W208 CLK55 AMG - What are they like?

[Mark34bn]

Hi I'm looking for a bit of advice from anyone who has experience of the CLK55 AMG. I'm changing my car in the new year and I'd previously shortlisted the BMW E46 M3 / E39 M5 or a 2.7 RS4. As you can tell the shape isn't really important. I've recently seen a few CLK55's on Ebay and I really like the look of them. I seem to be drawn towards Mercedes more and more these days, I've owned BMW's for the past 7 years and whilst great cars the chances to really use them on the road are few and far between.
Do the CLK's rust like some other late 90's Mercs ? Do they feel like big heavy cars to drive ?
Any info would be much appreciated.

[buccal]

Rust around arches and bootlid are the main problem areas affecting the vast majority of cars

The vast majority are silver so you could have a long wait if you want something else.

Engine/gearbox are solid but usual caveats re full history especially spark plug change and brake discs and pads can be expensive.

Watch specs as Command, sunroof and parktronic are probably must haves for most people

Plenty of power, handle well for a GT, very stiff around town, economical on a run, pretty awful on urban cycle.

Plenty for sale but finding a really nice one is a struggle.

[Mark34bn]

Cheers, I'm not too worried about the MPG as I only do about 5000miles per year and TBH all of my previous cars have had cr4p mpg so I'm used to it!
I don't mind if rust is confined to wheelarches etc, I know a very good bodyshop. As long as they don't rot where you can't get at it. As long as the CLK55's don't have loads of electronic gremlins I really fancy one . I'll happily sacrifice the nth degree of driver involvement that an M3 would provide for massive torque and a bit more refinement.

[EvoSlayer]

I ran one of these for 4 years and it never missed a beat, no issues whatsoever. Covers the miles effortlessly and with plety of grunt, however, not to be confused with a sportscar, too heavy and numb to be driven with any kind of vigour. Still, that said, I really liked mine.

[CLK55AMG]

I love mine, though now with a baby on the way its getting a little impractical!

Mine is also the only one every made in chaldoncy blue (the s class colour of the time)

its done 95000 miles and has full mercedes benz service history

if you are interested im only looking for about £7k for it so email me at [e-mail]