CLK500 facelift (5.0 , 7 speed)

[Kam55]

Hello everyone !

Short introduction - I am an ex 3 series BMW owner who wants to enter Mercedes Benz world, must be a V8 (after doing tons of research, seems to be the Europeans thinking man V8 to go for : > )

I like smaller cars and looks of coupe's , so CLK is the most appealing to me. I have found that one seems very interesting , have a look and let me know your thoughts :

2006 Mercedes-Benz CLK-CLASS 500 Sport Tip Auto Coupe Petrol Automatic | eBay

Here is my analysis of positives and negatives:

+positives
facelift (less prone to rust, newer interior)
M113 engine
Seems well equipped and in good condition (except some scuffs on the wheels)
Body kit seems like the AMG style CLK55

- Negatives

7 speed gearbox (according to some , early versions had issues) vs older 5 speed but in return gives higher MPG and quick shifts. Would not be an issues if it wasn't a higher mileage vehicle.
It has been on ebay for long time (at least 6 weeks, which I consider eternity) and price has dropped from 5.5k gradually, down to 4.6k today. I saw similar cars listed on Autotrader and getting sold super fast, but this one just sits on EBAY...
relatively high mileage (though I have seen 150k miles CLK55 AMG on German autotrader for 14k GBP !!!)
It sounds expensive for the miles considering a facelift 5.5 version with 33k on the clock sold for 7k yesterday.

Overall, it's a rare combination I think , to see 5.0L M113 and 7 speed box in a facelift body.

Other examples on Autotrader are much cheaper, but usually 2002/2003 , very tired and with issues.
I am aware of 5.5 M273 version facelift , but the chances of finding one with revised engine issues will be tough.

I initially wanted to go for the CLK55 AMG, but it may take forever or never to get hold of a full face-lifted version ... I am still watching the market on frequent basis.

Looking forward to hear your thoughts.

 

[bolidemichael]

The MOT history doesn't fill me with confidence. I would hold out for a tidy one.

 

[Kam55]

The MOT history doesn't fill me with confidence. I would hold out for a tidy one.

Thank you for quick response.

You are right, seems like the previous owner left a nice list of advisories that would bother me and force me to invest into fixing it. Underbody rust seems to be ruling the back end of the car.
The longer I hold on, the higher the budget will be.

If I find something interesting I will post into this thread Have a great weekend.

 

[slade1]

Surface rust on rear subframe appears to be quite common, had my CLK rustproofed.

 

[horatio]

I would worry less about particular model years and just find a well looked after example. These aren’t two a penny cars and are getting on a bit now. I think they’re a fantastic buy though. It’s a way of getting an MB V8 without ABC or airmatic, the pillarless windows are super.

Better rust proofing came in mid 2003 although the rear arches can start going on all of them. Sometimes MOT testers can make a mountain out of a molehill in the advisories, light surface rust can be worded to sound like terminal rot etc.

 

[Kam55]

Surface rust on rear subframe appears to be quite common, had my CLK rustproofed.

I haven't had a chance to inspect a CLK in person yet but I will keep an eye for surface vs structural subframe corrosion. I wanted to test drive and inspect a CLK55 at some point but the dealer would not allow me to drive it by myself (he could not be in the car with me due to virus rules). It was facelift , 80k miles, black , quad exhaust but the price went up from 10 to 12 k !! Someone bought it anyway (or they are driving it themselves )

 

[Kam55]

I would worry less about particular model years and just find a well looked after example. These aren’t two a penny cars and are getting on a bit now. I think they’re a fantastic buy though. It’s a way of getting an MB V8 without ABC or airmatic, the pillarless windows are super.

Better rust proofing came in mid 2003 although the rear arches can start going on all of them. Sometimes MOT testers can make a mountain out of a molehill in the advisories, light surface rust can be worded to sound like terminal rot etc.

100% agree on airmatic / hydraulic. Just seen a youtube video (Car Wizard) replacing CL55's suspension for regular strut/spring set up for 4k USD.

I am aware that the facelift CLK has much more expensive floating brake discs and if I had to take one, the solution would be to check if they don't shudder under breaking and there is no lip or even better - recently changed.
Every car I bought in the past always required a brake disc/ pads job all around the car... It would be nice to just enjoy from day 1.

