2002 Mercedes-Benz CL500
Discussion
This may only be of interest to readers of the famous 'Best smoker barges 1-5 large' thread but you never know..
I have wanted a W215 CL for many years, I just love the look of them and the little touches like soft close doors, leather dashboard, laminated windows etc. So after driving round in a leased M135i for 18 months, then buying a noisy and unrefined 280bhp VolVo 850 T5 I thought I'd get one.
This car came up as a private sale with the right history and locally so I had to go and have a look. Unfortunately many of these cars are silver, but I knew I'd only want a black or beige interior (not grey).
I have owned the car 4 months, I bought it with air-con that wasn't working but a re-gas before collecting the car seemed to fix it. Within days it was no longer working so I had the compressor replaced which has cured the issue. I also had a catalytic converter that started to rattle which has been replaced.
Otherwise the car has been great, mainly used at weekends and for a couple of trips to France including Le Mans. Given the 500 is the base model in the range I find the engine really powerful - compared to an E39 540i I had a few of years back it just feels stronger. The gearbox wants to stick in gear more than the 540i, but when you need it to change down it does.
Lastly I should mention the suspension, often complained about given the complexity and price to repair when faulty but it really does make the car. There is almost zero body roll in corners yet the ride remains as you would hope.
Hope this is of at least interest to someone!
I have wanted a W215 CL for many years, I just love the look of them and the little touches like soft close doors, leather dashboard, laminated windows etc. So after driving round in a leased M135i for 18 months, then buying a noisy and unrefined 280bhp VolVo 850 T5 I thought I'd get one.
This car came up as a private sale with the right history and locally so I had to go and have a look. Unfortunately many of these cars are silver, but I knew I'd only want a black or beige interior (not grey).
I have owned the car 4 months, I bought it with air-con that wasn't working but a re-gas before collecting the car seemed to fix it. Within days it was no longer working so I had the compressor replaced which has cured the issue. I also had a catalytic converter that started to rattle which has been replaced.
Otherwise the car has been great, mainly used at weekends and for a couple of trips to France including Le Mans. Given the 500 is the base model in the range I find the engine really powerful - compared to an E39 540i I had a few of years back it just feels stronger. The gearbox wants to stick in gear more than the 540i, but when you need it to change down it does.
Lastly I should mention the suspension, often complained about given the complexity and price to repair when faulty but it really does make the car. There is almost zero body roll in corners yet the ride remains as you would hope.
Hope this is of at least interest to someone!
Edited by Max M4X WW on Sunday 10th July 20:08
jonesof63 said:
Beautiful ! I've always liked these, a pal of mine bought one brand new, the depreciation in the three years he owned it would have bought a small house. He's stuck with the Marque and is currently in a GLE63s, I suspect he has shares in Shell. Enjoy the car !
Yep, I believe this would have been 70-80k but not 100% sure!mickyveloce said:
Super car Max. I've been offered a designo blue with tan leather which is one of the 2005 7-speed models.
It sounds nice, and has the most elegant roof line and rear window of any car I can think of. I hope you enjoy it!
This is the 'middle' of the line for W215 being a facelift but without the later gearbox and nav system. I'd like to try the 7G box, but was told the 5's are tried and tested where as the 7's were an early 7 speed. The colour combo sounds great, but I must admit cleaning a car of this size the silver is a help!It sounds nice, and has the most elegant roof line and rear window of any car I can think of. I hope you enjoy it!
bobby_vimto said:
Does the addition of the PH sticker on the passenger seatbelt clip help them get out a fraction quicker?!
Argh, a friend put that there at some point during our Le Mans journey and I keep forgetting to remove it!Lovely car. Similar age to my XK8, but the CL's interior makes my mine seem crude and dated by comparison.
Interesting that you referred to the 1k - 5k barge thread. I would have assumed a CL this new and this nice would have been more than £5k.
Interesting that you referred to the 1k - 5k barge thread. I would have assumed a CL this new and this nice would have been more than £5k.
Edited by spreadsheet monkey on Sunday 10th July 21:12
Cupramax said:
Is it me or has the passenger door had some paint? Appears to be a slightly different colour?
Probably, I assume it has had some warranty paintwork for corrosion as unfortunately these do suffer quite badly.spreadsheet monkey said:
Interesting that you referred to the 1k - 5k barge thread. I would have assumed a CL this new and this nice would have been more than £5k.
Given you mention it, the car is currently up for sale and I reduced the asking price earlier by £251 so the advert now shows an asking price of £4,999.This thread was not started for the above reason, but the photos for the add are the first decent ones I've managed to get! The desire for an E90 M3 is strong and unfortunately I'm not in the position to be able to keep both cars.
Good-looking hunk of Merc there. These things represent a bit of a bargain at the moment, and as many fall by the wayside (uneconomical repairs) the remaining cars can only firm up in value.
The gearbox (being the same 722.6 as in my CLK430) is very sluggish to kickdown, and prefers instead to hold the gear and use the torque. I've taken to using the floor switch if I want to guarantee a kickdown, as the box doesn't respond as intuitively as you might like.
The gearbox (being the same 722.6 as in my CLK430) is very sluggish to kickdown, and prefers instead to hold the gear and use the torque. I've taken to using the floor switch if I want to guarantee a kickdown, as the box doesn't respond as intuitively as you might like.
Max M4X WW said:
TR4man said:
Dread to thing what the fuel consumption was going to Le Mans though!
About 26mpg door to door I think. Straight motorway 200 miles from Guildford to Stoke on Trent was 31mpg so not bad really. Edited by TR4man on Tuesday 12th July 20:16
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