Mercedes is like a wife or a woman to love, the more you love her and take care of her the more she will love you back and be there for you 😄. The oldish CL and S/SL class are the only Benz and car in general that my heart falls for. They are just drop dead gorgeous classy cars. Been dreaming of a CL hopefully ill get one soon.
Hi Mark. Another Mark here. Just found your blog and I thank you for it. My CL500 is currently on its way from the UK to Ukraine via Poland ... I have had it for 9 years and because I have been living overseas I have only done a few hundred mils in it since 2011 when I purchased it with 93k miles. Cant wait to get it in my hands and to getting stuck in to dealing with all the usual issues. Cheers.
I will be disappointed if there are not ,as that is part of the joy of ownership of such a beautiful car. I know for sure that the Valve Cover gaskets and breather cover joints will have to be attended to. Will change the serpentine belt and check the idler pulley and tensioner at same time. Not sure if the 16 x spark plugs have ever been changed so will check those and the plug leads while I am at it. I am also sure that some of the rubber suspension bushes will be knackered by now ... just offering up a prayer that the ABC will behave itself but ...... The roads here in Ukraine make the UK pot hole ridden roads seem as smooth as silk so the bushes will get a good work out whatever I do to them. The great thing about the old Merc V8's is that they really are bulletproof and only really need to check the timing chain for any slack and that the tensioner seems to be working when doing the valve covers are off, to make sure all is well. Other than that just change oil and filter. May take your advice and flush all the fluids in the various systems and change any filters therein (ABC, PAS, Brakes, Gearbox, Radiator, Rear axle). I too used to have a 560SEC and loved that car. So basic in many ways. I remember that when I used to put Super Unleaded in it (98 octane), I used to manually advance the ignition timing by twisting the distributor a few degrees to advance the timing to get a few extra BHP And then retard it when I put cheaper fuel in to stop it "pinking". Nowadays the engine management systems do all that for you, but back then you had to lift the bonnet to tweak it on the fly. Happy days!
Wow! The truck was unexpected! Not sure how well you know Devon, Mark, but I grew up near Bovey Tracey and my folks still live there. I'm now in Poole and use a Merc specialist in Southampton, who I'm pretty happy with. Just yell if you want their details.
Lovely cars these. I'm still hoping to get my SLK to Spain, hopefully this year, but waiting for things to open up a bit more first. The plan is Plymouth to Santander on the over night ferry, then on to Barcelona. Then another Ferry to Menorca. Would be interested in any tips you have as I know you regularly take your car abroad. Cheers, Jon.
I see in the comments that you are planning to keep ABC and not convert to coilovers. Just wondering how long you are planning on keeping the CL because sooner or later the ABC will go bad.
Glad you talked about the ABC suspension. I keep my fingers crossed when I am on the road it wont fail. Also how long was the drive from Spain to UK when you relocated.
Hi, well, it's off the road at the moment - I'm just putting together a new video about it all actually, so thanks for asking. I hope you're doing well and your CL is running well! I'll get the new video edited asap! Cheers, Mark
Hey buddy! They are standard lights as far as I know but they are still set for Euro diving. As for tyres, I'll check my mileage but I'm pretty sure its between 30-40k. You must accelerate too quickly 😉. Still got that amp by the way??!!
