CLS55 AMG, finaly, aftet YEARS of saving and dreaming, now my dream is turning into a nighmare!

I cant blame the dealer, hes nice, but also out of options, turns out the previous owner didnt do much more then drive and fill the tank, maintenance is a mystery.
My bad for buying it tho, there were SIX other ppl in que to buy this thing BUT i was lucky, i made a deal so EVERYTHING i find will be fixed... So im not the one paying the bill, thank god for that.

Problems:
- HUGE white smoke when starting after a while. Sometimes from all four, sometimes from one side more then others. Wierd smell, coolant no doubt.
- Leaks coolant into the engine, 3 litres down in the last 2000km or so and still keeps eating it. NO external leaks. Nothing found.
- One cylinder not working in low'ish revs and when starting below optimum temp. Slow speeds "stutter" and jumpy
- HUGE fuel-comsumption, around 35L / 100KM average. Long highways, then into town, going to work.
- Feels down on power, barely get a wheelspin with ESP off on full throttle takeoff, stock SL55 my friend has would destroy its tires
- Loud noise like some generator/pumps running when i open up the door-locks in the morning, goes away in 5-10 sec
- Something like alternator belt squeels when running on idle, mostly after start and below opt. temp. All belts look fine

Im seriously scared of driving it atm.

The local brand-shop is just rubbish, im 26 and their "professional" repair-men arent mostly as old as me, most of em havent seen under the hood of anything like this. One year ago most of em hadnt even done maintenance on a merc!
It took em two days to find a Fuel-amount valve on my C-class, thats supposed to take 3 hours!
Smaller shops mostly just refuse to even touch it, had the same issue with my E420, most of the shops didnt even know 420 exists
One smaller shop has done maintenance on this, but is seemingly scared to do any more then change the oil or sparkplugs.

I'd have to drive allmost 400 kilometers to the main-importer and they have nearly 3 weeks of que for any form of maintenance. They seemed fairly nice but after saying all the symptoms they said the car might be there for long time... I was too scared to ask what their definition of a "long time" is.

I might be able to send someone to take the car to the main-importer but theres still issues, one, i need a car, two, they have time to "check it" in like three weeks...
The main-importer is also renown to be mind-melting expensive, im not sure the seller is willing to pay the bills they send him.

So, has anyone heard of an issue like this?

 

Sorry to hear about your woes…….

I'm wondering if your coolant loss issue may be a busted intercooler core like some of the C32s had/have. I had this issue when I owned a C32 and it turned out to be a busted core. Here is an informative thread on the problem:

https://mbworld.org/forums/c32-amg-c...servoir-2.html

If nothing else is found after a pressure test etc....then show them the information and pictures in the link. That's what I had to eventually do...

 

Its going into the engine, the huge white smoke and the horrid smell are dead giveaway.

Can the intercooler leak it into the engine? Cause its not leaking outside.

 

You might want to consider running this by the guys in the W211 E55 forum as their engine and plumbing are essentially the same as what you have in your CLS55.....

 

Last time this happened to me was years ago on my honda accord, turns out it was a blown head gasket. The spark plugs were wet and eventually it would not start. Not sure if its the same issue here but just a thought.

 

I think wawy may be right. These aluminum tubes are from the intercooler. Take the hose off, blow the water out (with your lungs) then block it off with a loop of hose one to the other. Then with a small hose on the bleeder, blow in or suck and see if it leaks. The leak will probably be small so make sure you have none at your hose connections. Go to the hardware store and plan ahead. If you find the problem you can build a bypass loop for the rubber hoses and drive it mellow until you get a new intercooler if it's a head gasket you shouldn't drive it at all.

 

Gotta tell this to the shop. They should have some tools to check it out, i dont want to risk the warrenty by going in myself.