CL500 Advice

[martinh10]

I'm considering buying a CL500 for around about £8K. As you know the age and mileage varies a lot at that price but there appears to have been some changes/updates to the model around 2003/4.
The sat nav/command layout seems to have changed so wondered if anything else had as well and whether the slightly newer cars are that much better?
Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[MBDevotee]

I think the newer cars are substantially improved (although never owned one) BUT I don't think you'd be looking at pre-facelift for £8K - they should be much cheaper than that for a pre-facelift - £5-6k is more like it

 

[bennyboy]

FSH and under 100,000 miles my 2001 are 4 grand or under

 

[brandwooddixon]

A quick search will reveal a number of threads.

Basically the W215 facelift towards the end of 2003 introduced the 7 speed gearbox, some minor engine tweaks and of course some interior changes. I also think that the cars main structure changed as well.

I would recommend the post 2003 version, the 7 speed gearbox makes a big difference to the fuel economy.

Generally make sure that all of the gadgets work - there can be a lot - test out the ABC suspension (it should take no more than about 10 seconds to switch between height levels, which should also be even and make no noise (other than the fact that the engine has to be running).

If there's a big silver top to the gear stick, then Keyless-Go is fitted, with the key in your pocket both front doors should open with a grab of the handle, both should lock at the press of the button on the handle - the boot will have a powered open as well as close. Pulling the boot release button on the drivers door will cause it to open, but you must keep it pressed to close.

Both front doors should have soft-close (they should pull closed automatically once the door is on the catch) no need to slam to close.

The front windows should drop around 1 cm as you open the door and pop back up when closed.

The front windows and the sunroof should open and close with one touch, the rears will only open. The windows are double glazed and prone to delaminate with age.

Seat cooling - you should be able to just feel a slight vibration in the seat when activated - often faults here are masked by cutting the wires or removing the fans. You should just be able to reach the front fans if you feel underneath the seat.
Front seats have memory and heating as standard, some have massage.

Seats should power forward when tilted and back when placed upright.

Linguatronic - never used mine as I feel daft talking to my car.

Standard cruise is speedtronic and so you can limit your maximum speed. Distronic has a large radar head behind the front grill (which also sports a smooth MB symbol unlike the standard version) which will enable the car to keep a minimum distance from the car in front, slowing down as necessary.

Standard wheels are 18". 265/40/18 rear and 245/45/18 front. Full sized spare, which should also house a tool tray.

Just remember that the car cost best part of £90k when new so bills can be expensive if/when things go wrong.

 

[redbaron1973]

Standard wheels on CL500 were 17"

Upgrade to 18" unstaggered,

Upgrade to 18" AMG staggered

Upgraqde to 19" AMG staggerd

Not that it matters too much.

 

[martinh10]

Guys, thanks for your quick responses. It looks like a post 2003 MY makes good sense then. I appreciate that it's an expensive car and fortunately I know a Merc technician who'll look after it for me which will help. The hunt is on!

 

[redbaron1973]

the 04 onwards have a newer DVD comand too.

pre f/l has cd based with tiny screen.
f/l is cd based but widescreen

04 onwards (i think - mine is 54) is dvd based widescreen - has more modern looking birds eye view but still crap compared with a modern unit.

 

[martinh10]

Thanks Redbaron but presumably better than nothing at all!

 

[redbaron1973]

yeah - i'm spoiled by having the latest iDrive with RTTI in my daily car.... anything else is just tat in comparison.

 

[martinh10]

Is there a list/document/brochure somewhere that details what was standard/optional equipment on the later car?

 

[brandwooddixon]

Standard wheels on CL500 were 17"

Upgrade to 18" unstaggered,

Upgrade to 18" AMG staggered

Upgraqde to 19" AMG staggerd

Not that it matters too much.

For some reason I thought that the 18" rims were standard for the UK market - ah well. You'll certainly be hard pushed to find a CL500 without 18" rims.

I forgot to mention that a common fault is that the wiring to the doors can break in the hinge area.
This causes the door controls, mirror and speakers to stop working.
It's a relatively easy fix.
Oh and I didn't mention that seat ventilation was an extra.

 

[martinh10]

Chris - interesting about the wheel sizes, I've had a quick look online and have been surprised by the number of cars with 17 rather than 18" wheels.

 

[brandwooddixon]

Really?
Must come in batches then. When I was looking 18" was the norm, with a large number having 19" which I wanted to avoid.

 

[martinh10]

As an update I've looked at quite a few cars now, prices and condition vary a lot and was really looking for a post '03 car (although looked at the CLS as well but still like the CL shape) but am tempted by a CL55 AMG, it's the non Kompressor model and comes with a FSH. I've checked out some posts on here and it just seems to be a slightly higher tuned CL500 with the AMG body kit.