2006 CLK55 AMG Cabriolet
Discussion
Hi All,
I've only owned this a short time so these are the dealer photos. I want to mention that I bought this car from Peach's garage in Berkshire and I cannot recommend them highly enough; the proprietor John made the whole experience very much like that you'd expect when buying a new Mercedes, let alone a second hand one. In fact the bulb warning came after I'd bought the car and John paid for the remedial work which turned out to be a rear SAM costing £545.
It's one of the rare MY06 55s so benefits from the full factory-fitted facelift specification rather than the intermediate interior-only facelift of the 54 plate vehicles. This means the later steering rack and forged aluminium suspension components which were introduced in response to criticism about the way the early cars drove. It has the 6 pot front and 4 pot rear brakes which came in sometime in late 2004. It's just clocked up 40k miles and really is immaculate. I was dead set against a Black one thinking it was very dull and boring, but my G/F urged me to look at one and I'm glad I did.
Having made a sacrifice to buy our first house there was a very bland five year gap in my performance car ownership record, so this will be my first car of interest since an E46 M3 I had in 2007. I did various Diesel M Sport 3 series in the interim, and also a 270CDi CLK which I found to be a very good car in its own right (http://www.mwstewart.co.uk/articles/w209sport/). The M3 is probably the natural competitor for 55 so that's what I shall draw my comparison against.
Initial impressions are that there is an air of quality with the AMG that the old M3 would find hard to match. The engine is a real delight and is absolutely silky smooth, and the real surprise for me is the exhaust note which I did not expect to find quite so sonorous; at high RPM it actually matches the M3 for a grin factor. In terms of spec it has COMAND APS, Harman/Kardon LOGIC 7, heated seats and luxury climate, which I think are standard in these. It has power fold mirrors which must have been improved with the facelift because they operate much faster and quieter than those on my last 209 CLK. It has ventilated seats, automatic child seat recognition (not an option you'd associate with this type of car), and a power boot lid. The interior is black and being a full facelift car it is actual black trim rather than the very dark grey seen previously. The only thing I'm not keen on are the white dials which look a little cheap, but they do look good when illuminated at night. I've ordered a set of 63 dial faces to go on but they haven't arrived yet.
It's a very nice place to sit and drive around in, the gearbox is smooth as ever and the NVH is on par with the coupe, which is a vast improvement from the late E46 Cabriolet's I've owned. The body stiffness is slightly behind the coupe 209 however, which I am reminded of by the various roof seal squeaks.
It is on first impressions a great car, but in the 1000 miles I've covered so far I'm yet to really fall in love with it. I seem to remember it took a month for the M3 to really get under my skin so I'll take stock in another few weeks.
Cheers.
I've only owned this a short time so these are the dealer photos. I want to mention that I bought this car from Peach's garage in Berkshire and I cannot recommend them highly enough; the proprietor John made the whole experience very much like that you'd expect when buying a new Mercedes, let alone a second hand one. In fact the bulb warning came after I'd bought the car and John paid for the remedial work which turned out to be a rear SAM costing £545.
It's one of the rare MY06 55s so benefits from the full factory-fitted facelift specification rather than the intermediate interior-only facelift of the 54 plate vehicles. This means the later steering rack and forged aluminium suspension components which were introduced in response to criticism about the way the early cars drove. It has the 6 pot front and 4 pot rear brakes which came in sometime in late 2004. It's just clocked up 40k miles and really is immaculate. I was dead set against a Black one thinking it was very dull and boring, but my G/F urged me to look at one and I'm glad I did.
Having made a sacrifice to buy our first house there was a very bland five year gap in my performance car ownership record, so this will be my first car of interest since an E46 M3 I had in 2007. I did various Diesel M Sport 3 series in the interim, and also a 270CDi CLK which I found to be a very good car in its own right (http://www.mwstewart.co.uk/articles/w209sport/). The M3 is probably the natural competitor for 55 so that's what I shall draw my comparison against.
Initial impressions are that there is an air of quality with the AMG that the old M3 would find hard to match. The engine is a real delight and is absolutely silky smooth, and the real surprise for me is the exhaust note which I did not expect to find quite so sonorous; at high RPM it actually matches the M3 for a grin factor. In terms of spec it has COMAND APS, Harman/Kardon LOGIC 7, heated seats and luxury climate, which I think are standard in these. It has power fold mirrors which must have been improved with the facelift because they operate much faster and quieter than those on my last 209 CLK. It has ventilated seats, automatic child seat recognition (not an option you'd associate with this type of car), and a power boot lid. The interior is black and being a full facelift car it is actual black trim rather than the very dark grey seen previously. The only thing I'm not keen on are the white dials which look a little cheap, but they do look good when illuminated at night. I've ordered a set of 63 dial faces to go on but they haven't arrived yet.
