Hey everyone! I really hope this forum is alive and well, it seems like it's kinda hard to find a good active forum for the 218 platform, since it's kind of a niche market car. Here's my story:

I am 21 years old, and as my username suggests, I am at heart a JDM guy, but above that I am a car guy in general, I kinda love everything! My dad was into muscle cars and before I was born had Firebird T/A's, Camaro's, Foxbody's, etc.

I started getting into Bimmers when I my older cousin got a new E46 330ci and I just kinda fell in love with the brand and their cars. His older brother got an E60 530i and I was one of the only other people in the world that loved the way they looked (lol), so after starting with a $400 1996 Camry and flipping cars to get into my own 2007 530i, I was hooked. Had 2 E46s myself, and worked my way up to my current prized possession: my 2011 535i, Inline 6, Single Turbo, fbo, downpipe and tuned. Had this one longer than any of my other cars (2.5 years lol), and I have absolutely loved it. Got it when I was 19 with 19k mi and slowly modified it to get it to my desired OEM+ look. It has been incredibly reliable, and only has 45k mi now at almost 10 years old which is pretty crazy; I don't drive it much.




I still love this car but normally switch it up every year or year and a half, so I started looking at the 650i Gran Coupe M Sport. I was immediately off-put by how overwhelmingly unreliable and terrible the N63 motor is, because when they are running right, they drive great. If you all are not familiar with the issues, basically they had such bad oil consumption and engine blowing probs that they had a class-action lawsuit. The later models never really improved, so I realized if I want to upgrade to a fast twin-turbo V8 coupe styled 4 door, there was only one other logical choice.

My other cousin (they all seem to have cool cars ) got a 2012 CLS 550 4MATIC as his daily driver in NY while his GT-R sits in the garage, and he completely fell in love with the platform. As a former BMW master tech he was thoroughly impressed by the platform, build quality, and reliability. He put over 100k miles, before he replaced it with a 2012 CLS 63 AMG. After driving his and starting to slowly fall in love with the platform, I myself am ready to look for one. I really preferred to get a highly optioned model, under 50k miles, and, if possible, a 2015+ model. Almost nothing really sparked my interest that was in budget, until I found this...








It has 38k mi, and pretty much all the options I was looking for. Florida car since new, garage kept dealer serviced 1 owner etc etc, and its CPO which was the icing on the cake for me! I plan on picking it up on Monday if all the numbers make sense and I absolutely cannot wait to start playing around with it

Again its more of an OEM+ look that I'll be going for, some CF goodies here and there, exhaust work, maybe a tune after my warranty expires, lowering it, and probably some OEM AMG 20s or something a little more aggressive.

TL;DR: 21 year old kid might be trading in his 2011 535i fbo for a 15 CLS 550 and is excited

 

Congrats on the future purchase! I believe you will really enjoy it as the motor is great and very reliable. I respect the hustle!

 

Any mods you looking to do? If so, which?

 

@JDMSteven I was initially looking for the 650i as well but went with the 218 model here. I wanted to switch to BMW from my last W211 Benz, but I heard pretty nasty things about their V8 engines of the year models I was looking for lol
I don't drive mine much either, but so far, I haven't had any issues and it runs great. It's responsive, stable, and has quite a bit of potential with a tune and a few FBO mods. What I would suggest you do is to do a test drive for the 218. The 218 platform drives a bit stiff. It's not a big deal but to some, it can be a deal-breaker. If you use Run Flat Tires, it will be even stiffer. Once I switched from RFTs to regular all-season tires, it was a much better and smoother ride. I don't know how the 2015+ models feel like, but my 2012 is a bit stiff. I'm ok with it. I would have lowered any given car regardless lol. Everything else is great about this car.

 

Thank you! I am super excited, the deal went a little wishy washy with the rate because I'm so young but I got it where I want to be so we are good to go!

 

Either OBD2 Lowering/Lowering Links

And then not sure on the theme I want, either satin/graphite wheels or gloss black again but that will be once I need tires. Other than that, nothing crazy. I like keeping my cars at an OEM+ look, so maybe some 63 AMG wheels or other classy looking wheels. Deff exhaust work, and then after the 1 year CPO expires it'll be time for a tune

 

I have driven my cousins 2012 CLS 550 and I am very happy with the way it feels. I live in an area with glassy smooth roads, and my BMW with H&R Sport Springs and non-adaptive suspension was pretty firm so the Mercedes is a big upgrade on ride quality. It won't be a daily driver car; as with my BMW I mainly use it for going out on the weekend and that's about it. I am 100% against RFT's after having them on my BMW when I got it; had 2 tires go within 2 months and it's just as inconvenient. I have roadside so I'm good. I do plan on lowering the 550

 

That's good. I had coilovers on my previous E350 and I somehow liked how that rode better than this CLS on air suspension lol. That's pretty much how I drive mine too. I have an old Prius as a commuter lol I've only put ~17k miles in 2 years. I think RFTs are a poor choice, regardless the road conditions. Once, they make the ride stiff and they cost more to replace. The lowering modules start from $510 all the way to couple thousand.

 

Just took delivery of it last night, and I am SO in love! On the 3.5 hr drive home, I was very impressed with how subdued and relaxed this car feels; when cruising at 80 mph I get 30 mpg in 9th gear turning 1500 RPM. It's so quiet, smooth and solid feeling. Pinning the throttle pushes you back pretty aggressively and the speedo just climbs relentlessly! The active multicontour seats are AMAZING, I used to think these kind of seats were gimmicky but they really do work well for me. I am 5' 4" and 120lbs so I normally get tossed around in my seat when cornering hard, but not anymore! The massage is also thoroughly impressive, much better than the Range Rover massage seats I am used to (I work for Jaguar Land Rover). I prefer the layout of iDrive, but I am getting used to COMAND fairly quickly, I do hope to code Apple CarPlay soon.

 

Awesome car man! I almost drove up to palm beach to check this car out until I found a pretty good deal on a 2014 closer to Miami! I'm glad it went to a good home! Your'e going to love it...I just got mine a couple weeks ago and loving it so far. Besides the 14 mpg I'm getting but I cant help it, that V8 exhaust note is just too addictive

 

I really really wanted a 2015+ model, and although the 12-14 models are quite a bit cheaper, the icing on the cake for this one was the fact that its CPO. Where are you located? Message me on Instagram if you have one, JDMSteven.