Mercedes-Benz CLK350 Elegance - Bottom of the Barrel
Discussion
This is a story about an impulse purchase that doesn't make a great deal of sense. I wanted a car to keep my other CLK away from the winter weather, and for some reason - despite having two ongoing projects - I fancied a quick restoration project (the other two projects are more about engineering and integration). I really like the 209 CLK for the way it looks and drives; it isn't sporty at all, but it is smooth, quiet, and feels like a quality car. The multi-cylinder engines offer electric car quiet when wafting but have a very pleasing sound when opened up. The pre-facelift cars from 2003 onwards are galvanised, and by-and-large they are very reliable things. The facelift cars - not so much. The problem is, the facelift cars drive so much nicer than the early ones...
The main problem area in the CLK is the facelift petrol powertrains:
M271 I4 - timing chain & sprockets;
M272 V6 - balancer shaft sprocket;
M273 V8 - front sprocket.
The multi-cylinder engines come with the 7G gearbox which often suffers with conductor plate and valve block problems. From what I gather most issues were ironed out for MY08.
So, what did I do? I bought the cheapest available 2006 350 V6 car with the 7G gearbox. It had covered a not so low 97k miles. It was a complete impulse buy one rainy Saturday in November 2019. I met the 'dealer' at a petrol station in west London, he was smoking in the car and putting burns in the headlining as he deposited the ash outside. I'm sure you have a picture of the situation. Nice. Apparently no issues with the car but a scan revealed pending codes for the balance shaft, and an underlying issue with the 7G gearbox. Very nice. On the positive side it was obvious that whoever owned it prior to the 'dealer' had taken good care of it.
The car did have a number of options:
Advert photos:
More to follow.
The main problem area in the CLK is the facelift petrol powertrains:
M271 I4 - timing chain & sprockets;
M272 V6 - balancer shaft sprocket;
M273 V8 - front sprocket.
The multi-cylinder engines come with the 7G gearbox which often suffers with conductor plate and valve block problems. From what I gather most issues were ironed out for MY08.
So, what did I do? I bought the cheapest available 2006 350 V6 car with the 7G gearbox. It had covered a not so low 97k miles. It was a complete impulse buy one rainy Saturday in November 2019. I met the 'dealer' at a petrol station in west London, he was smoking in the car and putting burns in the headlining as he deposited the ash outside. I'm sure you have a picture of the situation. Nice. Apparently no issues with the car but a scan revealed pending codes for the balance shaft, and an underlying issue with the 7G gearbox. Very nice. On the positive side it was obvious that whoever owned it prior to the 'dealer' had taken good care of it.
The car did have a number of options:
- 17" optional wheels
- AFS (headlamps move with steering wheel)
- Bi-xenons
- Boot liner
- CD changer
- COMAND sat nav
- Cup holder
- Electric memory seats & steering column
- Harman/Kardon
- Heated seats
- Keyless Go
- Luxury climate control
- Parktronic
- Sports suspension
- Sunroof
- TV
- Wood gearknob
- Wood steering wheel
Advert photos:
More to follow.
Edited by mwstewart on Thursday 12th August 10:55
Edited by mwstewart on Thursday 19th August 10:44
I like these in a sort of "car as white goods" way....however I couldn't live with the colour, if you are going for a stealth thing then 100% success. I suspect you are unable to resist making some changes to it so I await with interest the transformation to CLK black edition from the current clk very grey edition
5harp3y said:
good god that interior hasn't aged well
I really like it.I checked the cam adjusters and found that the static cam timing was out only very slightly on the LH exhaust bank; the engine is still as quiet as it should be so I'm not going to worry about it for now. The 7G issue is with the conductor plate, not the solenoid body, so it still changes gear OK. The problem on this car does not manifest itself when wafting.
Overall, I think there is 10k miles left in it before anything major happens, so I pressed on to clean it and fix a few small issues.
Problem 01 - Sunroof
Cost: £70
On a top speed run the sunroof glass decided to remove itself with a God almighty crack. Sod's law that MB subsequently issued a recall notice for failed RTV affixing the glass to the sunroof cartridge. I missed that by a couple of weeks. A,B,C pillar trims and the headlining were removed to fit.
Original cartridge shown here with missing glass.
A replacement cartridge was sourced for £50, but it wasn't a simple swap-over because the replacements drains were rusted away. Rather than risk it, I dismantled each assembly and built one good one.
Bad:
Good:
At the same time I fixed another issue where the sun shade would not pull back smoothly. I found that it was missing a couple of the guides
Job done.
