And I bought......

An old CLK320, seems I have a thing for cars more than a decade old! (yes I know it's not a 996, but this is the only forum area people know me ). I always fancied one, thought I had better buy one before they are all too rotten or scrapped.... Shes a 2000, CLK 320. I looked at quite a few and most were rotten and had lots of problems. I found one down south that had a solid body, with great paintwork (most important, didn't want to deal with rust). It had some issues, the stereo and speakers were not functional, the drivers electric seat wasn't opperating, it needed a service (overdue by 54 days so not too bad), headlights were cloudy and it likes kicking into limp mode when at full throttle. Still I like a bit of a project, otherwise the engine was as quiet as anything so smooth, history was there and bodywork was what sold it - I don't think I could have found a better body and engine. The first few days I had her I removed the pannels and rewired all of the stereo system and speaker components back to factory (it actually sounds pretty good now!), did a full service (which included 12 platinum plugs!! And many bleeding knuckles.), fitted new seat motors from Merc, cleaned and waxoyld underneath and fixed an ESP issue. She took 8 litres of oil, so between her, the 996 and our other motors I think I better buy shares in Mobil soon!!! I've been trying to diagnose the limp home mode that occurs when at speed and full throttle / trying to kick down, the more I look into it the more it looks like the MAF (voltage output is sometimes all over the place). Hopefully when that's done I'll clean up the inside and outside and I'll post up some pics Hope all your 996's are going well, I've had mine out quite a few times of late and she is running great, she still stays spotless though and wrapped up in the cold / wet bless her. I don't think I am ever going to part with her or the CLK now - two cars that will remain with me! Cheers,

Well done Steve - sounds nice. Have you sold the MG? Look forward to seeing the pics.

Steve, I think Opie sells barrels you'll be needing it.

Tell me about it! I have a ton of old oil I need to recycle in the garage now. Thanks Richard, yup the MG has now gone. Hoping to get the CLK up together and then use it as my daily car ongoing. I'll post back with some more info and pics later (as soon as it stops raining and I get chance to take any that is!).

Here we go guys, an update, copied a post I put on the Mercedes forum: Well some of you may have seen my posts in the past couple of weeks. It's been a long couple of weeks, a lot of hours, cost some money and made me tired, but I hope it was all worth it! Some years ago I started looking at CLK's (w208), I always liked the shape of them but wasn't sure if they were for me at the time. Roll on several more years and cars and I saw that less were around and more were becoming neglected and somewhat tatty. I decided now was the time to get one if I was ever going to for fear if I left it much longer then I may never find 'the one'. I took a look at a local car, and somewhat fell in love with a tatty clk 230 (the way it drove and looked), it had too many issues though to take on (mostly due to rust) and I acted with my head instead of my heart in this instance. I looked at some more after falling in love with the drive and settled on a metallic blue CLK320 that needed some jobs doing, but was the most solid car I had seen with no rust and fantastic paintwork. It had been looked after and had full service history. As any car does however with age, issues come up, the car had far from been neglected but did need TLC in some areas. Me being me I fell for her, bought her and then drove her home to set about getting her back up to scratch. For the past two and a half weeks she has been in my garage and has had many late nights spent on her. The list of jobs done in two weeks: - Replacing drivers seat motor to get the seat working correctly again - Cleaning all carpets and leather - Pulling the head unit, removing panels diagnosing and re-wiring the audio system with high quality cabling (speakers were not working) - Replacing some audio components - Rectify full throttle running issue, replaced MAF and Throttle position sensor - Full service, 12 new NGK platinum plugs, premium oil and filters etc - Cleaned out gunk from all arches and waxoyld - Cleaned under belly pan and waxoyld - Replaced gear stick emblem and refurbished shifter - Refurbished steering wheel leather - Replaced several bulbs - Cleaned out and waxoyld boot floor plan - Sourced new wheel bolts and locker key - Bled brakes and changed brake fluid - Re-greased all roof mech and hinges - Secured rear window and insulated gap between metal and window frame - Clay bar all panels and polished up / re-waxed - Cleaned and re-sealed roof fabric - Sourced and replaced Mirzam 16" wheels with genuine SL350 18" alloys I'm sure there's a ton of other little jobs as well, but you get the idea. I'm off to get a full four wheel alignment and geo set up tomorrow since fitting the new wheels and I will be cleaning and re-painting the calipers, but after this, it's time to rest, drive and enjoy! I've driven her a few hundred miles today and I loved every minute. Below is a picture today I took quickly after fitting the new wheels and bolts etc. She did pick up some dirt and dust on the way, but I'm hoping for another nice day tomorrow so I can clean her again Anyhow, thanks for your input on my posts and help, and here is hopefully to many years of enjoyment from the old girl Steve

Looks nice Steve, and well done on getting it up to scratch in your usual fastidious way. A real gentleman's cruiser, I'll bet it wafts beautifully.

Thanks Richard, she drives really well. I hope your cars are going good I've been xmas shopping today and took longer than expected so unfortunately didn't have time to get the alignment sorted as they are now closed so that will have to come another day. I'm just about to get changed and get her in the garage to clean and paint the calipers black. The pads and discs are nearly new so that's good, makes a change not to have to switch out brakes. I'm coming to the end of my list which is always good! Cheers