The Mercedes CLS55 AMG Makes No Sense on Paper, So Does It In Real Life?

In today's video, I am driving the Mercedes CLS for the first time ever. The styling has never won me over, but the car has a luxurious interior and a thumping 5.4L V8 engine - so can those be enough to win some approval?

#MercedesBenz #CLS #AMG

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[Christian---]

Honestly the old CLS is to my eyes a handsome car and there aren't many cars like it that are meant for exactly a singular purpose - a shuttle for you and your 3 friends for bombing a highway to nowhere in particular, to do nothing in particular.

[CJJ]

Love the original CLS shape. Very striking, and still is IMO. ❤

[samuelbainbridge]

i love the way the cls looks. Its probably the one mercedes i’d consider owning

[modmod]

Not many 17 year old performance cars hold up this well

[melloman]

The 550 cls is one of the most comfortable cars I ever sat in. The suspension is unreal. It was like floating on air

[dominicrusho]

One of my all time favourite cars, and a future classic in my book. Beautiful design. The later CLS models just looked handsome, but a bit blobby and generic - this is sharp and striking.

[scottbrooks]

I really like the cls shape, the face-lift is slightly better. Anything with the M113k with the 722.6 gearbox, gets my vote, fabulous engine, and one of the most reliable you will find.

[hamsterox]

This is a long comment, but it's for people who are looking into getting one because I own one so i'll share my thoughts. It seems like opinions on the design is a hit or miss, but remember all of the big names in car journalism thought it looked great. You may find one or two magazine articals but majorty of the ones I saw liked it. The car is an elgant 4 door sedan, despite Mercedes calling it a coupe, and it is a jack of all trades. One of these cars with the AMG kit is a stunning thing to look at going down the road. I sold 5 cars in my collection and bought this one instead to down size so I can have a car that does everything instead. I can drive it to work everyday and it would be reliable. I can go on a date night with it and my partner wouldn't scoff at it as being another one of my toys. I can take it on road trips and the seats would massage me and keep me heated and cooled. The car is so smooth specially on fresh engine mounts. I can take it to car meets with my friends and it would garner great respect amongst people who know what it is. You could park it anywhere and no one is gonna hurt it. I think the biggest point of debate here is the handling. Back in the top gear days when they road tested it, it was only a little bit slower then the E60 M5 around the track. 0.7 seconds to be exact. Now Mercedes cars not being handling cars is a common trope but that doesn't actually translate to them being slow on the track. There's two factors to this, the first is that they have more body roll with light steering compared to an M, and the second is that you're insullated from all sensations of the road to where people don't know they're actually going into a corner a little too fast compared to what they'd normally do in other cars. You will go 100 in this car and not feel it. It takes getting use to, but once you do the car will handle very nicely. My friend took his s55 to autocross and he placed high on the board. He beat out all the mid range sports cars, and lost to newer crovettes and porsches in a fully loaded executive saloon on his second time going to an autocross (first time with an S55). Yes a miata is maybe more fun at lower speeds but ur going about 20miles an hour and getting gapped by everything. Really it's a trade off. You can buy an M5 but good luck with the reliability or you can buy a CLS instead. Now as for MPG, it's a 500hp car. You're gonna get like 15-18 average if you're lucky. If you want more MPG for the horse power you're gonna spend more then 10k over the price of this one so how much gas are u really gonna use? Boot space is great so ur only missing out on the bench seat in the back vs an e55 but that's not really an issue for me but maybe for you. Either way. Get a Pre purchase inspection and you won't regret it.

[RoshanKumar-skch]

Having owned one of these it’s no less than a wonderful car. The M113K is arguably one of the best ever Merc engines and with this being firmer than the E55 it just always felt a little more engaging to drive; both ride and steering were more analogue. Took me a long time to accept my newer CLS 65 Bi turbo as the CLS 55 was so damn good. Even threw it around Brands Hatch Indy circuit occasionally.

