Mercedes CLK55 AMG Convertible
Discussion
Prompted by another thread I thought it time I posted my CLK.
I’ve a history of convertibles, mainly 2 seaters, and have owned 6 x MX5’s, MGF, Z3 2.8 and 2 x Porsche Boxsters. With daily duties being taken care of in an X Type 2.2D and the missus having a C4 Cactus (cheap lease deal) the hunt was on for something a bit more fun.
Now with children I decided something that would allow us to use as a family was in order and with less time to spend fiddling with cars I decided something “off-the-shelf” with hopefully little tinkering was required. I pretty soon narrowed it down to M3, S4 or CLK 55 which are reasonably safe choices.
Then I decided it has to be a V8 (I’ve never owned one before) and as the Audi left me feeling a bit cold a search for a Mercedes was on. Search narrowed to a facelift W209 as I preferred the interior.
Bought the below with more miles than I wanted (110k) but condition won me over. Previous owner for about 8 years who paid £40k for it secondhand and traded in a Ferrari 456. Only ever serviced at Mercedes including tyres and wiper blades. Coupled with excellent bodywork and a high spec including xenons, command, heated and ventilated seats, inflating seats (not adaptively but 4 airbags in the seat you can adjust although these may be standard) and Bose.
Most second hand cars have some problems and this is no exception. Everything works except the drivers heated seat and the ventilated seats are frankly rubbish. Also it has the classic CLK clicking behind the dash on startup. This is due to the plastic cogs used in the ventilation system which adjust on startup. It's a dash out job to replace so I'll probably just live with it as it only lasts for 20 seconds or so.
Been using it for about 6 months now and really enjoying it although my first problem encountered. The roof has decided not to shut properly. The clamshell opens and the roof rises but then it stops. The pump is still whirring and if you push the clamshell down manually it will then continue and latch properly. I suspect a microswitch somewhere, probably the top of the windscreen, which prevents the roof moving to the next part of the sequence as it opens perfectly. Going into a specialist shortly to put onto Star for diagnostics.
Other than that some obligatory pics. Some are the sellers as I haven’t really taken many.
I’ve a history of convertibles, mainly 2 seaters, and have owned 6 x MX5’s, MGF, Z3 2.8 and 2 x Porsche Boxsters. With daily duties being taken care of in an X Type 2.2D and the missus having a C4 Cactus (cheap lease deal) the hunt was on for something a bit more fun.
Now with children I decided something that would allow us to use as a family was in order and with less time to spend fiddling with cars I decided something “off-the-shelf” with hopefully little tinkering was required. I pretty soon narrowed it down to M3, S4 or CLK 55 which are reasonably safe choices.
Then I decided it has to be a V8 (I’ve never owned one before) and as the Audi left me feeling a bit cold a search for a Mercedes was on. Search narrowed to a facelift W209 as I preferred the interior.
Bought the below with more miles than I wanted (110k) but condition won me over. Previous owner for about 8 years who paid £40k for it secondhand and traded in a Ferrari 456. Only ever serviced at Mercedes including tyres and wiper blades. Coupled with excellent bodywork and a high spec including xenons, command, heated and ventilated seats, inflating seats (not adaptively but 4 airbags in the seat you can adjust although these may be standard) and Bose.
Most second hand cars have some problems and this is no exception. Everything works except the drivers heated seat and the ventilated seats are frankly rubbish. Also it has the classic CLK clicking behind the dash on startup. This is due to the plastic cogs used in the ventilation system which adjust on startup. It's a dash out job to replace so I'll probably just live with it as it only lasts for 20 seconds or so.
Been using it for about 6 months now and really enjoying it although my first problem encountered. The roof has decided not to shut properly. The clamshell opens and the roof rises but then it stops. The pump is still whirring and if you push the clamshell down manually it will then continue and latch properly. I suspect a microswitch somewhere, probably the top of the windscreen, which prevents the roof moving to the next part of the sequence as it opens perfectly. Going into a specialist shortly to put onto Star for diagnostics.
Other than that some obligatory pics. Some are the sellers as I haven’t really taken many.
Very beautiful car! I hope you can enjoy it without further expensive failures - IMO it is nerve-wracking when little things don´t work on a car that cost an awful lot of money when new, even if it is a bit older now and used.
I also like the fact that there is such a modestly looking exhaust on such a powerful car. Are you planning to clean the 55 AMG badge of the boodlid? It would be a perfect sleeper.
I also like the fact that there is such a modestly looking exhaust on such a powerful car. Are you planning to clean the 55 AMG badge of the boodlid? It would be a perfect sleeper.
crmax said:
Very beautiful car! I hope you can enjoy it without further expensive failures - IMO it is nerve-wracking when little things don´t work on a car that cost an awful lot of money when new, even if it is a bit older now and used.
I also like the fact that there is such a modestly looking exhaust on such a powerful car. Are you planning to clean the 55 AMG badge of the boodlid? It would be a perfect sleeper.
