CL 600 or CL 55K AMG?

[The Pits]

Both are offering astounding value for money in W215 form at the moment.

I appreciate the 600 biturbo would be needed to match an AMG which appears to rev quite a bit higher but, well, a V12 is a V12.

It would be great to hear from anyone with first hand knowledge of both.

cheers

[The Pits]

Thanks to all.

Where did you get the 55? Did you get a warranty to cover ABC issues and other potential issues?

I'm thinking full MB service history must be worth a lot.

CL65 is the dream but there don't seem to be any for sale anywhere. I imagine they are a lot pricier too.

Check out this early 55 AMG with some tenuous F1 connection for sale asking for £49,000 for a LHD! I know these were very rare but really?!

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...

[The Pits]

Another thing I like about the CL is that it's a proper 4 seater. Room for 4 adults no problem. Something like an XKR isn't really any better than a 911. My kids will be too big for a typical 2+2 in a couple of years.

[The Pits]

Thanks, I thought it would need ongoing MB service for the warranty. I imagine they'd want full MB history before they took the £2k too. But that is a is a lot, the cost of the car within 5 years! I had heard fixing ABC can be as much as £1500 a corner though.

Might be a lot cheaper to do a course in mechanics!

[The Pits]

Hugely helpful. Many thanks.

I hope to be seeing some cars next week.

[The Pits]

Thanks. I have to say I'm amazed that a top end Merc, or any Merc that matter might need major mechanical work before 100k miles. I accept that the tech in these cars was cutting edge but I thought a big lazy Mercedes of all cars would have been engineered for more like 250k miles without major work needed. All of my Dad's Jags went well past 150k miles without so much as blowing a fuse. All were main dealer serviced. I'm wondering how many of these mercs issues are down to owners cutting corners with maintenance?

There's a Biturbo CL600 with only 26k miles for sale but only one dealer service, the rest was done by the company that owned it, so not even a good indie. The badges on the back aren't even on straight which doesn't inspire much confidence! Still hoping to view a very good example tomorrow with full MB history!

[The Pits]

Thanks, great spot. Wish I hadn't seen that now, twice the price of a really good Biturbo 600. Perhaps worth it if there was a chance of appreciating in value but with much more modern versions out there that's highly unlikely. Gorgeous thing though. Still the best looking 65 in my eyes.

[The Pits]

That's an even better spot!

I saw a nice example today. Wheels need refurbing but otherwise mostly very clean. There was a small but irritating cut in the front near side wing that would annoy me greatly. It would appear that the front wings are plastic anyway. Anyone have any idea how much they would be to replace?

[The Pits]

Interior looks way higher mileage than claimed...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

[The Pits]

The CL65 is magnificent but there's only one for sale at the moment for £24k, a good CL600 Bi-turbo is less than half that.

The car for sale now doesn't have the correct AMG branded instruments which puts me off a bit too.

[The Pits]

See now that car at Marlow doesn't have the AMG branded instruments either.

It put me off the one on ebay. I'm beginning to think it shouldn't.

Anyone able to explain?

Were the AMG instruments really on the W215 models?

[The Pits]

thanks,

the black one for sale on ebay was also without the AMG dash but the listing claimed to have a letter from AMG stating that it was as originally fitted to the car. I got in touch with the owner and everyone had been asking about this. That car was 44k miles and asking £24k. So I guess £19k for 55k miles is fair enough.

Phenomenal car and of course the most desirable but the ultimate for value for money is the CL600 of similar age. A conservative 500bhp, up to 580bhp with DMS. Several examples for sale around 55k miles for under £10k.

Wikipedia claims fewer than 200 W215 CL65AMGs were produced which makes them incredibly rare. Although I prefer the W215's styling to the later cars I guess the availability of later CLs with the same engine will continue to get in the way of it achieving 'classic' status. Mind you if petrol prices keep falling people might start seeing the value of big V12s again!

[The Pits]

The Marlow car has gone already before I had a chance to view it.

Mind you, with the CL600 Bi-turbo at under £10k is even better value (for a well maintained example) surely?

Besides that, how different is the engine really? Bored a tiny bit, mainly stroked to 6 litres. Same head as far as I can tell, bigger turbos, some ecu trickery, intercoolers? and a carbon engine cover. A visit to DMS would make up the power defecit pretty quickly.

Yes I am trying to console myself, the AMG cars are a lot nicer in the details and are generally better looked after too. Overall I think the 65 would be just about be worth the extra money but unless another one comes up for sale soon I won't have any choice.

[The Pits]

found this on YT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ter6F9AyXkA&li...

looks like it was up for sale 10,000 miles ago for £32k.

[The Pits]

went in one recently actually, a friend has one. a huge amount of car for the money, no question, but a big part of the appeal of the CL for me was owning a V12. I didn't need the size of the S class and the SL was not accommodating enough so the CL hit the spot. The torque from the turbo versions puts the 63V8s to shame also!

[The Pits]

strange goings on at Marlow, the 65 has been re-advertised at a higher price yet I'm told it's been sold on the phone.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...

[The Pits]

thanks Bob, YHM