CLR goes CLS

CLR-GTR · May 28, 2016

So after spamming the chatbox for a year about wanting to get something newer to replace my 202 C-Class... it has happened! No more worries again, Mike :lol:

Now that I don't live on my own yet (never felt the need to leave), I wanted to upgrade car while I still can thanks to the relatively low spending pattern I can maintain. It's definitely not a matter of being rich, or and-and, it's a matter of what you give priority: an own appartment, a 700 euro phone, go on vacation 5 times a year and get new high-brand clothes every month, or none of those and instead save it up long to get one big thing. Each to his/her own.

I was looking for a year, started with a 211 E-Class, then it went to a first-gen CLS, but I never found one that really pulled me in, either that or they were already sold before I could make up my mind. I've seen the entire offer of Mercs for sale in the dutchland, and early this year I set my sights on a 212 E-Class, the boxy one. Again, the most interesting ones were sold 2 days after I found them, and all the others had missing equipment, wrong colors or the sellers were not entirely trustworthy. And ofcourse warranty isn't a thing you could expect by standard, neither is a replacement car if yóur car needs fixing or maintenance. And then, I changed again. From a 212 to a 218 CLS (basically same car with a few different panels and lower roof).

I've been F5'ing the heck out of this pc after I saw a CLS350 CDI at a known Mercedes specialist. It's one of my dream configurations: AMG styling, black outside, black inside, black trim material and even a black headliner... I decided to go for it. I called the owner/seller of the company, got positive answers on the questions I had, and arranged a test drive. Incredible, just incredible. It runs smooth, silent, quick, and it's very comfortable. It has all important stuff and very nice stuff, such as a black headliner, full AMG styling (not aftermarket), ventilated seats, memory for seats, mirrors and steeringwheel, it has COMAND (high-end computer/nav thing) and much more. It's so far away from a 202 C-Class engineered in the early 90's, though it's clear they are both from the same brand with the same qualities.

And now it's mine :D. When we arrived to pick it up, it was standing right next to the entrance of the office, with a massive blue bow on the bonnet. The owner of the company explained me how everything works, and after half an hour we left the old C-Class behind and drove home in a 5 year old CLS. It has a complete known history and I bought it with 1 year full warranty. The previous owner was an air traffic controller and traded the CLS in for his 8th Merc, an S-Class. One of my reasons to buy it from this specific specialist btw is that they are a partner of Mercedes-Benz and they have a service for replacement cars at very low rates. Plus ofcourse the 1 year warranty. It's not really that I have no faith, because I feel good about the place, the people and their service. But at the end of the line it's a 2011 luxury segment car with lots of tech, I wouldn't dare to buy it anywhere else, many companies just stick to standard 3 months or 6 months of very limited warranty (only on engine/gearbox for example).

If anybody would be interested, I could update this post later with the official datacard of the vehicle.

CarMadMike · May 28, 2016

Very very jealous CLR. Such a nice car.

Very good spec too, can't see anything I don't think I'd have chosen myself :D

hassan1995 · May 28, 2016

Woah :eek:

Absolutely epic car man it looks so good!

Mighty impressed with the purchase :thumbsup:

Now whenever I visit we can travel in style :lol: :boss:

The Compensator · May 28, 2016

Gefeliciteerd met de auto, Helmy. Happy motoring and lots of trouble-free miles. :kiss:

P. S.: want sum help with the detailing products? :cheeky:

CLR-GTR · May 28, 2016

hassan1995 said:
Now whenever I visit we can travel in style :lol: :boss:

We sure can, the rest of this country drives in 5-10 year old little city cars :lol:

Thanks everybody, I can't quite believe it yet that it really is mine now.

@tomas: well, I'm not comfortable trashing this thing through the car wash :lol: For now the detailing of the seller will do fine but I will have to start reading up on the subject soon. :nods:

Ryzza5 · May 28, 2016

Congrats on the upgrade. It looks very nice.

