Buying guide · 2004–2006 · M113 5.0 V8
Mercedes-Benz CLS 500 C219
Everything that decides whether the one you are looking at is a good buy or an expensive one.
22-page guide, A4 and phone · 3-page inspection card · instant PDF · VAT included
In the guide
What the Mercedes CLS 500 C219 guide covers
- 01Every fault this engine has, and how much work it is
- 02Why the build date decides which engine and which brake system you are buying. And why the facelift year is the wrong thing to go by, because the body did not change when they did
- 03Where to look for corrosion on a car of this age, and — stated plainly rather than papered over — why we will not tell you how rust-prone this model is until we have a source we trust
- 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 twenty-eight looks likeLast Real Engines
27 · The driver's seat bolster and the low sill
Half a day · trim repair rather than replacement
You get in and out of this car over a wide sill and past a low roof, and the outer bolster of the driver's seat takes it. A trimmer repairs it; the seat does not need replacing. Leave it. Cosmetic, and it is what a twenty-year-old car looks like.
And this is how the card readsLast Real Engines
- 1 · Before anybody touches the key · you only get this once
- 2 · The cold start · do nothing else
- 3 · Coolant and gearbox oil · two minutes, engine cold
- 4 · The engine bay, engine off
- 5 · Electrics
- 6 · Water
What €24 buys, put next to what it saves
The air suspension is standard on every one of these, so it is not a system you can avoid by choosing carefully, and a settling corner takes the compressor with it if you wait. The brake unit counts its own life, and it takes a workshop read-out to see how far along it is. And the gearbox oil cooler sits inside the radiator, which means an ordinary radiator failure can destroy the automatic from the inside while the car still drives. 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 questions that decide whether this car is a good buy
- What is the build date, and what is the engine code on the data plate?
- If it has SBC: what does the service-life read-out say?
- Has it stood overnight, and did it stay level?
- Is there a noise shortly after a cold start — and what kind?
- Does anything electrical behave oddly — and has the battery been measured?
- Does it knock over small bumps, and how are the front tyres wearing?
- What do the coolant and the gearbox oil look like?
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, 22 pages in A4, plus a phone edition to read at the car; and the inspection card, 3 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 CLS 500 C219?
Take the guide and the card with you.
22-page guide, A4 and phone · 3-page inspection card · instant PDF · VAT included