CLK63 AMG Coupe

[mwstewart]

I haven't yet fitted the Dension 500 Gateway so last night I took apart the CD changer to see if I could repair it, to use in the interim. The screw securing the changer to the glove box was missing and some of the case screws had seen a screwdriver in the past, so obviously this is not a new problem.

With the outer cases removed I plugged the changer back in to the car and noted that the mechanism seemed absolutely fine. I don't think it has seen much use. I let it cycle through a few CDs and used air to clean the lens and the fibre optic connection, reassembled, installed, and it is fixed.

The only problem now is that the version of the Gateway I have is the 'single FOT' version, which means it doesn't have a fibre pass through; there is a 'dual FOT' version available that acts as a multiplexer to enable the original CD changer to be retained and operational. I'll have to get one now!

 

[rockits]

I haven't yet fitted the Dension 500 Gateway so last night I took apart the CD changer to see if I could repair it, to use in the interim. The screw securing the changer to the glove box was missing and some of the case screws had seen a screwdriver in the past, so obviously this is not a new problem.

With the outer cases removed I plugged the changer back in to the car and noted that the mechanism seemed absolutely fine. I don't think it has seen much use. I let it cycle through a few CDs and used air to clean the lens and the fibre optic connection, reassembled, installed, and it is fixed.

The only problem now is that the version of the Gateway I have is the 'single FOT' version, which means it doesn't have a fibre pass through; there is a 'dual FOT' version available that acts as a multiplexer to enable the original CD changer to be retained and operational. I'll have to get one now!

Good work. Will the Session 500 Gateway work on an S211 E55K as I might be interested? Need to get something on the E55K to modernise/add to the existing Comand unit.

 

[mwstewart]

Good work. Will the Session 500 Gateway work on an S211 E55K as I might be interested? Need to get something on the E55K to modernise/add to the existing Comand unit.

Thanks. Yes, I am quite sure it is compatible. Have a look on the Dension site - they have a comparability feature.

 

[rockits]

Thanks. Yes, I am quite sure it is compatible. Have a look on the Dension site - they have a comparability feature.

OK, I shall have a look and see. How much are you to take for it?

 

[mwstewart]

OK, I shall have a look and see. How much are you to take for it?

Sorry, I've just seen this! In the end I gave it to my Dad.

 

[mwstewart]

Titivation
I've added some chrome caps to the seat adjusters. The standard black plastic is OK in a black interior, but not so much with cream.

Wood Gearknob
I think the facelift AMG CLKs have a cheaper looking gearknob than the regular sport pack. The metal side detail is missing and the top insert is plain matt aluminium. I also dislike the 'Pepple' (German for pebble) colour leather used for the gaiter and steering wheel, but I will come back to that in a later update.

I really like the (real) wood gearknob which as far as I can tell was an option across the range, but the 'Black Ash' wood fitted to my car happens to be the rarest; I ended up sourcing one from a W219 in the USA - this gearknob type is the same in SL, E, and other models of the time.
The matt aluminium theme continues with the metal trim at the base of the gearknob, which like the top doesn't match anything else in my interior - it may do with the standard silver trim. I purcahsed another spare gearknob from which I swapped the matt trim for chrome, then reassembled with my original gaiter.

Installed.

Headlamp Switch
I noticed that at some point dueing the facelift Mercedes stopped fitting colour-coded headlamp switch assemblies to non-black interiors. I also noticed that the illumination was missing for the icons above the rotary knob.

I purcahsed a used, pre-2005 headlamp switch in cream. The switches are specific to: RHD/LHD, and wheter folding mirrors, xenons, and fog lights are fitted. I found a used switch with a perfect fascia, but the internals of my switch were obviously better condition and lower mileage, so I swapped over the circuit board and fascia to maintain all of the best parts.

Fitted. I also adjusted the handbrake release lever which was slightly wonky.

Distronic Retrofit - Parts
I now have nearly all parts required to retrofit Distronic. In due course I will write up a full guide.

Suspension
I have pretty much decided to change the suspension. To put this situation into context, the ride is as harsh as my (track-focused) 430 in Race mode! Mercedes-Benz of Boston have been fantastically helpful in helping me look at the various suspension struts and springs available, and at this point I think I will end up with CLK500 (the later 5.5) Sport springs with the 63 dampers.

Early Impressions
Three things I like:
* The engine;
* The brakes: stopping is effortless. A genuine improvement that can be felt at pretty much any speed. My other half also noticed it - comfortable stopping distances are much shorter. It's funny because I had a facelift CLK55 cabriolet with the same brakes but at the time I wasn't overly impressed - I suppose the cab must weigh quite a bit more;
* The xenons. I think they may have some improved (genuinely improved i.e. a whiter colour temp) bulbs in them, but they are a big improvement over the halogen units.

