CLK430 early ownership experiences
Discussion
Well, I have owned my cheap 430 for almost 3 weeks now and its been a mixed experience. Good and bad..first the good, 1) it handles much better than I expected, especially once I lowered the tyre pressures to a more realistic pressure from 36 PSI. 2) Pulls fantastically well higher up and can overtake whole lines of cars on A roads 3) has a great feel good factor. 4) everyone says how well it has been looked after and what a great looking car it is etc...5) took my BMW 645ci owning mate out last Saturday (his car is in for a head gasket) and he was really dumbfounded how good it was and how cheap it was to buy.
On the other hand....a few niggles.
1) Slow puncture and no locking wheel nut
2) The whole family apart from me hate it!!
3) I don't think the electric fan is working. The water temp gauge goes up and today I let it idle for a bit outside my house. With the needle up at about 95, the fan hadn't come on.
4) Tonight I was fiddling with the onboard computer and the ABS/ESP lights came on and stayed on....does this indicate some impending costly problem?
5) Finally it doesn't FEEL that fast in normal driving for a 275 BHP car, which when you are getting low 20s MPG, is not really what you want.
I must admit, coming from a Mazda 6 and Mazda MX-5, which run like clockwork and the latter of which has never done anything wrong as a toy in the last 6 months, the relative complexity of this elderly Merc scares me. I am not a mechanic and I am slightly concerned that the last owner moved it on so quickly having bought it from Auction. I bought the car because it has obviously been so well looked after and drives so well and was so cheap for what it is; but I can't be done with warning lights consistently coming on and other niggles.....I guess I have just got used to Jap cars that never really do anything wrong.
Will it stay or will it go? Right now, I am not sure....
On the other hand....a few niggles.
1) Slow puncture and no locking wheel nut
2) The whole family apart from me hate it!!
3) I don't think the electric fan is working. The water temp gauge goes up and today I let it idle for a bit outside my house. With the needle up at about 95, the fan hadn't come on.
4) Tonight I was fiddling with the onboard computer and the ABS/ESP lights came on and stayed on....does this indicate some impending costly problem?
5) Finally it doesn't FEEL that fast in normal driving for a 275 BHP car, which when you are getting low 20s MPG, is not really what you want.
I must admit, coming from a Mazda 6 and Mazda MX-5, which run like clockwork and the latter of which has never done anything wrong as a toy in the last 6 months, the relative complexity of this elderly Merc scares me. I am not a mechanic and I am slightly concerned that the last owner moved it on so quickly having bought it from Auction. I bought the car because it has obviously been so well looked after and drives so well and was so cheap for what it is; but I can't be done with warning lights consistently coming on and other niggles.....I guess I have just got used to Jap cars that never really do anything wrong.
Will it stay or will it go? Right now, I am not sure....
greenarrow said:
Well, I have owned my cheap 430 for almost 3 weeks now and its been a mixed experience. Good and bad..first the good, 1) it handles much better than I expected, especially once I lowered the tyre pressures to a more realistic pressure from 36 PSI. 2) Pulls fantastically well higher up and can overtake whole lines of cars on A roads 3) has a great feel good factor. 4) everyone says how well it has been looked after and what a great looking car it is etc...5) took my BMW 645ci owning mate out last Saturday (his car is in for a head gasket) and he was really dumbfounded how good it was and how cheap it was to buy.
On the other hand....a few niggles.
1) Slow puncture and no locking wheel nut
2) The whole family apart from me hate it!!
3) I don't think the electric fan is working. The water temp gauge goes up and today I let it idle for a bit outside my house. With the needle up at about 95, the fan hadn't come on.
4) Tonight I was fiddling with the onboard computer and the ABS/ESP lights came on and stayed on....does this indicate some impending costly problem?
5) Finally it doesn't FEEL that fast in normal driving for a 275 BHP car, which when you are getting low 20s MPG, is not really what you want.
