CLK 500 - Price?

[junglie]

Good morning,

I am in dialogue with the nice chap who owns this and I am tempted with buying it.

We are trying to come up with a price which is always hard with a reasonably rare model. It has the M273 5.5 388 hp engine vice the M113 5.0 306 hp.

WBAC is around the £4500, no doubt as it is hard to value, and Parkers is around the £7000 mark. Although there are a few around, and also similar types, I do not know what they went for when the sold against the advertised price.

What do you think would be reasonable?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-CLK500-5-5-V8-C...

[Monkeylegend]

Has he told you how much he paid for it from Lookers 8 months ago?

[Miglia 888]

Only about 50 facelift CLK 500 Sport 5.5 388's in the UK, hence the guides & WBAC are way off the actual values.
Took me over 2 years to find one in the right spec for me.
This one appears to have had all the likely work done, so somewhere close to that looks a fair price, imho.

Here's the summary of ours from my profile:
Ultra-rare last of the line facelift A209 500 Sport Cabriolet with the 388hp M273 32V 5.5 litre V8 & paddle shift 7 speed box - noticeably quicker, more powerful & more torquey than the older 55 AMG with its 5 speed box. Significantly better looking than the A208, and much prettier than the A207 in our eyes...
Effortless overtaking with 0-60mph in 5 / 0-100 in under 12 / 70mph cruising at under 2000 revs & 30mpg, if you really want it to.
The sport suspension is supple yet controlled, with road noise nicely suppressed, the gearchanges as smooth as silk, and a thunderous roar available from the sports exhaust on demand. Debadged, it's a superb sleeper car looking like a CLK 200, except once the road clears, all its V8 muscle & soundtrack is available to enjoy, and even more so with the roof down. Another most welcome addition, bringing further complementary talents to the fleet.
HTH.

[junglie]

Thank you for your feedback and the mini report - they do sound like good fun.

This one needs £1000 spending on it including prop shaft removal castor bushes. The original 5 spokes are available too (need a light refurb) as I don't particularly like the 63 reps that are fitted.

I am tempted but want to find the price that works for us both.

[Deerfoot]

If it needs work then somewhere between £9000 & 9500 then.

It does look nice but I'd get the original wheels on too....

[junglie]

It seems that the price is going to be around the £9000 mark and I will need to work a deal for the original alloys with decent rubber on.

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say 9-9.5k is the right number, Cubinite Silver is a rare colour as is the 5.5 engine the original alloy can be found on any Sport model the seven speed makes a difference too, the propshaft shouldn't be to expensive if you use a specialist, if Mr Khans proposals go through I'll be looking for one of these to replace my 55 with.

[junglie]

Well it looks like a good proposition then!

[Deerfoot]

I've just had another scroll through the photos, it's really quite nice.

[junglie]

Does anybody know if there is a marked difference between the M113 and M273 V8?

I have the M113 in my R500 and it in can certainly hustle along a few tons of people carrier - the extra 80 hp and less weight (not sure how much less) must be good.

[Chiefbadger]

Slightly off topic, but uniroyals on a near 400 bhp car? Maybe just me, but that would make me question what else might have been 'budget' replacements. Looks lovely otherwise though!

[Miglia 888]

junglie said:

Does anybody know if there is a marked difference between the M113 and M273 V8?

I have the M113 in my R500 and it in can certainly hustle along a few tons of people carrier - the extra 80 hp and less weight (not sure how much less) must be good.

It's quite a significant difference in liveliness, and well worth getting a later facelift M273 CLK 500 when the extra performance comes with no fuel consumption penalty and half the costs at spark plug change time, imho.

M113 5.0 has SOHC 3v heads & twin spark plugs.
302hp & 339 ftlb.
188 hp/ton in a 1.6 ton CLK 500 & 131hp/ton in a 2.3 ton R 500.

M273 5.5 has DOHC 4v heads with VVT & single spark plugs.
383hp & 391 ftlb.
240 hp/ton in a 1.6 ton CLK 500 & 166hp/ton in a 2.3 ton R 500.

We had an R 500 SWB with the M113 5.0 and it did hustle along very nicely.
Swapped ours for an R 320 CDI LWB for the extra torque, legroom & reduced fuel costs when on continental grand tours. Miss the v8 sound though, and an R 500 LWB with the M273 5.5 would be very tempting, but there's only about 10 in the UK.

How do you like your R? Against the perceived wisdom of most who've never been in one, we love them

Anyway, how's the deal progressing?
The advertised price appears to be heading in the right direction despite there being no others for sale on ebay or AutoTrader afaics - they are very rare...
I can also highly recommend having an R & facelift CLK 5.5 Cabrio in the fleet...

[Broccers]

I like this - buy it before someone else does

[junglie]

An update.

The deal is still there and I have been offered first refusal (so to speak) for £9000 - I am really tempted and that includes the original alloys.

I am, as an PHer must be, torn between all sorts of cars for around that price including LS460, Audi S5, BMW E89 Z4 etc.

The other strong contender at present is a facelift 2009 Mercedes W211 E500 with the M273 in it.

Decisions, decisions!

[Miglia 888]

Thanks for the update.

LS460 - not a convertible, heavier & slower
S5 - less powerful, heavier & slower
Z4 - no lovely V8 sound, only two seats
E500 - not a convertible, heavier & slower

They don't come up often - It's the only one for sale in the country - so go get the rare one while you can before someone else does, and enjoy the spring & summer top down with all your friends / family.
You could always sell it for what you paid for it later on in the year if you still have the urge for a more common & depreciative dull heavier & slower alternative by then...

[ZX10R NIN]

Stop umming & get the deal done if that had been a coupe you wouldn't have a decision to make as I would have already bought it.

Get it remove the secondary cats & you'll be smiling for miles.

[junglie]

I know I am being a bit of a fanny about this!

I spoke with my local Indy today (they have my R500 with them for a few bits) and they were querying why a propshaft would require to come out as it is causing the vibration. They asked if it may be gearbox or torque converter related but I can't answer as I have not seen the car. What would be irritating is buying it, finding that the issues were not rectified and having a gearbox problem.

[ZX10R NIN]

Go and drive it trust me if there's any driveline vibration it'll show up within minutes of your test drive also it's not unknown for bushes in a prop to go bad this could be a reason for the change.

[DSLiverpool]

I would buy this one as its cheaper and has a warranty of sorts that its not crap http://www2.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[Miglia 888]

DSLiverpool said:

I would buy this one as its cheaper and has a warranty of sorts that its not crap http://www2.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Not the same thing - big difference in engine & specification between pre-facelift CLK 500 5.0 and post facelift CLK 500 5.5 Sport, as mentioned earlier in the thread.