How do I identify production the date from the VIN number? the number plate can be misleading. I haven't seen many on 04/54 plates. The 02/03/05 plates seem most popular.
I've seen some examples which claimed to have no rust in the rear (usually convertibles). Some forum topics from the past mentioned that is not as terminal as the E46 body for comparison, where you had to fix it every 2 years or cut the panels out. I am allergic to rust on such beautiful cars.

I would definitely buy on condition but would like to at least have an example that had the improved galvanized lower body.

 

[E55BOF]

If you have the VIN, you can obtain the datacard/buildsheet here:

carinfo.kiev - Google Search

That will tell you the date of manufacture, and all the kit the car had when it left the factory.

I believe MB began galvanizing all their car bodies from the 2003 model year, but you may still find rust; I've had six W211 E-classes, all '03 or later, and only two had no rust at all on the rear arches - a 2003 and a 2008. Go figure...

 

[slade1]

I don't know what "floating discs" are. On the V6 M272 has standard vented discs. About a year ago I replaced front discs and pads, straight forward nuts and bolt job. parts in stock at local spares shop.

 

[John]

I don't know what "floating discs" are. On the V6 M272 has standard vented discs. About a year ago I replaced front discs and pads, straight forward nuts and bolt job. parts in stock at local spares shop.

Floating discs are the two piece discs you get on post 2006 AMGs (certainly the E Class anyway and probably the S) and are a lot more expensive than the standard vented discs from before.

They are better for cooling on hard braking.

Not sure if fitted to all models across the board though.

 

[Kam55]

Floating discs are the two piece discs you get on post 2006 AMGs (certainly the E Class anyway and probably the S) and are a lot more expensive than the standard vented discs from before.

They are better for cooling on hard braking.

Not sure if fitted to all models across the board though.

I think that the only CLK that had this brake disc/calipers upgrade was the CLK55 AMG. When I type various registrations of CLK's 55 on Eurocarparts , the later models only have the expensive brakes as an option (about 1.2k entire disc/pad job on all 4 corners) and the older models have choice of regular or expensive floating discs.

The CLK500 from this post only has the regular brakes listed on Eurocarparts, so looks like this model did not have that upgrade as part of facelift.

 

[Kam55]

If you have the VIN, you can obtain the datacard/buildsheet here:

carinfo.kiev - Google Search

That will tell you the date of manufacture, and all the kit the car had when it left the factory.

I believe MB began galvanizing all their car bodies from the 2003 model year, but you may still find rust; I've had six W211 E-classes, all '03 or later, and only two had no rust at all on the rear arches - a 2003 and a 2008. Go figure...

Thank you ! This is amazing.

About the rust - looks like even the CLS from 2006 can have rust inside the wheel arch (on the lip). There is one on Autotrader right now with such issue, well visible on the pictures pictures.
I've noticed that some cars (E92 BMW ) have a special coating of something elastic around the inner lip inside the rear arch which deals better with rocks hitting the lip and causing chips.

I saw something similar when we dissembled Audi B9 and bumper to install trailer bar. The area where bumper meets the chassis was covered with that stuff, to reduce negative effects of elemnts rubbing against each other and uncovering bare metal.

 

[Will]

Strange how people seem more bothered about airmatic and ABC repairs than corrosion on the rear suspension components/subframe etc? Personally I would be less worried about swapping a few mechanical bits rather than having to sort out rust underneath. And any 14 year old car with 140k miles is going to need suspension parts replaced now and then

FWIW, I wouldn’t rely on ECP for correct part fitment details, they are known for making mistakes/supplying wrong parts etc

 

[Kam55]

Strange how people seem more bothered about airmatic and ABC repairs than corrosion on the rear suspension components/subframe etc? Personally I would be less worried about swapping a few mechanical bits rather than having to sort out rust underneath. And any 14 year old car with 140k miles is going to need suspension parts replaced now and then

FWIW, I wouldn’t rely on ECP for correct part fitment details, they are known for making mistakes/supplying wrong parts etc

I think airmatic is a bit cheaper than ABC (parts wise) and more reliable according to some opinions. It's probably because ABC was used in more expensive models like S class.
I hear they are brilliant at providing ride comfort.

