Road Test: 2009 Mercedes-Benz CL550 4Matic car review; Mercedes' naughty librarian

A staple of comic romance movies (as well as even lower brow cinematic fare) is the dowdy librarian type who, with a new dress, contact lenses and—literally—letting her hair down, becomes the ravishing belle of the ball. From Pygmalion to Cinderella, it’s an easy sell to a willing market.

 

For many years Mercedes-Benz had a similarly frumpy reputation. Good, solid, well-built and dependable, but with the sex appeal of a German banker in a dark-blue double-breasted pin-striped suit. With a watch fob.

 

It was a good car to recommend (to someone with more than a Chevy budget) but not one to own, not at least for anyone under the age of thirty or who enjoyed driving. Even the SL-series sports cars, even those with big motors, gave the driver the aura of someone who had arrived…but only after the party had moved on.

 

Somewhere along the way, however, that began to change and the change becomes complete, perhaps, with the Mercedes-Benz CL550.

 

The CL-Class, in fact, is not an automobile that one would immediately identify as a Mercedes, at least not without seeing the large three-pointed star that dominates the grille, low and wide across the front of the car. The leading edge of the front of the car is low, enough so to be threatened by curbs and steep driveways. The headlight pods flank the grille but are contoured into front fenders that are flared over the wheels, giving the car “shoulders.”

 

The overall contour of the CL’s body is that of a rising curve peaking just at the rear of the cabin. It’s echoed by the roofline and that’s emphasized by chrome trim outlining the windows.

 

Perhaps window, singular, is a better description. The CL is what was once called a “hardtop”—that is, a car with a fixed roof with no center pillar. It’s an indulgent design, more for sheer appearance than any practical need. It’s a car that simply looks so good with the windows down.

 

Behind the passenger compartment, the body tapers to a crisp derriere. The shape reduces trunk volume, but there are always sacrifices to be made for beauty. And the CL550 is a stunner, sexier than an entire Victoria’s Secret catalog all by itself.

Oddly, though, the CL550 is not feminine. It’s the kind of car a real guy can drive and women will notice, even look to see who is that getting out to, yes, pump his own gas? Some say the grocery store on Friday night is the place to avoid the bar scene meetings. We say stop at the mini-mart and fill the tank with high test.

 

If the exterior is the lure, the interior is the trap. Our test 2009 Mercedes-Benz CL550 was finished outside in Capri Blue, a dark metallic almost-navy hue, complemented inside with a Savanna/Cashmere premium leather, hand stitched, almost obsessively so as several shapes fit together to form the dash.

 

The instrument panel is an amalgam of conventional gauges for fuel and tachometer. The speedometer and informational readouts occupy center stage. The speedo doesn’t have a real needle but a projection of one on a video screen. The virtual speedometer is part of a package that includes an enhanced night vision system that replaces the speedometer (a bar graph speedo appears at the bottom of the screen) with a ghostly image of the road ahead. The system purportedly helps in low visibility situations, which we didn’t have in the week we drove the car so all we can report is that it’s no replacement for looking through the windshield in normal conditions.

 

The night view package also includes a rearview camera (with a rather high-quality picture on the center-dash display that usually shows the navigation system map and other function readouts), front seat massage feature and night view assist.

What significantly helps at night are the standard-equipment bi-xenon “active” headlamps that steer with the wheels. It sounds superfluous, at least until you become accustomed to it. The CL550 augments the active headlights with cornering lights for sharp low speed turns.

 

Our test CL550 was also equipped with a pneumatic side bolster inflator that puffed up the outer side torso in a curve to keep the driver and front passenger in place. It’s unnerving at first and then kind of neat. Thanks for the help, buddy.

 

The back seat is more than a “plus two” of a two-plus-two but getting in and getting out i’s a problem. Even with front seats that power forward, the low rear seats make getting out an uphill proposition and that through a relatively narrow space. With the soft leather and the difficult exit, they just may wish to stay. Be careful who rides back there.

