Quick update on the CLS for anyone interested.
Thanks to a large family spread across the country, i've put about 1500 miles on it in the last 3 weeks. I typically see 25 mpg on a long run and around 22 on a short run. Heavy traffic is deadly for fuel consumption. I've seen it as low as 14.
But I didn't get this for fuel saving. The car rides amazingly well on air suspension, however the previous owners decision to fit 20 inch wheels means i'm on 275/30 and 235/35 tyres, which work against the ride quality Daimler intended. So far this has only been a real issue on the concrete sections of the M25 where the whole car seems to resonate at the speed limit.
Sat nav does well for a 12 year old car once updated with a £30 DVD with the 2017 maps and the dynamic mode seems to adapt very well to traffic conditions.
changes since getting it
- The boot release motor wasn't working when I got it and the dealer had been quoted £800 to fix, turns out it was just the electronic control unit which cost me £120 and was a 15 minute job to swap.
- Previous owner had decided to paint the calipers (and brake lines, wishbones and brake pads) yellow. Calipers now repainted in graphite and most yellow removed from the brake lines and wishbones.
- alloy wheel centre caps now fitted with Mercedes stickers to make it look a bit more OEM
- drivers side headlight had an intermittent cornering motor fault. While Mercedes only sell the headlights as an entire unit, the cornering motor controller is a standard Hella unit fitted to a lot of mid 2000 cars. Swapped to a new old stock JLR unit. Fitted new Osram D2S bulbs at the same time (xenon bulbs degrade with time).
