Mercedes-Benz CLK550 (C209)

42 sales analyzed · 5 topics from real Bring a Trailer & Cars & Bids comments.

The CLK550 is the last and best-engined version of the C209 CLK: the 2007-2009 facelift cars swapped the 5.0-liter M113 of the CLK500 for the 5.5-liter M273 V8 and a seven-speed automatic, putting 382hp into a pillarless coupe or a fully-lined cabriolet that most buyers still read as a mid-range Mercedes. That gap between what it is and what it looks like runs through every listing: bidders call it overlooked, underpriced and a sleeper, and the cross-shop they raise unprompted is a similar-aged SL, which several say they would pass over for this. …

“This is a steal at this price. Overlooked and under appreciated value here. Rather a CLK Cabrio than a similar aged SL. Yes we have a 2005 and love it.”Chicomeat · 1718999679

The M273 timing sprocket range is checked by engine number, not model yearmechanical

The most-asked question across CLK550 listings. Early M273 V8s used an idle sprocket that Mercedes addressed in a service bulletin covering a specific engine-number range; later engines use a hardened part. …

Past the sprocket question, the M273 has a good reputationmechanical

Owners who have lived with the engine, including in other Mercedes that share it, describe it as reliable and strong low down, and the V8 is repeatedly called silky smooth. High-mileage cars are presented without apology: one owner reports the same year and model at 151k miles still running well on regular maintenance, with the failures being peripheral items rather than the engine. …

On cabriolets the hydraulic top and its rear window are the real inspection itemmechanical

Cabriolet listings draw consistent questioning about the power top: whether the hydraulics have ever been serviced or replaced, whether it leaks in rain or a car wash, and the state of the plastic rear window, which gets asked about specifically when it bulges or clouds. The strongest sellers answer with video of the top cycling and a service record; the weakest answer in the corpus is a seller who could not speak to the hydraulic system at all and could only say the top worked. …

Priced as an overlooked car, and the comments say so out loudmarket

The recurring market sentiment is that these are underpriced for what they are: bidders call them a steal, a sleeper, overlooked and under-appreciated, and the comparison raised unprompted is a similar-aged SL that several say they would pass over for the CLK. Across 42 sales the median is about $14,500, the tenth percentile near $9,000, and only the exceptional cars - very low mileage, an uncommon colour combination, thick service history - reach the mid-$20,000s and above. …

The pillarless body is the reason people want onedriving

Owners describe an easy, refined car rather than a sporting one - quiet and smooth with the top up, genuinely usable as a daily driver, and comfortable for tall people, with a six-foot-three commenter reporting room to spare in the driver seat and space behind. The pillarless profile is singled out repeatedly as the draw, and the V8 is described as effortless rather than aggressive. …