W208 CLK55 buying guide

[Howard]

Hi all ,

I'm pretty clued up with CLK's , as i have owned a few of them , but never a 55 ...

Is there anything specific to the 55 to look for when buying ? any common failures / things to look for that only occur on that model ?

 

[tasn1]

Oh Howard...lets see were to start;
1) The gearbox selector - sometimes they can get stuck in 1st (or limp mode). Not too much of a problem as the selector is from the V12 mercs (SL, etc), so there are plenty of refurbished ones for about £100 including vat. Labour is about £50. Alsotry and test drive from cold. Give the car 1 minute while it warms up. The revs will drop to about 750 then you are good to go. Use the tiptronic selector to make sure its changing gears easily.
2) Some times when it rains the passenger compartment leaks. This is due to leaves blocking the drainage system below the widscreen
3) Make sure you rev the engine with the hood up, so you can make sue there is not a lot of movement otherwise the ECU cuts power if the engine moves too much (mounts need to be checked)
4) The front tires go very quickly (for a rear wheel drive!), heavy engine and loads of understeer
5) Switch wheel sizes to AMG options 18s. The rear wheels can take 265/35/18 and the fronts can take 245/40/18. This gives the car far much better grip.
6) Check the front windows`alignment, the can be troublesome to close
7) The car is very low so do look underneath the car for some impatient driving over the humps
8) Dont worry if you think the suspension is broken, its not, the car is extra stiff on normal roads...its sometimes unbearable!
9) Rust...

On the positive stuff;
Awesome power to weight ratio!

 

[andy27168]

Hi,
Other than normal 208 issues, which I feel sure you are well aware of, and the fact you have/had a M113 V8 in the form of the 430, there is,nt really a lot more I can say, other than pay special attention to the condition of the front brake discs as they are expensive to replace, leaking rocker box gaskets, (only the same as the 430) the condition of the front pulley again common with M112 & M113 engined cars. To be honest I am struggling to think of anything that is applicable to only the 55 engine as there weaknesses are generally the weakness of all M113 engines, and I,m sure after owning your 430 as long as you have you are well aware what they are.

 

[tasn1]

The engine itself is generally a lazy less strung up unit (342 bhp @ 5500 rpm &
376 lb-ft @ 3000 rpm) so it can take a lot of abuse without any problems!