A tale of sorrow :(

[daz-clk55-amg]

I got it on 160k and did 100k myself over 6 years. Standard self servicing at the intervals! Took the heads off at around 230k and changed all the gaskets/pulleys etc for peace of mind.

Soooo your good at stripping engines then... and in Cambridge like me

Ever done an engine swap

 

[m2287]

Soooo your good at stripping engines then... and in Cambridge like me

Ever done an engine swap

I think I used to have you on Facebook from the RMCC days! PM me, me and a mate (merc specialist) do have a tinker!

 

[m2287]

Good donor car (you would get decent money breaking it after having the engine)!

BLACK Mercedes CL55 AMG Supercharged Kompressor 500BHP | eBay

 

[daz-clk55-amg]

Aha Yeah I still run the club, we have recently been rebranded "high octane automotive" but still going strong

What's your name on fb

 

[daz-clk55-amg]

Darren Bull

Find me on fb there ^^

 

[zoros]

You poor unlucky sod!
What were the chances of that happening to anyone under those conditions.
I live in cambridge too - would have been nice to have passed you sometime and do a double take!

I know the feeling of hydraulic lock though
Only last weekend, I laid my new lawn mower on its side to clear the grass from the cutter and lo and behold the engine wouldn't start, starter cord wouldn't budge. I hydraulically buggered the engine because the oil entered the air intakes!
Took it back and told them it was knackered after cleaning it up - got my money back.

Thought I'd cheer you up a little with that pathetic little story of mine!!

 

[m2287]

You poor unlucky sod!
What were the chances of that happening to anyone under those conditions.
I live in cambridge too - would have been nice to have passed you sometime and do a double take!

I know the feeling of hydraulic lock though
Only last weekend, I laid my new lawn mower on its side to clear the grass from the cutter and lo and behold the engine wouldn't start, starter cord wouldn't budge. I hydraulically buggered the engine because the oil entered the air intakes!
Took it back and told them it was knackered after cleaning it up - got my money back.

Thought I'd cheer you up a little with that pathetic little story of mine!!

Your profile says you live in North Wales!!!

Don’t suppose your mazzer has red accents?! (I saw one yesterday)

 

[daz-clk55-amg]

ok guys... I need your input, I have decided to take the money from the insurance and purchase a new car (not decided what yet, either a c63 or maybe an e60 m5) but I did retain my car at a cost of £8k as thought id make more than that selling on or breaking

Before i place a full advert on ebay, could you take a second to read through my advert on swapz and let me know your thoughts, have i priced it about right, have i overpriced it / underpriced it... would i be better breaking it for parts etc etc

Advert here: CLK55 AMG SHOWCAR BLACK SERIES WIDE

 

[clk320x]

ok guys... I need your input, I have decided to take the money from the insurance and purchase a new car (not decided what yet, either a c63 or maybe an e60 m5) but I did retain my car at a cost of £8k as thought id make more than that selling on or breaking

Before i place a full advert on ebay, could you take a second to read through my advert on swapz and let me know your thoughts, have i priced it about right, have i overpriced it / underpriced it... would i be better breaking it for parts etc etc

Advert here: CLK55 AMG SHOWCAR BLACK SERIES WIDE

To be honest I think you’ll struggle to sell it, heavily modified cars are normally hard to shift. Especially when you can get a running good nick CLK55 for less than 8K.

I thought you were going to repair it? If you weren’t repairing it I don’t think you should have bought it back for 8K..

Best of luck anyway.

Cheers

 

[daz-clk55-amg]

I had toyed with the idea of putting a m113k engine into it but as i dont have the skill set myself to do it and most places want around 14k all in fitted i also dont have the budget to do it

 

[daz-clk55-amg]

Tbh I think I have just lost heart in the car now but at the same time wasn't ready to let the insurance take it away for the sake of 8k, when it's cost me around 23-25k to build

 

[daz-clk55-amg]

If it doesn't sell as a whole I'll part it out, already have someone who wants the wheels for £1500 and someone else who said he is interested in the bodykit for his mercedes if I break it, will be a shame to have to break it apart but if it means a way of getting my money back then it'll have to be done

I had a v8 bmw x5 once and the cam chain snapped, only paid 4700 for the car and ended up making over £7k breaking it, have had a quick look on eBay at what Merc bits go for so know I'll make the money breaking it but just takes time, think it took me about 4 months to make the £7k mark on the x5

Suppose time will tell, thanks for your input though

 

[clk320x]

I had toyed with the idea of putting a m113k engine into it but as i dont have the skill set myself to do it and most places want around 14k all in fitted i also dont have the budget to do it

Have you thought about just fitting a like for like engine into it?

 

[daz-clk55-amg]

yeah but cant seem to find one for sale, there is one on ebay for just under 3k but its on a pallet and the seller says he will not warrant it, makes me weiry as he could say its done 80k when its really done 200k and on its last legs

 

[daz-clk55-amg]

my other thought was to buy a clk55 amg with low miles and put the engine from that into mine, but they are going for around 9k and then i'd need someone to remove both engines from both cars and fit the new one into mine, im sure that would cost me a few thousand alone, so id still be looking at around maybe 11k

 

[clk320x]

my other thought was to buy a clk55 amg with low miles and put the engine from that into mine, but they are going for around 9k and then i'd need someone to remove both engines from both cars and fit the new one into mine, im sure that would cost me a few thousand alone, so id still be looking at around maybe 11k

Kompressor engine cls 55 amg | eBay

 

[daz-clk55-amg]

I have spoken to a company who specialise in engine swaps and apparently it's not just an engine I need, I'd also need the ecu and wiring loom so yes I could use a cls engine, but I'd also need parts from a sl, subframe parts etc and they said it would be alot simpler to buy a sl to start with to do the swap, but they are fetching pretty hard money atm

 

[daz-clk55-amg]

That was the reply I received

 

[Deleted member 37751]

@Alex, don’t you fancy a second project now that yours *cough* is nearly finished?

 

[John]

I am also surprised you bought it back if you were not going to transplant in a different engine.

Tbh I think I have just lost heart in the car now but at the same time wasn't ready to let the insurance take it away for the sake of 8k, when it's cost me around 23-25k to build

Unfortunately your adding emotion into the mix which an insurance company wont do - it's cold hard business at the end of the day.

I think if I had lost heart, I'd have written it off and started again with something else like the C63 you mentioned earlier.

Big projects costing the sums of money you mention (i.e. £25k) should be done with a view to never seeing that money again (you could be lucky and find a buyer who shares the same vision but they might not value it at the same level).

It's for you to enjoy building (even if you don't actually do the work yourself) and to enjoy driving.

Whilst you've not had that enjoyment of driving it, that's unfortunate but unless you had an agreed value in place for insurance, you always had that potential to lose substantial money.

I guess that is why not many take on such projects unless they can literally do everything themselves and keep costs to a minimum.

Then it becomes a real tester of your mettle!