Thinking of getting a CL63, good idea?

[MrGCC]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to approach the forum as owning a Mercedes isnt exactly something I have done. I have owned a lot of BMW's and even Jap cars like Skyline's. But I am thinking of getting my first Merc as a CL63.

Things that I wanted to ask, I am looking at getting a higher mileage car because to be honest, I like driving my cars and I dont mind going for something cheaper as I do the long drives and like not to worry about depreciation as I want a car I can just enjoy.

The CL63 is everything I am really looking for, but I know things that can go wrong and its something I got to be financially aware of which is kind of where I am coming to you all.

I wont be the first to say I am balling and rich but comfortable, and my car is my treat to me. But I dont want a car that will completely kill me off financially because of constant problems. Some big bills I can work with but are these cars really as problematic as you hear? What kind of servicing should I be looking at for the ABC suspension system?

Is there much of a good option to change the ABC suspension to a coilover set up like you can with SL55 AMG?

Thanks

[vpr]

It’s an excellent idea.
I bought one about 4 months ago

Mine is a 2013 with 36k miles. I absolutely love it but was worried about potential issues

I think I’m right in saying the later twin turbo cars 2010 on have a more reliable system.

BUT did you know if your car is sub 100k miles you can buy a genuine Mercedes warranty for it. With £250 excess mine was £1450 or zero excess is £1950

I bought one and I could hear a buzzing noise from the near side foot well which turned out to be the abc pump damper. I had both pump and damper peplaced.

[sshenton1975]

I had the 600 v12 twin turbo version
Amazing engine and I prefered it to the 63 due to the huge dollops of torque. Mine had the full AMG kit too.
These engines are very tunable and come under declared from the factory - closer to 560 who than the 512 declared
Things to look out for are ABC suspension of course plus all electrics in general. Make sure EVERYTHING works before you buy as they are very expensive cars to maintain. I had an Ecu fail for 3k !
Beautiful to look at but a bit wallowy. I came from an E60 M5 which was pin sharp in the haning department compared to the merc
I am now in a C6 Rs6 which I love

cheers

Simon

[MrGCC]

vpr said:

It’s an excellent idea.
I bought one about 4 months ago

Mine is a 2013 with 36k miles. I absolutely love it but was worried about potential issues

I think I’m right in saying the later twin turbo cars 2010 on have a more reliable system.

BUT did you know if your car is sub 100k miles you can buy a genuine Mercedes warranty for it. With £250 excess mine was £1450 or zero excess is £1950

I bought one and I could hear a buzzing noise from the near side foot well which turned out to be the abc pump damper. I had both pump and damper peplaced.

Thanks for the input, so as long as its under 100k it can get the warranty but is there an age requirement? How long is the warrenty for? That is amazing to hear though!

[MrGCC]

sshenton1975 said:

I had the 600 v12 twin turbo version
Amazing engine and I prefered it to the 63 due to the huge dollops of torque. Mine had the full AMG kit too.
These engines are very tunable and come under declared from the factory - closer to 560 who than the 512 declared
Things to look out for are ABC suspension of course plus all electrics in general. Make sure EVERYTHING works before you buy as they are very expensive cars to maintain. I had an Ecu fail for 3k !
Beautiful to look at but a bit wallowy. I came from an E60 M5 which was pin sharp in the haning department compared to the merc
I am now in a C6 Rs6 which I love

cheers

Simon

Thanks for that, I think I want the CL63 because I know its a brand thing... I have seen some CL600 but had no idea is was that much of a weapon... I might have to look at them a little closer now.

The other car I am thinking of is the E63 M6 with the V10 too. I want a car to really enjoy and put a big smile on my face. Like a gift from me to me. What was the ownership like of the M5 compared to the CL600? Just as much of a headache in terms of reliability?

[vpr]

MrGCC said:

Thanks for the input, so as long as its under 100k it can get the warranty but is there an age requirement? How long is the warrenty for? That is amazing to hear though!

Not sure re age limit. It’s a 12 month warranty but you can extend it.

