350 shooting brake noob...

[PRSboy]

Hello all!

I've just got a CLS 350 Bluetec Shooting Brake, which follows a CLS 250CDI Shooting Brake I had for nearly 4 yrs and took to 140,000 miles.

The 250 was a great car, very reliable and needing nothing other than routine work apart from an intake manifold failure which was a big bill when combined with the other 'while we are in there' bits such as the water pump. I liked it very much- fuel economy was remarkable for such a big car, and it went well. The only thing that did not suit me was the ride, which on the AMG Sport suspension is very firm on the dreadful roads in my part of Oxfordshire.

I started looking for a replacement, possibly a Jaguar XJ, when I spotted the 'Holy Grail' spec CLS Shooting Brake for sale - a facelift 350, Premium Plus (HK audio, memory seats, sunroof, keyless entry and go), with full airmatic suspension, 360 camera, driver assistance pack, grey 'Passion' leather, piano lacquer, Designo Mocha black paint. It's in immaculate condition, 66k miles with one private owner, so after a couple of test drives I was hooked, and took delivery last saturday.

Little needs doing to it, other than an interior detail which I'm enjoying doing; it needs a gearbox service I think, and I would like to upgrade the COMAND to run Apple Car Play (will post a separate question on that!)

Anyhow, looking forward to getting involved on the forum.

 

[Sweetooth]

Hi and welcome

 

[PRSboy]

Thought I would check back in with a running report, a year on...

I've done around 12,000 miles in the car and its been great to drive. I do like the muscle and sound of the 6 cylinder, and the air suspension has proved a great improvement over the conventional AMG-Sport suspension. Of the on-board gadgets, the distronic and steer assist is great on the motorway, and the 360 camera is very handy for manoeuvring. The LED headlights are amazing, but I have noticed they get on other drivers nerves sometimes, particularly on long straights... I think because they can't actually see them noticeably 'dip'. However, watching them at work masking and unmasking is quite spooky and they do make night driving much better.

It does 34-37mpg tooling about, and over 40mpg on a run. The OBC fuel consumption actually under-reads a bit, which is unusual. A range of 550 miles is easily achievable, but the 80L tank has been eye watering to fill at times... thanks Vlad!

I've grown to really like the Mocha paint colour... it changes with the light and is very subtly different to black.

I treated it to a full service, including fuel filter and air filters, with proper Castrol Edge oil. I also had the gearbox serviced by the Mercedes dealer in Newbury (nice bunch, I recommend them if you need a main agent) as they offer a cheaper labour and parts prices for older cars.

I had Mercedes Newbury fit CarPlay to it... this is actually an 'official' upgrade, but dealers don't seem to know about it. This was well worth the money as it cost less than the map upgrade and traffic subscription for the onboard nav, and obviously has other advantages. I had hoped they might be able to unlock the car display in the monitor (the one which shows oil temp, thottle position and g-force etc) as part of the software update but not possible.

I've had one actual fault... one of the rear blind spot sensors has failed and Automerc in Newbury are negotiating with the 3rd party warranty co to see if I can get a replacement.

I am chasing a peculiar resonance that occurs above 70mph... best description I can give is the sort of boom you get when you have a window open at speed, except rather quieter. I notice it and its enough to detract a bit from the driving experience for me, but passengers don't seem to unless I point it out. The car failed an MOT due to a cracked wheel which I had repaired so I though that would be it. However, it was still there so a little while later I had someone else look at it, and the wheel had been cracked again but in a different place (pothole on the M4!) so it was repaired and straightened again, along with all wheels being balanced and a full realignment (front and rear toe both out). Again, no change.

So yesterday I had it looked at again and it was found that the rear tyres were close to splitting on the inside edge and had worn quite badly. This is a common fault with these, I had a tyre fail on the motorway on my CLS 250... its hard to spot as you really have to feel around the inside, and rest of the treat was over 3mm. That must be it, I thought...

Anyway, the resonance is still there! There is also some vibration under braking (cheapo new discs fitted by the supplying dealer), so perhaps its the disc causing problems at speed, just rubbing against the pad and causing a bit of resistance (although there is no heat from the wheel after a journey). I will also change the front tyres as they are down to 3mm and while they have been checked who knows may have internal damage from the pothole impact. If that doesn't work then I will change the front discs, and if its still there will wear headphones. Any other ideas gratefully received.

Other than that, I did a full detail, machine polish and CarPro ceramic coat to the paintwork and it looks fantastic. I did the leather with colourlock cleaner and conditioner, which gives a very natural matte finish.

