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2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,315
edited September 2014 in Mercedes-Benz

image2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

Last time we checked in our 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65. We weren't too happy with what we learned next.

Read the full story here


Comments

  • gslippygslippy Member Posts: 514
    Engineered like no other car in the world.
  • gslippygslippy Member Posts: 514
    Engineered like no other car in the world.
  • duck87duck87 Member Posts: 649
    Well... it can only be fuel or spark right? I don't get the misfire code though, I wouldn't expect that as a startup code, more like something that happened during your test. The blower motor replacement is even more hilarious- in my car it involves removal of a lower dash panel, a screwdriver and a $40 part...
  • duck87duck87 Member Posts: 649
    Well... it can only be fuel or spark right? I don't get the misfire code though, I wouldn't expect that as a startup code, more like something that happened during your test. The blower motor replacement is even more hilarious- in my car it involves removal of a lower dash panel, a screwdriver and a $40 part...
  • mercedesfanmercedesfan Member Posts: 365
    I still think it is probably a bad ignition coil. You should grab a simple multimeter and take some resistance measurements to check for sure. The coils are known to be a problem on the W220 and W215 cars equipped with V12s.
  • mercedesfanmercedesfan Member Posts: 365
    I still think it is probably a bad ignition coil. You should grab a simple multimeter and take some resistance measurements to check for sure. The coils are known to be a problem on the W220 and W215 cars equipped with V12s.
  • mdm080333mdm080333 Member Posts: 5
    Remove and replace. Rinse and repeat.
  • mdm080333mdm080333 Member Posts: 5
    Remove and replace. Rinse and repeat.
  • kevm14kevm14 Member Posts: 423
    Yeah probably something to do with all the heat generated during performance testing.
  • kevm14kevm14 Member Posts: 423
    Yeah probably something to do with all the heat generated during performance testing.
  • fordson1fordson1 Unconfirmed Posts: 1,512
    I dunno, mercedesfan. One bad coil - or maybe a couple - and a V12 won't even start - ? Just thinking a bit here, but too lazy to do any research...what flavor of VVT does this thing have - ? Does it have VVT? Is it possible that maybe after the test runs (really fishing here...) with the car heat-soaking, the oil pressure to the VVT maybe was out of spec in such a way that all the valves were allowed to be open at once? Member kevm14 speculated that it sounded like no compression...and I'm not sure I disagree with him. As I said, don't know what this car's VVT setup is.
  • fordson1fordson1 Unconfirmed Posts: 1,512
    I dunno, mercedesfan. One bad coil - or maybe a couple - and a V12 won't even start - ? Just thinking a bit here, but too lazy to do any research...what flavor of VVT does this thing have - ? Does it have VVT? Is it possible that maybe after the test runs (really fishing here...) with the car heat-soaking, the oil pressure to the VVT maybe was out of spec in such a way that all the valves were allowed to be open at once? Member kevm14 speculated that it sounded like no compression...and I'm not sure I disagree with him. As I said, don't know what this car's VVT setup is.
  • reminderreminder Member Posts: 383
    Pouring money down a rat hole.
  • reminderreminder Member Posts: 383
    Pouring money down a rat hole.
  • kevm14kevm14 Member Posts: 423
    I changed my mind on that. I forgot about how smooth V12 engines crank. The blips in speed were speedUPS not slow downs (as would be from compression). I think it's ignition-related (coil, crank position, etc.) exacerbated from heat soak. I say that while knowing zero about this engine.
  • kevm14kevm14 Member Posts: 423
    I changed my mind on that. I forgot about how smooth V12 engines crank. The blips in speed were speedUPS not slow downs (as would be from compression). I think it's ignition-related (coil, crank position, etc.) exacerbated from heat soak. I say that while knowing zero about this engine.
  • camrydriver69camrydriver69 Member Posts: 54
    The best part is, it's only 60k miles, there more fun to come!
  • camrydriver69camrydriver69 Member Posts: 54
    The best part is, it's only 60k miles, there more fun to come!
  • kevm14kevm14 Member Posts: 423
    This is why cars like this have so few miles. And I'm not even joking. If this thing had like 150k, I think I'd honestly have trusted it more.
  • kevm14kevm14 Member Posts: 423
    This is why cars like this have so few miles. And I'm not even joking. If this thing had like 150k, I think I'd honestly have trusted it more.
  • sharpendsharpend Member Posts: 177
    Sell the f**ker fast.
  • sharpendsharpend Member Posts: 177
    Sell the f**ker fast.
  • agentorangeagentorange Member Posts: 893
    Yeah, maybe now we know why the miles are low and it was on a used car lot. I reckon you guys either heat soaked it into some kind of fuel vapor lock and/or the fuel pump is weak. As for the coils, Jeremy Clarkson bought one of these for a song on their show and it blew something pricey in the ignition within a week. @duck87. I think the piece making the noise in the cabin is a device that circulates air over a temperature sensor. My Jag has one and it also makes a stupid noise.
  • agentorangeagentorange Member Posts: 893
    Yeah, maybe now we know why the miles are low and it was on a used car lot. I reckon you guys either heat soaked it into some kind of fuel vapor lock and/or the fuel pump is weak. As for the coils, Jeremy Clarkson bought one of these for a song on their show and it blew something pricey in the ignition within a week. @duck87. I think the piece making the noise in the cabin is a device that circulates air over a temperature sensor. My Jag has one and it also makes a stupid noise.
  • miedenmieden Member Posts: 75
    This car has no VVT, coil packs are designed and sold as a bank (left bank, right bank...port and starboard side, lol). This is most probably a heat soak issue in a coil pack or CKP, although, when crank signal is failing on these cars EIS usually runs the full cranking procedure. Could also be a bad SAM right, but you better hope its not. AAC pushbutton modules (aspirator motor) are half that price online and you could install it yourselves, but it would still have to be coded to the car. They can still last a good long while after they get noisy, but the data from this temp sensor is averaged with another temp sensor/aspirator assembly in the roof and the accuracy is reduced the longer you wait to replace. Eventually you'll have to abandon the automatic functions. The good news is, at least its an aspirator motor and not a stepper motor on the HVAC box!
  • miedenmieden Member Posts: 75
    This car has no VVT, coil packs are designed and sold as a bank (left bank, right bank...port and starboard side, lol). This is most probably a heat soak issue in a coil pack or CKP, although, when crank signal is failing on these cars EIS usually runs the full cranking procedure. Could also be a bad SAM right, but you better hope its not. AAC pushbutton modules (aspirator motor) are half that price online and you could install it yourselves, but it would still have to be coded to the car. They can still last a good long while after they get noisy, but the data from this temp sensor is averaged with another temp sensor/aspirator assembly in the roof and the accuracy is reduced the longer you wait to replace. Eventually you'll have to abandon the automatic functions. The good news is, at least its an aspirator motor and not a stepper motor on the HVAC box!
  • desmoliciousdesmolicious Member Posts: 671
    Edmunds needs mieden on speed dial.
  • desmoliciousdesmolicious Member Posts: 671
    Edmunds needs mieden on speed dial.
  • noburgersnoburgers Member Posts: 500
    again, what's with the deletion of all the blog comments? this entry had dozens up until yesterday
  • noburgersnoburgers Member Posts: 500
    again, what's with the deletion of all the blog comments? this entry had dozens up until yesterday
  • darnell_darnell_ Member Posts: 2
    Lol....I've been following this pretty closely, as this is an interesting topic. Buy a brand new sports car, or take advantage of the depreciation market and buy a second (or third) hand supercar.