Btw there’s a 20k miler on AutoTrader currently, I think in white but compared to mine at least I’d be doubtful about how correct the mileage is.

[vpr]

MrGCC said:

Thanks for the input, so as long as its under 100k it can get the warranty but is there an age requirement? How long is the warrenty for? That is amazing to hear though!

Not sure re age limit. It’s a 12 month warranty but you can extend it.

Btw there’s a 20k miler on AutoTrader currently, I think in white but compared to mine at least I’d be doubtful about how correct the mileage is.

[sshenton1975]

MrGCC said:

sshenton1975 said:

I had the 600 v12 twin turbo version
Amazing engine and I prefered it to the 63 due to the huge dollops of torque. Mine had the full AMG kit too.
These engines are very tunable and come under declared from the factory - closer to 560 who than the 512 declared
Things to look out for are ABC suspension of course plus all electrics in general. Make sure EVERYTHING works before you buy as they are very expensive cars to maintain. I had an Ecu fail for 3k !
Beautiful to look at but a bit wallowy. I came from an E60 M5 which was pin sharp in the haning department compared to the merc
I am now in a C6 Rs6 which I love

cheers

Simon

Thanks for that, I think I want the CL63 because I know its a brand thing... I have seen some CL600 but had no idea is was that much of a weapon... I might have to look at them a little closer now.

The other car I am thinking of is the E63 M6 with the V10 too. I want a car to really enjoy and put a big smile on my face. Like a gift from me to me. What was the ownership like of the M5 compared to the CL600? Just as much of a headache in terms of reliability?

The M5 was amazing. I was lucky as I bought my car second hand at 65000 and it had had a new engine at 55000 so I had no worries about reliability. AMAZING ENGINE!!!!!! V10 screaming at 8000 rpm is pretty intoxicating
The gearbox gets lots of grief for being slow but put it in manual and on maximum attack mode and it is pretty good. In auto mode it is terrible
Things to look out for on these engines is clutch and flywheel - make sure you buy one with this already changed.

Also - get the back boxes removed and it will sound awesome - suggest you listen to some on Youtube!!

[sshenton1975]

This was my 600 - awesome to look at! I had it lowered slightly on lowering links to give it a more aggressive stance

20170324_151452 by sshenton1975

[mboyle4]

I own a 2008 cl63 with the 6.2. It is a truly incredible machine, the build quality is immense, Mercedes at their finest. The whole package is wonderful, superb performance, ultimate luxury and exclusive. They are a rare sight. Mine is actually up for sale at present as I’m buyin another AMG this will Ben my fifth. They are reliable cars, don’t worry about the horror stories if they are looked after in my experience they will be stress free. They aren’t too expensive to service either, main dealer do heavy discount on older cars even AMGs. You will find my car on the Mbclub classifieds section if of interest. You wouldn’t regret one.

[milu]

I've only got a lowly 500 but I'm sure there is much commonality of parts.
I've recently had to strip the blower motor to get it working. Can be bought for less than £100 online though so no great worries but fiddly to install.
More annoying is the Harmon Kardon amp which I've just had repaired for the second time in 2 months!
General consensus is the repair don't last so this is a last try. Thing is a new one is well over £1k!
I'm not sure if the MB warranty would cover it.
I'm not sure how the above fits in with the supposed high build quality.
Looks nice though

[milu]

Just had a look
MB warranty is over £2.5k for mine. Done 66k miles

[MrGCC]

vpr said:

Not sure re age limit. It’s a 12 month warranty but you can extend it.

Btw there’s a 20k miler on AutoTrader currently, I think in white but compared to mine at least I’d be doubtful about how correct the mileage is.

