Hello to CLK55!

[stereophoney]

After a couple of months of waiting i have hopefully secured a car. A black W208 CLK55. Not sure when i'm collecting it yet!

2001 MERCEDES BLACK clk55 amg | eBay

 

[Terry_]

It should have more than 270 horse power!

 

[KillerHERTZ]

342 infact

 

[AMG-Al]

Welcome - excellent choice of car.

200 odd bhp will be about right. Coming from Edinburgh, it will just be typical east coast miserableness.

 

[stereophoney]

I did notice that about the bhp, but satisfied it was a listing error. HPI has come back with nothing of note other than a plate change. Wanted to collect it tomorrow but heavy snow is on the way, so hopefully sometime next week.

 

[buccal]

Good price!

Have you viewed it?

 

[stereophoney]

Not viewed it, so taking a bit of a punt. If it's no good or not as described i'd have only wasted the train fare.

One issue i have found, which i did not expect is an insurance issue. I've done quotes on loads of different 55's, and they've all been fairly reasonable. The ones i checked were 2000 W, 2000 X and 2001 X and they were all the same. I've got quotes for this, which is no different to the others in terms of spec, but is a 2001 Y and the price is about 40% more. Going to phone around today as that's all been done through comparison sites. Is there a good reason why it would be so much more? It was 1st registered on 1st April 2001, so only a month after the reg change, and probably built well before.

 

[Will]

Looks like excellent value!

Even has optional 18" 2-piece split rim wheels

If you spent £2k on that to bring it up to scratch it would still be a great car for the money IMHO.

How much are you getting quoted for insurance? What sort of use/mileage will you be doing in the '55? It could be cheaper for you to have two cars and insure this as a classic - mainstream insurers charge a lot for these cars IME.

 

[stereophoney]

Looks like excellent value!

Even has optional 18" 2-piece split rim wheels

If you spent £2k on that to bring it up to scratch it would still be a great car for the money IMHO.

How much are you getting quoted for insurance? What sort of use/mileage will you be doing in the '55? It could be cheaper for you to have two cars and insure this as a classic - mainstream insurers charge a lot for these cars IME.

I hope it turns out to be good value!

The quotes i've been getting online have been between £1100-1300. For the W reg it was £700-£1100. Had a full quote with Adrian Flux, but came out at £1600. I'm with Peter Best for my MGF, just phoned them for a quote - £311! 5k mileage limit (only done 2500 in last year). I'll lose my 3 years no claims if i don't get a normal policy by May next year, but at that price i don't care!

 

[Will]

I hope it turns out to be good value!

The quotes i've been getting online have been between £1100-1300. For the W reg it was £700-£1100. Had a full quote with Adrian Flux, but came out at £1600. I'm with Peter Best for my MGF, just phoned them for a quote - £311! 5k mileage limit (only done 2500 in last year). I'll lose my 3 years no claims if i don't get a normal policy by May next year, but at that price i don't care!

Yep - I've used Peter Best for my CLK55 for the last 3/4 years now since it was 7 and a bit years old. Very good value, mines a 2001 '51' plate and pay slightly less than that (it's not an everyday car for me).

Worth noting that they offer a discount to members of the Mercedes-Benz club - 10% IIRC, which should pretty much cover the joining fee/membership

This will also get you a monthly magazine, other discounts (parts etc) - so worthwhile IMHO

 

[stereophoney]

Yep - I've used Peter Best for my CLK55 for the last 3/4 years now since it was 7 and a bit years old. Very good value, mines a 2001 '51' plate and pay slightly less than that (it's not an everyday car for me).

Worth noting that they offer a discount to members of the Mercedes-Benz club - 10% IIRC, which should pretty much cover the joining fee/membership

This will also get you a monthly magazine, other discounts (parts etc) - so worthwhile IMHO

Thanks, i'll look into that. Joined the MG Owners club for that very reason! Is this the correct one?

Official Mercedes-Benz Owners Club

 

[Will]

Yep, that's it. You'll also get access to WIS and EPC which could be very useful if you intend on any DIY servicing/repairs

 

[stereophoney]

Just did the vin check on the car to check equipment list. Is there anything it's missing?



Equipment features of my car

• AMG bodystyling
• Additional boot-lid lock
• Airbag for driver and front passenger
• Anti-theft warning system
• Automatically dimming int.and ext.mirrors
• CD changer, MP3-capable, for 6 CDs
• COC paper - no registration certification
• Comand control and display system
• Electric roller blind for rear window
• Electric sunroof, glass version
• Electrically folding exterior mirrors
• Electronic stability program (ESP)
• Fire extinguisher installed
• Front armrest with stacker
• Harman Kardon® Logic 7® Surround-soundsystem
• Headlight cleaning system
• Heated front seats
• Heated screen wash system
• Instrument with mileage reading
• Interior motion sensor
• LINGUATRONIC English
• Leather designo anthracite uni
• Leather steering wheel/selector lever designo
• Mobile phone (Nokia)
• PARKTRONIC system (PTS)
• Provision for TV installation
• Remote control for radio/COMAND
• Sidebag
• Sump shield
• Technical modifications
• Telephone antenna
• Tip gearshift
• Windscreen wiper with rain sensor
• Xenon headlamps f.left-side dr.traffic

 

[stereophoney]

Picked it up on saturday, and it's in pretty decent condition.

