Buying guide · 1999–2006 · M113 E50 V8 · 306 PS
Mercedes CL 500 C215
Everything that decides whether the one you are looking at is a good buy or an expensive one.
25-page guide, A4 and phone · 5-page inspection card · instant PDF · VAT included
In the guide
What the Mercedes CL 500 C215 guide covers
- 01Every fault this engine has, and how much work it is
- 02Active Body Control: how much work each part of it is, the free check that decides everything, and why replacing one strut on a neglected system is money you will spend twice
- 03Where this body corrodes and where it cannot, because the panels are steel, aluminium, magnesium and plastic — and the one place almost nobody looks
- 04What is simply twenty years old — and can be left alone
- 05The inspection card: the whole viewing on paper, in order, to take with you
- 06What to say to the seller, and what to keep to yourself
From the guide itself
This is how it reads
This is what one of the thirteen looks likeLast Real Engines
7 · The multicontour seats and their pneumatics
Half a day per seat, only on cars that have them · expensive part, difficult access
Little pumps and bladders in the backrest, and the bladders perish. How you notice it: work every function of both front seats through its full travel, including the lumbar and side bolster adjustment, and listen for a pump that runs and runs.
Leave it unless the seat has collapsed on one side. This is comfort, not condition.
And this is how the card readsLast Real Engines
- 1 · The ABC fluid · before the engine is even started
- 2 · Underneath, with a torch, before the drive
- 3 · The cold start, and the rise
- 4 · The engine bay, cold
- 5 · Round the outside · know what the panels are made of
- 6 · The pillarless windows · all four
What €24 buys, put next to what it saves
Active Body Control is half a day per corner on an expensive part, and a full overhaul is two or three days and the most expensive job on the car. A fluid and filter change is an hour or two — and the colour of that fluid is free to check. The guide is €24. It will not stop any of that from being needed — but it does tell you which of them you are looking at before you agree a price, and that is the whole of the difference between paying for a car and paying for someone else's postponed maintenance.
VAT included · sold by Lemon Squeezy as merchant of record · questions first? buyersguide@lastrealengines.com
Start with the free guide
The six questions that decide whether this car is a good buy
- What colour is the ABC fluid?
- Is any corner sweating?
- What does the ABC system pressure read?
- Where is the body corroding?
- Which build month, and therefore which gearbox?
- What has already been paid for?
Start with the free guide: what this car is, and the questions that decide whether the one you are looking at is a good buy or an expensive one.
Before you buy
Questions
What exactly do I get?
The full guide as a PDF, 25 pages in A4, plus a phone edition to read at the car; and the inspection card, 5 pages to print and take to the viewing. €24, VAT included.
How is it delivered?
Straight after payment you get a download link for the guide, the phone edition and the card. No subscription, no account.
Can I get a refund?
EU consumer law gives you fourteen days to change your mind. For digital content that right ends the moment delivery starts, provided you agreed to that at the checkout. If the file will not open, or you were sent the wrong car, write to us and we will fix it or refund it.
Who handles the payment?
Lemon Squeezy, who sell the guide to you as merchant of record. They charge the VAT at the rate of your country, send the invoice, and email you the download link. We never see your card.
Why are there no prices in it?
Because a price we cannot verify is worse than no price, and because a price would be wrong for most of the people reading it: workshop rates across Europe differ by a factor of two or three. What does not change is how much work a job is, so every point says whether it is an hour, half a day, a day, or a week in the workshop. Ask your own workshop for its hourly rate, and every hour in the guide becomes your own number.
Is this advice about a specific car?
No. A guide tells you what to look at; it is general information about the model and not advice about a specific car. Have every car inspected before you buy by someone who knows the engine.
More Mercedes-Benz guides
Going to look at a Mercedes CL 500 C215?
Take the guide and the card with you.
25-page guide, A4 and phone · 5-page inspection card · instant PDF · VAT included