Sunday 8th April 2018

Mercedes-Benz CL600: Spotted

At less than a tenth of its original cost, could this 5.8-litre V12 coupe be the ultimate in bargain luxury?

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There's something deeply decadent about the idea of a large, powerful and luxurious two-door coupe, especially one based on an existing four-door saloon. It not only embodies the proper etymology of the moniker 'coupe' - literally a carriage cut short - it also broadcasts to the world at large that the owner, or at least the original owner, had enough money to spend a little more on a little less, all in the name of style.

Thus it is that those quite rightly tempted by an elderly S-Class saloon would be much better off in this dashing CL600, a top-of-the-range grand tourer with huge amounts of tech and much added road presence - just check out the shape of its gorgeous rear window, for one.

It's shorter in the wheelbase, natch, and faster, being a fraction lighter and a little lower. Under the elegant bonnet of the early second-gen car we've located in our classifieds is a 362hp 5.8-litre V12, admittedly not the wonderfully powerful twin-turbo version found in later models, but nonetheless an engine hot enough to waft the CL from 0 to 60mph in a swift 5.8 seconds and on to a whisper-quiet and limited top speed of 155mph.

On the road, you'll still be hard-pressed to find something more refined and comfortable today. The ride of these things is soft and pillowy, the body control imperious and the handling surprisingly agile, thanks in no small part to its hydraulic Active Body Control system, which helped to keep it all on an even keel.

Indeed, considering the amount of technology inside these things, it's a wonder they can move at all. The CL is dripping with driver aids, with electrical this and electronic that, while inside is a heavily luxurious leather-lined interior stuffed with all sorts of goodies. And if you're worried about its two doors being less practical, fear not: they have multi-link door hinges for wider opening and easier access and are pneumatically self-closing, too.

This particular car cost £98,000 when it was new in June 2000, and has had a claimed £100,000 spent on it since, an enormous and slightly frightening figure seemingly backed up by a huge stash of invoices. That it's up for just £6,890 could be seen as a good return - or a bad one, I suppose, if you're selling it. It also has a full Mercedes-Benz service history and an MOT until January 2019 and, while it's true that you can pick up a similar CL500 V8 version for even less than this V12 one, if you're going to be deeply decadent why compromise?

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SPECIFICATION - MERCEDES CL600

Engine: 5,786cc, V12
Transmission: 5-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 367@5,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 391@4,250rpm
MPG: 21.2
CO2: 310g/km
First registered: 2000
Recorded mileage: 119,000
Price new: £98,120
Yours for: £6,890

See the original advert here.

Mark Pearson

[Hairymonster]

Lovely car, but definitely one for the brave wallet-wise.

[Hairymonster]

chris333 said:

keegs111 said:

This car was sold at auction in March for £5300 including fees

https://www.historics.co.uk/buying/auctions/2018-0...

Private seller now. Would be interesting to know the reason for sale...

The chance to enjoy a big luxo-barge for a few weeks then turn a quick £1,500 profit before any big bills are looming?

[Hairymonster]

406dogvan said:

nicfaz said:

This post is absolutely spot on. As an owner of a (different) 55k car, it's those or the 600TT that are worth it, not this one. And those idiots spouting "if you can't afford to buy it new you can't afford to run it" are indeed clueless.

There's still a massive dollop of truth in the £100K car has £100K running costs thing

Not everything can be bodged or worked-around - even in this era and a newer car (say post 2010) is FAR worse.

We had a 2009 ML recently with an indicator fault - the ONLY solution was a new rear SAM from MB (over £2000 and an 8 week wait) which has to be coded by someone with STAR + subscription - that's the sort of thing you have to accept with cars like that, almost £3000 to make the indicators work

The CL500 we had took a used SAM but that was still £350 and whilst it solved the drain/crash issues the old one had, it had a few quirks of it's own so it needs an occasional 'hard reset' to keep it chooching...

A V10/12 will also ruin you just on consumables - plugs, coil packs, the sheer amount of oil etc. - even a cheap service is costly.
My boss ran an S6 (V10) and still notably winces if you say "coil pack replacement" or "intake flaps"

Not everyone that lusts after big old barges like this had the necessary skills to keep one running themselves by spending time on the users' forums and learning the tricks to avoid ruinous running costs.

I would LURVE something like this, but I know the first time I switched the ignition on and saw loads of red lights coming on and not disappearing during the pre-flight checks, I would be worrying about which of my children's body parts it may be necessary to sell to get the thing repaired!

These SAMs (Signal Acquisition Modules) sound like a complete f***ing nightmare. £3k to get the bloody indicators working. What sort of manufacturer thinks this is the way to go, such that a relatively simple, yet obligatory car function needs that sort of dosh to sort out? (yeah, I know, Mercedes) - No wonder KIA's 7 year 100k warranty is such a hit. Such are the perils inherent in luxo-barging :-)

Does anyone know how to change the cam-belts on my Maserati BiTurbo? Who knew that those oblong-shaped headlamps, of which there were 2 on either side of the Maser, were the same units fitted to a Fiat 127 of the same era?

(Haven't really got a Biturbo, despite having lusted over them since the early 90's. If you want a serious moneypit......)

Edited by Hairymonster on Sunday 8th April 22:49