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Mercedes-Benz CL550: Your Fin de Siecle Moment

Mercedes-Benz CL550: Your Fin de Siecle Moment

By Marty Padgett's avatar Marty PadgettMarty Padgett October 14th, 2008

2009 Mercedes Benz CL Class 5.5L V12

2009 Mercedes Benz CL Class 5.5L V12

Enlarge Photo

If it's the end of an era of excess, the Mercedes-Benz CL550 sure doesn't know it.

This week, while the market is pole-dancing for Hugo Chavez' entertainment, while Palin and Biden and Obama and McCain are all trying to convince you a cure is on the way and really offering no evidence to support such a thesis, I'm piloting a Benz CL coupe--a car that doesn't need to be cured of anything except high cholesterol, the kind you get from too much foie gras. Piloting, because in its COMAND controller alone, there's enough aeronautic flair to please a Gulfstream groupie. More technology and more buttons and more knobs than in all of the Smart fortwo, enough appeals to your sensory pleasures to make Sodom and Gomorrah look like waypoints on the nav screen.

It's scary, but the CL550 is fleet and luxurious enough to totally distract me from logging into my 401(k) plan online and surveying the wreckage. And in truth, I'm actually driving only the "base" CL550, if that notion doesn't make you snort loudly. The CL550 is powered by a 5.5-liter V-8 with a 388-horsepower engine that's teamed to a seven-speed automatic. You can charge up to a V-12 car or a choice of AMG-modified turbocharged cars--but also in truth, this CL is already a sinful, debauched totem of power. Which I am totally loving.

Why so? For one, it doesn't care what the economy's doing--and it rarely lets on it cares what the road beneath is doing. Even with the 4Matic four-wheel drive made available just in time for the 2009 lineup, and its rear-biased torque split of 45:55, the CL550 glides over the pavement with a carefree ease that makes you wonder what the suckers who pay twice as much for the CL65 are really getting (except for turbo lag--ask Automobile's Jason Cammisa about that one). This is a hefty, barrel-chested coupe that weighs more than 5,000 pounds but handles with Nureyev agility. Credit the Active Body Control (ABC) system, which controls ride height and suspension feel. The steering doesn't talk back much, though, and we like a little sass.

Inside and out, the Mercedes-Benz CL takes a minimalist approach to ultra-luxury, if that makes sense. You can read its imputed value in every delicate curve of its rear quarters, and the interior telegraphs your spendthrift ways with tony leather, chrome-bedazzled buttons, and furniture-quality wood trim. Ultra-tech has its place, too, in the CL's COMAND controller--which, in truth, doesn't work half-bad, allowing me to control my iPhone and broadcast radio and satellite radio and talk hands-free without oafishly colliding with the lesser Kias and Corollas in the lane next door. (You'll need a week to digest the manual and learn its interface, though.)

The opulent interior in my test car sported multicontour seats, some of the best I've planted myself in--the bolsters inflate and deflate with you as you corner. The backseats are very roomy for a coupe, though getting in and out takes advanced extraction techniques. Ladle on the safety gear--Parktronic parking aid, a blind-spot detection system, all manner of airbags and stability controls--and the Mercedes-Benz CL-Class adds up to an 8.8 rating in TheCarConnection.com's rankings of new cars, with a perfect score of 10 for features.

