MB CLK55 AMG (2005)
Discussion
So after a lot of to’ing and fro’ing with the good lady wife about what car we needed to buy (I’ve been car-less since May 2020 using her Toyota verso when needed). Also with WFH becoming more normalised, the next car wouldn’t be doing moon miles, so the MPG wasn’t that important. This car would mainly be for me to commute to a workplace, but it still needed to be able to carry the 2 kids on occasion. I wanted something comfortable because some clients can be 2 hours away. So I started looking at 3 litre MBs when I saw someone mention on the internet that the MPG on the 5 litre was just a couple of MPG lower, which got me thinking….. Call it man-maths, or just destiny but I realised I needed a v8 in my life.
Along with many others, I’ve got to thank ZXR10 with all his help and advice. I spotted this not too far away in Oldham.
I called the seller (a back-street trader) to see if it was still available. A total car check purchase checked out and a pre-purchase inspection also checked out. I would have preferred that an MB specialist would have taken a look but seems like there’s less money in this than just servicing MBs in a warm garage. The mechanic took a photo of the service log and I saw the number of a MB specialist in Kent (Stevensons). I thought I’d give them a call to confirm that the services had been performed as stated in the service book.
I called them up and they said no problem, just let them boot up the computer after an age he said OK what’s the plate, I told him X55 STR “Oh that’s Alex’s car, I don’t even need to check, he’s had everything done” (I wonder if he’s a PHer?). That plate has gone back on retention now.
So went and called the seller to buy the car for £8995 – the more older reader might say £9k for a 16 year old car?!?! And they might be right but 2nd hand car prices is another topic. I came to collect and he’d had it jet-washed, unfortunately the jet-washer must have had the jet about 1cm from the car surface when some paint came off.
The more business-minded would have craftily used this to negotiate down a couple of hundred, reader, I didn’t. Maybe because I also checked the WBAC value the night before and was told £12000 (£3k more than the seller was selling it for! – again a subject for another thread). So drove away with my new 16/17 year merc.
First off, so what’s wrong with the car?
I love the car, it’s analogue, like me. I don’t want to spend a fortune on new cars to keep up with the Jones. But this does look quite understated, which I like. It also feels like with the correct maintenance, it won’t cost the earth to keep it on the road.
I’ve spoken with a friend whose business is moving into wrapping cars (after starting out wrapping buses). I asked about wrapping the car and he said it would depend on what state the paintwork was in. Just like to quiz the PH collective brain as to whether they’d wrap this car and if so would you change the colour? The wheels aren’t standard wheels, and they’d have to match them I suppose.
Along with many others, I’ve got to thank ZXR10 with all his help and advice. I spotted this not too far away in Oldham.
I called the seller (a back-street trader) to see if it was still available. A total car check purchase checked out and a pre-purchase inspection also checked out. I would have preferred that an MB specialist would have taken a look but seems like there’s less money in this than just servicing MBs in a warm garage. The mechanic took a photo of the service log and I saw the number of a MB specialist in Kent (Stevensons). I thought I’d give them a call to confirm that the services had been performed as stated in the service book.
I called them up and they said no problem, just let them boot up the computer after an age he said OK what’s the plate, I told him X55 STR “Oh that’s Alex’s car, I don’t even need to check, he’s had everything done” (I wonder if he’s a PHer?). That plate has gone back on retention now.
So went and called the seller to buy the car for £8995 – the more older reader might say £9k for a 16 year old car?!?! And they might be right but 2nd hand car prices is another topic. I came to collect and he’d had it jet-washed, unfortunately the jet-washer must have had the jet about 1cm from the car surface when some paint came off.
The more business-minded would have craftily used this to negotiate down a couple of hundred, reader, I didn’t. Maybe because I also checked the WBAC value the night before and was told £12000 (£3k more than the seller was selling it for! – again a subject for another thread). So drove away with my new 16/17 year merc.
First off, so what’s wrong with the car?
- There is an occasional clicking from behind the dashboard, I’d mentioned it to the pre-purchase mechanic but it wasn’t spotted. I’ll be living with that, it’s no biggie.
- The radio has been replaced with a pioneer SPHDA230DAB and there is a USB cable in the glove compartment, but I can’t seem to get apple car play working yet (Bluetooth for Spotify works fine).
- There are parking sensors but no cameras, I wonder how difficult it is to fit?
- The MPG is closer to low 20’s but I probably need to reset this (when I work out how).
- There is no air suspension so you can feel bumps in the road. This is a mixed blessing, it also means that there is one less potential cost to worry about.
- I wonder how the rest of the paint on the car will hold out
- It’s very well presented inside and out (apart from the paint thingy)
- It feels like acceleration is insane from any speed.
