Buying review Mercedes-Benz CL (C216) 2007-2014 Common Issues Engines Inspection
Hi everyone, and marry Christmas for you and yours after this terrible year of 2020. This is the last video of the year, so lets go out with a bang.
Today we will review the Mercedes-Benz CL. One of the best looking luxury coupes that Mercedes ever made, the car has the internal code C216 and W216 and was built between 2007 and 2014. Lets have a look at some of its issues and try to determine if this car is still a good buy in 2021.
Lets start with the good news about this car, the CL has the same chassis as the W221 S-Class that ran from 2005 until 2013. That is in terms of comfort the best chassis that Mercedes has to offer. This is a luxury cruiser with huge performance especially the CL63 AMG.
The CL was only available with V8 and V12 petrol engines, no diesels where available. Early models where equipped with the 7G-TRONIC automatic from Daimler. As the name relieves this was a 7 speed automatic.
Now lets go over some of the issues with the CL:
Serpentine pulley collapse – Plastic idlers become brittle and can collapse even even shred the belt which drives the water pump, the alternator and the ABC suspension pump. So check this part for wear and tear and see if you can find out if the previous owner already replaced this part. This single part can cause a lot of engine damage if its goes wrong.
When you bought the V12 then issues with this pulley can easy total the car if you have it repaired at Mercedes. So do regular checks, even between maintenance.
ABC issues – Pulsation damper replacements seem to be a common issue.
There are some reports of issues with the 7G-tronic in the form of not changing down automatically or refusing to go into reverse without switching off/on. The remedy would be to change or repair the controller card of the automatic. Basically the software of the automatic. This can cost you up to £600+ fix at a specialist (including oil & filter change) In Euro’s this costs 660 euro and in dollars 804 dollars.
There are issues know of cars that had a drain line blocked and this resulted in water coming into the foot wells of the car, in this place is also where you find the cars ECU. The control unit. Water and computers don’t like each other so this causes electric problems going as far as you not being able to start the car again until a new ECU is placed. Its not only the placement of a new ECU but also the programming to get it to work in the CL.
So make sure that you regularly check to see if the drain lines are not being clocked up with leafs or other debris. Moving on.
Rust is a common issue for Cl’s that stood outside most of there life and where driving in the harsher climates. So Cl’s from Florida or California will barely suffer from this but the cars from Canada, Eastern Europe will probably have some rust bubbles here and there.
These cars like to be driven, don’t let you Benz sit in your driveways for weeks to come, this might result in some small issues in the form of a drained battery which will in turn result in a ton of error codes from the ECU. So if this is your Sunday car, maybe it is best to hook the car up to a battery trickle charger.
One last thing to remember, these are big cars, more then 5 meters long and almost 2,5 meters wide. Parking in small parking lots can be a challenge, this car is made to cover great distances in big comfort.
The v8 engines are probably the best pick, they offer nice performance and a good soundtrack. The V12 is more refined and sometimes you wonder if the engine is running at all. Running costs on the V12 are obviously much higher then the v8.
Absolute crown of the CL is the CL63AMG, maybe the best looking Benz out of the late 2000’s from Mercedes. This 63AMG has 6.2 V8 engine with 525 HP and 630 NW of torque all coming from the famous M156 engine which can also be found in the S63, E63, SL63, CLS63 AMG’s.
Hope this buying review was useful, if you like these reviews and think they can help you during the buying process of a car. Please hit subscribe and we hope to see you in the next video. Enjoy the rest of you Christmas and have a good recovery in 2021.