, I replaced an engine in another non-MB German brand car; thus, my CPO decision. Not logical but, subjectively, it felt right.
I wrote this draft in Dec 2017. Then lost it. Then just found it.
The wife and I took a trip at Thanksgiving from Virginia Beach to Lynchburg, VA to Jackson, NJ to Middletown, CT back to Virginia Beach - probably around 1500 miles. It was a very comfortable trip with me doing about 90% of the driving. This was our first real roadtrip with the CLS.
Friday - Westward to Lynchburg, VA - We had left early in the morning to avoid any of the suicidal deer popultion. The trip to Lynchburg was pretty relaxed, we stopped at a couple of places to stock up on some real VA peanuts for the folks up north in CT. I didn't realize this strip of VA had so much damn cotton - it was everywhere! Trucks rolling by with huge bales, lots of cotton in the fields etc. We speculated where it was going or how organic it was. I speculated it was going to a boat overseas and not organic. Pretty sure the peanuts we got coated in all sorts of flavorings weren't organic, but they were probably local enough. Then we arrived in Lynchburg to our destination, or so I thought.
The wife is the master of the 'side trip/cram stuff in' - sometimes she allows for a buffer... So, we say "hi" to the cousins, drop our stuff in our assigned room and head back out the door... Evidently, we had plans to get caught up over dinner with some friends who moved out there from our neighborhood a couple years ago. So, off to the Italian place... to see people... sigh. And talk... double sigh.
You see, dear reader - I am a slow starter with conversation. For some reason I find it hard to start, finding that 'common ground'. It usually goes something like this:
You: "Did you watch the game?"
Me: "Nope, I don't do sports."
You: "What do you watch?"
Me: "I don't watch TV. We have been cable-less for 5 years. The benefits of not having a cable bill are that I am able to purchase tools, lumber, metal, computers, and firearms. With the time I have available by not watching these sporting contests, I am able to build and or fix thing or make decorative and functional or functionally decorative objects out of wood and/or metal, and program a server, or surveillance system, or database. And shoot them. I watch This Old House on bunny ears."
I am ashamed to say the wife knows far more about watching sports than I do. I played a lot of sports, even invented a few my own, but as far as 'watching sports', I just never got into it. Maybe I was into it around the time of Wayne Gretzky, Larry Bird, Bo Jackson, Andre Agassi, and Roger Clemens. For me the professional sports world fell out of my favor after the teams I was rooting for lost - I am convinced now that they lost because I wasn't watching... If only I had watched the game - they would have won. I couldn't deal with the schedules so, I decided it was best for the team to step away and leave their fates to their own fates.
I also can't have a conversation with someone who talks about a team like they own it: "We're going to win" or "My team sucked last week". Maybe they do own the team or have a minority share. I guess that's possible with the Packers, but I'm pretty sure I'm not usually in the same room as some sports owner. They're basically lying or fortune telling... I can't abide.
I'll talk about cars, engines and their associated components and their theory of operation, old fords, old land cruisers, woodworking, linux, servers, guitars, fuel, air, spark, beer (but not really crazy technical level about beer), music, matters of the hearts/head or the deep meaningful things in life. But... not sports.
Around the table there was some discussion about the friends' new car purchase - My wife is still "getting over the shame" that we own a MB, so she never leads with "Oh, we bought a 2014 CLS 550"... And there was actually some specific discussion at some point on the Roadtrip abouth this "Do we tell <such and such> about the car?". "Sheesh, I could see not mentioning it if it were a NEW one, but it's friggin' three years old".
The friends had bought a brand new Subaru Outback - lovely automobile, which would be my first choice in the hilly snow country if I didn't already have a perfectly fine 1997 Outback in my backyard. Then somehow it came out that we had bought a MB, so - everyone at the table had to go see it. Lots of compliments. Good times, good times. And their new Subaru was a Subaru.
Whew, awkward moment over - Back to the cousins house and I watched some ultra violent crazy first person shooter game the cousin/nephew/kid was playing - It was fun listening to him talking to his little pals all over the internet "Get the AK47, Get the SCAR, Where do you live? I need more AR15 Ammo!, Who has a med kit?, I Died!, What time does your mom make you go to bed?". I was fascinated - I mean... you hear so much in the news about these sorts of games, and they actually are as awesome as they say! Stunning graphics, fully engaged gameplay - Just WOW. I only had the ataris/nintendos, Doom, Quake, and 'stopped' playing video games when the PS3 came out. That kid didn't eat or wash or move from that spot he was at until Sunday. Any effort to get him to wash was met by some angry/frenzied/overreacted outburst. Even my "Am I the only one that smells cat pee?" had no effect. Could this be what happens when playing violent video games all day long? Nah, just 10 year olds being 10.