- Starting it up and hearing the v8 doesn’t ever get tiring. It has the 4 exhaust pipe system which was found on the end of the line models.
- It’s very comfortable.
I love the car, it’s analogue, like me. I don’t want to spend a fortune on new cars to keep up with the Jones. But this does look quite understated, which I like. It also feels like with the correct maintenance, it won’t cost the earth to keep it on the road.
I’ve spoken with a friend whose business is moving into wrapping cars (after starting out wrapping buses). I asked about wrapping the car and he said it would depend on what state the paintwork was in. Just like to quiz the PH collective brain as to whether they’d wrap this car and if so would you change the colour? The wheels aren’t standard wheels, and they’d have to match them I suppose.
mwstewart said:
Very nice. These sound sublime.
The clicking is a common issue with the HVAC system. It's a dash out job to rectify which involves replacing some worn plastic gears. It's DIYable but a long-winded job.
I would advise a smart repair of the wheelarch damage.
Is the HVAC issue associated with the stepper motors which is a known problem on the W203 as well? If so, I'd advise the OP to only get it done by somebody they trust to do the job properly, as others may cause a fair bit of damage to brittle plastics.The clicking is a common issue with the HVAC system. It's a dash out job to rectify which involves replacing some worn plastic gears. It's DIYable but a long-winded job.
I would advise a smart repair of the wheelarch damage.
trevalvole said:
Is the HVAC issue associated with the stepper motors which is a known problem on the W203 as well? If so, I'd advise the OP to only get it done by somebody they trust to do the job properly, as others may cause a fair bit of damage to brittle plastics.
Yes - that's the one.Lovely car. I have the estate variant, have definitely enjoyed my first year with it.
In terms of price, what we might call "PH cars" follow a different value curve to ordinary ones; whereas normal cars depreciate steadily towards zero, interesting cars reach a floor somewhere between 10 and 20 years out, and then typically start to rise again. I reckon the £9k is probably around as low as these will go, FWIW.
I suspect the paint washing off is where it's been resprayed at some point, either a rust repair or a parking scrape. The arches tend to rust on these, so the former seems likely. The OEM paint is fragile, but I don't think it's so bad as to flake off when it's being washed. Mine has a lot of stone chips all around the front, bonnet and above the windscreen.
As stated, the clicking is typically the ventilation flaps that switch over hot/cold air to different vents sticking - see here. A lot of people live with it as long as the basic heating/cooling/demisting is working.
It appears that your head unit has a camera input, so it would be a matter of buying a suitable camera, installing it in the bootlid, and connecting the wire up to the back of the head unit.
My best claimed MPG was 27, cruise control at a steady 70 on the A1. I think my overall average is about 22. It's worse on shorter trips, I think it burns a lot of fuel just to warm the engine through. I've never seen 30mpg.
Seek out a good MB specialist if you've not already, and you should be able to keep it on the road without too much financial pain.
Enjoy - I love the bandwidth of these cars, the auto box makes it easy to shuffle through town, they're comfortable on the motorway, and yet are fun to hustle along B-roads, being nicely compact and taut, with overtaking a particular strong point. Perhaps not the absolute best at any one thing, but the all-around combination of strengths makes them just really satisfying to drive on almost any journey.
In terms of price, what we might call "PH cars" follow a different value curve to ordinary ones; whereas normal cars depreciate steadily towards zero, interesting cars reach a floor somewhere between 10 and 20 years out, and then typically start to rise again. I reckon the £9k is probably around as low as these will go, FWIW.
I suspect the paint washing off is where it's been resprayed at some point, either a rust repair or a parking scrape. The arches tend to rust on these, so the former seems likely. The OEM paint is fragile, but I don't think it's so bad as to flake off when it's being washed. Mine has a lot of stone chips all around the front, bonnet and above the windscreen.
As stated, the clicking is typically the ventilation flaps that switch over hot/cold air to different vents sticking - see here. A lot of people live with it as long as the basic heating/cooling/demisting is working.
It appears that your head unit has a camera input, so it would be a matter of buying a suitable camera, installing it in the bootlid, and connecting the wire up to the back of the head unit.
My best claimed MPG was 27, cruise control at a steady 70 on the A1. I think my overall average is about 22. It's worse on shorter trips, I think it burns a lot of fuel just to warm the engine through. I've never seen 30mpg.
Seek out a good MB specialist if you've not already, and you should be able to keep it on the road without too much financial pain.
Enjoy - I love the bandwidth of these cars, the auto box makes it easy to shuffle through town, they're comfortable on the motorway, and yet are fun to hustle along B-roads, being nicely compact and taut, with overtaking a particular strong point. Perhaps not the absolute best at any one thing, but the all-around combination of strengths makes them just really satisfying to drive on almost any journey.
