25th Mar 2008, 15:04
It's the original reviewer here and after a year and 20,000km I am more impressed with the CLK320 than ever. The battery had to be changed and some new Michelins have been added but that is it. Considering the price of premium fuel these days, it is a bonus having a luxury auto that returns up to 30mpg. These cars are relatively rare and mine can still get plenty of admiring looks and compliments.
It is silky smooth and quiet on the road and will dash away from almost anything on a highway. Operating costs have been surprisingly low and owner satisfaction has been pleasantly high. The MB CLK line of cars remain an incredible value that should be considered for anyone interested in a refined and distinguished automobile. Rock solid.
7th Apr 2008, 16:56
Nice looking but I am very dissatisfied with my CLK 320. At 75K miles the transmission went out, replacement went out 3K miles later. At 116K miles it is about ready to go out again. Head warped and leaks oil onto the exhaust. The front end is loose and will need extensive rework $$$. Ox sensor went out at 100K miles. Plastic bumpers chip paint at the slightest bump. Fancy cup holder nice but fragile! Cheap plastic glove box. They say Mercedes is the Chevy of Germany - never again for me.
19th Apr 2008, 17:49
Not much of a problem, I have a 99 CLK320. It's good on gas. Performance is great, handles well on the highway. Steering is a bit loose. Best money spent. Loved it so much I bought a 2000. But had to sell it.
26th Apr 2008, 11:55
To the poster two up... sorry about your luck. A lot depends on how we service/drive our vehicles and after 100k miles, repairs of some sort should be expected.
To the satisfied poster above, changing the steering damper will tighten up the steering. It was less than $100 for my damper and as I recall the labour was 1/2 hr. If you are so inclined it can be changed out by yourself in about 10 minutes. Happy CLK motoring!
5th Jan 2009, 18:18
Hi We also enjoy our 1999 CLk320. We seem to be having trouble with the alarm lights though. It randomly goes off in the middle of the night. No alarm noise. Just the lights that would be flashing if the alarm was going off.
So the battery now needs to be replaced. Any ideas.
21st May 2009, 23:33
I own a 1999 E320. Have the same problem with the alarm lights going off randomly for no apparent reason. No audible alarm however. But I'm sure I will have a battery to replace soon.
Looking for ideas also.
23rd Jan 2010, 06:08
It's the same module that is doing that to your lights. I had the same problem; $1200 fix.
25th Jan 2012, 15:16
After reading the MPG comments, my 1999 CLK320 at best only returns 22 MPG when driven very carefully. It has only done 60000 miles.
Any ideas?
22nd Oct 2016, 13:26
To the comment above, 22 MPG driven carefully? The CLK 320 is a driver's car, it doesn't like being nursed along, where I live we have no motorways or dual carriageways, only A and B class roads, and I regularly do a 185 mile journey on these roads and always return 33/36 MPG, but I don't nurse her; we both get a whole lot of pleasure from giving her her head as much as the speed limits allow. We have been together for almost ten years without a spot of bother. I have a Nissan 300 twin turbo as well as the Merc, but it's the CLK that I go for, for sheer pleasure.
25th Jun 2007, 14:50
The 1999 CLK 320 is a wonderful car. We've had ours two years, it has an extended warranty, and there have been only a few minor issues, all easily fixed.
They replaced hoses and fixed several things (one was over $1200 value) at no cost. We replaced tyres - the most expensive thing we've done. The car is bright red, and people look as we drive past because it's such a great-looking car. New 320 owners envy us, because it looks better than the new ones, and has less problems.
The Merc dealers are great. We dumped the Mazda dealer who tried to force us into buying a new Mazda, rather than let us sell ourselves like the Merc dealer did. The Merc dealer provides top quality coffee - and a loaner car when we need it - and they wash it, even if we go in for a replacement light globe!
I have a photo of the front end on my press page: http://newsblaze.com/pressroom.html
We love the 320 CLK most of all the cars we've ever owned, and we had a few new cars, plus this little baby gets 29-30 MPG.
Alan.