1984 Bentley Mulsanne Turbo / 2004 Audi TT 3.2

[Oligen]

Been smoking about in this slightly sheddy CL500 for a while now. I bought it for the money broken ones go for. And largely it was not broken. The ABC hydropneumatic suspension at the time of typing, still functions. The a/c is missing in action, as was the cooling fan (now sorted with electrical bits transplanted from a c class unit) and the radiator leaks when up to temperature.

The body is in different shades, lacquer peeled and has aluminium oxidation on panel edges that would shame a 70s Range Rover. And yet. It drives wonderfully and the ABC is a revelation.

I’ll update as and when things break.
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|https://thumbsnap.com/Au2jy5Ro[/url]

Edited by Oligen on Saturday 30th July 18:56

[tobinen]

Excellent. I look forward to updates, hopefully positive ones.

[alabbasi]

These cars have a variable displacement a/c compressor which looks like it's always running even when it is not. You can jump on youtube and find a way of checking fault codes through the climate control panel but before doing so, check the pressure manually with a set of manifold gauges.

Take it for a good long drive and get it up to 90mph. I expect that all the clear coat will peel off at that speed and you'll be left with a presentable car.

[Mr Tidy]

Lovely wafty barge - albeit one that seems to have lived quite a hard life!

Hopefully you won't have too much to report.

[emmetb]

Mr Tidy said:

Lovely wafty barge - albeit one that seems to have lived quite a hard life!

TBH Mercs of this vintage all look like that and it's a shame as the CL is fundamentally a lovely car let down by its atrocious build quality.

[trevalvole]

emmetb said:

TBH Mercs of this vintage all look like that and it's a shame as the CL is fundamentally a lovely car let down by its atrocious build quality.

I disagree - my Merc of this vintage doesn't look like that. My view is that the paint and rustproofing can be a problem (though not on my car) as can the interior quality, but that the M112/113 engines and 5G gearboxes are good quality and the doors shut with a precision that a newish Audi A6 I was in recently can't match.

[Penguinracer]

I have a soft spot for these...

[Penguinracer]

[Penguinracer]

[Penguinracer]

[alabbasi]

Mercedes Benz did cheapen out on some materials when they were building this era of cars. But I think that this UK car suffered worse than cars here in the US (particularly in the south) where a car like this would be garaged and cities rarely salt the roads. Given that it's 20 years old, it does not look any better or worse than any other 20 year old car that I see around London.

The clear coat peeling is indicative of a sub standard repair where the surface was not properly prepped before being repainted.

[skullandbiscuits]

The MB specialist I was using for my E500 had one of these, it was a CL600. The original owner sent it off to Brabus, where it was converted into CL67. It's the real deal and v.rare.

[Oligen]

Interesting to read about some rarer variants, IIRC the cl500 was by far the most common model.

I’ve added further to my m113 engined MB stable.

I’ve had an eye on a w210 E55 for a while, but was waylaid by an ML55. They are relatively rare and perhaps with good reason. Contempory CAR opinion thought it not a bad car as such, but woefully inconceived. It’s certainly a bit of an oddball and ultimately perhaps a waste of an AMG power unit, but I’m going to call that character 20 years on from its production.

I collected it north of Glasgow and made a holiday/ road trip out of it back to west Devon

Edited by Oligen on Thursday 11th August 16:09

Edited by Oligen on Thursday 11th August 16:10

[alabbasi]

I'd like to get an ML55 but the bumpers on Texas cars seem to disintegrate with the heat, There's also an issue where the keys are now NLA. I can get a key barrel and key for my 1965 Lincoln for $10 but if I lose the key to a 20 year old Mercedes, I'm SOL.

[MattsCar]

Back in 2002, that combination of 2 cars would have made you appear very wealthy!

In 2022, 90% of the population probably still think the same as above.

Nice pair of cars. Hope the ownership experience is a good one.

[BrettMRC]

Love the ML55 Op!

Need more pics!

[Andrew D]

Take that Greenpeace!

Awesome ML55, looks like a late one? Non-standard alloys?

My dad had an ML320 for many happy years, always had a soft spot for the W163.

Always been amused by the (mostly revisionist) bashing journos give the ML55. No, it doesn't handle like a modern SUV, or an X5 4.6is. As you say, they're missing the point.