CL500

[E55BOF]

Now this
2003 52 MERCEDES-BENZ CL 5.0 CL 500 2D AUTO 302 BHP | eBay

is gorgeous, but Holy Cow! what a mileage. No matter how well it drives, I don't think I'd take a chance at half the price; I'd be waiting for something to go wrong every time I drove it.

 

[Will]

To be fair, the sort of person who can afford to buy a brand new CL500, fuel it for over 200k miles and have it serviced at the same MB main dealer for its entire lifetime is just the sort of person you want to buy a used car from!

Some of these sorts of cars really do belie their mileage. I think it’s probably fair to say too that typical sort of faults you get on 215s (corrosion, electrical issues, ABC problems) are generally not mileage specific either.

 

[Codger49]

Its got a good prevenance, but only if you would be getting it from the original owner.

Chances are that someone picked it up last year, has run it as a smoker, not bothered to service it and now decided to pass it on.

 

[E55BOF]

To be fair, the sort of person who can afford to buy a brand new CL500, fuel it for over 200k miles and have it serviced at the same MB main dealer for its entire lifetime is just the sort of person you want to buy a used car from!

Some of these sorts of cars really do belie their mileage. I think it’s probably fair to say too that typical sort of faults you get on 215s (corrosion, electrical issues, ABC problems) are generally not mileage specific either.

True, but still, a quarter of a million miles! The Moon is closer than that...

Its got a good prevenance, but only if you would be getting it from the original owner.

Chances are that someone picked it up last year, has run it as a smoker, not bothered to service it and now decided to pass it on.

I just spoke to the dealer; the previous owner part-exchanged it at Mercedes Northampton, and the dealer picked it up from there about six weeks ago.

 

[renault12ts]

Its got a good prevenance, but only if you would be getting it from the original owner.

Chances are that someone picked it up last year, has run it as a smoker, not bothered to service it and now decided to pass it on.

It'd be hard to much damage in a year.

That looks a sound purchase.

It's a face lift with the older COMAND. Maybe a bit dear given I paid just a bit more for mine 2 years ago, with a higher spec, half the miles and a 2005.

 

[E55BOF]

Maybe not a good idea. Honest John has this to say on the CL series:

"What's good
Beautiful, elegant coupe.

What to watch out for
Subject to same very expensive electrical and electronic problems as W220 S Class.

Heavy depreciation.

Make sure the 55AMG is the later car with the supercharged 500bhp engine.

Mobilo 30 year warranty against perforated bodywork states "From the 5th year onwards the car should have been serviced by an authorised Mercedes Benz workshop within the last 2 years prior to the damage being repaired".

Side windows prone to de-laminating. Cost £3,000 to replace. (HOW much...? )

Mercedes CL 2000-2007 rated 5th most likely car built 1997-2009 to suffer expensive problems according to Warranty Direct December 2012 Reliability Index, with an index of 512 (compared with a rating of 6 for the best).

20-3-2015: Mercedes Benz CL Class shown to be 4th least reliable European car more than 3 years old and out of manufacturer warranty in data survey of Warranty Direct policy warranty claims. (Excludes KIAs, Hyundais, Toyotas and others with 7, 5 and 4 year warranties.) Most common faults were axles and suspension."

Could easily be a potential money pit. If I were seriously to consider an old CL, I'd want to go through the service history very carefully and see what non-routine-service work had been done.

 

[Deleted member 131833]

How dare he insult a CL, even if he is correct!

 

[clk208]

Probably plenty of chauffeur w220s have done this sort of mileage and a similar platform.

 

[a111r]

To be fair, the sort of person who can afford to buy a brand new CL500, fuel it for over 200k miles and have it serviced at the same MB main dealer for its entire lifetime is just the sort of person you want to buy a used car from!

Some of these sorts of cars really do belie their mileage. I think it’s probably fair to say too that typical sort of faults you get on 215s (corrosion, electrical issues, ABC problems) are generally not mileage specific either.

Agreed! Lovely, rare colour!
That'll go to 500K miles, if the PPM is kept up as it has been.

 

[clk320x]

Mileage is just a number

 

[alabbasi]

M113 engine can do 250k miles without breaking a sweat. Heck I have a 1985 BMW 745i that has 300k miles.

 

[E55BOF]

It's not the power train, it's all the other things that go wrong...

 

[Will]

It's not the power train, it's all the other things that go wrong...

Which is exactly the same for any other 215 CL500 regardless of mileage to be fair.

Even when these cars were relatively new they had electrical, ABC and corrosion issues.

There’s a good chance that car is more reliable than a barely used but less well maintained one. Let’s face it most of the common issues should have come out of the woodwork by now.

As for that ‘Honest John’ article - it seems a touch out of date? ‘Heavy depreciation’ amongst the top items to watch but no specific mention of ABC issues or corrosion (other than repeating the details of the standard MB warranty..)

Not saying I’d buy this car either but it seems strange to post a car like this up to lament it when it’s likely been a very good car to someone (why else would you keep it so long and spend ££££s in maintenance etc?

 

[alabbasi]

It's not the power train, it's all the other things that go wrong...

Oh those other things? They would have been replaced 2-3 times over by now. This car is actually pretty impressive. I have an S600 parts car with about the same amount of miles and the front seats are worn out. The PO must have really taken care of it. Service history and a complete inspection is a must.

 

[E55BOF]

Not saying I’d buy this car either but it seems strange to post a car like this up to lament it when it’s likely been a very good car to someone (why else would you keep it so long and spend ££££s in maintenance etc?

I didn't post it to run it down, I posted it because I liked it, and wanted to see if others agreed that it might be an unwise purchase.

 

[Deleted member 131833]

I would be interested to know how many ABC pumps it has had,

 

[french]

Here you go ...Pumps away plus ignition coils all replaced...did I say that Crude has been shifting upwards of late...
Mercedes CL600 V12 Bi-Turbo | eBay

 

[E55BOF]

At first sight that looked to be dark green, and I thought "YES!". It looks good, it sounds like a bargain, the interior is lovely. If only it weren't black...; but it is. Not for me.

(Reading the ad, I see the seller claims that MB understated the performance to avoid taking sales away from the AMGs. ISTR that several posters in the past have claimed that MB understated the performance of the 55K-engined models to avoid taking sales away from the V12s!)

 

[french]

I thought it was Green like gavin's Brutus, still very clean car & seems most niggles have been sorted. Look at those clean door jams, no good for gavin he'd have nothing to do Lol..Get a Roof rack...

I think these Biturb's are quicker than the E55 amg car's, in the mid range I believe, plenty on here to say if I'm wrong.
Its been up for sale a few times lately, here it says its got a 650 plus remap !
https://cazana.com/uk/car/E6TAA

 

[E55BOF]

I think these Biturb's are quicker than the E55 amg car's, in the mid range I believe, plenty on here to say if I'm wrong. /QUOTE]

I believe they are too, but I think the point being made was that MB thought there wasn't enough difference between the performance of the V12s and the E55Ks to justify the price difference. That would certainly make more sense than the suggestion that the more expensive car would take sales away from the less expensive.