So while we do the big economic swirl, and steam into the next generation of the Entitlement Society, I'll be whistling by the graveyard in the only two-door I know of that's capable of outswanking a '66 Continental coupe and outhustling a Vegas card shark at the same time. One question: While we're at it, can someone please socialize the cost of owning this $108,775 two-door, so I can keep myself up in the lifestyle to which I've become accustomed? 2009 Mercedes Benz CL Class 5.5L V12Enlarge PhotoIf it's the end of an era of excess, the Mercedes-Benz CL550 sure doesn't know it. This week, while the market is pole-dancing for Hugo Chavez' entertainment, while Palin and Biden and Obama and McCain are all trying to convince you a cure is on the way and really offering no evidence to support such a thesis, I'm piloting a Benz CL coupe--a car that doesn't need to be cured of anything except high cholesterol, the kind you get from too much foie gras. Piloting, because in its COMAND controller alone, there's enough aeronautic flair to please a Gulfstream groupie. More technology and more buttons and more knobs than in all of the Smart fortwo, enough appeals to your sensory pleasures to make Sodom and Gomorrah look like waypoints on the nav screen. It's scary, but the CL550 is fleet and luxurious enough to totally distract me from logging into my 401(k) plan online and surveying the wreckage. And in truth, I'm actually driving only the "base" CL550, if that notion doesn't make you snort loudly. The CL550 is powered by a 5.5-liter V-8 with a 388-horsepower engine that's teamed to a seven-speed automatic. You can charge up to a V-12 car or a choice of AMG-modified turbocharged cars--but also in truth, this CL is already a sinful, debauched totem of power. Which I am totally loving. Why so? For one, it doesn't care what the economy's doing--and it rarely lets on it cares what the road beneath is doing. Even with the 4Matic four-wheel drive made available just in time for the 2009 lineup, and its rear-biased torque split of 45:55, the CL550 glides over the pavement with a carefree ease that makes you wonder what the suckers who pay twice as much for the CL65 are really getting (except for turbo lag--ask Automobile's Jason Cammisa about that one). This is a hefty, barrel-chested coupe that weighs more than 5,000 pounds but handles with Nureyev agility. Credit the Active Body Control (ABC) system, which controls ride height and suspension feel. The steering doesn't talk back much, though, and we like a little sass. Inside and out, the Mercedes-Benz CL takes a minimalist approach to ultra-luxury, if that makes sense. You can read its imputed value in every delicate curve of its rear quarters, and the interior telegraphs your spendthrift ways with tony leather, chrome-bedazzled buttons, and furniture-quality wood trim. Ultra-tech has its place, too, in the CL's COMAND controller--which, in truth, doesn't work half-bad, allowing me to control my iPhone and broadcast radio and satellite radio and talk hands-free without oafishly colliding with the lesser Kias and Corollas in the lane next door. (You'll need a week to digest the manual and learn its interface, though.) The opulent interior in my test car sported multicontour seats, some of the best I've planted myself in--the bolsters inflate and deflate with you as you corner. The backseats are very roomy for a coupe, though getting in and out takes advanced extraction techniques. Ladle on the safety gear--Parktronic parking aid, a blind-spot detection system, all manner of airbags and stability controls--and the Mercedes-Benz CL-Class adds up to an 8.8 rating in TheCarConnection.com's rankings of new cars, with a perfect score of 10 for features. So while we do the big economic swirl, and steam into the next generation of the Entitlement Society, I'll be whistling by the graveyard in the only two-door I know of that's capable of outswanking a '66 Continental coupe and outhustling a Vegas card shark at the same time. One question: While we're at it, can someone please socialize the cost of owning this $108,775 two-door, so I can keep myself up in the lifestyle to which I've become accustomed?

Posted in: 2008, 2009, Mercedes Benz, Smart, Coupes, Luxury, fortwo



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Responses (4 total)

  1. By Ed #1, Posted: 10/15/2008

    "Give me the luxuries of life, and I'll gladly part with the necessities" (from memory)
    was a line from Famous Architect Frank Lloyd Wright that Rolls used in advertising its Corniche Convertible in the 80s and 90s.
    What's great is that you do NOT have to spend $110k (I would not even tho I have it, and have had it for over 25 years now);
    It is that you can buy this car 10 years from now, maybe with 80-120k miles, in excellent shape and ready to do another 10 years, for $10k (or $20k if low miles).
    It is really worth it. Even if it is a total loss (which it will not be), you will lose only HALF its FIRST YEAR DEPRECIATION if you buy it new.
    You can get today the excellent 80-91 560SEC coupe for peanuts, and it looks gorgeous in black. Or the 92-99 big-ass S500 and S600 coupes.. although technologically they are a bit behind the times now.
    I took a risk when I bought my BMW740iL in 05, a $75k car when new, for $10.5k, cheaper than the cheapest KIA or Hyundai, new. I have driven the car for more than three years now, and every few miles I drive in it is a real treat. And it has every tech feature you need today, from navigation to all kinds of airbags, Stability control, even YAW control and of course ABS etc.

  2. By Michael #2, Posted: 10/15/2008

    Ed-
    I must concur. Just 5 months ago I purchased an 05 CL500 with a paltry 32k miles. Only cost me $34k. What a steal considering the car listed for $103k new! I still have another 10-months of factory warranty so no worries. However, if you plan on purchasing these cars out of warranty be sure to have some reserves built-up. Parts are not cheap on these cars. The shocks on these things list for about $1,800 each! I will say they are well worth it though. The ABC is truly amazing! Not only does it manage the dampening of the shocks based on driving dynamics and road conditions, but it prevents lean. The system removes 95% of the lean around turns so the car truly feels like it is on rails.

  3. By Ed #3, Posted: 10/15/2008

    Michael: Great buy. And I like the big coupes much better than sedans, some of them may end up becoming classics too. The 740iL has huge rear room, although the trunk is medium-sized. I was actually looking (semi-actively, for years) for both S class sedans and coupes and 5-series with the 6 sp manual, but the 7 was in my area, a 3 mile drive from home, and after 2 test drives I decided to take the risk.
    Fortunately, after more than 3 yrs, the engine and transmission sound great so far. I did have a couple minor and a few very minor other things fail, but with a car that now has 123.5k miles and is already 10 years old, one should expect a few things to wear out or go bad every year.
    There is a website and an email group I joined, appropriately called "The Magnificent 7" some there really know the 7 series in all detail. I bet there is a similar group or groups for the M-B.

  4. By Eric #4, Posted: 10/16/2008

    We should remember that the rest of the world is not experiencing the same U.S. increase in gas prices -- they ALREADY have high prices. Luxurious, excessive vehicles have been around from M-B and BMW for decades, with gas prices in Europe at $5-8 per gallon for much of that time.
    Therefore, we should not expect European manufacturers to change their world offerings due to an "equalization" of U.S. gas prices with the rest of the western world.

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