The most recent mishap was when I ordered air filter and received a cabin filter for my VX Omega. The sales assistant did not even look at what he was handing me over ...
I used to buy most parts from dealerships and only used ECP for brakes and filters. The biggest nightmares were aftermarket radiators and ac condensers - fitting were slightly off making it hard to install.

 

[John]

One reason why ABC (or MBC if specified) is often not as reliable as AirMATIC is because the fluid is never changed as a part of the MB service schedule and might not be done out of the dealer network.

This fluid can degrade like all fluids and cause problems later on.

 

[Alex]

Floating discs are the two piece discs you get on post 2006 AMGs (certainly the E Class anyway and probably the S) and are a lot more expensive than the standard vented discs from before.

They are better for cooling on hard braking.

Not sure if fitted to all models across the board though.

Contact pattern of the two piece disc is smaller than that of a solid (cast) disc. Which is why heat transfer is better with cast discs than with bolted.

One reason why ABC (or MBC if specified) is often not as reliable as AirMATIC is because the fluid is never changed as a part of the MB service schedule and might not be done out of the dealer network.

This fluid can degrade like all fluids and cause problems later on.

Not quite the case. Pentosin - the fluid used by ABC - is the same stuff you have in power steering. Even though there's no prescribed interval for PS fluid change (only top up) we hardly ever have problem with steering going bad. Hoses and unions tend to leak far sooner than the fluid can degrade.

The typical scenario for the premature ABC failure is plain and simple neglect: overlooked leaks form the many hoses, which lead to fluid and pressure loss. Pump cannot work on air and usually dies first leading to an expensive surgery. There are variations with often overlooked strut leaks but it all boils down to the fluid loss. MB doesn't help with the inflated fluid and components prices.

The system actually is fantastic when it works as it allows heavy bodied cars go in corners with virtually zero body roll. It's the near instant reaction of fluid to compression that is so superior to air. Of course, one must study the system in order to correctly fix it but how many owner or garages for that matter do that? It's far easier to just go ape and pull everything and replace as you go.

ABC is the most misunderstood and misdiagnosed system Mercedes ever came up with. SBC second.

 

[horatio]

Strange how people seem more bothered about airmatic and ABC repairs than corrosion on the rear suspension components/subframe etc? Personally I would be less worried about swapping a few mechanical bits rather than having to sort out rust underneath. And any 14 year old car with 140k miles is going to need suspension parts replaced now and then

I'm sure you can manage to have broken fancy suspension AND a rusty subframe

I don't doubt ABC is great when it works and the chances of it failing would be far less if you took the time to understand how it works, carry out preventive maintenance, inspect regularly blah blah. I practically rebuilt the notorious EAS on a P38 range rover I owned using rebuild kits and spraying soapy water everywhere. Maybe for something really nice like an SL55 to use at the weekend I could be bothered. For a secondhand daily driver? Not for me.

A CLK on bog standard factory coil springs and fresh Bilstein shocks rides and handles more than well enough for me.

 

[John]

Contact pattern of the two piece disc is smaller than that of a solid (cast) disc. Which is why heat transfer is better with cast discs than with bolted.

So if 2 piece units can have the discs changed without changing the centre section and they make a weight saving - is there literally no other benefit?

 

[bolidemichael]

I'm sure you can manage to have broken fancy suspension AND a rusty subframe

I don't doubt ABC is great when it works and the chances of it failing would be far less if you took the time to understand how it works, carry out preventive maintenance, inspect regularly blah blah. I practically rebuilt the notorious EAS on a P38 range rover I owned using rebuild kits and spraying soapy water everywhere. Maybe for something really nice like an SL55 to use at the weekend I could be bothered. For a secondhand daily driver? Not for me.

A CLK on bog standard factory coil springs and fresh Bilstein shocks rides and handles more than well enough for me.

Is your name actually Horatio, or is this a forum handle?

 

[Alex]

So if 2 piece units can have the discs changed without changing the centre section and they make a weight saving - is there literally no other benefit?

With road cars you don’t get to change discs and reuse bells (centre section) - you have to buy a complete assembly from MB every time. Gets pretty expensive as you just throw the old disc away (cast disc style.)

To counter warpage and cracking some 2 piece rotors manufacturers make them floating. As opposed to a fixed disc which is bolted solid, floating discs and bells are on straps and allow disc movement during thermal expansion.

Weight saving is by and large the biggest and possibly only advantage. Oh and they look kewl.