Three things I don't, and plan to address:
* The ride - way too harsh;
* The fuel tank is too small. Anything less than a 250 mile range is a pain when running to a busy schedule. I did expect this having come from a V6 CLK, so I knew what to expect with the V8, but it is no less inconvenient;
* Sometimes I find the exhaust a bit on the loud side at very low RPM, and conversely a bit too quiet at high RPM. This is a very minor niggle.

 

[Deletedmember130310]

Fascinating - I’m always in awe of people of who the time, knowledge and skill to undertake suc work.

I shall continue to follow this thread.

 

[C43AMG]

As above. Great work

 

[Rashman]

Hi Rash, good to hear from you. I'm fine, you and your lovely lady too, i hope Your too modest, how many years have you had your CLK ?

I suppose it will be at Olly's GTG in May

Holy moly, only just seen your post!

Hey Pete,
Yes, all good over here.
Had the CLK for 9yrs now

And yes, I have put me and Elena down for PCS this year.

If all is well with the weather and road conditions, I’ll get the AMG out for a much needed stretching of the legs.

If the weather isn’t great, we’ll come down in the chav

Will be good to see you and the guys for a catch-up!

 

[C43AMG]

That's great Rash, best to Elena. Look forward to it.

 

[mwstewart]

I've fitted a wood glove box handle supplied by Jerry at ForMyMercedes.com. I think the photos (excuse the quality) are pretty self-explanatory.

...and some phone snaps from the past five months. The CLK63 is a fantastic daily driver; for us I think the only way forward from here may be a V12 Vantage - my OH has become accustomed to the performance. My only real gripe is the suspension which I will sort out after our upcoming wedding.

 

[millc63]

Nice work you've put in, was looking to get one of these myself, but they are very very rare, especially ones in good condition (or if they are in good condition they are very expensive!). Congrats on getting married.

 

[flowrider]

Fantastic car, I don't know why I didn't see this thread earlier. Love the work you have put into it too. I was looking last year at the CLK63's and did find a nice 2006 silver one for decent money and mileage but it was sold before I could see it, I'm still looking but prices have gone up!

 

[mwstewart]

Nice work you've put in, was looking to get one of these myself, but they are very very rare, especially ones in good condition (or if they are in good condition they are very expensive!). Congrats on getting married.

Thank you! Out of interest I just checked the figures and at the end of 2017 there were 68 taxed and 15 SORN, so they are surprisingly rare.

Fantastic car, I don't know why I didn't see this thread earlier. Love the work you have put into it too. I was looking last year at the CLK63's and did find a nice 2006 silver one for decent money and mileage but it was sold before I could see it, I'm still looking but prices have gone up!

Thank you. There's a low mileage silver cabriolet on Autotrader at the moment for a reasonable figure; it does appear to need some TLC but could be bought back to nice condition.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Great thread, it’s quite rare to see such threads as leasing of cars becomes more and more prevalent.

 

[flowrider]

Thank you! Out of interest I just checked the figures and at the end of 2017 there were 68 taxed and 15 SORN, so they are surprisingly rare.


Thank you. There's a low mileage silver cabriolet on Autotrader at the moment for a reasonable figure; it does appear to need some TLC but could be bought back to nice condition.

Thanks, I was looking for a coupe as I already have an SL500.

 

[mwstewart]

We've owned this just over a year now and due to wedding planning etc. we covered over 10k in the first seven months. Despite purchasing it with the intent to use it as an every-day car including through the winter, my less rational side got the better of me and I put it in storage since last October.
Maintenance summary below:

- Somewhere around 44k it Istarted to develop a very slight lumpy idle which has now got to the point where it is perceptible in the cabin, so I'm going to remove the inlet manifold and check for

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- there are better quality after-market versions available for around £275 delivered. It's a really odd failure given the part seems to be alloy because it seems to be exacerbated by oil, so perhaps it is some kind of epoxy based alloy composite;
- 46k: Whatever the large service is at Mercedes (B?). It had oil & filter, plugs, and air filter;
- 47k: front discs and pads;
- The rear tyres were new and lasted 8k, which I think is pretty good given the power and weight. We went for Goodyear Eagle F1 because they are grippy but also some of the quietest performance tyres.

It really is a fantastic car with effortless performance, and it slips under the radar except for the smooth but distinct exhaust note (nothing at all like a C63). It is actually quite a bit quicker than when we picked it up; we've done a lot of long, fast trips which always helps loosen up an engine, but another likely factor was a lack of regular use before we owned it. The limiter is now, true to its name, very limiting! I'd like to have it mapped out. The brakes are strong but it's a heavy car so their performance tails off noticeably even before the disks approach their wear limit. The CLK63 Black series has the same diameter (360mm) front discs but despite looking the same they are 2mm thicker with a lot more surface area; I have a set in the workshop purcahsed with the intent to fit them, but I decided against it due to the significant different in unsprung weight.

