CLS 500 ?

[J4CKO]

ALways had a soft spot for these, would go for the 5.5 388 bhp version, the AMG ones are out of budget, but they seem to be a lot cheaper than the same age/mileage normal E class, is that just becasue they are less practical.

I am aware that the later ones, the 5.5 versions are faster and dont have the daft brake controllers that go wrong and cost a fortune, the Airmatic it has doesnt scare me quite as badly as it looks fairly easy to sortvia diy (correct me if I am wrong)

Might go and see one at the weekend, so what other pitfalls are there,

the 7G gearbox seems to be a bit hit and miss, but am aware they cant all be broken and people dont report 100k plus of no issues,

Brakes just been done and are cheap anyway

Tyres are huge but are apparenly fairly recent.

Service 4000 miles ago and had all 16 plugs done.

Recent MOT

SO Assuming electrics all work, any other pitfalls apart from £500 ved and 15 mpg ?

[J4CKO]

A few weeks back, been on sale for a while then !

Am guessing the Cls with a big v8, that isn't a full on AMG model isn't a great seller then, so needs to be bought right to avoid avoid a big loss down the line, even though we aren't talking huge money, cheeky bid time....

[J4CKO]

Bumsacks ! the one I fancied has gone, was considering going to see it this weekend, oh well, always another out there and can sell my 350Z in the meantime and be ready with the cash,

[J4CKO]

KungFuPanda said:

I was considering one a few weeks ago. I was all set to see this one.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

All that for £7495 on a facelifted 08 plate. Tremendous value. Instead I went for a 2008 S class 320 cdi with Brabus kit and D6 chip.

The 7G gearbox ain't the best. It never knows what gear it wants to be in. It needs to be driven with patience!

Think I will go and see that one tomorrow, not over enamoured by the colour scheme but the dealer made all the right noises, spoke to a very helpful lady, car has been looked after by them and has a good amount of history.

[J4CKO]

Well, deposit paid, car is very very nice, bodywork is perfect, wheels good apart from a minor scuff and interior has 1 scuff on the bit between the rear seats but otherwise, like a new car, well maintained, drives spot on, pulls well.

Managed to get it for seven grand, will get the tax and insurance sorted and pick it up next Saturday, cant beleive what you get for that money, I am glad most avoid petrol V8's.

Plate looks good van, let me get it sorted and I may drop you a message

[J4CKO]

Just checking the options, it is plenty well specced for me but it doesnt have Xenons, Auto Boot close, Harmon, Kardon or seat memory but I had worked that out before I went, I am guessing someone didnt tick a box but it has everything I need.