Saturday - The next morning we were heading to Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Hall in Forest, VA. On getting to the festival the GPS did lead us astray a little bit... pretty sure I need to get the maps updated. I had to park in the lawn area, on a hill, with prospects of rain. This place was Jefferson's retreat from Monticello and publicity and supposedly the first octogon house in the US. It has been undergoing a restoration for about 20+ years. The craftsmenship of the bits and pieces they've needed to recreate is awesome. I could have stared at and studied the details all day even without the wine. The wine festival was 'just ok' according to the boss. The live music and other festival participants were a little on the hickey side- banjo, fiddle, harmonica. I even saw a couple of people wearing actual MAGA hats (and not getting boo'd). It was a friendly from-all-walks-of-life type crowd. I'm pretty sure Jefferson and Sally Hemmings would have appreciated the dichotomy when they spun some hip-hop during the intermission. Everyone was dancing and having a good time. I think good drink is the great preceived conflict resolution maker. There was no beer - there was hard cider. The only wine I drank was whatever everyone else said to get - Barboursville. At the end of the day, I was tempted to do a donut on Jefferson's lawn. Probably frowned upon, plus there were some cops around (and more importantly the wife in the passenger seat and 1300 more miles to play nice). So I left satisfied with the cool fact that I can say I went offroading on Jefferson's lawn in a Mercedes.
Sunday - We got up and left for Jackson, NJ via Charlottesville, VA to stay overnight at a friends house. About 1 hour from Lynchburg is Pippen Hill Winery, which was recommended by another member of the wife's coven. Very pretty and scenic. Somehow the drive from Lynchburg to Jackson is 6.5 hours.
Just before Exit 2 on NB CT-95 I hit a friggin pothole at probably 70 MPH in the 2nd from fast lane. BAM! fap fap fap fap on the driver's side... I was able to pull into Exit 2 without much fanfare and there is a pretty wide shoulder, so I stopped there to inspect the damage. The tire had basically cut itself on the bead of the wheel and that's where it blew. No apparent wheel damage. Sigh, time to put on the donut. Now, as fortune would have it a tow truck just happened to pull off on the exit and the operator came and asked if we were OK and offered to set the jack (he couldn't tow us because he was registered in NY or something like that) . I did check to see that all the necessary equipment was in the trunk prior to the trip, along with the wheel lock kit/socket. The wheel came off no problem, and the donut went on no problem - we had to shuffle all of our luggage from the trunk into the backseat to get the spare out and the popped wheel in the trunk - the wife is great at tetris, we had a lot of luggage... My problem was I didn't want to drive about 70 more miles on a donut. Ahh, I knew there was a MB dealer at Exit 3 in Greenwich, so I decided to try out the MBrace system. The MBrace rep was awesome and phoned our situation into MB of Greenwich and sent the directions to our GPS. We pulled into the service lane at the dealer, went in and they said they had the correct tire and it would be about 1.5 -2 hours. We said we were going to take a walk to get something to eat. We found a nice little tex-mex place that wasn't quite open for dinner, but they let us in and served us some chips and drinks over at the bar area.
Anyway, it was a great trip, in a great car. We have some more lined up for this summer, and I can't wait.
Began ownership at 28,704 10/17/2017 - She's at 63,225, so 34,500ish fairly uneventful miles under her 44mo extended warranty. Finished up the last pre-paid with the 70K service (we thought it was 4 services, but was actually 3... (The service advisor made a mistake, but really handled it well and was discounted)
- 4 New tires - Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus 285/30ZR19 - 1557347, 98Y (bq8403190) and 255/35ZR19 1557313, 96Y - (bq8403181).
Note: Got away from the Pirelli Zeros at this time. PS rear had bulging sidewall but tread was good. DS rear was fine. Both fronts had uneven but symmetrical wear on outside. Requested Michelin, but due to rubber shortage.... Continentals did not have a huge wait time at least according to MB of Hampton (old Tysinger).
- Trans flush/filter
- Multi-point inspection
- LOF
- Wiper blades... but whatever.
The only real issues I've had have been tire/rim related - whether it's potholes, train tracks, or the generally cruddy roads I drive on.
Other minor things and random thoughts over the years:
- Rear accordion compartment door wouldn't stay shut - replaced. However, when the tech was replacing it - broke a part of the rear center console... they replaced that too - all covered!
- Black paint/coating on window/door switches seems to flake off. Replaced DS once - covered.
