tx170754

There is no plastic on the interior of the CL600,it is hand polished wood and leather of the highest quality (including seats ) everywhere... let alone the fantastic biturbo V12... Not so sure at the gas pump (when compared with the S8 ) but frankly you wouldn't care if you decided to get one....

Jack88

I do remember on Top Gear, Jeremy was driving a new, at the time, CL or SL class around their track and when the plastic bezel for the seatbelt came out, he commented about how the interior bits of Mercedes' are always coming loose. He did own several, including a CL65, so I don't doubt it. Myself having looked at several, I seem to remember that something was always loose or missing, from door trim pieces to radio to shifter bezel, always something.

This doesn't diminish that I still like them, but the early to mid 2000's models in particular seemed to have issue with interior trim pieces. As far as issues go, not a big deal, but it can be irritating none the less. Jaguars and Land Rovers are full of problems, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't buy one, I totally would, and if something went awry, I'd just fix it and move on.

tx170754

The seatbelt is part of the seat on the CL the only ''bezel'' is metal, never had any problem with it, my CL is the current model....

05audiman

I've sat in a few, interiors were flawless. Against the wishes of ppl over on the Benz forum I'm looking at an 09 cl550. Less complexity of the engine is a factor along with other things. They were standard with 4matic so I would get to enjoy both Audi and Mercedes in the winter which is a plus. I could probably get a 2011 a8 for around the same price or not much more. A8 has less power I believe, I don't care about rear seat riders, and the CL had the same tech and more long before Audi. I've been lucky with my Audi, minor problems, no suspension or engine problems. I'm hoping I can duplicate that with Mercedes as I already know airmatic is hell when there are problems like Audi.

Jack88

The CL550 has an extra 10hp and an extra 200lbs on the Audi. I can't find any hard numbers, but I would suspect the difference in performance to be negligible. The CL550 has quite a bit of extra torque, which I would expect it to be more eager and a bit more confident in day to day driving. From a reliability standpoint, I've heard of no issues not also inherent to Audi, either. If you want a big comfortable coupe, there is no better choice this side of a Bentley.

05audiman

I believe that without looking at numbers, the 4matic cl550 would leave it in the dust. That torque difference is a lot, and it's just as important as HP when both cars have the same amount of wheels moving at the start line. As far as suspension problems, look at the Benz forum, nobody there likes airmatic. It's a lot less expensive than the ABC system in say the cl63 and up to fix tho. I see a lot of the guys there converting to"regular" suspension.