Edited by samoht on Sunday 30th January 18:45
Thanks for the replies, I haven't had time to get to know the car in detail. I took the mechanic's word that it wasn't rusting away, he also added some photos that showed some surface rust.
To be honest I don't really know if this is bad, I'm assuming that at this date in production, rust issues had been identified and sorted.
Interesting, @samoht about the paint thickness, I will be getting it ceramic coated or maybe wrapping some parts like the bonnet.
From the MB forum, I've heard that there is a good MB specialist in Pudsey, however the website seemed to show a general indie garage. If anybody can recommend a good indie in Yorkshire then please shout up.
To be honest I don't really know if this is bad, I'm assuming that at this date in production, rust issues had been identified and sorted.
Interesting, @samoht about the paint thickness, I will be getting it ceramic coated or maybe wrapping some parts like the bonnet.
From the MB forum, I've heard that there is a good MB specialist in Pudsey, however the website seemed to show a general indie garage. If anybody can recommend a good indie in Yorkshire then please shout up.
Lovely motor OP, I think most are rather rusty underneath and I don't actually think yours looks too bad (spoken like a true ex MX5 owner)
I went to the Nürburgring with a friend in his a few years back now which was the same year and condition as yours, he'd had his for a good few years before he sold it, it costs him nothing is repairs in that time with him only moaning about the cost in replacing the spark plugs (16 in total)
My friend had the quad pipes fitted too but with primary CATS removed an an xpipe fitted which transformed the noise to sheer thunder when pressing.....
His was a proper rocket and we hit 170+ on a few occasions during the trip, the car was still pulling even at 170+ but we kept hitting traffic or running out of road. We got flashed by cameras several cameras during the trip and never heard anything from it
One car and trip I will always remember.
Enjoy
I went to the Nürburgring with a friend in his a few years back now which was the same year and condition as yours, he'd had his for a good few years before he sold it, it costs him nothing is repairs in that time with him only moaning about the cost in replacing the spark plugs (16 in total)
My friend had the quad pipes fitted too but with primary CATS removed an an xpipe fitted which transformed the noise to sheer thunder when pressing.....
His was a proper rocket and we hit 170+ on a few occasions during the trip, the car was still pulling even at 170+ but we kept hitting traffic or running out of road. We got flashed by cameras several cameras during the trip and never heard anything from it
One car and trip I will always remember.
Enjoy
I'm not 100% sure but to get the car play to work I think the phone has to be physically connected via the USB. You can't activate it via the Bluetooth. A friend has had a similar issue with a Pioneer headunit he bought not long ago and the only solution has been to plug the phone in. Not ideal but not the end of the world.
Aside from that I'm off to ebay to go and look for a CLK55 I'd forgotten how great these looked.
Aside from that I'm off to ebay to go and look for a CLK55 I'd forgotten how great these looked.
DanielSan said:
I'm not 100% sure but to get the car play to work I think the phone has to be physically connected via the USB. You can't activate it via the Bluetooth. A friend has had a similar issue with a Pioneer headunit he bought not long ago and the only solution has been to plug the phone in. Not ideal but not the end of the world.
Aside from that I'm off to ebay to go and look for a CLK55 I'd forgotten how great these looked.
I have been considering one of these for my A209 Merc - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B087WVKCC6/?coliid=IY2...Aside from that I'm off to ebay to go and look for a CLK55 I'd forgotten how great these looked.
Hi Tony I'm glad you're enjoying the car, the clicking noise is the stepper motor for the vents it's not expensive parts wise but is labour intensive.
The rear arch isn't the biggest issue I'd just get it repaired when you get the front arches done, as for wrapping the car I'd be talking your friend in wrapping the car in PPF.
I had the SPH DA230 DAB & had to have the phone connected for it to work well, I've now got the 250 version which works wirelessly.
As for the wheels if you decide to refurb them then I'd go AMG graphite & then have the lip diamond cut.
Glad to see you're just enjoying the car, a cheap upgrade is to add a set of direct replacement K&N's they add nicely to the induction note.
The rear arch isn't the biggest issue I'd just get it repaired when you get the front arches done, as for wrapping the car I'd be talking your friend in wrapping the car in PPF.
I had the SPH DA230 DAB & had to have the phone connected for it to work well, I've now got the 250 version which works wirelessly.
As for the wheels if you decide to refurb them then I'd go AMG graphite & then have the lip diamond cut.
Glad to see you're just enjoying the car, a cheap upgrade is to add a set of direct replacement K&N's they add nicely to the induction note.
toby-w8jtf said:
Lovely motor OP, I think most are rather rusty underneath and I don't actually think yours looks too bad (spoken like a true ex MX5 owner)
I went to the Nürburgring with a friend in his a few years back now which was the same year and condition as yours, he'd had his for a good few years before he sold it, it costs him nothing is repairs in that time with him only moaning about the cost in replacing the spark plugs (16 in total)
My friend had the quad pipes fitted too but with primary CATS removed an an xpipe fitted which transformed the noise to sheer thunder when pressing.....
