Hi, silly question, but in the market for a CLS. Which CLS's don't have air suspension as i'm trying to avoid it and for the cars that do have it how reliable is the system. Also is the air suspension found in CLS's airmatic or ABC. What is the repair cost on these when they fail? I appreciate any feedback.

 

No. 550’s and 63’s did. The 400’s airmatic was a option

 

Airmatic should be the only option in w218s unless coilover swapped. I think they stopped the ABC closer to 05, my friend has an 08 e63 on air so its been air for a while.

I feel the avoiding notion, but the fear around it is kinda overblown. Mine went ~120K miles on the originals before failures began, and it never took more than a day to install DIY. The front is harder than the rears since its the entire strut assembly as opposed to just the airbag like the rears, but neither of them should take too long. I've done the rear without a 2 way OBDII to air out and nothing came of it (error in my own DIY the first time :/) and have done the line fittings 300 miles from home at midnight. Youtube and these forums help alot, and the air failing shouldn't keep you from buying a CLS, as I can confirm they are a joy (most of the time, but thats all old germans).

That being said, if you are purchasing a 100K+ mile CLS I would recommend setting aside 1300 in you budget for either a full replacement or coilover swap. The fronts are about $600 each for arnott on rock auto and I've been using the $100 rear 1A auto specials. I'd recommend not cheaping out on the front, however the rears are independant from any drive system so you might could keep it budget there. The bilstein coilovers range from 2k to 1300 for the strutmaster kit, probably cheaper in the long run if you got the cash but otherwise replacing the struts on my car as they go has been fine with me. Put ~20k on it in a year and a half and it takes the 6inch deep potholes (I measured!) like a champ, and even supports 4 dudes climbing on it during a fraternety carwash. It's a fairly durable system overall, it just wears out after 10-15 years.

What ClS are you looking at/into?

 

I want a cls550 and trying to get it under 20k with less than 80k miles and that includes maintenance as well. I want similar reliability to my ML which has been bulletproof. The m278 has its share of issues though and a lot of expensive repairs that will come at some point. I'm trying to avoid air suspension as I've had bad experiences with air suspension, my BMW X7 air suspension went out at 35k miles and this was after warranty went out.

 

I've seen a few like that hovering around $20k around Texas and I think you'd be better off going for a ~90k mile one closer to $15k and using the spare change to get coilovers and/or some light mods like an exhaust. Mercedes recommends replacing airmatic at 80k miles, so I'd save the money on higher mileage and replace it anyway. That said, I got mine with 112k miles and 4matic for $12k all in, so it's worth waiting for one you like if you do really want the lower mileage.

 

Im in the Dallas area, so there's a decent amount of fair changing independents. Also would you recommend to stay away from the 2012-2014 M278's causing of the cyclinder coating material, or is it an exaggerated issue? I really want a M278 as they make good power and sound, but I don't want to spend 5k+ in maintenance, which is why I'm leaning more towards a 400 for the right price.

 

I've had my 2012 550 for about a year and 1/2 (got it March 2024) and have had no real issues with the engine (recent issue was based on cheap gas stations lying about ethanol content). Most of the scarier problems (like the scoring) with the early ones have already killed the car by 60-70k miles from what I've seen, so anything higher mileage will generally survive and live a normal engine life. If you can find a 2015-2018 model in your price range I'd go for it for the tech convenience over engine trouble fears, although I love my double bar headlight drls. Can confirm great power but a resonator delete at least is needed (6ft of just resonators!), cost me about $300 at pronto mufflers, id recommend them depending how north Dallas you are.

Also, it seems to me like cls400s are a little rarer than 550s, at least when I was shopping.

 

Do CLS's also suffer from the cooling system failure? Had to spend nearly 2k to get that fixed on the ML. Texas heat is brutal on these cars with all their plastic bits. What other parts are also vulnerable to the heat.

 

I've not had any failure with it myself. Every so often I have to put a little more coolant back in (~1 jug/year) but I don't think that's exclusively an old m278 issue. Still keeps it around 80C-90C in the engine bay once warmed year round, which is nominal from what I understand.

 

If I get a car under 100k miles would I have to worry about turbo lines or any turbo related issues along with valves and tensioners.

 

I got my 2014 CLS550 4MATIC about 2 weeks ago for 12k cash with 87k MBH tune. I drove it around for 2 days 35ish miles not hard yet to see what bad decision I made LOL. The motor is amazing no bad sounds or leaks, yet. I let it sit while waiting for new tires to come in (today). The car is sitting low on 3 sides now and rear passenger is up. its been 2 days and I noticed this. So looks like I got a bum deal if i have to replace 1 air spring and 2 air struts. Waiting to get tires mounted and making a appt with a German auto here for them to tell me the damage.

I'd like to keep the airmatic but would prob get better results with a good set of coilovers, but not sure still what this could cost. Any input would be nice. So yes the air suspension so far is real. So id be careful. but still an amazing car.

 

If 3 sides went out at the same time it'd be worth checking the valve block at the rear of the car. Confirm no hissing sounds or bubbles when soapy water is sprayed on the connections of the struts to the air lines. The valve block I got is about $70 on amazon so I'd say its worth trying before diving into a total replacement. I got my front struts from rock auto with the arnotts (be careful you find the 4matic version, they are NOT the same as rwd) as they had it the lowest. Also, listen for if the compressor (rear drivers quarter panel) is strained, running hard, or not turning on at all. I'd say the valve block or maybe compressor is more likely than all 3 going out in 35 miles. Glad you enjoy it otherwise!

 

Thanks for the ideas gonna check for leaky bags and the valve block. The compressor I can hear running. Not sure if its running hard but not constantly from what I've heard. It's my weekend car so still not many miles still put on her. My daily is a 2010 W204 C63. Hope ita just a valve block but expecting the worst.