Edited by mwstewart on Monday 16th August 11:14
Contrary to some of the suggestions, I think that looks great! Really nice proportions on the 209 and you can't beat the pillarless windows! I had a C208 430 which had gearbox issues too - never got to the bottom of them. I've been put off the late 209s as a replacement because of all their engine problems so looking forward to seeing how you cope!
J4CKO said:
So you have had it from 2019 and it hasnt been completely re engineered ?
Where are the hand made Carbon Fibre panels and Titanium fasteners ?
Where are the hand made Carbon Fibre panels and Titanium fasteners ?
Not completely re engineered yet.AMG V12 said:
Contrary to some of the suggestions, I think that looks great! Really nice proportions on the 209 and you can't beat the pillarless windows! I had a C208 430 which had gearbox issues too - never got to the bottom of them. I've been put off the late 209s as a replacement because of all their engine problems so looking forward to seeing how you cope!
Thank you, me too. It's a shame that Mercedes went downhill in the reliability stakes just as some of their cars were starting to look better again. Cleaning - Trim
Cost £6
As the trim was removed to fit the replacement sunroof cartridge it was the ideal opportunity to clean it. Although the car looked clean from a distance, these light interiors do need a bit of maintenance to look A1. I used APC and steam on the headlining and parcel shelf (cardboard backing that will stain the trim from behind if it gets wet), a pressure washer on any trim with a plastic backing, and APC and a brush on the rest.
Before
After
I found that the seat belts wouldn't retract smoothly, so I soaked them overnight in APC. Once dry, I sprayed them with dry silicone.
Cost £6
As the trim was removed to fit the replacement sunroof cartridge it was the ideal opportunity to clean it. Although the car looked clean from a distance, these light interiors do need a bit of maintenance to look A1. I used APC and steam on the headlining and parcel shelf (cardboard backing that will stain the trim from behind if it gets wet), a pressure washer on any trim with a plastic backing, and APC and a brush on the rest.
Before
After
I found that the seat belts wouldn't retract smoothly, so I soaked them overnight in APC. Once dry, I sprayed them with dry silicone.
Edited by mwstewart on Monday 16th August 10:54
Ah I'll be following this! My dad had one that he bought at around 1 year old, which was a CLK350 with all the sporty amg line trim bits added. He loved it and owned it for ages, but the balance shaft issue reared his head. He sorted it at a main dealership, it was eye watering - think he paid around £5k all in. He had it for another year before selling. Balance shaft aside it was a great car though and didn't give him too much pain.
Thanks all.
Cleaning - Carpets
Cost £9
I prefer to remove carpets so that they can be cleaned thoroughly with plenty of water, and I can be absolutely sure that they have dried out without making the underlying sound deadening damp. Also I avoid mechanical cleaning methods preferring something that is kinder to the pile. My tried and tested method is to soak the carpet in a diluted APC solution for ~30 minutes, and then use a pressure washer to clean & rinse.
Before:
After:
Cleaning - Carpets
Cost £9
I prefer to remove carpets so that they can be cleaned thoroughly with plenty of water, and I can be absolutely sure that they have dried out without making the underlying sound deadening damp. Also I avoid mechanical cleaning methods preferring something that is kinder to the pile. My tried and tested method is to soak the carpet in a diluted APC solution for ~30 minutes, and then use a pressure washer to clean & rinse.
Before:
After:
Edited by mwstewart on Monday 16th August 10:56
For some strange reason I really enjoy this stuff, but for sure, leasing could be easier
Cleaning - Seats
Cost: £5
As per the rest of the trim, I use a diluted APC mix sprayed on, only this time leaving to soak for 10 minutes due to the synthetic leather being more susceptible to strong detergent than moulded plastic trim. Once soaked, I add more whilst agitating with a detailing brush, and then I wipe it off with a microfibre towel. I finish with another microfibre towel soaked in fresh water.
It likely reads as more involved than it actually is; each seat takes around 20 minutes.
Before - including a couple of test areas on the seat base:
After:
Cleaning - Seats
Cost: £5
As per the rest of the trim, I use a diluted APC mix sprayed on, only this time leaving to soak for 10 minutes due to the synthetic leather being more susceptible to strong detergent than moulded plastic trim. Once soaked, I add more whilst agitating with a detailing brush, and then I wipe it off with a microfibre towel. I finish with another microfibre towel soaked in fresh water.
It likely reads as more involved than it actually is; each seat takes around 20 minutes.
Before - including a couple of test areas on the seat base:
After:
Edited by mwstewart on Monday 16th August 10:55
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