His was a proper rocket and we hit 170+ on a few occasions during the trip, the car was still pulling even at 170+ but we kept hitting traffic or running out of road. We got flashed by cameras several cameras during the trip and never heard anything from it
One car and trip I will always remember.
Enjoy
That photo is mental! But I couldn't agree more, I've found a couple of stretches where I've tried to give it the beans and just been left with the feeling that the engine has so much more left to give when I ran out of space.I went to the Nürburgring with a friend in his a few years back now which was the same year and condition as yours, he'd had his for a good few years before he sold it, it costs him nothing is repairs in that time with him only moaning about the cost in replacing the spark plugs (16 in total)
My friend had the quad pipes fitted too but with primary CATS removed an an xpipe fitted which transformed the noise to sheer thunder when pressing.....
His was a proper rocket and we hit 170+ on a few occasions during the trip, the car was still pulling even at 170+ but we kept hitting traffic or running out of road. We got flashed by cameras several cameras during the trip and never heard anything from it
One car and trip I will always remember.
Enjoy
ZX10R NIN said:
Hi Tony I'm glad you're enjoying the car, the clicking noise is the stepper motor for the vents it's not expensive parts wise but is labour intensive.
The rear arch isn't the biggest issue I'd just get it repaired when you get the front arches done, as for wrapping the car I'd be talking your friend in wrapping the car in PPF.
I had the SPH DA230 DAB & had to have the phone connected for it to work well, I've now got the 250 version which works wirelessly.
As for the wheels if you decide to refurb them then I'd go AMG graphite & then have the lip diamond cut.
Glad to see you're just enjoying the car, a cheap upgrade is to add a set of direct replacement K&N's they add nicely to the induction note.
Should I be getting the front wheel arches done as a matter of course? They 'seem' to be OK at a casual glance.The rear arch isn't the biggest issue I'd just get it repaired when you get the front arches done, as for wrapping the car I'd be talking your friend in wrapping the car in PPF.
I had the SPH DA230 DAB & had to have the phone connected for it to work well, I've now got the 250 version which works wirelessly.
As for the wheels if you decide to refurb them then I'd go AMG graphite & then have the lip diamond cut.
Glad to see you're just enjoying the car, a cheap upgrade is to add a set of direct replacement K&N's they add nicely to the induction note.
The manual that Thomas posted said that applicable the kit works with iPhones up to the iPhone 7, I'm guessing that newer phones will connect through the USB as normal?
The colour of the wheels does seem lighter than the rest of the car, although it's not a priority I probably will get this done at some point.
The car's telling me that the next A service is in 1500 miles, I don't have any receipts just the service book but the garage who carried out the service say that it's wanted for nothing during the last 5 years the previous owner had it.
The last service was carried out at the start of October-21 at 96523 miles (it's on 103349 now).
It had the following changed:
- Engine oil
- Brake fluid
- Transmission oil
SpanishTony said:
The manual that Thomas posted said that applicable the kit works with iPhones up to the iPhone 7, I'm guessing that newer phones will connect through the USB as normal?
Yeah, I'm not aware of any compatibility issues of that nature; the manual is dated Jan 2018 so almost certainly just listed iPhone models up to the newest one that had come out when it was originally printed. A newer iPhone should work fine with the cable plugged in.SpanishTony said:
The colour of the wheels does seem lighter than the rest of the car, although it's not a priority I probably will get this done at some point.
The wheels look to me like the standard AMG 17" ones, as far as I'm aware they're just silver on all cars, they're not matched to the body colour. They look like one of the sets I have (there are some pics in my thread), your wheels don't look the wrong colour to me.E.g. on a black car (albeit previous-gen)
Although of course you could always get them redone if you prefer the look, and I have heard people recommend polished rims on these wheels.
toby-w8jtf said:
That's interesting. My '06 CLK55 cabriolet, and '07 CLK63 coupe would get stuck at an indicated 165, which was approximately 155 as per the gentleman's agreement. This was a little frustrating as both of them would have gone higher if not restrained.Did that car have the limiter removed?
SpanishTony said:
...photos
The rear chassis on most of these are beginning to look like that. It's well worth attending to if you plan to keep the car, but save any such work for the summer months. It's a late 55, and therefore galvanised, but it is still worth the attention on the rear underside. Arches should not be rotten unless it's actually accident damage.It hasn't been driven hard on B roads.
The exhaust would be my first port of call: the O/S clamp and bolts are on borrowed time.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff