CLS 320cdi. Advice please.

[4340BB]

I went to look at a 2008 MY and was very impressed by how nice it was.
Is there anything I need to look out for on these cars or are they pretty reliable and trouble free.

Many thanks
Ben

[Stegel]

I've run my 56 plate since brand new - the longest I have ever kept a car - and still love it to bits at almost 70k miles. Apart from normal servicing, it had a crank-case pulley replaced and a gearbox software upgrade as factory recalls, and a rear seat cup holder under warranty. It broke a front spring at about 50k miles and 4 years (MB did a 90% goodwill contribution to the cost) and yesterday had a new glow-plug. Apart from that it has been totally reliable and still feels as tight and solid as day one. I'm not aware of any common problems, but perhaps I got a good one and others will advise differently!

[[k]arl]

I have had a CLS 320CDI for just over a year now, similar age/milage to Stegel's. Problems I have encountered:

• Mine seemed to go through the recommended Michelins quite quickly; I switched to Bridgestones and this seems to have helped with both longevity and grip;
• A while ago the GPS antenna failed, and the car recently developed a creaky front suspension ball joint; both were described to me as "common CLS faults", but easily and quickly fixed;
• There has been one instance of a weeping driveshaft oil seal, and one of a blocked EGR pipe/faulty DPF sensor triggering Limp Home Mode; not sure how common these issues are;

Otherwise, the car feels great to drive and solidly built! Overall, I've been very happy with mine thus far.

HTH

[k]

[SFO]

I have Conti Sport Contact 3 MOs on my CLS55 .. excellent. The rears lasted 13k miles. Fronts are less than half worn at 13k miles.

[4340BB]

Thank you for the replies guys.
It is much appreciated.

Regards
Ben

[just0007]

I have had mine for two years now 2007 model now with 56000 miles, fantastic car. Mine has the brabus d6 box great performance and with the air suspension gives the car the ability to waft along. Touch wood apart from a brake switch the car has been reliable and only needed routine servicing. The shape in my opinion still looks slick and I would try and find one with the amg body kit. I have no intention of selling mine anytime soon!

[m44kts]

Granted I've only had mine since July last year, and I've only done sub 3k miles in it, but it's been a pleasure to own. I bought it with 109k on the clock, got it at a very reasonable price due to it having a couple of issues, one being a blown exhaust and the glow plug light staying on.

Exhaust blow was a manifold flexi joint, was £320 from Mercedes which I was pleasantly surprised at, (The garage were telling me they had to replace the centre silencer on a CL500, it was about the size of 3 baked bean tins and was over £800 from Mercedes, hence why I was anticipating thousands! The glow plug issue was plug no. 6 & the control unit at the front of the engine bay. Apparently, the glow plug module is a common thing to go wrong, hence Mercedes changing the part numbers and upping the price of them from £190 to over £400. Luckily the garage managed to track one down with the old part number so saved over £200 on it. About 6 weeks ago, the starter wouldn't disengage when I started it, did it a few times so had it checked out, the suspicion was that the solenoid was sticking every so often so had it replaced for piece of mind.

Other than that, it's been fine, I love driving it, it's smooth, quiet and still looks like an expensive motor. Only thing I couldn't get used to were the seats, coming from 14 way adjustable arm chairs of an L322 Range Rover vogue, it took me a while until I got the seat adjusted just so in the CLS, but once I did, it's really rather comfortable. Power delivery is very smooth and plenty of mid range shove, just a shame the ESP is so keen to cut back in when you turn it off, I can see it being a problem when/if the snow arrives.

[damo8]

Had my 2008 cls for the last 2 and a half years, cover approx 25K miles a year.
Bought it at 28K, now on 90K
Turbo blew at 40K (Mercedes warranty repair - otherwise £4K bill)
Wiper fell off.
Windows sometimes fail to close when the door shuts (easy reset trick).
Wheel broke at 50K (dont remember driving over anything nasty.
Heat valve broken means have to set inside temp to 25 degrees before it starts to warm up inside (£500 quote to fix)
Recent blowout shows the tyre shoulders worn through with 6 mm tread left. (the previous Nokians coverered 35K miles) The suspension has 'collapsed' and requires new Camber bolts/shims and a complete geometry reset (£700) - many web posts from CLS owners with broken springs, so might replace mine while I am at it.

A beautiful car, great to drive but very fragile and expensive to fix.