Why is this Mercedes CL500 so cheap? Or are they ALL Cheap??

I love that body style, but they're expensive to maintain. The air suspension isn't cheap to fix and it's not an uncommon thing to go faulty in those.

 

It's a car that depreciated quickly. Fears of expensive fixes keep these cars' prices very low.

That's why I bought a used 2008 CL 63.

Mine has been relatively trouble free. Mercedes will service and support them well.

Go for it!

Matt

 

Active Body Control can have very expensive repairs as the system ages, issues with the S-class, CL-class, and SL-class are well-documented. The suspension really is a sophisticated servo hydrualic system that relies on its capability to very precisely meter the fluid. Over time the valves wear and foreign material (metal from the valves) enter the system, eventually causing the valves to leak a little bit and could potentially also damage the ABC/power steering pump, although I have not seen real answers why the pumps fail.

Figure $1000 per corner plus $2000 for a pump or valving when they go bad. I have never really found a definitive recommendation from M-B what an owner should do to help them live longer. I would think a complete fluid flush and replacing hoses on a 10 year old car would be about all one could do and hope for the best. Parts, fluids, and labor for that would likely be well over $1000 to have installed.

I personally love the look of this generation of CL, and a CL65 for under $30k would be very tempting. The new owner would just have to understand that one morning he will walk out in his garage and the car will be drooped on at least one corner, and get out his wallet.

 

Very cool car. But in a short time you will have more money into repairs then the car is worth. That's ok if you love the car, but geez they are expensive to keep.

 

Yeah, thanks for providing more info on that as I've seen it brought up several times on this board and others. I've been thinking though...wouldn't it be cheaper at that rate to get custom coilovers? Apparently others have thought of it: Replacing ABC with a regular strut or coilover setup - MBWorld.org Forums

The ride probably wouldn't be as smooth, but if you did this to an AMG variant like a 55 or 65 it wouldn't be so out of place. I'd love the look and interior of a luxo-barge, but the engine of a 65 and suspension to match...

 

You could build an air ride setup.

 

Stay away, stay far away from those LOL. Now when you can get one for nothing, then go for it. And by nothing I mean 8-10 grand. How much do you want for your m roadster? Now that's a kick ass car

 

look for a 2006, they all came with the AMG sport package-low key body kit, suspension and brakes, standard engine, I had one, loved it : ) fluid change on the ABS is a good idea, so is a trans fluid change. I think they are also a bit cheap because no one knows about them, the S class coupe is rare and it was the top of the line model at the time, IIRC more than the sedan or roadster. See if you can get the top of the line seats with AC/heat and massage, those are great chairs : )

 

Almost correct, Figure $2K per corner + 3K for a pump with fluid change and bleed. And then there are pressure regulators, and on, and on.
OTOH, maybe you can drive it and nothing will fail. Pay your money and take your chances!
When working correctly as designed, there really is nothing like it.

 

I was thinking parts cost as these things have depreciated into the DIY home mechanic range, but your figures only make the point more: it is very expensive. Bleeding the fluid after a change could be a challenge, it is no doubt more involved than when I changed my ML500 steering pump years ago. Much more to the ABC system.

As these get even cheaper it would make less sense to take them to a dealer and pay dealer prices for parts and labor. OT a bit but a friend of mine took his early SLK230 ($9k car on a good day) to be "gone through" at the local M-B dealer before giving it to his daughter. The bill was an eye-watering $4500, on a car that didn't have anything wrong with it except an ABS ECU and needed full major service and brakes. That is 50% of the value of the car and it added basically nothing to the value of the car.

The CL/SL/S-class using this system could easily be the same way. Buy the car cheap and know that some day you will spend half that again fixing it. And if it is supercharged (55) or turbocharged (600 or 65), you also have extra powertrain components to worry about, not to mention the heat on the turbo cars cooking the wiring harness and coils. And on all of these if and engine were to go poof, you are basically looking at a parts car. Even the transmission would probably relegate it to the junk yard if you couldn't find a used replacement.

 

Don't forget wiring harness

 

In addition to all the above, this particular car is filthy. IMO, I'd avoid this car just because of that. It makes potential buyers think the car was not well-cared for. Who tries to sell a filthy car on Cars.com?

 

Cost of repairs is only part of the equation. The other, its just another used car. Mercedes doesn't have the cult following they did have in the 80's and 90's.

 

Probably CLK.