CL500 - My ULEZ Friend!

[Alex225]

Very very nice! I was also surprised that my venerable SL500 is allowed into the ULEZ zone! .... Going to London this weekend but obviously taking other form of transport ( Coach ) as am staying right in the centre and parking is £35 per day .....

AMG badge removal, OK i was going to post about this as i have the same offending badge on my SL, The badge is not offensive, but the car is NOT an AMG in any shape or form - So that looks nice and simple ..... Next dry day it shall be gone! Thank you for posting that detail

Mad isn't it, my CL500 and CLS63 are both compliant doing their 12-15mpg round town.

You're right to be coaching it to London, parking is bad plus the congestion charge on top. I'm currently in Bristol in their clean air zone in my Saab, £17.50 a day and £9 LEZ charge but I can claim it back for work at least.

Glad the badge removal was helpful. I guess someone with my CL thought because it has the AMG kit and wheels, it warranted the badge. It niggled me and now it's gone. haha

So I am thinking we are talking abou these bad boys?



If so, I would remove the chrome cap versions and chuck them away; replace them with solid steel bolts. I have done that on 3 cars now, after I was first told about the issue on the Jaguar forum (Jaguars also have these Chrome bolts).

The chrome caps can hide sins underneath, and one day you will find your socket spins on them. Funny enough it's exactly what happened on my current car...

As for wheel centres, it's personal taste of course, but I think that particular style look better with the silver star type of center, which I believe is what came with the car OEM. I think it looks more streamlined.

Yeah those star bolts are a bit of a pain! Although I have the correct socket for them now at least.

I have a set of those centre caps as well so at some point I'll replace the old ones with these. I think they're a bit sharper. Removal of the centre caps can be a bit of a pain but I have my method of getting them off without removing the wheels! haha

 

[c16rkc]

I tend to usually be replacing damaged centre caps anyway, so I use the destructive method!

I just purchased a set for my new S class wheels, and they were £6 for a set posted from AliExpress. They came in just 4 days, I was shocked!

I would love to buy genuine ones, as the chrome on the cheap ones tend to oxidise in a year or two, but it's actually far cheaper for me to buy a new set of AliExpress ones every year.

 

[Alex225]

AliExpress really is excellent, I've picked up so many good bits and pieces from there and generally arrive in good time too!

Genuine caps are super expensive that's for sure.

My removal method is to get some Duct tape, stick it to the centre cap with a fold in it so there's a tab you can grab using some mole grips. Give it a sharp yank and it usually removes the centre caps fine.

 

[c16rkc]

AliExpress really is excellent, I've picked up so many good bits and pieces from there and generally arrive in good time too!

Genuine caps are super expensive that's for sure.

My removal method is to get some Duct tape, stick it to the centre cap with a fold in it so there's a tab you can grab using some mole grips. Give it a sharp yank and it usually removes the centre caps fine.

Thats a good idea - I'll remember that one!

 

[Sam87]

My removal method is to get some Duct tape, stick it to the centre cap with a fold in it so there's a tab you can grab using some mole grips. Give it a sharp yank and it usually removes the centre caps fine.

And here’s me putting a screw in the middle of the centre cap and pulling on that
Your method seems better for sure.

The car is looking great

 

[c16rkc]

Yep... thats the destructive method I use too

 

[ToeKnee]

Can't you take the wheel off and push them out from the rear?

 

[ALFAitalia]

Of course......but its a waste of time and effort when there is no need to!!

 

[SmartAmg]

Of course......but its a waste of time and effort when there is no need to!!

Have to agree, if your replacing them because they are tatty, as said, self tapping screw through the middle and pull off, simple's, then put your news one's on, 15 mins job done.

 

[Alex225]

Well I dropped the CL in to DDR in Surrey for it's MOT and Service. I've had them look at a couple of things on the car before the MOT.

First up was an error regarding the SRS system which was intermittently giving me an airbag light and error. I read the codes which pointed to an accelerometer which they have diagnosed as being faulty. Part needs to come from Germany but actually not too terrible at £165 all in. Next was a suspected coolant leak, which turned out to be two slightly split pipes. That'll be £255 to replace them, full coolant flush and replacement. The crank case housing also needs replacing at £128.

