My First V12... any advice?

[S500al]

Hi all, apologies for not being on for a while but life has been a bit hectic, Anyway... A big Question?????
After years of owning V8 Mercs (both W140 S Class saloons and coupes and a V8 E class) I have an urge to go and buy A V12, its likely to be a pre 2003 W215 CL and maybe even a Bi Turbo.
Does anyone have any buying advice, good stories, horror storeys etc?
Many thanks in advance.

 

[turbopete]

if you arent already, get very friendly with owners of fuel stations!!!!

other than that, we dont hear many tales about the V12 really

 

[S500al]

if you arent already, get very friendly with owners of fuel stations!!!!

other than that, we dont hear many tales about the V12 really

Oh dont worry I am on first name terms with all my local fuel stations and probably have enough nectar points to by a car lol so fuel is not the issue, just reliability and especially the Turbo ones.

 

[silver CL55]

A 2003 V12 Bi-turbo will surely empty your wallet...

Much more than just fuel. When I bought my W215 CL55, one of the MB salesmen just bought (from stock), a 1 owner CL600 which had had £35k worth of warranty work done!

 

[television]

Member Mike ran his 140 CL600 for years with no problems at all, it caught fire in the cab.

The 2004 CL600 figure are.

0 to 62 in 4.8 seconds
Urban 12.3mpg
Extra urban 28mpg
Combined 19.2

There are coil pack issues as far as I know on this engine

 

[Cole@MBS]

Member Mike ran his 140 CL600 for years with no problems at all, it caught fire in the cab.

The 2004 CL600 figure are.

0 to 62 in 4.8 seconds
Urban 12.3mpg
Extra urban 28mpg
Combined 19.2

There are not any coil pack issues as far as I know on this engine

Sorry Malc, all this age 215 V12 have coil pack and coil control module issues, £1200 a coil rail and £1000 for the controller.........

 

[television]

Sorry Malc, all this age 215 V12 have coil pack and coil control module issues, £1200 a coil rail and £1000 for the controller.........

Thanks Cole as always, I have edited my post

 

[Cole@MBS]

Massive money for a coil pack, bought cars for less than that Malc, then theres the red insulators between the packs and plugs, there a well known fault, great engines come with great bills...........

 

[S500al]

I much apreaciate all this info coming in at the moment as I am travelling quite a long way to see a Bi Turbo CL600 in the morning so all the info I am armed with is a great help.

 

[television]

I much apreaciate all this info coming in at the moment as I am travelling quite a long way to see a Bi Turbo CL600 in the morning so all the info I am armed with is a great help.

Cole is the man who works on them, he knows more that I ever will

 

[John Laidlaw]

ignoring the costs (if you can) learn to smile a lot?

 

[television]

ignoring the costs (if you can) learn to smile a lot?

I think that you are right John,I have found that crying does nothing

 

[S500al]

Thanks for the info once again, I wonder is it true that the Turbo ones are less likeley to suffer the problem or is that just an internet rumor?

 

[as400]

Massive money for a coil pack, bought cars for less than that Malc, then theres the red insulators between the packs and plugs, there a well known fault, great engines come with great bills...........

Didn't JC find that out to his cost when he bought a CL600 on a previous Top Gear V12 challenge?

 

[star]

Sorry Malc, all this age 215 V12 have coil pack and coil control module issues, £1200 a coil rail and £1000 for the controller.........

+1, not good news.

 

[BernardB]

If you're looking at pre-2003 cars that means pre-facelift. Personally I would not touch one of those. Facelift models had many of the earlier issues sorted.

Owning a bi-turbo can be very rewarding. As my local indy (Alex Crow at Stowmarket - highly recommended!) says, it really is a magic carpet ride. I never come back from a trip without thinking "Everything about this car is just right".

However, you will need luck to find a good one because as others have said there are potentially very expensive problems. You can reduce the risk by having a prospective purchase run through Star - there will be a cost but it's a worthwhile investment.

Good luck and please keep us posted!

 

[JBell]

Didn't JC find that out to his cost when he bought a CL600 on a previous Top Gear V12 challenge?

Yes he did

 

[Howard]

Member Mike ran his 140 CL600 for years with no problems at all, it caught fire in the cab.

Haha

Other than that , problem free !

 

[television]

Haha

Other than that , problem free !

The engine was fine

 

[pancholi]

having owned both pre and post face lift 215 CL600's
the bi turbo wins hands down. they are around on ebay for about 8Kish.
both the CL's i had had loads of little niggle eg. sensors for suspension, seat belts, airbags, etc needed replacing. all easy stuff but frustrating as every week there was another issue.
but the cars look so elegant all is forgiven. the BIGGEST issues are
1) ignition coils: they are a ****** PITA design. costing vast sums of money to replace.
2) ABC system: esp the suspension struts. costly
i thankfully found a used pair on ebay for £250 . that i had to use on the biturbo or it £2500+ bill.
3) the wiring and vacuum pipes at the door hinges crack and cause fault lights to pop up.

the pics below are heart breaking. but there is a reason so many end up in the salvage yard.