You have to remember this was 7 years ahead of RS7s and BMW M6 Gran Coupes!

Truly epic cars and last of a generation!

[Techjunkiero]

One of my all time fav MB. Revolutionary design, I was in love when I saw it for the first time. The CLS was a pioneer for other brands, the A7 for example. Gorgeous design inside and out. Too bad this is not stock anymore, but nonetheless to say, a great car.

[GunterGabriel]

Great looking car, even today! I also remember seeing it the first time on the Autobahn. Especially the back and the sidelines were years ahead of the times.

[FilipRauh]

When I was a little kid my dad used to go to dealerships with me so I could check out the cars. I couldn’t believe my 7 year old eyes when I first saw the CLS. Such a timeless design.

[ahemgee]

Lovely car and amazing engine. I have an E55 Kompressor estate. 53K miles.
Still makes all the power -500 hp, but looks very understated .
Re the CLS-
It's spawned a whole new and very popular body type.
Regarding the ride quality- the CLS is quite abit firmer than the E55, which is absolutely brilliant in terms of ride comfort.
Also the engine bay and Kompressor on this would benefit from a really good clean .

[Jcko]

I had a CLS 500 with the 5.5 engine, loved it, 388 bhp so went well enough, did consider getting a 55 but kind of too similar and you get to a point where you don’t go many longer trips due to the fuel aspect and they aren’t much good for local stuff or B roads. It’s a sort of paradox that comes with all lovely big V8 supercharged barges of trying to run one and paying for your own fuel, tax etc.

[defconluke]

I bought a 2007 CLS63 just over 3 years ago and you've pretty much nailed the car in this review. I was originally looking for a W211 E63 but found a well looked after CLS and a deal was done.

Mine has also been quite reliable, only needing a new battery because I didn't want to trust the OEM, 15 year old one during a very cold winter and an airmatic pump (£300, 3 bolts and about 10 minutes to replace).

Suspension is on the stiffer side (Sport 2 is all but unusable in the UK) and definitely suited to faster and more open roads than the sort of back roads that you would search out in a hot hatch but as a daily driver they are supremely comfortable and putting your foot down will always put a smile on your face before you realise that you should probably ease off a bit.

The rear seats can be tight for people 6ft+ and I wish they folded because it would be a lot more practical but it also means anything kept in the boot area is very secure.

Definitely held its value over the past few years but I can't imagine there being a queue of people lining up to buy if/when the time to sell comes but for now; it's not going anywhere.

[Gorbyrev]

There is something pleasingly art deco to the CLS design which is preserved in the every so slightly more practical Shooting Brake. That noise is so reminiscent of the McLaren SLR which had a similar powerplant. It sounds amazing. Also did you pass a Citroen Synergie? Only a couple of hundred of those left on the road. That would make an interesting review seeing as you've already covered the R8 that you also passed.

[rotorhead]

Fantastic mile-munchers, especially in 3.0 diesel spec! Easy 600 miles to a tank, tiny bit less wind noise than its saloon brethren, slightly better mpg too (thanks to lower Cd swoopiness). 6ft+ back seat passengers always very comfortable, and a decently large boot. Loved mine, bought it when it was 5yrs old (a W219), MSL did a light remap to circa 255bhp, was very tractable, made regular 500-600 mile work trips in one day a (relative) breeze. Looks are always subjective, I know, but thought they were/are a lovely design.

[pavelpavlov]

The CLS is outstanding... The menacing shape it has... The amazing interior... The AMG version is timeless classic!!!

[DomWayne]

I’ve always loved the styling of the CLS. Especially the windows actually. I fell in love with these as a kid when I sat in it at London Motor Show.

[AntoniusTyas]

The first time I knew of the original CLS was when my uncle brought home a CLS350 brochure from a motor show event. And boy did it look really good to 12-years-old me. Later CLSs are also gorgeous but sadly they killed the CLS63 after the facelifted second-gen to give way for GT63S 4-door.