    Whereas I believe a used Z06 or CTSV (or even an e92 M3 for that matter) would be solid buys around this cost as the as-new stickers weren't too much higher, purchasing a 200k+ car for under 40k just seemed like it would come with some serious compromises, and thus far it looks like this is going to get much more expensive.

    Very interested how this turns out.
  • darnell_darnell_ Member Posts: 2
    Lol....I've been following this pretty closely, as this is an interesting topic. Buy a brand new sports car, or take advantage of the depreciation market and buy a second (or third) hand supercar.

    Whereas I believe a used Z06 or CTSV (or even an e92 M3 for that matter) would be solid buys around this cost as the as-new stickers weren't too much higher, purchasing a 200k+ car for under 40k just seemed like it would come with some serious compromises, and thus far it looks like this is going to get much more expensive.

    Very interested how this turns out.
  • ttopjohnttopjohn Member Posts: 25
    Just FYI, in many cases the little fan that draws air over the interior temp sensor by the climate control buttons can be serviced despite the fact that the dealer and manufacturer say otherwise. For example, BMW sure doesn't sell the fan alone for my E38, but you can pull the assembly appart and place a drop or two of oil on the fan to quiet it when it starts squeaking. Now you've got a click, not a squeak, but still might be worth exploring - if it's as loud as it sounds in the video, and it's constantly clickling whenever the car is on, that would drive me nuts. If you're afraid of breaking stuff, buy a climate control button assembly from a junkyard S class for parts.
  • quadcammer_quadcammer_ Member Posts: 3
    hmm, its almost like i mentioned that aspirator motor in my comment the first time you discussed the noise.

    Its $600 from any number of online sources.

    Try cleaning it first
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