Bodywork

There's some rust on the front passenger wheel arch and some more on the boot around the lock and above the numberplate. There are various light scratches, all of which should polish out, but a more serious one on top of the bootlid which may need some work. The alloys are in fair condition, and could do with a refurb, but not urgently.

Interior

Great condition, not worn at all. Everything seems to work as it should. One issue is the rear window seems to have de-laminated, not sure if the tint can be removed. Makes it hard to see out the back at night.

Driving

It drives great, and acceleration is superb as is the sound! Putting your foot down is so much fun and the car surges forward. Drove 270 miles home all the way down the A1. I was expecting the ride to be quite harsh as it's an AMG with low profile tyres, but it has a much nicer ride than i thought it would. Great to have cruise control. Did 30.1mpg on the drive, which is much better than i hoped.

History

Not complete, but there are receipts for over £9k for work carried out, most of which was carried out between 2007-2010. £800 gearbox service in 2010, £1200 service with radiator change and £883 on a wheel refurb also in 2010, and it's not done 10k miles since then.

Last oil change was 18 months and 5k miles ago, so it's booked in with Mercedes for their value plus service for the oil change. No evidence of a spark plug change ever or air filter and brake fluid for the last 5 years, so ordered the parts off ebay to do that.

Problems

The temperature display doesn't work.

After driving home without issue on the next trip out after 1 mile the ABS, ESP & BAS MIL came on. The brake lights stopped working. Fuse was ok, so took out the switch ( Which i was told was replaced less than a week ago), the plunger was very stiff, so i opened up the switch and saw the the internals were well worn. Got a new switch from Eurocarparts. 5 mins fitting later and the malfunctions went and the brake lights were back!

That's it, was expecting more to be wrong. Hopefully the service won't turn up any suprises!

 

[Will]

Sounds like a great buy

Brake light switch is a common fault and easily replaced as you now know

Once the bodywork and wheels are tidied up and you get your servicing done it should be all up to scratch. You can get the cluster displays repaired by a couple of places nowadays at reasonable cost. I was lucky enough to source a new/unused/boxed AMG cluster and had all data/coding transferred by STAR. Again pixels going is a common issue so once sorted out another problem to cross off.

My top tip would be to also check the condition of your front brake discs. MB have heavily discounted the price on these in the last few weeks so if you're likely to need some don't delay and stock up - they are something like 75% cheaper than they used to be!

Have fun and take care

 

[growla666]

Het Stereop,

Likewise - I've just bought a CLK 55 from a ford dealer just 8 miles down the road. £4750...and he took it off eBay when I paid a deposit. Sounds like its the same as yours in almost everyway apart from slightly lower mileage. Has full Merc history and all the toys, only drawback is the rust on the arches and boot lock that'll need sorting. That's a trip to benzworx real soon. Collect it next week but will be keeping it SORN until I can sell my clk 320 convertible. How are you finding yours? I've always wanted a clk55....

Rich


MERCEDES CLK 5.5 AMG AUTOMATIC 2 DOOR COUPE - ONLY 42400 MILES - ONE YEARS M.O.T | eBay

 

[stereophoney]

It's a lot of fun, though not pushed it yet. It's very easy to gain speed without realising, starting to love the cruise control! Took it to Mercedes for a minor service and was expecting them to find lots wrong with it, but it wasn't too bad! N/S front tyre worn on inner edge, probably caused by a track rod end which has recently been replaced. Discs all-round will need changing in the next 5k miles, though it'll take me a year to go that far. Genuine discs are cheap from Mercedes at the moment, so ordered a pair of fronts for £139.

Other issues were a cracked oil filler cap (Replaced for £3.50), the undertray bolts are siezed and O/S bonnet catch not securing. Was expecting a lot worse! If it's not too cold tomorrow i'll be changing the spark plugs and air filters.

It's a lot of car for the money and is very fast. I think whoever specced the car ticked every box including one which i'll never use, the ski sack! The rust on yours doesn't look too bad. I'm going to wait until the summer before i consider tackling mine.

 

[growla666]

CLK 55 a coming

When you see it in the flesh theres actually more rust than the pictures show so I need to address that as a matter of urgency. Mechanically its sound, has a massive wedge of receipts, all the old MOTs and has been serviced within an inch of its life so am more worried about the body work than the mechanics. Like you I'll be pampering on finest Mobil 1 every year and making sure its sweet as a nut -this ones a keeper. Just haven't told my Missus yet which means I could be living in the garage for a week!

How are you finding yours to live with?

 

[C240Sport97]

CLK55s rock

 

[SportsCoupeRich]

yours was really nice Sean.