Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 14]

[nobrakes]

0a said:

Oh dear I can't help but want to attend the next one of these... This clk500 looks like a bargain at £2,650: https://angliacarauctions.co.uk/classic/saturday-1...

I think CLKs are generally an under the radar kind of car. Often second cars in a household, it’s not hard to find ones with low miles.

Some look a bit dated/ geeky, but some really look the part.

A merc 500 engine doesn’t have a lot of work to do in that size of car...

[r129sl]

The results of the Anglia auction are interesting. A lot of no sales: anything over-priced didn’t go and a lot of the scrap didn’t sell. Maybe the market is cooling finally. But some bargains as noted. The 525iX tourer for £2k is interesting.

[Riley Blue]

pitchfork said:

I called BMW insurance. Once.

I didn't get an exact price as the bloke on the end said "It's four figures and starts with a two."

---

Where is the northern meet? The diary just says 'Chesterfield-ish'.

In the car park of the Devonshire Arms at Beeley - here: https://www.devonshirebeeley.co.uk

[E65Ross]

0a said:

Oh dear I can't help but want to attend the next one of these... This clk500 looks like a bargain at £2,650: https://angliacarauctions.co.uk/classic/saturday-1...

I've said it before and I'll say it again....I'm not sure if it was just a lemon, but my old man had a CLK350 cab from new, it looked great but jeez the build quality was awful.

[JOB2.5-16]

r129sl said:

The results of the Anglia auction are interesting. A lot of no sales: anything over-priced didn’t go and a lot of the scrap didn’t sell. Maybe the market is cooling finally. But some bargains as noted. The 525iX tourer for £2k is interesting.

It was interesting, right up to the huge hole at the front of the right hand sill. I have a bit of an itch for one of those, I was under bidder on one at H&H last year but wouldnt have touched that white one.

[Mr Ponkerson]

That lovely Bavarian drop top above got me browsing, I came across this, erm, tastefully modified example with turbo conversion costing £1500, this must be an absolute bargain, just look at the quality of this install:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/52-MERCEDES-BENZ-CL500-...

[Hammerhead]

E65Ross said:

0a said:

Oh dear I can't help but want to attend the next one of these... This clk500 looks like a bargain at £2,650: https://angliacarauctions.co.uk/classic/saturday-1...

I've said it before and I'll say it again....I'm not sure if it was just a lemon, but my old man had a CLK350 cab from new, it looked great but jeez the build quality was awful.

I had a 320 coupe. Build was fine on mine, it was the rusty body at 3yrs old/30k miles that ruined it for me. Sold it back to MB after 12 months a very dissapointed customer, not stepping foot on their forecourts for another 15 years. Once bitten... Shame as it was a very comfy cruiser (if a bit stodgy through the bends) and felt marvellous driving along with all four windows down.

[XMified]

Hammerhead said:

E65Ross said:

0a said:

Oh dear I can't help but want to attend the next one of these... This clk500 looks like a bargain at £2,650: https://angliacarauctions.co.uk/classic/saturday-1...

I've said it before and I'll say it again....I'm not sure if it was just a lemon, but my old man had a CLK350 cab from new, it looked great but jeez the build quality was awful.

I had a 320 coupe. Build was fine on mine, it was the rusty body at 3yrs old/30k miles that ruined it for me. Sold it back to MB after 12 months a very dissapointed customer, not stepping foot on their forecourts for another 15 years. Once bitten... Shame as it was a very comfy cruiser (if a bit stodgy through the bends) and felt marvellous driving along with all four windows down.

It's probably important to mention which era of CLK you mean, my guess would be the W208 (199*-2002?). They did rust like the Titanic, along with seemingly every other Mercedes from 1999 to 2002.


I went to look at a W208 CLK430 this time last year. Liked it well enough, pretty zippy with 280bhp in a smallish car. Called the next day to seal the deal and the guy had changed his mind about selling it!

[Hammerhead]

XMified said:

Hammerhead said:

E65Ross said:

0a said:

Oh dear I can't help but want to attend the next one of these... This clk500 looks like a bargain at £2,650: https://angliacarauctions.co.uk/classic/saturday-1...

I've said it before and I'll say it again....I'm not sure if it was just a lemon, but my old man had a CLK350 cab from new, it looked great but jeez the build quality was awful.

I had a 320 coupe. Build was fine on mine, it was the rusty body at 3yrs old/30k miles that ruined it for me. Sold it back to MB after 12 months a very dissapointed customer, not stepping foot on their forecourts for another 15 years. Once bitten... Shame as it was a very comfy cruiser (if a bit stodgy through the bends) and felt marvellous driving along with all four windows down.