- Repaired curb rash on wheels twice. All 4 @ 43,000 and one front wheel @ 63,225
- Pro-rata replacement of pirelli's @ 43,000 due to bulging sidewalls. Wanted to switch out then, but the pricing worked out well on the pirelli's.
- Stopped paying for MBRACE around 2019.
- COMAND GPS Update in 2019 - still missing some roads, and I didn't see any real improvement. Not a big deal, but can lead me astray if I'm not paying attention around the new highways near NC 17/70...
- Keeping leaves and junk out of the cowl is fun. Keep other drains and channels clean.
- Cleaning the AC drain behind the battery. This is one of the only things I have personally done under the hood. Remove the battery, use a garden hose, some flexy pokey thing - like a dryer lint trap cleaner. Lots of junk can collect in that thing, and it can be unpleasant. There is one part of that drain that is flexible and it should be flexible... if it's hard you probably have a lot of junk down there and make sure you don't flood into the passenger side footwell.
- Replace the cabin air filter now and then.
- I don't wash or dry the car by hand... I just pressure washer on the soap, let it sit, then rinse. I might give it a hand job and waxing soon.
- Black side window panels between the front/rear windows are looking a little bit not so perfect.
- Stopped paying for SIRIUS in 2021.
I did take apart the air box once and cleaned the tubes etc, but other than that - I haven't personally replaced the air filters or changed the oil - dealer has.
Researching camber/toe kits, not convinced KMAC is the way... Will be consulting independent shops and these forums - Suggestions?
I won't be missing going to the dealership for service. I would buy another car from that particular dealership - but it was just an annoying trip from where I live. Car still runs and drives like a dream, all the horses are present and accounted for. Everything is working well.
Thanks!
Last edited by 1966Mustang; 12-11-2021 at 01:24 AM.
Reason: update
It's still going strong at 70K since my first post in 2017 - paint, interior are still really nice.
Never parked indoors. I mostly wash it with a pressure washer and try not to touch the paint with sponges/rags. I don't use anything special, just some maguires in a foam attachment.
The window buttons 'peel', there is a stitch on the upper part of the rear fold down seat that is splitting somehow - it is not noticeable looking in the rear view mirror, but can see it when the rear seat is folded down. MB replaced the peeling switches once and the tambour/roll-away in the rear center console was as well (whatever mechanism that kept it closed wasn't working).
Last payment coming up! Did not put 1 penny down...
Had rear pads and rotors turned July 20, 2022 and 1 new rear sensor. Suspiciously, the airmatic won't switch from sport/comfy - have to get that sorted. Suspect a call to the shop that did the brake work might be in order...
Running Continental DWS. They are holding up much much better than the Pirelli's.
Other than the regular MB maintenance which was pre-paid in 2017, have not had anything major needed. Whenever it was in for MB maint I would have them do a once over with dent wizard to touch up any minor paint chips and fix any curb rash.
2023 Update (May 30)... ~78,700 miles
Received the Exhaust Valve Assembly warranty extension notification in March 2023.
Still going strong. From last post: "Suspiciously, the airmatic won't switch from sport/comfy - have to get that sorted" - turned out to be sensor on the passenger side shock was not connected... easy fix once I crawled under there to take a look.
Replaced the aux battery in the trunk: If you start noticing 'weird' things, that battery might be the culprit.
Overall this update is the same as my last post from 2022 - Continental DWS seem to be wearing much better.
Passenger side has 1 plug...
Driver side has 2 plugs... One from a nail near the edge and one from a pinhole towards the centerline. Initially I thought the plug I put in from the nail was still leaking as it was a very slow leak. Took to a tire shop and only after submersion did they find the pinhole. Just out of warranty on the continental road hazard by a couple months too... of course! While at the ratty tire shop wandering around their parking lot I found 6 screws belonging to various trades... sheetmetal, drywall, deck, woodworking. C'mon people, I know you want repeat business, but magnet/sweep your damn driveway.
On a 1200 mile trip recently, got the oil changed at my friends garage once I got to my destination. We used Red Line synthetic.
Up on the lift, undercarriage looks fantastic/brand new especially compared to the rusted out New England stuff he usually works on.
There appeared to be a small leak from the radiator on the drivers side. Topped off coolant, and did not pressure test. Something to keep an eye on- in the 1000s miles since have not re-observed this, no check coolant messages.
Took a look at the transmission to driveshaft coupler/vibration damper - no cracks, but this part could become an issue if doing dyno-mode holeshots/burnouts...
Suspension bushings, pivot points all appeared to be holding up.
