Mercedes CLK55 AMG, new daily driver

[ewave]

My 1995 BMW540i with 215K miles is ready for retirement, so I bought my first ever Mercedes as a replacement.

A 2001 CLK55 AMG with 77K miles for about $10K.

Hard to find anything with more performance for that amount of money!

5.5 liter V8 with 342 HP, and 0-60 in around 5 seconds. I'm must be getting old, because this is my first "performance" car with an automatic... And it's kind of nice.

Here's a picture. Maybe I should have bought an XKE?

[sc_rufctr]

Very cool. That's a lot of German metal for the money.

[slow&rusty]

Congrats! The M113 is a solid motor and will last for ever, not even bad to work on at home either.
A black car in Texas would be too hot for me, but does look great.
Yasin

[onewhippedpuppy]

Nice! I've come very close on several occasions to buying a W210 E55, basically the same car with back doors. They're a blast to drive and last a long time if well maintained. If it hasn't already been done, change out that "lifetime" transmission fluid ASAP.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Car looks fantastic, congratulations!

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Nice! I've come very close on several occasions to buying a W210 E55, basically the same car with back doors. They're a blast to drive and last a long time if well maintained. If it hasn't already been done, change out that "lifetime" transmission fluid ASAP.

How often should you change it?

[Z-man]

Very nice car - hope you enjoy it for many years!

-Z

[weseeeee]

Nothing like the ride of a MB. Congrats and enjoy!

[RANDY P]

Nice car! engine is bulletproof, interesting dash ornament -

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

How often should you change it?

I think this was one of the transmissions that Mercedes said was "lifetime", but ZF recommended a fluid and filter change at 80k. It's a PITA if I remember correctly, no dipstick and the fluid level has to be changed at a certain temp.

[RANDY P]

when and if the tranny goes south, buy here. From what I know all the shops on the west coast source rebuilts here:

rebuilt remanufactured mercedes benz automatic transmissions

[Moses]

Magnificent. The only thing that looks a little dated is the wheels. Great machine.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Moses

Magnificent. The only thing that looks a little dated is the wheels. Great machine.

No way! The monobloc wheels are classic AMG.

[RANDY P]

I just sold my C36 with CLK wheels- I would've offered to trade to make both of us correct.

[Don Ro]

Beautiful!
What's the mpg?

[ewave]

Thanks for all the comments!

Silver was my preference, but I got impatient after searching for 8 months. It was a two owner car, that has been serviced at the same dealer ship in Portland since new. Just went up there and had all the service records printed out.

It's definitely a blast to drive. I've had a pretty bad lead foot so far (since I've only had the car for a few days!), but mixed city and highway I'm getting around 21 mpg. I suspect I'll get close to 25mpg on the long drive from Oregon to Texas. I will report the mpg after that trip.

I drove a 2005 E55 for a weekend in Dallas. (Supercharged with close to 500 hp). Loved it, but the power was insane.

There are some versions of the AMG's that leaked radiator fluid into the transmission fluid, but this car does not have the brand of radiator with that problem. I WILL look into having the transmission fluid changed though.

It will be interesting to see how expensive it is to own. I suspect I will need to replace the motor mounts (about $200 in parts for the pair) and the steering dampener ($55) soon. Lots of room in the engine bay. Looks so much easier to access to do repairs then my 911. The pads and rotors are all new within the last 10K miles.

Undecided about the Monoblocks. The do look pretty dated and stogy. I did actually pick up a set of 18 inch 8.5" and 9.5" stagard AMG rims from a 2006 SL55. (Picture included.) I checked, and they have the perfect offset for fitment without spacers. Not sure if I really want lower profile tires-- the ride is pretty firm already.

No buyer's remorse to far!

[Sarc]

Nice find, curious to hear how life is with it in the months to come. Love the Monoblocks (especially if they were 18's) but the SL rims should look great.
Maybe a light drop too while you're at it.

[WPOZZZ]

Originally Posted by ewave

Undecided about the Monoblocks. The do look pretty dated and stogy. I did actually pick up a set of 18 inch 8.5" and 9.5" stagard AMG rims from a 2006 SL55. (Picture included.) I checked, and they have the perfect offset for fitment without spacers. Not sure if I really want lower profile tires-- the ride is pretty firm already.

No buyer's remorse to far!

Nice rims, but make sure they will fit your car as the wheel bolt size may be different. I got a set of stock W211 E55 rims from a friend and he gave me wheel bolts and they were smaller than the ones on the car, probably from a C/CLK class.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by WPOZZZ

Nice rims, but make sure they will fit your car as the wheel bolt size may be different. I got a set of stock W211 E55 rims from a friend and he gave me wheel bolts and they were smaller than the ones on the car, probably from a C/CLK class.

Good advice! When I put later 17 inch wheels on my E320, I was limited to wheel selection because of this. Was considering having sleeves made but wheels need to be period correct to look best anyway.

[Miguel Antonett]

I love the cat, did it come with it?