£4/5K W219 CLS 320 CDI, a bad idea?
Discussion
These are starting to look like an awful lot of car for the money and I am beginning to look on eBay at them which is never a good sign.
I understand these are powered by the later, 3 litre V6 diesel engine, do tjhey also have the later 7G-Tronic gearbox or the earlier 5 speed auto.
Just wondering if anyone has any experience of running an early one of these and any potential issues to look out for?
The only thing that worries me so far is I saw a car that mentioned rust on one of the arches, I assumed Mercedes had just about solved their rust issues by this point?
They seem too good to be true at this point which tends to imply they are cheap for a reason.
I understand these are powered by the later, 3 litre V6 diesel engine, do tjhey also have the later 7G-Tronic gearbox or the earlier 5 speed auto.
Just wondering if anyone has any experience of running an early one of these and any potential issues to look out for?
The only thing that worries me so far is I saw a car that mentioned rust on one of the arches, I assumed Mercedes had just about solved their rust issues by this point?
They seem too good to be true at this point which tends to imply they are cheap for a reason.
I have a '55 plate 500 with 90K on the clock. Very solid car, only 2 things have gone wrong with it - air compressor for air suspension and the Satnav aerial. air compressor was expensive (over £1000), but haven't bothered with the satnav aerial. Have had no rust issues.
Services, tyres etc are very reasonable for what this car is. They are a LOT of car for the money.
Services, tyres etc are very reasonable for what this car is. They are a LOT of car for the money.
Not sure about the diesel angle but I ran a 54 plate petrol E500 until it was 12 years old and on 145k and it was mostly very solid.
I have the air suspension compressor changed on mine - but for a lot less that 1k - and a few other bits and bobs over the years,
Rust on the arches sound more likely to be accident damage.
I have the air suspension compressor changed on mine - but for a lot less that 1k - and a few other bits and bobs over the years,
Rust on the arches sound more likely to be accident damage.
MarcelM6 said:
Should have been clearer about the compressor cost-
The over £1000 included a strut. The strut failure caused the compressor to run constantly and burnt it out. IIRC the strut was the majority of the bill.
Ah OK that makes more sense. IIRC I paid £500-ish for the pump and struts are normally there or there abouts.The over £1000 included a strut. The strut failure caused the compressor to run constantly and burnt it out. IIRC the strut was the majority of the bill.
Air was standard on all the 500's but I guess if the OP is looking at a 320 CDI chances are it'll be on steel.
In which case
- balljoints wear at the front
- you can get some mildly-irritating electrical niggles - mind had the odd moment but nothing serious
- gbox oil should be changed on 50k/5 yrs or whatever as preventative mtce
- EDIT SBC pump can fail (assume all the earlier CLS's had SBC?)
Loads more advice on MBCLUB website. Plenty of current and former owners.
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