Merc-urial!

After months of deliberation, looking through magazines and the like, I decided to trade in my 10-year old Golf GTI, for a Mercedes CL-500.

And it's been the best decision I've ever made.

You're gonna have to bear with me in this opinion, as I'm going to be raving about this car, no, god for a long time..... needless to say it's got five stars!

In fact the only downside to the Merc is the price. It cost me roughly about $37,500.... I'm from the UK, so you gotta understand that because of the government here, things are more expensive; ie. petrol and cars.
Now that's a lot of money by anyone's standards: for me, it was a year's salary. But hell, was it worth it.

From what I can see, the new Merc CL-Class was designed to rival the BMW 3-Series - you can tell from the looks that it's undoubtedly a little similar. For me the C-Class was a big disappointment, and the reason why I couldn't go for a Merc earlier. It really was not much to look at, and although I'm a big fan of the 3-Series, their price falls away quicker, and they haven't got as much prestige as the Merc.

So, what's the difference between the C-Class and the CL??

Well, there's a multitude of differences... first you'll notice all those curves, which still send a shiver down my spine. There's plenty of room inside... you could get five people in here at a squeeze... but I've never had to. This is the sort of car you'd enjoy driving on your own.

The dashboard is fantastically designed: it simply looked superb. There's semi-circular dials on the dash, and there's so many buttons. I'm still unsure of what I'm pressing sometimes! Seriously, the radio has so many buttons, it's reminiscent of a pilot's cockpit!

Now power is what you guys want to know all about. With the Merc going up against competition such as the BMW 323iSE, it had to be something special: and it has a 2.0 litre engine, producing 163bhp. Although the BMW is capable of 170bhp, the Merc has a six-speed gearbox. I had a couple of teething problems with the gear changes: it feels a bit awkward, down to the fact that no effort at all is needed to change gear.

But enough of the technicalities. The drive is where the Merc blows away all of it's rivals. The drive is so smooth, it's unbelievable. The chassis just soaks up the bumps, it seems like nothing at all. The handling is superb: it responds to even a faint touch of the wheel. There's nothing better than cruising down the motorway in this car, as it's so relaxing. I remember once, I remember deliberately driving over a pot-hole, which would have made my old Golf break... well, I hardly
noticed it!

So that's it. You know what I think.... buy, buy, buy! If you haven't got the money, don't worry.. get something else. It's expensive, but well worth it.