Then add on the service, spark plugs, air filters, brake fluid change and the MOT at ~£615, it's worked out to be a slightly expensive month. I declined having the rear pads and discs replaced just yet. They're approaching end of life but are MOT worthy, they can be done in the summer.

All that said, no one said buying a high end car was going to be cheap overall. In fact most people say the opposite!! haha

Be nice to know it's all healthy and behaving once it's done though.

 

[c16rkc]

That's not too bad Alex, could be far worse with that sort of machine.

 

[Alex225]

Exactly, I wholly expect a car like this to be £1-1500 a year to maintain and I don't really begrudge it because it's such a car for the money.

Also, I like how DDR who I use give things a proper look over as I wanted it MOT ready not MOT'd and then issues corrected. Biggest cost really was the servicing, which once the plugs and filters are done will be cheaper next time around.

When I think my S Class cost about £3,500-4,000 in repairs under warranty in the first 6 months I had it. The CL isn't too bad haha

 

[Alex225]

Well, I got the CL back with a slightly lighter wallet. That's not including a fuel top up on the way home!

I do like the guys at DDR, cheaper than a dealership but you know they look after the cars and they will fix the issue.

Back home...

Treated it to a new keyring too, the lucky thing! haha. Goes with my Goodwood one.

 

[c16rkc]

Car is looking fantastic, great to know you have lots of vital work done and its in tip top running condition.

 

[Alex225]

Thanks mate. It is nice to know it's in good shape and also to get rid of that annoying intermittent airbag light (let alone it being an MOT fail).

The next things on the list will be the rear brakes, will needs discs and pads later this year but I didn't much fancy adding that onto the bill. Also, on the MOT the two bushes mentioned hadn't been noted by the garage (they use another place for the MOTs) so didn't think it was too significant but could be up to £700 if it's definitely what they initially thought. Better get saving my pennies haha

 

[c16rkc]

You probably made the right call; my S class went in for an MOT last week and I decided to have two bushes replaced that were mentioned on the service. They did not seem to affect the ride, and were only a recommendation, but I assumed it might add a few hundred quid to the bill so decided to go for it.

It turned out they were both part of some expensive "arm" and the total bill ended up at £1,375... though this did also include diagnosing a problem with the DPF, which turned out to be some cracked oil pipe somewhere.

The costs of owning a Mercedes can certainly be painful

 

[Alex225]

Sounds about right.

There's a chap called Dan at DDR and he was a Merc technician before being there. He was absolutely right when he said that any S/CL/SL model will cost you double per year what one of the smaller models will. From my experience he was spot on. The E and CLS me and my other half had as daily cars were inexpensive to run. The S/SL and now CL we've had are exactly what he's said. Nothing is cheap as such but that said, not everything is eye watering. Especially if you get the car to a good state off the bat.

 

[W1ghty]

Thanks mate. It is nice to know it's in good shape and also to get rid of that annoying intermittent airbag light (let alone it being an MOT fail).

The next things on the list will be the rear brakes, will needs discs and pads later this year but I didn't much fancy adding that onto the bill. Also, on the MOT the two bushes mentioned hadn't been noted by the garage (they use another place for the MOTs) so didn't think it was too significant but could be up to £700 if it's definitely what they initially thought. Better get saving my pennies haha

Try pricing those bushes or the arms they are in from Autodoc , using Lemforder parts . Might save a few quid .

 

[c16rkc]

Yes because it's unlikely your specialist will do that; they are most likely to use genuine Mercedes parts in line with their business indemnity insurance.

But you can always free issue the parts and make a nice saving.

I once offered to supply my own shock absorbers to a Jaguar specialist, as I had seen them for around £120. The garage said there was no way I'd get a better deal than them, and declined... and I ended up with a bill of £220 each for their supply. I was rather annoyed to say the least.

 

[Alex225]

Exactly that, they use genuine Mercedes parts which as we know can tend to be higher than alternative options. I think for the CL I'd be happy sticking with that as I'm not using it daily and don't envisage getting rid of it any time soon. I'm not sure DDR would be keen fitting non-OEM parts but I could ask them.

I have a friend who I got to know as a mobile mechanic so he does servicing on my Saab and the other half's ML. For example we had DDR do a wheel speed sensor but the original sensor is double the price of a pattern part. When two more failed, my friend replaced both and it was cheaper. The OEM wheel speed sensors are crap so why pay more haha.