Much to my wife’s chagrin, I’m considering acquiring a car I’ve coveted for a number of years: 2006 MB CL600 V12 Biturbo beauty/beast. (note: pics are of a 2002 but the 2006 was the last CL model 2 year).
It’ll be my w/e driver. I already have a C55AMG and I plan on keeping it.
Car wonks, talk me out of it or push me over the edge to take the plunge.
I would love that engine but they aren’t my favorite cars. I’d rather have the SL convertible AMG63. Big coupes just aren’t my thing. A car that looks best in black is often a car that doesn’t look very good at all.
Black isn’t my favourite either. But I wouldn’t say no to it for the right car. Guess which colour I’d prefer. 
SL of that era are absolutely lovely as well. But I love this stupid large coupe (CL) for some reason.
Cons so far:
There’s a lot of spark plugs to change (24).
Coils need changing too.
All under the two inter-coolers.
Sounds like a long day’s job for DIY or $$$ at the dealership.
Something tells me it eats rear tires pretty fast.
Suspension repairs can get expensive.
Pros so far:
Generally considered to be a reliable and mechanically sound automobile.
Silver is the traditional German car color, unless you go really old school, in which case it’s white.
My personal tastes run more towards pre-70s stuff but it could be a fun driver. Is it maybe a little too close to what you already have?
The pre 70 stuff is beautiful, no doubt. Not sure I’m ready for one of those.
The CL600 is similar straight line performance to my C55, but where mine is an M3 fighter, the CL600 is a more refined grand tourer. Also, the lack of a b-pillar gives the CL a unique look and character.
You know what’s fun? That new Kia Stinger GT2 (stay far away from the 4 cylinder, it’s a slug). No, seriously–drive one sometime, even if you’re just trolling the dealer and have no intention of getting one. Doing that is like getting a free carnival ride. Of course, you could probably buy three or four '02 CL600s for the price. But then again, you may have to. 
I’ve known a few Mercedes guys–the cars do look sharp, and they feel nice. But from what I’ve seen they become maintenance pigs after a while.
But then, you only live once, and you have your preferences. Hunt it down and drive it, boy! If it dies, piss on it and get another!
The Kia Stinger GT is about the size of my C55AMG, inside and out. Fully kitted out it approaches the power output of my car as well. Plus it’s got AWD, which mine does not, and a more advanced transmission and lots of added toys of various value to me. It pisses me off to no end, I must admit. But when all is said and done, I’m not rolling in a Kia.
I kid. Mostly.
I’ve been thinking of test driving it though, so I just might do that.
I took the new Alfa Giulia out for a test drive. Very similar in features and performance to the Stinger GT. Fell in love with it but thought it might not be very reliable in the long run.
A very common sentiment, but let me sell you on Kia.
Our Ford Windstar was dying (no surprise there) and we needed a minivan. In our experience, to make a minivan move forward you stomp on the gas pedal, go get some coffee, hop back in and watch the fuel gauge drop to ‘E’ while pulling nearly.0001 G. So that’s how Debon Err treated the 2008 Sedona when we were test driving it. It roared, it burned rubber, and it dug out. We used it for camping on rutted & washboard dirt roads, I used it to haul ridiculous amounts of drywall and lumber. Never got weak, never broke down, interior was reasonably durable, super comfy for road trips.
As the kids grew up we lost our need for a minivan so I turned it into a Subaru BRZ. The BRZ is nice, but I woke up one morning thinking I needed something more grown up, so I packed up the wife and went to look at the Stinger. When all was said and done, I’m still rocking the BRZ (my fling with the Stinger having rekindled my love for the little thing) and Debon Err is rolling the Stinger. This is a girl who wore out an SRT4 and was amused by, but not enchanted with the 2016 WRX.
I’ll test drive it. But only as a favour to you.
Not the thread I expected from the title but just for the record the line is:
In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.
:smack:
I knew I got it wrong but was too lazy to look it up.
Doug DeMuro recently did a video on the AMG version of that car. A $200k car down to $30k in only 12 years.
[quote=“Scoobysnax, post:14, topic:811166”]
Doug DeMuro recently did a video on the AMG version of that car. A $200k car down to $30k in only 12 years.
[/QUOTE]Yep. My interest in the car pre-dates his review. But seeing did renew it and make me seriously consider purchasing one.
A friend of mine bought a SL600 V12 last year. Seriously low price because it only ran on about 9 or 10 cylinders. He replaced the spark plugs and associated coil packs for a not inconsiderable amount of money, somewhat more than the car cost I believe.
Still, they go like stink and have a definite savoir faire about them.
I love the “Guess how much this Mercedes would cost to fix” videos on YouTube. They convinced me out of buying a used R350 at any price.
Yeah, you’ve got to be okay with a $1-3K yearly service bill if you want to roll with savoir fair. I just had a factory alarm failure that disabled the car. Cost me $850 for parts and service. It eats rear tires so that $500 every two years for a pair of Micheline A/S 3+. A service is $250. B service is $600. It adds up.
Man, there are several 2008 CL65/CL600 MBs available in Southern California for $23-30k. It would be fun to have a luxury car with stupid amounts of power. Not sure I can swing the insurance and maintenance costs or convince the wife I need one 