CLK320 what to look out for

[bbg1400]

I feel the urge to pick up a mid 2000's CLK 320 in petrol. My wife and I had both had big petrol cars in the past (Monaro V8 & 4.0 Jeeps) but are now bored driving diesels. Is there anything in particular to watch out for.

[ZX10R NIN]

Depending on what year/model there are a couple of things, if it's a W208 model then rust is your big enemy if it's a W209 then the pre facelift models sometimes had a problem with the heater flaps this can be identified by a clicking sound coming from the centre console when you first start the car.

Secondly check the paint code if you see a C or K near the paint code then it means that car has Ceramic Lacquer which isn't a problem as long as the car is clean but if it has a scratch then it becomes an expensive repair.

Thirdly the spark plug change isn't cheap as there are 12 of them, I'd recommend the W209 over the 208 as it has less issues.

I have a a few CLK's all 209's & haven't had any major issues.

[clarkmagpie]

Out of curiosity, why??
I had one for a few years and it didn't feel anything special.
Rust was a massive issue as well.

My money would be going elsewhere.

[ZX10R NIN]

I take it you had a W208

[bbg1400]

We've widened the search to CLK500/CL500/600 cars as well. I've seen clean and very rusty versions of all the cars mentioned.

My last Merc was a new 99 T Vito and that dissolved before our eyes and had to go by the time it was two years old.

With my sensible head on I'm looking at a 2004 2.6 CLK240 this week as it has the internal/external colour scheme I want. I don't want silver paint and I don't want black leather.

[ZX10R NIN]

CL's are another level of bork factor.

Nice looking 500

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