Thanks and I'm prepared for some biggish bills - it is inevitable at some point. The engines/gearboxes are meant to be relatively reliable as they are quite unstressed but it still has running costs of a £60k car. The one I'm not looking forward too is brakes - the front discs are £600 each to buy! I also like the fact that there is such a modestly looking exhaust on such a powerful car. Are you planning to clean the 55 AMG badge of the boodlid? It would be a perfect sleeper.
CHARLESBERG said:
Very nice, looks to be in great condition- the Xenon headlights certainly look they could keep the exterior looking smart alone!
How does it compare to the two seaters you've had?
I do think its a nice subtle car and with a private plate could pass for something more modern - not new but younger than it is. My X Type IMO looks much more dated than this already even though it is newer.How does it compare to the two seaters you've had?
It's a different experience to all of my previous cars and to some of its competition (M3). It is a much more lazy car and combined with softer suspension and a traditional auto is more of a cruiser and with the V8 will pull well from lower revs. That style suits me now though. Most of my previous cars have been tracked at some point but I wouldn't track this - it just isn't setup for it.
For me it is probably the fastest (at least in a straight line) car I have owned but times have moved on and there are some modern hot hatches that are as quick and would annihilate it on a track. They don't have a V8 though ;-)
Sir Bagalot said:
That so needs debadging
A few people have mentioned this and I am not sure. It would be great sleeper but what would I remove?If I remove the 55 and AMG and leave CLK it would look a bit odd and if I removed it all I'm not sure I would like it (always looks a little like a replacement bootlid). Maybe some photoshopping required.
0a said:
That looks great - and you get the full benefit of that noise.
Noise was one of the main reasons for a V8 for me. It's all part of the experience. Just need to decide if I get the X-pipe and secondary cats removed or keep it original for when inevitably I decide to move to something else.Fantastic looking car, nice work.
I picked up an 09 CLK 350 cab just before christmas, wanted ideally the 5.5 500 but couldn't find one and the mind took over so got the v6.
I think that sounds good with the top down - visually looks like it has an identical exhaust but I'd imagine the 55 has something more special underneath.
RE the roof, mine messed about a bit but I solved it with some silicon spray on the moving parts - namely the hinges, gas struts, locating pins and anything I could see that looked like it moved once the clamshell was up. Could of course be a microswitch, had this problem on an e93 a few years back, that roof was a nightmare.
I agree, the ventilated seats are quite useless, weirdly I seem to notice them more when used in conjunction with the heated seats! My air seats are temperamental, but there is an easy fix online which involves cleaning and lubricating the air pump under a cover in the boot. I'll probably leave that until summer.
Great car, hope you enjoy it.
I picked up an 09 CLK 350 cab just before christmas, wanted ideally the 5.5 500 but couldn't find one and the mind took over so got the v6.
I think that sounds good with the top down - visually looks like it has an identical exhaust but I'd imagine the 55 has something more special underneath.
RE the roof, mine messed about a bit but I solved it with some silicon spray on the moving parts - namely the hinges, gas struts, locating pins and anything I could see that looked like it moved once the clamshell was up. Could of course be a microswitch, had this problem on an e93 a few years back, that roof was a nightmare.
I agree, the ventilated seats are quite useless, weirdly I seem to notice them more when used in conjunction with the heated seats! My air seats are temperamental, but there is an easy fix online which involves cleaning and lubricating the air pump under a cover in the boot. I'll probably leave that until summer.
Great car, hope you enjoy it.
TryingHard said:
The one I'm not looking forward too is brakes - the front discs are £600 each to buy!
Im sure there are cheaper alternatives now, my brother had an SLK55 and they internet chat used to be the brake discs were £££. Im sure fitted pagid alternatives that were sub £100. Like these a lot, enjoy.
jke11y said:
TryingHard said:
The one I'm not looking forward too is brakes - the front discs are £600 each to buy!
Im sure there are cheaper alternatives now, my brother had an SLK55 and they internet chat used to be the brake discs were £££. Im sure fitted pagid alternatives that were sub £100. Like these a lot, enjoy.
I really fancy trying one of these after mine.
Not much of an update but this was pressed into daily service this week as my daily needed a new EGR valve.
Doing a quick check noticed one of my front tyres had low tread on the inside so decided to get a new set of fronts fitted immediately as I had to leave in a couple of hours.
Whilst on the ramp thought I may as well put a new set on the rear as well whilst I'm there. Whilst the existing ones had plenty of tread I didn't particular like them so a full set went on.
700 miles in 3 days with ease - had to fill up a fair bit but at one point saw 30mpg cruising the motorway for about 30 miles.
Doing a quick check noticed one of my front tyres had low tread on the inside so decided to get a new set of fronts fitted immediately as I had to leave in a couple of hours.
Whilst on the ramp thought I may as well put a new set on the rear as well whilst I'm there. Whilst the existing ones had plenty of tread I didn't particular like them so a full set went on.
700 miles in 3 days with ease - had to fill up a fair bit but at one point saw 30mpg cruising the motorway for about 30 miles.
Edited by TryingHard on Friday 24th March 17:50
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