Also on this trip on the way north I received a 'speeding ticket'... Eastville, VA is notorious for their speed-trap on US-13 - and I've long known this... So, what happened was - I was cruising along minding my own business, and realized "Oh, Eastville is coming up soon" - turned on my GPS to see where/when that was happening, and just as the Nav screen was populating, I looked up and there in the median coming up the very slight incline was the Eastville PD's big SUV pointing their little laser at me. Immediately I knew I was going a little faster than their law allowed despite my foot off the pedal... Their officers (and vehicles) are the most geared up folks I've seen in any podunk town - courtesy of their US-13-as-speedtrap-ATM. They had me going northbound and some other sucker on the southbound side. 72 in a 55. I thanked the officer and 'have a nice day'd him.
Next stop a couple miles up the road was Stuckeys to buy some VA themed provisions - bacon, peanuts, pecan logs, cheap smokes, etc. While waiting in line I half-overheard some other passers-thru talking about being pulled over. Once I got up to the cashier I told the kindly old lady about my tale of woe in Eastville and if that's what the previous patron was talking about. Her face twisted up like I just slapped her mama and she went off on the Eastville PD! How it's been this constant thing that the local communities have raised a stink about and how rather than Eastville PD pulling people over for nonsense they could have put their energy into finding some 19 year old local man that was missing for months only to be found dead in a tree-row by some hunters a couple weeks ago. I told her I was heading up to CT to visit my people for a week after a long time and this was going to be catching up on several holidays and get-togethers. We chatted for another minute or so about the injustices and paid for my purchases. Then she asked for my hand, and said a blessing about safe and speedy travels and having a good reunion with my people. I thanked her very much and went on my way. It was a good trip after that.
Upon returning home, I admitted to my wife that I had got pulled over in Eastville... And I got a lesson in how "The Old-Boy network..." supposedly works. "Thats BULL****!!!! No way we're paying that, I'm calling my fathers-cousin-retired-judge so-and-so who moved up that way". However, this never happened... Despite her Irish-German fiest-i-ness, I need to figure out the disposition on that ticket - might be a warrant by now - paying it just sort of... fell off 'my radar'. Maybe I can just pay it online... Maybe outrage in that locality has nulled out any tickets
The clip for the AC/heater duct above the battery broke/went missing. Need to get that fixed/replaced. It's the plastic with spring-clip piece of metal that retains the duct to the cowl. Any leads on just that part? Also the gas cap strap/retainer - that kinked/twisted in 2 pieces a long time ago.
Airmatic / compressor seems to be working properly. Wheel security loks replaced by the regular bolts because dealing with those loks are just a PITA anyway.
Also notable: I will say receiving compliments on the car seem to have been increasing - at least 5 in the past month, from random people - at the gas station, parking lot at the grocery, sitting at a restaurant, wife's co-workers on a recent all-hands and most recently some of our uber fancy NY friends...
All previous comments/observations in this thread are holding generally true. It's an awesome car that is turning more heads as time goes forward.
Till next time!
Last edited by 1966Mustang; 05-30-2023 at 11:26 AM.
Thanks for the update. Sorry about the ticket…you probably should have used the wife’s connection to the old boys’ club. There’s areas around here where we know they patrol more, but not really speed traps, so I’m lucky I guess. If you’re less than 10 over, you’re fine on the highway, unless the officer had a fight with their s.o. before work. I guess I’m getting old, since I’m now okay with that.
I’m up to about 55,000 mi on my 2012. No problems since the warranty repair of the air suspension in 2017, just regular maintenance, pretty much once every 12-14 months for me. I don’t have access to a lift, but the Benz mechanic said it looks in fantastic shape. Good thing I’ve got the car wash pass and wash it 2-3 times/week in the winter, ‘cause they use a LOT of salt in Minnesota. Still liking the Conti DWS’s here, too. No excessive wear, reasonably quiet, good in the wet; they’d be okay in winter, but I’ve got Blizzaks for that. Need new winter tires this year, probably going with Contis there, too. My wife has a set, and they’re as quiet as summer tires, with excellent winter performance.
It’still a very enjoyable drive, and not a common car in these parts, so it stands out, not least because it’s red. Get a lot of comments in gas stations and parking lots here, too. No problems, fun to drive, license fees the same as my daughter’s Camry…I’m not itching for a new car at this point. I should be able to keep going a few more years with the CLS.
Aug 15, 2023 81,000ish mile Update - Yes... a bit 'soon', but documenting before I forget. Don't worry, it's all gonna be fine. I guess 'Till Next time!!!' is now...
