What to do with a sick 2001 CL55 AMG?

[cbmsys]

Ok, as a result of an impulse purchase of a 2001 CL55 (N/A) a couple of years ago, where I should have listened to my head instead of my heart, (and certainly not listened to the lying toe-rag of a vendor) I now have a CL55 with a long list of problems. The CL is a car I've always wanted, second only to a 500 SEC, and they're way out of my price range. Frankly the only good thing about the car is the engine/box and sports exhaust. 155k on the clock and sounds and pulls like a train. I bought it with the intention of doing work on it and getting it back to good condition.

Unfortunately I have neither the money, or more importantly the time, to do work on it, and as a result its sitting around. I have cured a couple of the faults on it, but to get it back to usable or saleable condition I need to address the rear suspension (££££), front suspension valve block, cruise control, climate control, passenger door wiring, sunroof leak, delaminated front window, torn driver's seat, and the windows don't drop when opening the door. Add in a cosmetic tidy up and a full service, rust hole in the driver's footwell, stone chip in the windscreen and probably a new set of discs and pads. Then I guess rip out the entire infotainment system and replace with something decent. With the amount of work on other vehicles I have to do, this could take 5 years. Oh, and did I mention it's got a Cat C (2014) and Cat N (2017) write-off markers on it?

Frankly I've lost heart in the entire thing, and would quite happily swap it out for something to replace my much loved CLK320cdi daily driver which was written off last month. I can't make up my mind whether to attempt to sell it, break it for parts or dump it in a lockup and let it go mouldy.

 

[219]

It looks nice in your thumbnail, but sadly there are so many of these cars out there going cheap as chips . I know someone who has three .

no doubt keep it a while and values will pick up , but yours does need a bit of work .

maybe look for a cheap CL500 and swap bits over to make one good car ?

 

[clk320x]

With all those issues I can’t see it being worth more than £500-£1000 to be honest. It’s probably worth more in parts.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I’m usually the last one to say this but - scrap it i.e. stick it on eBay without a reserve

It’s a waste of time and effort (and I’ve had plenty of experience of that!) but there’s just so much going against it for any sort of restoration to make sense that you’d be as well getting as much as you can for it and buying a “better” one or even maybe keeping it for spares.

 

[alabbasi]

It sounds like you made your mind up. Throw it on ebay and be done with it.

 

[Tonygw]

Contact Mike Brewer, sounds like a perfect wheeler dealer car that one...

It does sound a lot but if you break down each job one at a time its fixable. If you have the inclination to do it. As said if not get it on ebay as somebody will have this as a project.

 

[cbmsys]

Well a bit of the urgency has gone out of the equation. Instead of having to liquidate assets to purchase another car, a mate of mine has given me his W211 E27 AMG (ok E270 if you insist) to replace my write-off CLK320 daily driver. Unfortunately it has ABS issues - no surprise there. Off to someone who has star diags to find out whether its the SBC pump or the ABS sensors. As it doesn't fault until you get above rolling speed, I'm crossing my fingers its not the SBC timeout.

So I guess I'll keep the CL55 under cover for a bit and decide later.

 

[cbmsys]

Contact Mike Brewer, sounds like a perfect wheeler dealer car that one...

It does sound a lot but if you break down each job one at a time its fixable. If you have the inclination to do it. As said if not get it on ebay as somebody will have this as a project.

More like Car SOS.......

 

[andy27168]

Hi,
Almost certainly nothing to do with the SBC.
A faulty ABS Sensor or a faulty rear reluctor ring are the most common issues, My guess it will be a reluctor ring.

 

[moonloops]

More like Car SOS.......

The only car show where the owners are too ill to drive their cars once restored.

 

[cbmsys]

Hi,
Almost certainly nothing to do with the SBC.
A faulty ABS Sensor or a faulty rear reluctor ring are the most common issues, My guess it will be a reluctor ring.

It's had both rear reluctors and sensors changed, and both front sensors changed. I need to get a readout to find out which one isn't working and revisit it. Someone did tell me it might be the air gap on the fronts, as it did have a new hub on the front a while back. Guess this is gonna be another fun one to deal with

 

[cbmsys]

The only car show where the owners are too ill to drive their cars once restored.

Has nearly moved me to tears sometimes that show.