It's probably important to mention which era of CLK you mean, my guess would be the W208 (199*-2002?). They did rust like the Titanic, along with seemingly every other Mercedes from 1999 to 2002.


I went to look at a W208 CLK430 this time last year. Liked it well enough, pretty zippy with 280bhp in a smallish car. Called the next day to seal the deal and the guy had changed his mind about selling it!

Mine was a W209, 2002, so first batch of that series. Spidery rust on rear arches, bootlid and bonnet. Seriously unimpressed!

[XMified]

Hammerhead said:

Mine was a W209, 2002, so first batch of that series. Spidery rust on rear arches, bootlid and bonnet. Seriously unimpressed!

Low point of Mercedes' history, '99-02/03. Rust seemed under control again by 2004/5, but how they got away with that period with any sort of reputation intact is beyond me. People still talk crap about "rusty Alfas" and "all French cars are useless", yet of Mercedes, not a whisper.

[Krikkit]

Mr Ponkerson said:

That lovely Bavarian drop top above got me browsing, I came across this, erm, tastefully modified example with turbo conversion costing £1500, this must be an absolute bargain, just look at the quality of this install:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/52-MERCEDES-BENZ-CL500-...

Good grief, poor thing.

[E65Ross]

This was a 2006 car with the 7g tronic gearbox.

[longblackcoat]

Mr Ponkerson said:

That lovely Bavarian drop top above got me browsing, I came across this, erm, tastefully modified example with turbo conversion costing £1500, this must be an absolute bargain, just look at the quality of this install:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/52-MERCEDES-BENZ-CL500-...

The bonnet vent is an, er, acquired taste.

[nobrakes]

0a said:

Oh dear I can't help but want to attend the next one of these... This clk500 looks like a bargain at £2,650: https://angliacarauctions.co.uk/classic/saturday-1...

I think CLKs are generally an under the radar kind of car. Often second cars in a household, it’s not hard to find ones with low miles.

Some look a bit dated/ geeky, but some really look the part.

A merc 500 engine doesn’t have a lot of work to do in that size of car...

[BrabusMog]

nobrakes said:

0a said:

Oh dear I can't help but want to attend the next one of these... This clk500 looks like a bargain at £2,650: https://angliacarauctions.co.uk/classic/saturday-1...

I think CLKs are generally an under the radar kind of car. Often second cars in a household, it’s not hard to find ones with low miles.

Some look a bit dated/ geeky, but some really look the part.

A merc 500 engine doesn’t have a lot of work to do in that size of car...

Wrong wheels on that one though, I had them on my E500 coupe.

[Etypephil]

Croutons said:

I know that bitcoin isn't making scumbags money any more, but the move to marketing "any old crap" for mega money is absurd. Here we have 2 E39's:

Year 2000 528i. £1250.
https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1077942

Here we have a 2000 528i. £24,000
https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1099835

Just fk right off...

The former looks a decent buy; it even has an appropriate registration number. :-) The latter is some kind of joke.

[anonymous-user]

E65Ross said:

This was a 2006 car with the 7g tronic gearbox.

Ex-MIL had a 2007 CLK220 cab from new, and it was riddled with faults from day one, and I've never known anyone have a new car (or any car other than ancient barges) that had so many issues. They still have it, and it's not done many miles, but it's absolutely knackered and the roof hasn't worked for years. The Fisher Price/Mr Blobby interior design "language" Mercedes used at the time is laughably dated now too.

I don't think even a V8 could make one desireable to me; my 2008 Volvo C70 is better in absolutely every way, and it's even less floppy.

Edited by dme123 on Thursday 18th April 14:54

[Croutons]

Wonder what's up with Lot 21 tomorrow?



https://angliacarauctions.co.uk/modern/friday-19th...

[SpeckledJim]

Croutons said:

Wonder what's up with Lot 21 tomorrow?



https://angliacarauctions.co.uk/modern/friday-19th...

A rattling inlet manifold is fairly likely to be the specific disaster afflicting that, assuming there is one.

If it's all shipshape then that's a superb option for someone.

[derin100]

JOB2.5-16 said:

r129sl said:

The results of the Anglia auction are interesting. A lot of no sales: anything over-priced didn’t go and a lot of the scrap didn’t sell. Maybe the market is cooling finally. But some bargains as noted. The 525iX tourer for £2k is interesting.

It was interesting, right up to the huge hole at the front of the right hand sill. I have a bit of an itch for one of those, I was under bidder on one at H&H last year but wouldnt have touched that white one.

Also, obviously there are quite a few model specific parts in them IIRC of the type that would be only obtainable (If still available) through BMW.
I don't how much of a problem this is on the 5-er but on the E30 325ix there are model specific parts that one necessarily intuitively predict like body panels etc.