Replaced Tires - The Continental DWS wore evenly. Encountered heavy rains on a trip to CT (the 2nd trip back and forth within 30 days or so...). Got tired of feeling the ***-end sliding around/hydroplaning. This is what my wife referred to as 'shimmy-ing' when she was driving back from visiting a friend in NC... I thought it was hydroplaning, but she also has a heavy foot... Going 40MPH on a highway is not fun, nor safe. The DS rear had 2 plugs (2nd plug from ratty shop had to be re-done), the PS rear had 1... the fronts had none. Also the driver side rear had some pinhole leak that was impossible to find even at 60PSI in a water tank...
New tires are Michelin Pilot Sport A/S - $1080. Installation was 'fun'. I ordered the tires from my family mechanic in CT - He did not want to take a chance mounting these 285/55/19s on his old Coats tire machine.
So we checked around who could install these - A place down the road couldn't handle them. Firestone could, but wouldn't... because we didn't buy them from them - ya know 'liability' issues... wtf ever.
2 places booked out a week that are listed as 'Tirerack authorized installers - these didn't come from tirerack, but I did not know there was a list on TR for 'shops that will install customer supplied tires' ... F40 Motorsports (yes, Wayne Carini's shop) would have, but they are slammed getting their cars ready for Pebble Beach and couldn't do it when I needed to be heading back to VA by.
Last ditch - a good sized shop in my hometown that had been around for 100 years. "Sure, no problem, come by at 9:30 tomorrow". Showed up at 9, they had me in at 9:15 and out by 10:15. $165 including disposal at $5/tire...
Also, fitting 4 tires in the car is possible... But they stink/smell, not advised.
Ran some errands, last minute goodbyes and back on the road South by 1PM. Through NYC, to the New Jersey Speedpike - in the rain - but much more sure-footed. Ride seems much less harsh as well - like there is difference between sport and comfy now. 9hrs 22min later back home.
Somewhere around Milford, DE I noticed a hairline crack in the windshield 1" long at the top of passenger side - WTF man... Somewhere around Pokemoke City, MD - around 3". I stopped looking at it...
Back home next morning it decided to travel down a bit way about 6"... curving to the DS... By sunday afternoon about at the centerline around where the Rear view mirror lives... like an "L" of course.
Monday Aug 14 looked at my USAA auto ins... they kick you over to Safelite. Which I've used on other cars before, but not going to on this. Sigh... Called MB, talked to the man where I bought the car. Aug 22nd MB can get it in, get it done with OEM MB glass and should not be an issue with USAA. 1-3 day lead time at the moment. $45/day rental if I want something as good as a CLS. Was informed I did not get the 'Platinum Package' when I bought the CLS... oh well. $35/day if I want a KIA/Hyundai... $45 isn't bad.
Plus, this might be a good time to address some other small things:
1 - Get the dentless scratch/fix man - some small rock chips... I don't like those injuries going for too long.
2 - Fix the curb rash/refurb the wheels... I've had this done before with good results.
3 - The stupid rear window shade raiser-arm on the PS side snapped. Like how does that part break??? It's been used like less than 100 times in it's life. These recent trips I've taken... I have found that useful.
4 - Service B in 1800 miles... or next week, whatever.
5 - The clip for the AC/heater duct above the battery
6 - Gas cap loop/retainer
7 - Headlight plastic is looking scratchy. I know how to polish them, but.
8 - The black plastic panels fore and aft of the side windows is looking rough. IDK if that's a clearcoat over black plastic or a black gloss+clear over black plastic... maybe just get replaced. Ask about it anyway.
Recent trip data:
July 23, 2023 - CT to VA
461 Miles
8:11 h
28.3 MPG
56MPH Avg
Aug 10, 2023 - CT to VA
471 Miles
9:22 h
28.3 MPG
50MPG Avg
Oh.. I paid my speeding ticket online. No dramas. I'll try to add some pictures to this thread.
88,500 miles
Recent road trip to the VA mountains got a misfire - stopping and restarting car cleared it, but while it was occuring you would think it was a transmission/rear-end issue...
Brought to dealer - Misfire on cyl2, replacing coil, plugs look good as they were done at ~ 50K.
Other mishaps on this trip...
1. Something came flying at the car at 75mph glancing off the hood. Upon inspection looks like 2 BB size dings 2 inches apart, about 4 inches from the leading edge in the hood... unfortunately right above some underhood sheetmetal support.
2. While the wife was on the phone with the shop about the misfiring and getting an appt - a rock flew up and put a star in the NEW windshield... installed back in January...
2013 Weistec 540/715 tuned CLS 550, 2008 E350, and '07 Jaguar S-Type R
All things being equal, I'd say the car's been relatively trouble-free for one so technologically complex At 64K miles on ours, I've replaced plugs and a battery, period.
10-24-2017, 11:33 PM
At 64K miles on ours, I've replaced plugs and a battery, period.
