CL500 advice.

[toffee-pie]

Is this a 5 or 7 speed box?

Mercedes-Benz CL CL500 2dr Auto 5.0

I dont want any with any more miles on my own car, I was looking at ones with 50-60k miles ideally, and BOSE.

 

[m2287]

if its any use, these advisories showed up on the 2004 cl500 i am interested in (57,351 miles at the MOT in 2014)

Advisory notice item(s)
Nearside Front Windscreen has damage to an area less than a 40mm circle outside zone 'A' (8.3.1d)
Offside Rear Shock absorber has a light misting of oil (2.7.3)
Nearside Front Track rod end ball joint has slight play (2.2.B.1f)
offside rear number plate light dim

the car had a current MOT, pass and no advisory (58,020 miles) - to me it looks good. Clearly not what others think.!

actually, these showed up in the 2013 MOT @ 57,338 miles (Prior to that it has all Pass and no advisory)

Advisory notice item(s)
Nearside Front suspension has slight play in a lower suspension ball joint (2.5.B.1a)
Offside Front suspension has slight play in a lower suspension ball joint (2.5.B.1a)
Nearside Rear Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
Offside Rear Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
Windscreen has damage to an area less than a 40mm circle outside zone 'A' (8.3.1d)
Both front tyres smooth on inner edges.

Would all that nasty suspension stuff be ironed out in them advisories, or is that wishful thinking? (no pun intended) The cost to buy this incidentally is £2,500 plus my car.

If both ball joints are gone as I said in one of my other posts (which weren't meant to be sarcastic but apparently sounded it, for this I apologise to you), you will be looking at a minimum of £320 in parts alone. It is a PIG of a job to do them and if they can't release the strut from the ball joint which is also a common occurrence you will be looking at two new struts to go with that!

The mot which states there is a misting of oil around one of the struts would worry me if there was no documentation to state that the strut had been replaced since, it would be easy enough to clean away the oil before the next mot.

 

[BlackC55]

Really? i thought Petronas was the preferred oil manufacturer for Mb vehicles, Help the Op out? really after you said "You really need to do come research on this model before you jump in..." After he had already asked for advice on the model.

They are filled with Fuchs oil from the factory unless its an AMG then its Mobil One. Even the F1 team uses Mobil lubricants

let me get this straight, even with a documented service record, low ish miles and even a once over by a Merc garage I am still looking into massive bills and things breaking?!

(I am not counting fluids, tyres, and general maintenance here which I can live with)

Yep. They are a nightmare.
We wrote one off today. It just needed too much work to make it worthwhile.

 

[merc85]

They are filled with Fuchs oil from the factory unless its an AMG then its Mobil One. Even the F1 team uses Mobil lubricants

Thats good to know as i was asking the question many thanks Also means a cl500 would have fuchs not mobil 1 as its not a AMG, so will be a little better for the op

 

[BlackC55]

If both ball joints are gone as I said in one of my other posts (which weren't meant to be sarcastic but apparently sounded it, for this I apologise to you), you will be looking at a minimum of £320 in parts alone. It is a PIG of a job to do them and if they can't release the strut from the ball joint which is also a common occurrence you will be looking at two new struts to go with that!

The mot which states there is a misting of oil around one of the struts would worry me if there was no documentation to state that the strut had been replaced since, it would be easy enough to clean away the oil before the next mot.

With the right tool (a hydraulic press useable on the car) they are a doddle. using a decent ball joint splitter helps too. Never had one I cant get off and I do about 3-4 a week. Tell your guy to get the Klann hyrdraulic set up. Its about £2000 but its great!

The misting of oil isnt good, I agree.

 

[Stratman]

They have an aluminium roof and steel wings. Where the roof pillars meet the wings is a prime spot for dissimilar metal corrosion which will need a specialist to put right. Examine the areas very carefully for any sign of bubbling under the paint, however small. It will only get worse and more expensive to fix.

There's a reason cars which cost the thick end of £100k new can now be had for the price of a second hand Mini.

 

[BlackC55]

Saying all this negative stuff may put you off. They re a wonderful car to drive. Smooth, quiet and look cool too. The 500 is a bit gutless though.

Id love a 65. I don't own one even though I can repair it with no labour costs.......

 

[toffee-pie]

I am going to ask the seller if the strut has been replaced with documentary evidence, else I will not waste my time. I appreciate the advice here.

 

[Codger49]

"" If both ball joints are gone as I said in one of my other posts (which weren't meant to be sarcastic but apparently sounded it, for this I apologise to you), you will be looking at a minimum of £320 in parts alone. It is a PIG of a job to do them and if they can't release the strut from the ball joint which is also a common occurrence you will be looking at two new struts to go with that!""