The harsh is the biggest negative about the car and has my OH and I scanning the road surface for ironworks and potholes far more than we'd like, so I've picked up a set of new springs from Mercedes, for later 5.5 v8 CLK500 Sport (M273 not the CLK55). The kerb weight is close enough but the Sport's are softer and higher than the CLK63 - another issue we found is the exhaust scraping on speed bumps.

Part numbers:
Front - A203 321 50 04
Rear - A210 324 34 04

In addition to the springs I have a set of camber and castor bolts available to ensure the geo is spot-on. One word of advice I can pass on to other owners is don't take a CLK to anyone other than Mercedes for an alignment; MB use a spreader bar to load up the front wheels and I've found out by experience that it is the only really way to get a completely acceptable result for high-speed driving.

The car may go in the not too distant future because my OH has been lusting after a V8V, but there are some big shoes to fill!

 

[Gbrowncls55]

I just love this car.

 

[Edd1968]

I've just spent the last 3/4hour reading through this whole thread, don't know how I missed it. I thought I'd read every thread on the CLK on this forum.
What a car!
I love it. I did get lost in translation a few times on some of the sound system aspects of your incredably in depth write ups, but I love the subtle mods you've done to it. What a car!
It sounds like my ultimate CLK and after reading it all, I hope when I get into my 'mere' 320 later I'm not going to be sat there feeling inadequate!!
... Nah I won't. Brilliant cars the lot of 'em.
Thanks for the amazing insight into your wonderfully rare, elegant beast!

 

[mwstewart]

Titivation
I've added some chrome caps to the seat adjusters. The standard black plastic is OK in a black interior but not so much with cream.

Wood Gearknob
I think the facelift AMG CLKs have a cheaper looking gearknob than the regular sport pack. The metal side detail is missing and the top insert is plain matt aluminium. I also dislike the 'Pepple' (German for pebble) colour leather used for the gaiter and steering wheel, but I will come back to that in a later update.

I really like the (real) wood gearknob which as far as I can tell was an option across the range, however the 'Black Ash' wood fitted to my car happens to be the rarest but I ended up sourcing one from a W219 CLS in the USA - this gearknob type is the same in SL, E, and other models of the time.
The matt aluminium theme continues with the metal trim at the base of the gearknob which like the top doesn't match anything else in my interior - it may do with the standard silver trim. I purchased another spare gearknob from which I swapped the matt trim for chrome, then reassembled with my original gaiter.

Installed.

Headlamp Switch
I noticed that at some point during the facelift Mercedes stopped fitting colour-coded headlamp switch assemblies to non-black interiors. I also noticed that the illumination was missing for the icons above the rotary knob.

I purchased a used, pre-2005 headlamp switch in cream. The switches are specific to RHD/LHD, and whether folding mirrors, xenons, and fog lights are fitted. I found a used switch with a perfect fascia but the internals of my switch were obviously better condition and lower mileage, so I swapped over the circuit board and fascia to maintain all of the best parts.

Fitted. I also adjusted the handbrake release lever which was slightly wonky.

Distronic Retrofit - Parts
I now have nearly all parts required to retrofit Distronic. In due course I will write up a full guide.

Suspension
I have pretty much decided to change the suspension. To put this situation into context, the ride is as firm as my (track-focused) 430 in Race mode! Mercedes-Benz of Boston have been fantastically helpful in helping me look at the various suspension struts and springs available, and at this point I think I will end up with CLK500 (the later 5.5) Sport springs with the 63 dampers.

Early Impressions
Three things I like:
* The engine;
* The brakes: stopping is effortless. A genuine improvement that can be felt at pretty much any speed. My other half also noticed it - comfortable stopping distances are much shorter. It's funny because I had a facelift CLK55 cabriolet with the same brakes but at the time I wasn't overly impressed - I suppose the cab must weigh quite a bit more;
* The xenons. I think they may have some improved (genuinely improved i.e. a whiter colour temp) bulbs in them, but they are a big improvement over the halogen units.
Three things I don't, and plan to address:
* The ride - way too harsh;
* The fuel tank is too small. Anything less than a 250 mile range is a pain when running to a busy schedule. I did expect this having come from a V6 CLK, so I knew what to expect with the V8, but it is no less inconvenient;
* Sometimes I find the exhaust a bit on the loud side at very low RPM, and conversely a bit too quiet at high RPM. This is a very minor niggle.