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I am in Stuttgart and will pick up a CL65 tomorrow and drive it to Paris. Tonight I am having dinner with the head of marketing for AMG and I plan on learning as much as possible about their future engine plans. On my last trip here in May, they were kind enough to show me the CLS55 in the flesh (no pictures please) and this time they have arranged for me to take a test drive in the CLS500. Once completed, I will post my review.

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Completed my visit to the Mercedes factory today and drove the CLS500. I liked the car better than I expected, although the experience is quite similar to the E Class. Major differences are that the interior is more intimate and luxurious. The front knee room is especially improved versus the E, while the seats are every bit as comfortable. Entrance to the rear seats is restricted by the low roofline, but certainly better than any coupe, like the CL65 that I picked up. Once settled in the rear seats the headroom is only adequate.

I would describe the ride quality as excellent with the airmatic suspension. The steering is stiffer than any E except the E55 and it does feel more direct and connected than the E. Biggest negative is the reduced all around visibility, although I once in the drivers seat, unless you look to the rear sides, it feels just like the E.

There is no question that it is sexy, but whether you like the look or not is your choice. The new beige interior is very nice and much preferable to stone for staying clean. I would stay away from the matte wood finish as it looks fake. The lines on the car are very different with light colors versus dark and the main character line on the side disappears with dark colors.

They were building CLSs at the rate of 240/day, so there you may see more of these than expected. I saw a few on the streets of Stuttgart.

I briefly saw the CLS55, which can only be described as powerful and sexy and definately visually improved over the base car.

samwzhang

Great Review! Thanks, shoes.

amgplayer

Excellent advice I intend to follow when finalizing the spec's for my car.

UwishZ

man sounds like a great car... can't wait till i see one at my local dealer... i think this will be my next ride

miaomiao

What color will you choose(exterior and interior) after see the CLS in real life?

shoes

My preference is for the green exterior and cashmere beige interior. My second choice would be pewter and the sunset red.

I spent quite while in the lot where they park all the just built cars in Sindelfingen where there were about 500 CLS's (two days production at 240/day), so I got to see most of the color combo's. There is a significant difference between the light and dark cars because of the pronounced character line on the side. The lighter cars look more distinctive so keep this in mind before making any final choices.

slytoksy

Thanks for the CLS review, Shoes. Can you tell us a little more about AMG's futeure engine plans??? Thanks a lot.

shoes

I had a wonderful dinner with an executive from AMG and I had too much to drink and cannot remember any secrets that were revealed. Thankfully, my head cleared the next day when I drove my CL65 on the Autobahn.

There was a CLS55 on the floor of the Center for Excellence in silver that looked gorgeous. Beautiful 19 inch wheels unlike any of the other AMG cars.

slytoksy

Thanks Shoes. The CLS55 looks awesome. Congratulations on the CL65 AMG!!!