The diamond-cut wheel finish is disappointingly starting to go already... despite ceramic coating, never using acid-based wheel cleaners and washing the salt off regularly in the Winter. It seems the water gets into stonechips and it spreads. Will get them refurbed at some point as I'm fussy but will get them silver painted rather than diamond-cut which is simply not suitable for daily driving.

I would like to get the brake callipers painted... I'm thinking the AMG burnt orange colour!

 

[E55BOF]

Black car, orange brake calipers, bog-standard V6 diesel; hmmm...

Take it to a good tuner like MSL and get a Stage 1 remap; the difference between that and the stock map is well worth having. 320 bhp, 530 lb ft...

 

[PRSboy]

You're right, probably a silver-grey calliper paint would be better. Anything would be an improvement on the grotty looking finish on there now, which can't be cleaned up.

I like the idea of a remap... does it not put a strain on the gearbox?

 

[E55BOF]

A good remap stays within the operating parameters of both the engine and the transmission; MSL have been in business a long time, and they know what they're doing. Big Fish Tuning, who used to do the 'cooking' diesel maps for MSL, are also highly reputable. There are tuners who claim rather greater improvements, but I suspect either they or their dynos are, er, somewhat optimistic, or they're pushing the envelope a bit.

 

[PRSboy]

Cheers... I'll look MSL up if I go down the remap route.

 

[cp3377]

Thought I would check back in with a running report, a year on...

I've done around 12,000 miles in the car and its been great to drive. I do like the muscle and sound of the 6 cylinder, and the air suspension has proved a great improvement over the conventional AMG-Sport suspension. Of the on-board gadgets, the distronic and steer assist is great on the motorway, and the 360 camera is very handy for manoeuvring. The LED headlights are amazing, but I have noticed they get on other drivers nerves sometimes, particularly on long straights... I think because they can't actually see them noticeably 'dip'. However, watching them at work masking and unmasking is quite spooky and they do make night driving much better.

It does 34-37mpg tooling about, and over 40mpg on a run. The OBC fuel consumption actually under-reads a bit, which is unusual. A range of 550 miles is easily achievable, but the 80L tank has been eye watering to fill at times... thanks Vlad!

I've grown to really like the Mocha paint colour... it changes with the light and is very subtly different to black.

I treated it to a full service, including fuel filter and air filters, with proper Castrol Edge oil. I also had the gearbox serviced by the Mercedes dealer in Newbury (nice bunch, I recommend them if you need a main agent) as they offer a cheaper labour and parts prices for older cars.

I had Mercedes Newbury fit CarPlay to it... this is actually an 'official' upgrade, but dealers don't seem to know about it. This was well worth the money as it cost less than the map upgrade and traffic subscription for the onboard nav, and obviously has other advantages. I had hoped they might be able to unlock the car display in the monitor (the one which shows oil temp, thottle position and g-force etc) as part of the software update but not possible.

I've had one actual fault... one of the rear blind spot sensors has failed and Automerc in Newbury are negotiating with the 3rd party warranty co to see if I can get a replacement.

I am chasing a peculiar resonance that occurs above 70mph... best description I can give is the sort of boom you get when you have a window open at speed, except rather quieter. I notice it and its enough to detract a bit from the driving experience for me, but passengers don't seem to unless I point it out. The car failed an MOT due to a cracked wheel which I had repaired so I though that would be it. However, it was still there so a little while later I had someone else look at it, and the wheel had been cracked again but in a different place (pothole on the M4!) so it was repaired and straightened again, along with all wheels being balanced and a full realignment (front and rear toe both out). Again, no change.

So yesterday I had it looked at again and it was found that the rear tyres were close to splitting on the inside edge and had worn quite badly. This is a common fault with these, I had a tyre fail on the motorway on my CLS 250... its hard to spot as you really have to feel around the inside, and rest of the treat was over 3mm. That must be it, I thought...

Anyway, the resonance is still there! There is also some vibration under braking (cheapo new discs fitted by the supplying dealer), so perhaps its the disc causing problems at speed, just rubbing against the pad and causing a bit of resistance (although there is no heat from the wheel after a journey). I will also change the front tyres as they are down to 3mm and while they have been checked who knows may have internal damage from the pothole impact. If that doesn't work then I will change the front discs, and if its still there will wear headphones. Any other ideas gratefully received.

Other than that, I did a full detail, machine polish and CarPro ceramic coat to the paintwork and it looks fantastic. I did the leather with colourlock cleaner and conditioner, which gives a very natural matte finish.