Hmm that is a little bit of kit.. and a couple others aswell under 30k on the clock. One to consider but at that price point so many other cars can start to become an option to get

[MrGCC]

sshenton1975 said:

MrGCC said:

sshenton1975 said:

I had the 600 v12 twin turbo version
Amazing engine and I prefered it to the 63 due to the huge dollops of torque. Mine had the full AMG kit too.
These engines are very tunable and come under declared from the factory - closer to 560 who than the 512 declared
Things to look out for are ABC suspension of course plus all electrics in general. Make sure EVERYTHING works before you buy as they are very expensive cars to maintain. I had an Ecu fail for 3k !
Beautiful to look at but a bit wallowy. I came from an E60 M5 which was pin sharp in the haning department compared to the merc
I am now in a C6 Rs6 which I love

cheers

Simon

Thanks for that, I think I want the CL63 because I know its a brand thing... I have seen some CL600 but had no idea is was that much of a weapon... I might have to look at them a little closer now.

The other car I am thinking of is the E63 M6 with the V10 too. I want a car to really enjoy and put a big smile on my face. Like a gift from me to me. What was the ownership like of the M5 compared to the CL600? Just as much of a headache in terms of reliability?

The M5 was amazing. I was lucky as I bought my car second hand at 65000 and it had had a new engine at 55000 so I had no worries about reliability. AMAZING ENGINE!!!!!! V10 screaming at 8000 rpm is pretty intoxicating
The gearbox gets lots of grief for being slow but put it in manual and on maximum attack mode and it is pretty good. In auto mode it is terrible
Things to look out for on these engines is clutch and flywheel - make sure you buy one with this already changed.

Also - get the back boxes removed and it will sound awesome - suggest you listen to some on Youtube!!

See my brother had an E60 M5 a good few years back now, (around 6 years ago) and he had the back box deleted... honestly thats the only reason I would even consider getting the car considering how unreliable they can be depending on previous owners maintenance etc.

The more I think about it I dont think I would get the M6/M5 because of just how unreliable they are and how expensive it is to run them and maintain properly.

Also... your CL600.. damn that looks beautiful! Looking at the price of them they are so similar in price compared to the CL63 too

[MrGCC]

mboyle4 said:

I own a 2008 cl63 with the 6.2. It is a truly incredible machine, the build quality is immense, Mercedes at their finest. The whole package is wonderful, superb performance, ultimate luxury and exclusive. They are a rare sight. Mine is actually up for sale at present as I’m buyin another AMG this will Ben my fifth. They are reliable cars, don’t worry about the horror stories if they are looked after in my experience they will be stress free. They aren’t too expensive to service either, main dealer do heavy discount on older cars even AMGs. You will find my car on the Mbclub classifieds section if of interest. You wouldn’t regret one.

See thats what I am kind of understanding, even if its high mileage it shouldnt matter as long as the car has had good service is all I hear about this car. Just had a look at your car and wow, thats beautiful! right I got to really spend some time and think how bad should I be and how much should I spend... too many options to go with.

[MrGCC]

milu said:

I've only got a lowly 500 but I'm sure there is much commonality of parts.
I've recently had to strip the blower motor to get it working. Can be bought for less than £100 online though so no great worries but fiddly to install.
More annoying is the Harmon Kardon amp which I've just had repaired for the second time in 2 months!
General consensus is the repair don't last so this is a last try. Thing is a new one is well over £1k!
I'm not sure if the MB warranty would cover it.
I'm not sure how the above fits in with the supposed high build quality.
Looks nice though

See the CL500 was an option because for the price they can be had.. its like 1/2 what a CL63 is and from one I went to see, I dont know if its really 1/2 the car because looks and feel its nearly identical, just power is the main difference and I know I want the CL63 to say I have the AMG... but should I really be so blind haha

[milu]

I was in the same position. But with the AMG kit I think the 500 can look almost the same. I went low mileage 500 instead of high miles 63. I won’t lie I would love a 63 and usually would go for the halo model in any car range but I had decided on a CL because of the value in them.
So I was trying to find a sweet spot where the purchase price seemed a bargain for what you got.
Anyway I’ve not seen another in the 10 weeks I’ve had it so rare enough. I’ve also got a non standard exhaust to spice things up a bit. And although obviously not as quick as a 63/600/65 it’s no slouch