Even better, the back seat actually does have enough room for two adults to travel comfortably. You might not want to take a couple friends for a daylong jaunt, but no one is going to get out of the back seat looking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. This latest-generation CLK is roomier than the first generation. Rear-seat knee room, for example, has grown 1.5 inches in the coupe and 1.7 inches in the cabriolet.
Mercedes made access to the rear seat easier with handy quick-release front seats that slide forward and up. Seatbelt presenters" automatically extend forward from behind the door opening to make the seatbelts handy for front-seat occupants, then retract. The coupe's rear seats are split 60/40, and fold down to add to the cargo capacity of the coupe's 10.4 cubic-foot trunk.
The interior materials are the finest in any recent Mercedes. Soft polyurethane sprayed onto the dashboard provides an attractive appearance and a luxurious feel. While there have been complaints about the use of plastic in the M-Class and C-Class, it's hard to imagine anyone not being seduced by the look and feel of the CLK interior. Nice touches of wood and gathered leather on the doors panels make for a very attractive cabin. The cabriolet has a beautifully lined top. The cup holder on the passenger side is attractive but cantankerous, and was the only thing negative we could find in the interior.
The instrument panel is a departure for Mercedes, but it works admirably. A large round speedometer and tachometer dominate the center of the gauge cluster. Small thermometer-like gauges for the fuel level and coolant temperature flank them, harking back to a Mercedes design of the 1950s. While they take some getting used to in a brief test drive, the design has the look of something so intuitive for daily use that it's a wonder nobody else uses it.
The sound system has been upgraded for 2005 to a Harman/Kardon LOGIC7 system with seven-channel digital surround sound."
