New Boy

[johnpidge]

Hello - Have just purchased a w208 CLK 55 amg which is my first Merc - have had Lexus's and Subaru's etc etc before but my first German for a long time!

I'm bound to have some wierd questions as I go along - hope someone will help?!?!?!?

 

[BlackC55]

Hi and welcome.

 

[corned]

Welcome aboard!

We'll do our best...

 

[JasM]

Welcome to the forum.

Good choice of car as your first Mercedes.

 

[Will]

Hi John

Fellow W208 CLK55 owner here

I'll have to keep an eye out as you're not all that far from me. In fact I'm sure I saw an 'X' plate silver CLK55 on my travels last week

Will

 

[ringway]

Welcome aboard John.

 

[EdmundIJones]

I'm new here too, nice to meet you.

 

[chord]

Welcome, you picked a good car to be your first MB

 

[A-AvantGarde]

Welcome to the best Merc forum and congratulations on the purchase of the CLK 55

 

[johnpidge]

Thanks everyone - you have indeed made me very welcome - Will - I work in Richmond/Kew Road nr London Welsh RFC area so you may well have seen me in the vicinity! I haven't seen many on the Roads so I'm going to keep an eye out from now on.

Questions so far

Do they all get a bit of rot in the arches?

Suggested gearbox oil change ish 80k?

Lumpy tickover on occasions - look at plugs/leads? (16 gulp??)

After wheel alignment the other day and a short/hard blast back up the M3/A316 the traction control light went bonkers and cut the throttle back for 30 secs or so - not happened again so I assume nothing to worry about but??

Anything else worth checking?

Thanks

I will post some pics soon

 

[robert.saunders]

welcome, nice choice of AMG

 

[wemorgan]

Questions so far

Do they all get a bit of rot in the arches?

Suggested gearbox oil change ish 80k?

Rust on the W208 is sadly a common feature.

Some people say that the gearbox oil should be changed as frequently as 40k miles, others 60-80k.

The differential oil is cheap and easy to change, so you might want to consider that too if you're looking to give your car some TLC.

 

[Will]

Thanks everyone - you have indeed made me very welcome - Will - I work in Richmond/Kew Road nr London Welsh RFC area so you may well have seen me in the vicinity! I haven't seen many on the Roads so I'm going to keep an eye out from now on.

Questions so far

Do they all get a bit of rot in the arches?

Suggested gearbox oil change ish 80k?

Lumpy tickover on occasions - look at plugs/leads? (16 gulp??)

After wheel alignment the other day and a short/hard blast back up the M3/A316 the traction control light went bonkers and cut the throttle back for 30 secs or so - not happened again so I assume nothing to worry about but??

Anything else worth checking?

Thanks

I will post some pics soon

Yes, unfortunately most W202/W208/W210 model MBs tend to suffer from rusty arches/boots etc. Some are better than others. Historically MB used to repair some stuff under 'Goodwill' warranty etc but realistically you're probably better getting it sorted by a trusted local bodyshop.

It'd definately be worth getting the gearbox fluid/filter changed if it's not been done before. Make sure that whoever does it uses the correct MB fluid.

Lumpy tickover - not sure - could be anything on the HT side I guess, might be worth having it plugged into a star machine? When were the plugs last done out of interest?

Traction control problem - could it be related to the common brake light switch fault?

BTW - If you're interested and not upto much on Sunday there's an informal meet @ Brooklands (Mercedes-Benz World). More than welcome to pop along if you like.

Will

 

[trainer]

Hi John,

Welcome to the forum, good choice of car look forward to seeing pictures.

 

[johnpidge]

Guys

Thanks for the replies - I'll get it booked in to have a few things sorted inc box oil and filter and check the plugs etc at MB Brentford - I assume they will run a diagnostic on it to see where the cause of lumpy tickover - its not very bad.

Will - sadly I'm booked to see Walking with Dinasaurs with my little critters (5 and 6 - should have know better at my age!) this Sunday so can't go to MB World on Sunday although we were expecting to go on BH Monday (I assume its open?) its a long time since I've been to Brooklands - pushed eldest up the banking in him pram and he's 20 now - gulp.

Friend Mike P has a Red Pagoda? 280sl - I think he's going - he lives in Petersham. I'm up for it another time certainly! Thanks for the invite!

 

[trando]

Welcome to the forum. Look forward to seeing you at one of the meets sometime.