200A - LEATHER
205B - OWNERS MANUAL AND SERVICE RECORD - ENGLISH
208A - LEATHER - GRAY
220 - PARKTRONIC SYSTEM (PTS)
249 - INSIDE AND OUTSIDE MIRROR AUTOMATIC DIMMING
255B
283B - AIRBAGLABLE - ENGLISH
335B - INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/HU LANGUAGE - ENGLISH
386 - MOBILE PRE.-INSTALLATION (MTUS)
427 - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION 7-SPEED
461 - INSTRUMENT WITH MILES IND. AND ENGLISH LEGEND
489 - AIRMATIC DUAL CONTROL / AIR SUSPENSION SEMI-ACTIVE
500 - OUTSIDE REAR VIEW MIRROR LH AND RH FOLDING
512 - COMAND APS WITH DVD CHANGER
537L - GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND
551 - ANTI-THEFT/ANTI-BREAK-IN WARNING SYSTEM
581 - AUTOMATIC CLIMATE CONTROL
5XXL - EUROPE
613 - HEADLAMP LEFT-HAND TRAFFIC
666 - PRODUCT PROT.F.TRANSPORT VEH. W/O TIE-DOWN HOOKS
690 - EMERGENCY SPARE TIRE (MINI SPARE)
775U - BRIGHT SILVER METALLIC CLEAR COAT PAINT
809 - AEJ 08/1
817 - SIREN BRACKET FOR INCREASED THEFT PROTECTION
873 - SEAT HEATER FOR LEFT AND RIGHT FRONT SEATS
875 - HEATED SCREEN WASH SYSTEM
882 - INTERIOR SAFEGUARD
885 - HIGHTEN THEFT PROTECTION
983 - COC PAPER EURO 4 TECHNOLOGY W/O REG. CERT. PART II
989 - IDENTIFICATION LABEL UNDER WINDSHIELD
A22 - NEW CONVERTER GENERATION
A24 - JOINT FLANGE, 4-ARM 120
A38 - M - VALVE BODY ASSEMBLY WITH VGS 2
A44 - SOFTWARE 3
A49 - CONVERTER WITH 3 FRICTION DISKS
F219 - MODEL SERIES 219
FC - COUPE
G904 - TRANSMISSION CODE VERSION 04
GA - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
H05 - LAUREL WOOD VERSION, GLOSSY
HA - REAR AXLE
K11 - ADAPTIVE STOP LIGHT FLASHING
K13 - STEUERCODE FUER SERVICEINTERVALL 25000 KM
M273 - V8-GASOLINE ENGINE M273
M55 - CAPACITY 5,5 LITRE
N2T - EMISSIONS-TEST IN PLANT 67
R - RIGHT-HAND STEERING
R01 - SUMMER TIRES
R96 - 18" LIGHT ALLOY WHEEL 5-SPOKE DESIGN ALL-ROUND
U18 - AUTOMATIC CHILD SEAT RECOGNITATION (AKSE)
U72 - DVD PLAYER WITH REGIONAL CODE 2, EUROPE, JAPAN
V07 - SPEED- + LOADINDEX 93Y
VL - FRONT AXLE HALF, LEFT
VR - FRONT AXLE HALF, RIGHT
775U - BRIGHT SILVER METALLIC CLEAR COAT PAINT
208A - LEATHER - GRAY
M273 - V8-GASOLINE ENGINE M273

[J4CKO]

KungFuPanda said:

Brilliant new!!! I knew it would go for £7k!

I'm thinking of changing the wheels on my S class for Brabus ones. I currently have 19" AMG ones on it with decent premium tyres on if you're interested in upgrading yours. They're like the one in this link. http://mbworld.org/forums/wheels-tires/314972-19-o...

Let me know if you're interested.

Cheers, wheels look nice but I suspect if I start messing with this she will kill me, but how much you thinking, will need a couple of tyres at some point

[J4CKO]

softtop said:

Barge and mid life crisis sorted!

Mid life crisis was the 944 cabrio !

Barge, Merc and V8 boxes ticked.

[J4CKO]

KungFuPanda said:

Was thinking £500 for the set of 4. The other half doesn't need to know...

Hmm, that sounds good if the tyres are decent, where you based ?

Will need a week or two to get sorted out.

[J4CKO]

Crackie said:

J4CKO said:

Well, deposit paid, car is very very nice, bodywork is perfect, wheels good apart from a minor scuff and interior has 1 scuff on the bit between the rear seats but otherwise, like a new car, well maintained, drives spot on, pulls well.

Managed to get it for seven grand, will get the tax and insurance sorted and pick it up next Saturday, cant beleive what you get for that money, I am glad most avoid petrol V8's.

Plate looks good van, let me get it sorted and I may drop you a message

I've been considering one of these for a while but had only been considering late 08/09/10 cars...........did you check out the M273 engine code for the worn timing chain idler gear issue ?

Loads of info about the M273 problem online, there was a class action against Merc in the USA for example.

Here a link http://www.mercedesmedic.com/check-my-mercedes-ben... which should help check out whether the one you've looked at has an 'old' or 'new' idler gear.

I appreciate you've already paid the deposit but my understanding its a potentially big 'engine out' bill if it does let go.

Clearly, and older car may have already had the uprated timing chain idler gear fitted.

Good luck

Dont see the CLS 500 listed in the applications list, I read about that issue and it didnt seem to cover the V8, seemed mainly to be the sixes, the car runs very well and no lights came up, engine was very quiet, seems to have survived thus far, 110,000 miles so will worry about it if I get any noise.