The diamond-cut wheel finish is disappointingly starting to go already... despite ceramic coating, never using acid-based wheel cleaners and washing the salt off regularly in the Winter. It seems the water gets into stonechips and it spreads. Will get them refurbed at some point as I'm fussy but will get them silver painted rather than diamond-cut which is simply not suitable for daily driving.

I would like to get the brake callipers painted... I'm thinking the AMG burnt orange colour!

Thanks for the update. Sounds a great car - good taste! Good to compare notes. I have had two failed radar sensors - luckily repaired under warranty, so maybe they are a common issue. Re the vibration - your theory re the brakes sounds likely.

I wonder if a repaired wheel might be an issue? I might be alone here but not sure I would feel comfortable with a welded wheel and even those well-repaired might cause a vibration. Especially on our awful roads around here.

If not, the front tyre change might sort it. I had AO tyres fitted to the front of mine once by accident and they didn’t feel quite right - not a vibration but they didn’t feel quite “right”, so when replaced with the correct MO tyres it felt noticeably better, so worth checking you have the right fit when you change your fronts.

My alloys have also suffered like yours over the years - looking at ones for sale many have been refurbished - so again seems common, and many have had what you are looking at doing. The car will still look great.

Hope you get the vibration sorted - I do sympathise. I had an issue with a driver’s door seal which I only realised as the slight hiss wasn’t present on my previous one. It was fixed and made a small but pleasant difference.

 

[PRSboy]

Thanks for the update. Sounds a great car - good taste! Good to compare notes. I have had two failed radar sensors - luckily repaired under warranty, so maybe they are a common issue. Re the vibration - your theory re the brakes sounds likely.

I wonder if a repaired wheel might be an issue? I might be alone here but not sure I would feel comfortable with a welded wheel and even those well-repaired might cause a vibration. Especially on our awful roads around here.

If not, the front tyre change might sort it. I had AO tyres fitted to the front of mine once by accident and they didn’t feel quite right - not a vibration but they didn’t feel quite “right”, so when replaced with the correct MO tyres it felt noticeably better, so worth checking you have the right fit when you change your fronts.

My alloys have also suffered like yours over the years - looking at ones for sale many have been refurbished - so again seems common, and many have had what you are looking at doing. The car will still look great.

Hope you get the vibration sorted - I do sympathise. I had an issue with a driver’s door seal which I only realised as the slight hiss wasn’t present on my previous one. It was fixed and made a small but pleasant difference.

It certainly looks like the radar sensors do fail on a regular basis. The warranty company have agreed to pay which is good, so that's being sorted next week. They are right in the wash of the rear wheels' spray which probably isn't ideal.

I've had the front tyres checked and the eagle-eyed fella picked up a slight distortion of the NS tyre so I've ordered some new ones. Fingers crossed that sorts the hum but we'll see. If no joy then its on to the brakes and the wheel (though a new one is nearly £900!)

Yours looks fantastic in that colour! Who knows perhaps we will pass on the road sometime as I'm based not too far south of Oxford. There is a fella in a silver shooting brake I saw on regular basis when taking my daughter to school and we started waving at each other, which she thought was funny.

 

[cp3377]

It certainly looks like the radar sensors do fail on a regular basis. The warranty company have agreed to pay which is good, so that's being sorted next week. They are right in the wash of the rear wheels' spray which probably isn't ideal.

I've had the front tyres checked and the eagle-eyed fella picked up a slight distortion of the NS tyre so I've ordered some new ones. Fingers crossed that sorts the hum but we'll see. If no joy then its on to the brakes and the wheel (though a new one is nearly £900!)

Yours looks fantastic in that colour! Who knows perhaps we will pass on the road sometime as I'm based not too far south of Oxford. There is a fella in a silver shooting brake I saw on regular basis when taking my daughter to school and we started waving at each other, which she thought was funny.

Maybe! There aren’t many of us out there. Mocha Black sounds interesting too - I’ll look out for you! Not sure the red suits every car but it seems to work with the SB. I had a Tenorite grey one before and loved that too. It was my rear radar sensors that went too btw. Hope the tyres sort things for you - keep us posted.

 

[PRSboy]

Sadly the new front tyres have not helped with the noise (although they ride better than the Bridgestones, surprisingly, so not a total loss).

I'm going to try a Hunter Road Force wheel balancing to rule out any imperfections in the wheels, and get the brakes skimmed. Then goodness knows.

 

[SL63Mark]

Sadly the new front tyres have not helped with the noise (although they ride better than the Bridgestones, surprisingly, so not a total loss).

