Thinking of getting a CLK C209

[tristand]

The wife needs to change her car and is very keen on a CLK, 2007 or so.

I'm guessting the are past and present CLK owners here

Has anyone experience of them, good and bad?
Is there anything to look out for?
Petrol(200K) versus Diesel(220CDI)?
What is considered too high of a millage for the engine?
Any common mechanical issues to look out for?

 

[television]

Good cars, with the 200k do look out for timing chain problems, nothing else to report on them.

 

[turbopete]

black death (injector seal failure) on the diesels.

as Malcolm has said, the petrol 4 cylinder engine of that era can give its share of timing chain issues. a 220 cdi will be pretty indestructible at the age you are looking at. as for mileage, IIRC we have seen 1 example of the 220cdi engine being removed from a written off car and fitted to a sprinter van (same engine) having had the mileage photographed at 470k miles! so a 220cdi the mileage is fine with pretty much whatever you feel comfortable with!
i have to say, depending on mileage and useage etc, if you are looking at a petrol one, id be tempted to look at the 320 petrol V6. much nicer than the 4 cylinder ones, by all accounts (ive never had a petrol MB) and very little to tell them apart in real world fuel consumption. unless you drive hard.

 

[hsloco]

Good cars, with the 200k do look out for timing chain problems, nothing else to report on them.

To be safe go for a late 2007 upwards because the troublesome timing chain/gears had been replaced by then, also it seems the rust problem had been solved (if mine is anything to go by)

As Pete said, the V6 petrol is a good engine to have, quiet and smooth during normal driving but has lots of power when the pedal is pressed hard (I have the 3L version). Can be a bit thirsty with the petrol but on a long drive I can get 35+mpg.

The down side to the bigger engines is the road tax, mine is £485 per year.

I have had my car for well over 2 years and I have had 30,000 miles of trouble free motoring (mileage now at 60,000)

 

[Steve@Avantgarde]

If you are going for a petrol variant, I would look for the 350 variant but only from 2007 onwards to avoid the wearing balance shaft issue. The 200k are ok but under powered in my view and on that year, you should be passed the timing chain/gear issue, but no guarantee.

220CDI is a great engine, black death is not something to worry about and you can remap them for even greater performance and economy.

 

[JBell]

If you are going for a petrol variant, I would look for the 350 variant but only from 2007 onwards to avoid the wearing balance shaft issue.

I had a 350 Sport Cab '57 plate, great engine, extremely smooth

 

[dreadlockdw]

It may be worth checking which suspension you want. A lot of later ones are sport models. As so often the case its a trade-off between looks and comfort.

Mine has the lowered suspension and 18 inch alloys. On smooth (like German?) roads it's perfect. On a pot-holed B road I'd prefer the normal suspension and 17 inch alloys... They are quite different, I've driven both.

Pre-2006 model with V8 is £285 road tax. Just saying...

 

[hsloco]

It may be worth checking which suspension you want. A lot of later ones are sport models. As so often the case its a trade-off between looks and comfort.

Mine has the lowered suspension and 18 inch alloys. On smooth (like German?) roads it's perfect. On a pot-holed B road I'd prefer the normal suspension and 17 inch alloys... They are quite different, I've driven both.

Pre-2006 model with V8 is £285 road tax. Just saying...

Ditto!