The saying 'it's knowing how hard you can hit them' came into my mind when I saw a very experienced MB technician addressing the ball joints on a SL65 with a large hammer.

 

[Mr Kripling]

I don't care how fancy dan the system is, I am sure the VW Phaeton has equally as expension suspension and it has issues also?

Actually, I have a Phaeton in addition to my CL. The air suspension on the Phaeton is pretty much bullet-proof compared to the CL. I know several owners in the UK and I don't think any have had issues with it whereas pretty much every C215 owner will have an ABC-related bill that rates about 9.5 on the sphincter scale.

 

[Alex]

They have an aluminium roof and steel wings.

Wings are plastic.

 

[toffee-pie]

I realise Skoda make a v6 4x4 hatch, that looks something that i could potentially get, sans scary bills. But I still would love a CL.

 

[cb1965]

Actually, I have a Phaeton in addition to my CL. The air suspension on the Phaeton is pretty much bullet-proof compared to the CL. I know several owners in the UK and I don't think any have had issues with it whereas pretty much every C215 owner will have an ABC-related bill that rates about 9.5 on the sphincter scale.

ABC isn't air suspension though. It's a hydraulic system that uses motion, roll and pitch sensors to work out what the car is doing. If it is cornering it firms up the ride and keeps the car level using the hydraulics, if it is cruising in straight line it loosens it all up a little to make the ride more comfortable. The central electronic brain recalibrates the suspension every 1/10 of a second. It has other tricks like lowering the car over 70mph etc. It's a very clever system that is brilliant when it is working..... sadly it will always go wrong eventually!

 

[toffee-pie]

the million dollar question is do i take the plunge....how can you get the suspension checked out, do you need to be a Merc specialist?

 

[Alex]

the million dollar question is do i take the plunge....how can you get the suspension checked out, do you need to be a Merc specialist?

Since this will be all new to you, I'd get someone like Olly (aka BlackC55) to carry out the pre-purchase inspection. You want a car that is bone dry with no weeping or leaking hydraulics. Depending on the car, that may not be entirely possible so get prepared to sort things out right. As has been said, they are fantastic cars. It is rare that everything would fail at once. You usually get a notification of some sort (they are clever cars too ;-).

 

[toffee-pie]

His reply -

We have documented history with our vehicle and the work you are talking about is 2 years ago and 3 mots later the last 2 have no advisorys *but you are correct to be worried these cars are expensive *to look after so having said that I think you need to look for something that suites your budget and not a mercedes cl good luck with finding a vehicle

 

[toffee-pie]

Saved me a trip then. Clearly avoided answering my suspension question and if anything was changed. I don't care for the fact them strut and ball joint issues propped up ages ago, between that time and the test a few days ago less than 1k was put on the car. A few hundred miles on fact.

Either he replaced expensive parts or just wiped leaks and retested.

 

[Mr Kripling]

ABC isn't air suspension though. It's a hydraulic system that uses motion, roll and pitch sensors to work out what the car is doing. If it is cornering it firms up the ride and keeps the car level using the hydraulics, if it is cruising in straight line it loosens it all up a little to make the ride more comfortable. The central electronic brain recalibrates the suspension every 1/10 of a second. It has other tricks like lowering the car over 70mph etc. It's a very clever system that is brilliant when it is working..... sadly it will always go wrong eventually!

I do understand the difference between a slow active system like ABC and air suspension. The biggest difference is that ABC can adjust spring rate and damping to a certain extent. However, the fixed dampers are non-adjustable which is why ABC cars are fairly smooth over undulating surfaces but get crashy when going over small bumps.

 

[Flyinspanner]

Hi Toffee-Pie,

I took the plunge and bought a W215 CL500, after looking at a few I found one with good history, low miles, and it is great.

I've now completed a trouble free thousand miles, and it is a joy to drive.

Ultimately there may be bills somewhere down the line, but hey-Ho, I'm enjoying every moment.
I also think it is true that we tend to go online and report the trials and tribulations we experience, which can often colour the perception.

When you look at reliability, Subaru Legacy are very good, (there are documented examples with stratospheric mileages) however if you look on some of the forums you would think that they have very fragile engines, with lots of bottom end failures......mine never suffered a hiccup in its 120k miles, and still went like a scorched cat when I moved it on (GTB -twin turbo)

All I'm saying is that not every example will go BANG as soon as you buy it, look for the best one you can find and enjoy wafting around in an utterly beautiful car.

 

[toffee-pie]

thats a good post, I have not been put off one but still am keeping my eyes out.

What milage was on yours when you bought it and what year flyingspanner?