I must admit, coming from a Mazda 6 and Mazda MX-5, which run like clockwork and the latter of which has never done anything wrong as a toy in the last 6 months, the relative complexity of this elderly Merc scares me. I am not a mechanic and I am slightly concerned that the last owner moved it on so quickly having bought it from Auction. I bought the car because it has obviously been so well looked after and drives so well and was so cheap for what it is; but I can't be done with warning lights consistently coming on and other niggles.....I guess I have just got used to Jap cars that never really do anything wrong.
Will it stay or will it go? Right now, I am not sure....
The bottom line is that if you're family don't like it, it will be a constant source of torment and should go. On the other hand....a few niggles.
1) Slow puncture and no locking wheel nut
2) The whole family apart from me hate it!!
3) I don't think the electric fan is working. The water temp gauge goes up and today I let it idle for a bit outside my house. With the needle up at about 95, the fan hadn't come on.
4) Tonight I was fiddling with the onboard computer and the ABS/ESP lights came on and stayed on....does this indicate some impending costly problem?
5) Finally it doesn't FEEL that fast in normal driving for a 275 BHP car, which when you are getting low 20s MPG, is not really what you want.
I must admit, coming from a Mazda 6 and Mazda MX-5, which run like clockwork and the latter of which has never done anything wrong as a toy in the last 6 months, the relative complexity of this elderly Merc scares me. I am not a mechanic and I am slightly concerned that the last owner moved it on so quickly having bought it from Auction. I bought the car because it has obviously been so well looked after and drives so well and was so cheap for what it is; but I can't be done with warning lights consistently coming on and other niggles.....I guess I have just got used to Jap cars that never really do anything wrong.
Will it stay or will it go? Right now, I am not sure....
The niggles are slight. Sort the locking wheel nut asap, and get the tyre re-sealed. Get the engine fan tested and thermostat, or whatever replaced to protect the engine.
The 430 is a cruiser, not a sports car. The design brief of the clk55 was to be pointy and shouty, whereas this car was a bit of a relaxed express. It shouldn't feel rough, and whilst the temptation to liberate more sound by faffing on with de-cat x-pipe shenanigans may be there, I wouldn't bother.
If your car is rot-free, either get the niggles fixed and take some great photos for your for sale ad, or get divorced.....
update: Went and had a chat with the neighbour who is chief mechanic at the local Merc dealer. He can help re getting wheel nuts off....can help diagnose the ESP/ABS light problem, which may just be electrical...
He said the car has already had paint, presumably to cure previous rust...its missing an engine mount, which I hadn't noticed....He assured me that generally the engines on these cars are bombproof and its a lot of car for the money (which I knew anyway).
I did feel better as a non mechanic having got the opinion of a Mercedes tech who himself owns a W208 3.2 Cabriolet and E210 320CDI estate from the same vintage and loves this era of Merc. He will also try and track down the service history for me via Merc and offered to help where he can using his Merc laptop to check out any malfunction codes on the computer.
The Wife and oldest daughter don't like the Merc, but I think basically if I sell one of my three cars, peace will be restored. This is only a weekend/fun car.
I guess being a mechanical simpleton, I am a bit frightened of the car and what horrors it might be hiding. I've never taken a risk in owning an old and potentially costly to run car like this before!!
Overall though it has got under my skin and is a likeable old thing.
I run an r129 SL500 and A124 E320 cabriolet as weekend cars. My wife and daughters at best dislike them, and my wife has driven each only once. Any journey in either is under sufferance.
But, I like them, my wife and my eldest daughter have cars of their own, so there are no issues and no enforced disposal.
Your CLK's biggest weakness is rust, which sounds like is under control, and mechanically they are solid things. Yes, there will be issues due to age, but nothing that can't be addressed - Google searches will bring up fixes for most of the maladies of MBs of this era.
But, I like them, my wife and my eldest daughter have cars of their own, so there are no issues and no enforced disposal.
Your CLK's biggest weakness is rust, which sounds like is under control, and mechanically they are solid things. Yes, there will be issues due to age, but nothing that can't be addressed - Google searches will bring up fixes for most of the maladies of MBs of this era.
Edited by Stegel on Wednesday 20th April 11:26
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