I'm going to try a Hunter Road Force wheel balancing to rule out any imperfections in the wheels, and get the brakes skimmed. Then goodness knows.

Take it to a good Mercedes Independent, they will get it up on a ramp and wiggle stuff about while you wait (prop shaft, roll bars, suspension joints, wheel bearings) to see if anything is loose, or has any play. Then go from there. Wheels and tyres is also a good call.

 

[PRSboy]

Thanks... I had the Hunter Road Force balance done yesterday, and got the brakes skimmed. The Road Force balance revealed the rear NS wheel rim is buckled (actually quite noticeable when the bloke showed me the wheel on the machine, annoying that two other balancing places missed this), so I'm getting it straightened tomorrow.

The other wheels and tyres checked out perfectly, and the weld repair is fine.

The on-car disc skimming has sorted the brake vibration (for £90, so well worth it vs replacing discs/pads) but has not made any difference to the noise at a cruise (which to be fair I though was a long-shot).

My indy gave the car a good check-over previously and could see nothing amiss, but will have to revisit if the wheel straightening doesn't fix the issue.

 

[PRSboy]

To close this saga off, I had the rear wheel straightened and it has sorted the noise! Happy days.

If anyone has a similar issue, make sure the wheels are properly checked for any buckles or other defects as they will not be obvious from a normal wheel-balance.

 

[CLSglobetrotter]

Just found this post recently when searching for a similar issue with my 2017 350 SB.
It started couple weeks after fitting new tyres and new front disks (and pads) in Vertu (official MB retailer).
I have spent the past 2 years reporting and moaning about the vibration that would only happen when applying brakes, to no avail. They just blamed the wheels etc...
This week I changed to another official retailer (Basingstoke) and voilà... they spent the time to listen to the Customer and proposed to "re-hub" and reface disks and pads and vibration is gone.

Apart from that... all working great.

 

[CLSglobetrotter]

Little needs doing to it, other than an interior detail which I'm enjoying doing; it needs a gearbox service I think, and I would like to upgrade the COMAND to run Apple Car Play (will post a separate question on that!)

Interesting. Mine with the COMAND uses Android Auto by just plugging an USB cable. I am not an iPhone guy but would expect to work the same way!!
Being 2017, I assume that is the same model you have with the same COMAND software version!

 

[PRSboy]

Interesting. Mine with the COMAND uses Android Auto by just plugging an USB cable. I am not an iPhone guy but would expect to work the same way!!
Being 2017, I assume that is the same model you have with the same COMAND software version!

Mine seems to be an odd transitional model registered in late '14... has the facelift styling, and interior with tablet on the dash, but it did not have CarPlay/AA installed (or access to the fandangled "Driving Dynamics" information display showing oil temp, engine torque etc). My local dealer was able to activate the Carplay/AA and install the necessary USB plug in the cubby as an 'official' accessory, but sadly couldn't activate the Driving Dynamics screen.

Glad your brake vibration is sorted... really annoying when technicians won't listen to the customer!

 

[CLSglobetrotter]

Mine seems to be an odd transitional model registered in late '14... has the facelift styling, and interior with tablet on the dash, but it did not have CarPlay/AA installed (or access to the fandangled "Driving Dynamics" information display showing oil temp, engine torque etc). My local dealer was able to activate the Carplay/AA and install the necessary USB plug in the cubby as an 'official' accessory, but sadly couldn't activate the Driving Dynamics screen.

Glad your brake vibration is sorted... really annoying when technicians won't listen to the customer!

I was told that it all depends on the first buyer choice of extras.
Mine is the premium plus, with 19 rims etc... but no 360 cameras, and not all the extras in the drive assist (it will not detect road lanes, or traffic signs, but it can detect and brake if obstacles and warn to rest).
The COMAND has Android Auto and I can see dome car dynamics like G force, consumption, rpm, but I have not seen oil pressure.

Its quite tiring tying to understand why so many small differences in what would appear to be the same model.

 

[PRSboy]

Checking in again at 85k miles… MOT done today, plus annual service, all done at Mercedes Newbury… I like them, the menu price wasn’t too bad and you get 12m free Mercedes assist.

MOT passed and no advisories- not bad for nearly 10 yrs old.

A leaky turbo seal was spotted, which had begun to drip oil over an actuator, so I had that sorted before it caused problems.

Other than that, no issues to report, apart from the intermittent fault presumably from a blind spot sensor. I’ve got round that by switching the system off on one of the occasions it was working.

Great car, still really pleased with it. Fun to drive, great for long haul work and really practical for carting daughter’s uni stuff about.