It's a very nice place to sit and drive around in, the gearbox is smooth as ever and the NVH is on par with the coupe, which is a vast improvement from the late E46 Cabriolet's I've owned. The body stiffness is slightly behind the coupe 209 however, which I am reminded of by the various roof seal squeaks.
It is on first impressions a great car, but in the 1000 miles I've covered so far I'm yet to really fall in love with it. I seem to remember it took a month for the M3 to really get under my skin so I'll take stock in another few weeks.
Cheers.
That looks fantastic, Good choice sir!
Its the first CLK55 I have seen with the facelift and it looks very fresh for it too.
I have driven a pre facelift cab, that I too was pleasantly surprised at just how vocal it was even on part throttle.
Enjoy
Its the first CLK55 I have seen with the facelift and it looks very fresh for it too.
I have driven a pre facelift cab, that I too was pleasantly surprised at just how vocal it was even on part throttle.
Enjoy
Edited by wolfy1988 on Friday 29th June 17:21
Interesting post, particularly about the differences in model years and the aluminium suspension.
I'm a sporty Mercedes fan, but am avoiding everything from the start of this century due to the reliability problems, and assessing how the later cars go, such as this one. So this was useful to me.
I'm a sporty Mercedes fan, but am avoiding everything from the start of this century due to the reliability problems, and assessing how the later cars go, such as this one. So this was useful to me.
Thanks all.
The Cabriolet's never got quad exhausts because of a different boot floor arrangement that doesn't leave space for the O/S silencer, though I've actually bought a new O/S silencer and plan to see what can be done to retrofit it somehow
There is a noticeable difference between it and the Coupé. I wouldn't say it's untoward for a Cab, though.
I've just ordered an MB iPod interface and some paddles for the steering wheel, so I'll update on how I get on fitting those.
Cheers.
The Cabriolet's never got quad exhausts because of a different boot floor arrangement that doesn't leave space for the O/S silencer, though I've actually bought a new O/S silencer and plan to see what can be done to retrofit it somehow
There is a noticeable difference between it and the Coupé. I wouldn't say it's untoward for a Cab, though.
I've just ordered an MB iPod interface and some paddles for the steering wheel, so I'll update on how I get on fitting those.
Cheers.
Edited by mwstewart on Monday 16th September 13:47
Max M4X WW said:
Fair enough, had a look on AT but couldn't see any. They must of all been early ones.
Yes all earlier on there. I've only ever seen one other in the UK which is a red cab owned by someone on a UK Mercedes forum. They were much more common in the states, but a very rare thing over here.In addition to the rear SAM failure something else has gone wrong with the car: after a long journey a 'visit workshop' message appeared in the cluster together with a battery symbol. I did a little reading on the net and found out how to access the diagnostic menu in the cluster, which helped me to observe that the battery voltage was only 10.5 volts with the engine running, and in fact it was slowly discharging over time. The car had a new Mercedes battery fitted last year so I ruled out a battery issue, I inspected the alternator windings and they didn't show any obvious sign of burning out, so I diagnosed a faulty regulator/rectifier. I ordered the part from the local dealer which was a surprisingly cheap £31. I had Mercedes fit it too and the total bill was only £118, and that fixed it. I have found the Mercedes customer service to be excellent so far, both on the occasions I've had this car at the dealership and the CLK I owned a few years ago.
I did go on a bit of a shopping spree at Mercedes, but haven't had time to fit anything yet:
63 Paddles to replace the smaller versions in mine. They are nice items being cast alloy.
63 Instrument cluster face and dials.
iPod interface.
Black Series front and rear Anti Roll Bars
A guy in the states had some 63 style wing badges made, but with the 5.5
These I did get time to fit.
I did go on a bit of a shopping spree at Mercedes, but haven't had time to fit anything yet:
63 Paddles to replace the smaller versions in mine. They are nice items being cast alloy.
63 Instrument cluster face and dials.
iPod interface.
Black Series front and rear Anti Roll Bars
A guy in the states had some 63 style wing badges made, but with the 5.5
These I did get time to fit.
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