CL500 2000MY

Alex Green

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Cl500/2000/V8 5.0L
Hi there,

Just purchased a CL500 and enjoying the wafting around it induces. This is car number 4 to my small fleet of RX7 twin turbo, Mitsubishi FTO GP and Mk4 Golf TDi 130 daily (duties soon to be taken over by the CL500).

Bought the car knowing the aircon was not working. The clutch wasn't kicking in so most likely pressure too low to engage the pump.

Went to get the aircon looked at/re-charged by my local garage and as expected it has a leak. It is 17 years old so no surprise really, small pin hole at the front leaking dye, nice easy root cause....awesome. New condenser required.

Whilst the garage were attempting to re-set the aircon system with the OBD they found that the OBD doesn't have a 12v feed. No problem, they hooked up their old school scanner with it's own 12v and did the business. I'll have to look into why this doesn't get a feed at a later point.

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I was expecting a bazillion fault codes and impending Armageddon to be predicted but nothing disastrous came up really. Apparently the drivers seat had 34 fault codes associated with it!! All nag codes cleared and we'll see where we're at later on.

Sooooo, not going too badly.....except......bang.....splosh.....oh 8ugger! The ABC dampener sphere let go at the front of the engine bay and liberally coated that side of the underbonnet in power steering/suspension fluid. It now sits like it's bagged, all mean and moody.

Right....re-group and get onto some suppliers for some credit card therapy. I left it with my mechanic on Friday with the hope that they'll crack-on and get the parts in so I can get some concerted wafting in as soon as possible. Replacement sphere, valve and aircon condenser should be winging their way to the garage ASAP.

I knew things like this would crop up but that was a bit earlier than expected.

Hopefully the next installment will see some action shots.

Really enjoyed the drive home in it. I felt very serene and relaxed. Stopped off on the M6 toll services to survey the expanse of metal. Need to get the wheels refurbed once the dust has settled on the ABC system.

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Had a E39 528i Sport in the past and the CL just does elegance so much better.

AL.
 

flowrider

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SL500 (R230)
CL's are lovely cars. Be prepared for all the doom you here around the ABC suspension and SBC brakes, their not as bad as you might think although when they do go wrong it usually means big credit card bills.
 

Naraic

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2005 CL500.
CL's are lovely cars. Be prepared for all the doom you here around the ABC suspension and SBC brakes, their not as bad as you might think although when they do go wrong it usually means big credit card bills.

Phew...they don't have sbc...so one less thing to worry about.

Mine has cost me £187.50 in the first year...beyond normal service costs etc.

You can get lucky.
 

John Laidlaw

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Welcome ....saying nothing on ABC & SBC:p
 

LostKiwi

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'93 500SL-32, '01 W210 Estate E240 (RIP), 02 R230 SL500, 04 Smart Roadster Coupe, 11 R350CDi
Nice.... enjoy it. One thing to be aware of is to change the ABC fluid every few years and never run it with no ABC fluid.

Craig is the local expert on ABC....
 

Craiglxviii

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970 Panamera Turbo; W221 S500L AMG Line, C215 CL500, W251 R350L AMG Line, plus several more now gone
Hello and welcome! I too have a 2000 MY CL500 with leaking air con, and I also moved to it (albeit not directly) from a Mk.IV Golf GT TDi 130.

One thing you'll notice, your fuel bill will go up a lot!!!
 

00slk

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This model CL is a lovely car, but Mercedes did improve it when they turned it into a convertible :D..........:oops: OK I'll get my coat.:(
 
OP
Alex Green

Alex Green

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Thanks for the welcome chaps.

As far as mpg goes, I own a Mazda RX7 so 16mpg is not unknown

AL.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 

Craiglxviii

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Thanks for the welcome chaps.

As far as mpg goes, I own a Mazda RX7 so 16mpg is not unknown

AL.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Very good... only now you'll have this thing called "torque" to understand ;)
 
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Alex Green

Alex Green

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That RX7 actually has about the same torque as the CL, so that should be similar ground.

What I found I liked the most was the 'unstoppable object' feel of that V8 and hefty car ploughing down the road.

AL.

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LostKiwi

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Very good... only now you'll have this thing called "torque" to understand ;)

Craig its a twin turbo RX7 (FD3) - those things go like sh*t of a shovel and have lots of torque.... just a long way up the rev range compared to a V8!
 
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Alex Green

Alex Green

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Craig its a twin turbo RX7 (FD3) - those things go like sh*t of a shovel and have lots of torque.... just a long way up the rev range compared to a V8!
Yup

2016-05-14_19.26.44.jpg
 

LostKiwi

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'93 500SL-32, '01 W210 Estate E240 (RIP), 02 R230 SL500, 04 Smart Roadster Coupe, 11 R350CDi
Always been on my favourite cars list - always wanted one but got turned off by the vast numbers that were messed with.
They've certainly rocketed in value recently too.....

Easily one of the most beautiful mass produced vehicles of all time.
 

Craiglxviii

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That RX7 actually has about the same torque as the CL, so that should be similar ground.

What I found I liked the most was the 'unstoppable object' feel of that V8 and hefty car ploughing down the road.

AL.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Really? I've seen figures of 280 N.m for the Wankels, the M113 powered CL is 460.
 
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Alex Green

Alex Green

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Always been on my favourite cars list - always wanted one but got turned off by the vast numbers that were messed with.
They've certainly rocketed in value recently too.....

Easily one of the most beautiful mass produced vehicles of all time.
Obviously a man of great taste.
 

Craiglxviii

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970 Panamera Turbo; W221 S500L AMG Line, C215 CL500, W251 R350L AMG Line, plus several more now gone
Always been on my favourite cars list - always wanted one but got turned off by the vast numbers that were messed with.
They've certainly rocketed in value recently too.....

Easily one of the most beautiful mass produced vehicles of all time.

They do have a very attractive flow to them. Like 911 993s only without the "stop" for the headlamps.
 
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Alex Green

Alex Green

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Really? I've seen figures of 280 N.m for the Wankels, the M113 powered CL is 460.
That would be for a standard Rx7.

Mine has been lightly breathed upon to the tune of 317.5bhp and 340ft lb torque. Chassis weighs about 1250kg so power to weight is pretty good. The big single turbo boys are running into the 500bhp and above with similar torque.

Then you've got the three and four rotor boys and you can pick your numbers for them.
 

Craiglxviii

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970 Panamera Turbo; W221 S500L AMG Line, C215 CL500, W251 R350L AMG Line, plus several more now gone
That would be for a standard Rx7.

Mine has been lightly breathed upon to the tune of 317.5bhp and 340ft lb torque. Chassis weighs about 1250kg so power to weight is pretty good. The big single turbo boys are running into the 500bhp and above with similar torque.

Then you've got the three and four rotor boys and you can pick your numbers for them.

Thank you, those numbers are quite interesting.
 

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