MercedesCLK280 | Barn of the week

The CLK (Coupe Luxus Kurz) was Mercedes’ range of ‘mid-sized’ coupes and convertibles. We put medium size in the speech marks there, because although it adopted styling cues from the E-Class, it was actually built on the smaller C-Class platform. The internal indications were also a bit strange. The gen-one CLK was the 208. A gen-two like our 2005 example was, as you would expect if you went to school at any point in your life, the 209 – but the 2010 gen-three strangely went back to 207.

Shed was never very good at math either. If you look like him, apologies, because here come some more numbers. There was a 268bhp 350 version of the 1,735kg 209 CLK, but the 1,705kg M272 3.0-litre V6 we have here had more than enough squirt for most with 228bhp at a punchy 6,000rpm and 221Nm at a more accessible 2,500rpm. Those figures gave it a 0-60 mph time in the mid-1970s and a top speed of 150 mph. Official combined fuel consumption for the 7G-Tronic auto 280 we got in Britain was 30 and a bit mpg, with 40+ supposedly possible in gentle driving. Some markets could have the 280 with a six-speed manual transmission, but the 350 was automatic only. For UK tax purposes today the CLK 280 falls into the £415 per year bracket.

The second generation benefited from some good trim and size updates that moved it away from the cramped old C-Class sports coupe and closer to the S-Class based CL. There was plenty of extra interior space, the larger 390-litre boot could easily swallow a bag of golf clubs, the soft top was redesigned for less noise and faster operation (20 seconds), and the C-pillars were narrower, making reversing easier.

Our shed was in for the most recent MOT inspection at the beginning of November and came out clean. The only advisories since the first test in 2008 related to consumables. The six failures involved a poorly performing parking brake, a dodgy exhaust mount, an airbag warning light, a loose suspension ball joint, some sort of ‘headlight product’ and a blown tire plus a broken wheel, with the damage in both cases being on the non-visible side. Shed thinks a good percentage of us will be happily riding around with similar problems right now. Depending on the severity of the damage and the extent of air leakage, invisible wheel and/or tire damage may only become known at MOT time, which is a good advertisement for the value of the UK MOT test.

The Alpina-style 18-inch multi-spoke wheels look quite nice, even if at least one of them appears to be shod with a tire made by sea lions. Perhaps the owner was forced to do this by the shortage of rear tires in the CLK’s hard-to-find size 255/35. Anyway, all in all, not a bad list of problems considering this car’s almost 120,000 miles. Although the models powered by the refined and punchy V6 are considered the sweet spot in the range by shed hunters, they won’t be rattle-free in 2025. The frameless windows were not always in the right place, which caused wind noise. This car appears to have a small separation on the right side of the rear window, a common defect. A completely new mohair hood costs around €1,500 installed or €600 or so from a scrap yard if you are handy with the keys. The hood on this car obviously works, but the next owner should check the hydraulic fluid level in the reservoir behind the carpet on the left side of the trunk. If it is low, there is a leak somewhere. There are also about a dozen microswitches that can go wrong.

The electrical systems generally needed monitoring, especially overzealous sensors, over-enthusiastic seat belt presenters, and failing air conditioning stepper motors. The infotainment on the pre-June ’05 facelift cars (which this one isn’t) was about 10 years behind the times, but the 209 CLK’s level of specification was always very good. Keyless door handles can break, as can the power seat adjustment and the trunk brake light lens, allowing water to enter the trunk.

Shed also seems to remember a possible nasty problem with the timing gear and balance shaft on pre-2007 cars, problems with plastic intake manifolds and crankshaft position sensors and something with handbrake cables rubbing against the propshaft housing, but he assumes a one-owner car like this has had the correct maintenance and recall slots. The suspension is standard steel with no hydraulics or air, which is a good thing from a complication perspective. Chassis parts will wear out, but replacing them won’t be as expensive as you might think.

Most importantly, the 209 suffered far less from rust problems than the previous 208. You still have to pay close attention to the rear arches, boot lid and door bottoms of pre-facelift cars, but as mentioned this isn’t one of those. When you look at it here this seems like a lot of car for a fiver under £2,000, but then again there are a lot of terrible cars in the adverts for this kind of money, and a disproportionate number of them are Mercs. Warning emptor and get out your wool hat.