 

Not surprisingly, the CL550’s list of standard features is long and inclusive. Both driver and front passenger seats are 14-way power adjustable, heated and with active ventilation (there’s a cooling fan under the seat). Mercedes’ “Keyless Go” proximity keyless starting is standard, along with parking assist front and rear. A power rear window sunshade comes with the car.

 

The new buzzword in automotive interiors is “ambient lighting.” Initially tiny spotlights that illuminated upscale cars’ center consoles. It now includes on the CL550 a band of indirect lighting across the dash and along both door panels. Necessary? Of course not. But it makes the nighttime interior a little more special.

 

Mercedes continues to improve the functionality of its Comand system that controls auxiliary functions via a fat joystick device on the center console and buttons on the dash. We like the display of various functions, but it’s not wholly intuitive and in our too short week of driving the CL550, there were functions that remained a mystery and would have benefitted from classroom instruction.

 

On the other hand, the radio controls were the slickest-looking we’ve seen yet. An old-fashion radio dial is displayed on the screen for AM and FM while the standard Sirius satellite radio shows channel and station, with the full RDS information displayed, rather than (occasionally unintentionally humorous) abbreviations displayed other systems. Baby boomers, this means no more guessing about the artist and year of that song you’re trying to remember on the ’60’s and ’70’s decades stations.

 

Apart from the sybaritic interior, the Mercedes-Benz CL550 has a 5.5-liter double overhead cam V-8 tucked under that sleek hood. Mercedes rates the eight at 382 horsepower and 391 lb-ft of torque at a relatively low 2800 rpm all the way up to 4800 rpm. That huge dose of twist guarantees ready acceleration around town or on the highway, regardless of gear chosen. Not that there’s too few to choose from. The automatic has seven, count ’em, seven forward ratios. (Not very long ago, a four-speed automatic transmission was considered exotic).

 

The automatic transmission, as its name would suggest, is capable of fully automatic operation with kitten-soft shifts. The driver can take over gear selection, however, with steering wheel-mounted paddles. Pull the right side for upshifts, the left for down. It quickly becomes second nature.

 

As well it should. The CL550 is an aggressive performer. Mercedes claims a 0-60 mph time of 5.4 seconds, and with 4Matic all-wheel drive, there’s no slip—though on properly uneven pavement we were able to elicit a chirp from a front tire or two. But just for scientific purposes, he says.

 

Also standard on the CL550 is Active Body Control (ABC) suspension, a computer-controlled hydraulically-actuated system that controls pitch and lean. Regardless how hard the car is cornering, it remains level—or almost so because completely level would be disconcerting for drivers. It gives the CL550 an extreme amount of poise and impressive cornering ability. Still, the CL is no lightweight so broad sweeping turns at higher speeds are more the car’s forte than tight twisty roads.

 

For those who like the CL550’s style but somehow find its power inadequate, Mercedes offers the CL65 AMG. Minor external trim variations and wheel and tire differences distinguish this product of Mercedes’ performance division but what really sets it apart is its 6.5-liter V-12. Fettled by AMG, the Mercedes V-12 engine is rated at 604 horses and an unearthly 738 pound-feet of torque. It’s a bigger, heavier lump so it doesn’t do anything for the CL’s handling…but when “more power” is the motto, the hand-built twin-turbocharged V-12 is the deed.

 

Of course, the all-vanquishing CL65 has a $200,575 price tag on its bumper. If that’s too much, the high-performance V-8-powered CL63 AMG lists for $140,575, and the “ordinary” V-12-equipped CL600’s window sticker reads $149,775. It all makes the “base model” CL550 look like a steal at only $105,975, or equipped as our test model was, $120,110...including $1,300 gas guzzler tax, as if that were some sort of disincentive to buying a car like this.

 

Of course, we’re all suckers for a pretty face (or handsome, take your pick). And while every member of the Mercedes line has been taught to rumba and has a brand new dress, the looker—don’t count those flashy roadsters—is the Mercedes-Benz CL-Class. Welcome to our garage, my love, sit down and stay a while. We’d like to get to know you better.