Thanks for the heads up. but if you read all the issues online, you would end up on a pushbike, with no gears.

Just checked, says affected up to 2739 30 088611

Mine is 273960 30 253427, so sounds like its post the problem, hopefully.....

[J4CKO]

KungFuPanda said:

Hi J4CKO, I'm in Manchester city centre. If you're in Cheshire, I can drive down and we can have a Mercedes mini meet before you commit to anything!

You arent making this any easier

Sounds good ! Let me get it and see where I am upto, if the tyres are good then I am up for a spend, just need to sell my 350Z, a couple of tyres will cost me £200 odd so another set of wheels would come in handy (if the engine isnt about to eat its balance shafts).

[J4CKO]

KungFuPanda said:

No worries, let me know. Just update the thread once you've got it.

Will do matey, cheers.

[J4CKO]

KungFuPanda said:

So, did you pick her up then???

Yeah, loving it,

Pros,

Its bloody quick
It drives very well
its in good nick
its very comfy
Engine seems in good fettle, oil was clean so it looks like the dealer did service it as promised.


Cons
its predictably thirsty, but managed to get 22.6 on the way in, 7 miles cross country lanes from cold so not that bad, hoof it and goes down very quickly

The passenger door mirror had a mind of its own, there is a slight crack in the casing I didnt notice, the foldy stuff sends it so its pointing forwards, hence why it had been disabled but when it hits thirty, exactly, every time the mirror tries to rotate so its pointing forwards, dont know if its programmed in to lock the folding aspect due to
increasing air resistance over 30, will need sorting.

Will need 2 tyres before long on the back, also, was expecting staggered alloys and they arent but I guess the tyres will be a lot cheaper.

[J4CKO]

KungFuPanda said:

Sounds good to me apart from the wing mirror. At least its not anything mechanically serious. Hope you get that sorted soon. Before I got my S Class, I test drove an ML500 and it didn't really feel that fast. Maybe it was the extra weight and transmission loss of the 4x4.

Try Tyre Leader and Camskill for tyres. Both are pretty reasonable.

If you still want those staggered AMGs on mine...

Will take a look at the mirror at the weekend, its not the end of the world, its getting out when its dry and light to look at it thats the problem.

Did you try the ML500 with the 306 or 388 bhp engine ? this seems noticeably quicker than my 300 bhp 350Z, the 388 bhp ML is 300 or so kilos heavier but still does sixty in 5.6, road and track managed 4.8 in a CLS 550, American badge for the US 388 bhp CLS and reckoned Mercedes underplayed the performance to not tread on AMG toes, after all 0-60 is perhaps more traction limited than power limited and not a great yardstick, feels pretty brisk to me.

On the wheels, might be interested, depends how quickly you need to sell, what condition ae they in, are the tyres ok ?

[J4CKO]

Looking at it and getting geeky with numbers, the CLS 550 (as its called in the US) isnt much different in terms of straight line performance to the V10 S6

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2007-mercedes-...

http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/road-tests/re...

Same ball park, I think the Car and Driver review was perhaps a good example or a bit over flattering to the Merc, but both 5 ish to sixty and 12 ish to 100, a 306 bhp ML would indeed feel a lot slower at 20.4 for the 306 bhp version and 14.1 to 100 for the 388 bhp version.

Hopefully got a viewing on the Zed this weekend, having dropped the price by £700 so will know where I am up to, Christmas gets int he way of car stuff !

[J4CKO]

KungFuPanda said:

Four wheel drive counts for a lot in real world conditions though. My mate just had me off the line in his A5 3.0 tdi quattro. On paper both my S class and his A5 seem evenly matched. That is until I try and put my foot down and the traction control cuts in.

Good luck with the viewing of the Z. Let me know after the weekend if you want more info about the wheels. The weather has been terrible so I haven't had chance to clean or photograph them yet.