CLR-GTR · May 28, 2016

Thanks Ryan. Any luck yourself already on a possible something?

Eudemon · May 28, 2016

Wow what a car! I've been a fan of the CLS for a while as they are quite wonderful looking cars. And knowing how nutso you are about Mercs, I am sure you will have a blast driving and showing off this thing. Amazing step up from your previous.

:drool:

killalldude · May 28, 2016

I've always loved the CLS too. If I were to relocate to EU, I would definitely buy a CLS Shooting Brake.

Yours looks super clean. Any idea if the AMG package comes with upgraded front seats? Those look super comfy and decently bolstered for a car of this type.

CLR-GTR · May 28, 2016

AMG package I believe doesn't come with upgraded seats, only a steering wheel with flat bottom and AMG floormats. I think you'd have to get multi-contour or dynamic multi-contour seats, recognizable by a small bock with buttons right next to the center tunnel. Those are the ones where you can inflate/deflate air pockets in the seat for more or less support, with the dynamic ones doing this automatically during cornering.

Camel · May 28, 2016

:eek:

Congrats on the new car, it looks amazing and really well kitted out. I dare say you'll get some looks from the ladies in it. And probably looks of jealousy from most other people too.

Just keep away from car parks! Looks humongous.

CLR-GTR · May 28, 2016

Thanks Mellors. We'll see about the ladies, but the jealous looks from others are already in the pocket. During the test drive we stopped at a petrol station to test out some things, and some fatherfigure of a german family kept staring at my car :p And on the way of driving it home, some people overtook me rather slowly, scanning the whole car.

We'll see about car parks but yes it can get a bit problematic if the others leave me with little space left. The car does have a reversing camera and parking sensors but the body itself is still 4940mm long and 1881mm wide, compared to 4516 and 1720 of the silver C. I'll just have to get used to it :p

The Compensator · May 28, 2016

"CLR-GTR said:
Thanks Mellors. We'll see about the ladies, but the jealous looks from others are already in the pocket. During the test drive we stopped at a petrol station to test out some things, and some fatherfigure of a german family kept staring at my car :p And on the way of driving it home, some people overtook me rather slowly, scanning the whole car.

Aren't you just looking too much at people around you to catch 'em staring? :p

Gimme the datacard, pls. I got questions about the equipment.

CLR-GTR · May 28, 2016

No, I was dreaming too much, my mom noticed both occasions :p Below is the datacard, I have omitted some silly stuff that I really don't see as optional equipment (e.g. L - Left hand drive, FC - Coupe and HA - Rear axle...)

Reveal hidden contents

The Compensator · May 28, 2016

thanks. I was mainly curious about the color and suspension. Good to know it does not have runflats unlike some new mercs.

The only thing missing are the spiegelpaket, and harman/kardon, huh? :bmad:

Ryzza5 · May 29, 2016

"CLR-GTR said:
Thanks Ryan. Any luck yourself already on a possible something?

Quite a good one popped up just before I left Aus but checking today a whole bunch of R's have moved on. So it'll be a waiting game for das perfekt auto.

CLR-GTR · May 29, 2016

"The Compensator said:
thanks. I was mainly curious about the color and suspension. Good to know it does not have runflats unlike some new mercs.

The only thing missing are the spiegelpaket, and harman/kardon, huh? :bmad:

I wasn't really looking for one with Airmatic, mostly because of the horror stories surrounding replacement of its components. Then again, Merc has improved it a lot compared to earlier iterations of the system and if you don't do weird stuff with it, it should last quite long.

For now I'm not missing the harman/kardon and folding mirrors. Mainly the mirrors would get priority, but since I am now parking away from the roadside it's become less important for now. Soundsystem I'd have to experience it first to hear the difference, but right now the CLS standard is already so much better.

@Ryan: I know what you mean yes, been through the same in my year-long search. But it'll show up, no doubt. Just keep checking.