Zed has gone but going to stick with 18s and stick a full set of decent new tyres on, at the moment it has some Micelins on the back that are low and some "Mohawks" on the front that are brand new but if I need to change two, may as well do all four, I like how it rides and dont want to compromise it

[J4CKO]

Patrick Bateman said:

J4CKO said:

Zed has gone but going to stick with 18s and stick a full set of decent new tyres on, at the moment it has some Micelins on the back that are low and some "Mohawks" on the front that are brand new but if I need to change two, may as well do all four, I like how it rides and dont want to compromise it

What tyres are you thinking?

Conti Sportcontact 3, Uniroyal Rainexpert 3 or open to suggestions, basically a premium brand or well reviewed/suitable midrange, will have the car for a couple of years hopefully, my 350Z came with a brand new set of crappy Jinyu tyres, want to have this knowing its got the best I can afford on it so it performs as Mercedes intended, not having £50 a corner nonesense on it

[J4CKO]

Patrick Bateman said:

Goodyear Eagles tend to be one of the cheapest of the premium brands but excellent. I've had them on 2 cars now and they're hard to fault, suspect better than those Continentals off the top of my head.

Will pop in to my MOT place and see what they have, the owner is a real character and will always do a good deal.

[J4CKO]

BUG4LIFE said:

Ah, so you went for a CLS 500! I saw your thread on the S-Type R and XJR. Both the Merc and STR are on my maybe list (together with a C55 and Audi S4)...so how did you decide on the CLS, was it just cos one came up first?

Bit of that, my son kept suggesting it and I have always loved the shape, did a bit of research and spotted one in Birmingham but by the time I had got my act together it had gone, I then decided to find the nearest CLS 500 in budget with the 388 bhp engine, up popped this one and to be honest the photos didnt grab me, wasnt keen on the grey leather in the pics and it wasnt grabbing me but I thought what the heck and went with my mate to see it, my mate is normally the worlds biggest sceptic but kept telling the dealer how nice it was anyway the dealer was very welcoming and accommodating and we went for a test drive, and that was that, got back made a low, but credible and honest offer which was accepted, a deposit was left on the understanding I would pick it up week hence, which I did.

Its funny how pictures of cars dont always do them justice or hide horrors, this just seems a clean and tidy example, no dents, all we could fault it on was a scuff on the rear seats, I spoke to a few Jag sellers and they were saying that they had "some corrosion" where the alloy had powdered but Mercedes seem to have sorted their act out, no rust anywhere.

Plus, though I like jags I think this is perhaps less of a statement whilst still being a fine looking (to me) and comparatively rare car

Not saying its better than the Jags, just different and I managed to sell my 350Z for exactly the same price as I paid ofr this, even the missus seems fairly positive, but not interested enough to go anywhere in it yet !

[J4CKO]

KungFuPanda said:

J4CKO said:

KungFuPanda said:

Four wheel drive counts for a lot in real world conditions though. My mate just had me off the line in his A5 3.0 tdi quattro. On paper both my S class and his A5 seem evenly matched. That is until I try and put my foot down and the traction control cuts in.

Good luck with the viewing of the Z. Let me know after the weekend if you want more info about the wheels. The weather has been terrible so I haven't had chance to clean or photograph them yet.

Zed has gone but going to stick with 18s and stick a full set of decent new tyres on, at the moment it has some Micelins on the back that are low and some "Mohawks" on the front that are brand new but if I need to change two, may as well do all four, I like how it rides and dont want to compromise it

Well it looks like things may have worked out all round. The new (second hand) wheels I was planning on replacing my current ones with were at the refurbers. Turns out the rears have a few cracks in them. Don't really want to repair them. The thing is, I forged ahead and bought some 20" tyres in anticipation of the new ones going on. Going to put things on hold over Xmas and decide what to do in the New Year.

Enjoy the CLS in good health J4CKO!

Cheers, will try to.

It looks ok on 18s, I like the big alloys but I like the OEM look and not having to worry too much about someone nicking them or kerbing them , a quick home refurb for 2 of mine will have it perfect, they are a fairly pleasant design, bad luck on the ones you bought being cracked, are you going to try and get your money back ?