As I'm starting to get excited seeing these parts coming in, just waiting for me to finish classes and get home to start working on the 202, I thought I'd start a thread for my C43 to keep updates of what I'm doing to my car, as it should be interesting stuff.

I got one of these about a week ago, luckily keeping with the Tuxedo colour scheme.


To go along with one of these puppies, which came Friday


Apart from that, first thing I'm doing when I get back is ripping the suspension from the C36, picking up some slim W201 spring pads, and installing it all on the 43, so it too can have the benefits of Vogtlands and Billy Sports.

I've also been collecting parts for my Tiptronic update. I have an E55 TCU coming this week, and after selling some more parts from the C36, I will finally pull the trigger and get the shifter assembly. From there we'll tally it all up and see how much programming crap I have to go through to get it all to actually work.

Once that's all up and working, I'll take the pretty new MF steering wheel under the knife to add some paddle shifters. Haven't decided which way I'm going yet though, as there is a remote version I can wire up that has a transponder in the wheel connected to the paddles, and the receiver is connected to the + and - points of the shift assembly. The other method is a kit that uses different resistances in the horn wire that then is fed into a module that deciphers the signal, then is wired to the shifter.
Only W202 with paddle shifters!!

Hopefully all of that will be done this summer.

After that and a bit of savings though, I will hopefully complete the updated cluster/steering wheel mod and put in command, just to round it all out.

Also, seeing as the 43 is not in fantastic shape coming from the North, I've been looking into doing a complete respray, as it's not too much more than it would be to fix and repaint all the problem parts. I have always LOVED red 202s, so we'll see where this goes......

And here's a shot of the last time I saw her, after putting on the Brabus VIs and getting a 25% tint done, just waiting to be lowered

 

Is that an E55 wheel? Why not use the C43 wheel?

I can't wait to see how the paddle shifter mod goes, I am planning on doing it as well but have MANY other projects before it.

Check out the SLK forum, there is a guy selling kits to link the paddle shifters to the shifter.

 

C43 wheel won't fit the multifunction controls, so if I want to have my clock set at the correct time, I have to plug it in right at 12:00 every time I disconnect the battery lol
Once I get the command all the volume controls and everything will work as they should. For now it's just to control the menus of the newer cluster.

Me neither. I can't wait to see if it all works out, and I really can't wait to see the rest of the results of your mods! Once I'm done with the electronic/aesthetic stuff I can move on to the power mods!

And yep. That's the horn wire kit. Interesting stuff.

 

One thing is for sure, you NEED to swap the white face gauges with the black ones. I think the white face gauges look great and don't understand why they went to the black with the other models.

 

Mmm I dunno.... I definitely hear where your coming from. I REALLY like the white faces of the C43. But to do that on the new cluster.... the only thing I found would come out like this



I think I prefer the stock over that. What I may do though is something like:



All he did was add the chrome rings and paint the dials white, but I think it looks pretty good

 

I prefer the old AMG style with white face, however the chrome rings on the black face looks real sweet

 

Progress!


Klann type spring compressor arrived



Suspension dismantled


Part numbers I enjoyed for a year when they were in my 36



And the C36's new slammed stance




Why spend thousands of dollars on bags when you can just take out all your suspension!! And yes, the spare-wheel tub is around an inch away from the ground


Pics coming soon of the dropped C43, as soon as I figure out the bushing that broke on one of the rear shocks. May just have to order another one.

 

UPDATE:
Well, after many annoying conversations with shock companies, the C43 now has adjustable Koni Sports! Currently only the back is set up, but the front shocks are coming Thursday, so I will get those and the vogtlands on thursday or friday. Also getting some AFEs in tomorrow, and should be picking up the required parts to put OEM puddle lights in the front doors on thursday or friday.
I also have put on the 18" monos that came with the car, and sold the Brabus VIs. They need to be refinished badly, and I should be getting rid of the snow tires in the back soon, but they should look fantastic very soon.

In the last two days though, I've shattered a bumper support, and my trunk decided that staying closed was completely unnecessary. All that along with other maintenance/repair projects that seem to be getting pushed further and further down the list have caused me to come to the decision to scrap the tiptronic/paddle shifter mod for the time being. I still have the cluster and wheel, but they will sit until I get the money to get a Command, the required fiber optic wires, and eventually the tiptronic stuff. Maintenance and repairs need to be my priority now, then once I have a happily working, (eventually) rust free car, and a little bit off a buffer put away incase something does still decide to break, the mods will have to wait.

Though I may give her one last little thing and delete the resonator soon...

Pics coming soon!!!

 

Replaced the dirty K&Ns that were in there


With some nice new AFE Pro Dry S's



Then took this



Did this




And ended up with this





Loving the Vogtlands and Koni Yellows. It's been wet a lot lately, and I have snow tires on the Monos for the rest of this week, so I haven't really been able to push it too much but from what I can tell it's greatly improved. Still messing around with the adjustability to find out exactly where I want it.
Thanks DRB for the trunk trim idea

 

Looks great

Whats up with the 36? Quarter panel hit? I like the stance on it

 

Thanks man! Can't say I didn't take some inspiration from you to put the Monos back on and drop it low I always end up going back and looking at your pictures. Your car is super clean, and your photography is awesome. I even stole the photo of your 43 and your buds 36 with the amber corners and Brabus VIs facing each other as my computer background

36 has a destroyed quarter panel, that shifted that side enough that the doors don't totally close, neither does the trunk, took out that part of the bumper, some suspension components, and also destroyed the front bumper and punched a leak in the cooling system somewhere. The stance is hilarious though. Looks even more low since I put some spare 17" monos I had around on it.

 

thank you. My car is super trashed right now tho, driving my sisters 202 since shes out of state and im slowly fixing my 43.

Need a lot of maintenance and some cosmetic work. Btw that's my friends c230 with a wald kit. He keeps it really clean

Why dont you hit up a junk yard and get your self a quarter panel off a w202. Im sure you can find one somewhere. Shouldn't be too bad to weld it in there and salvage the car for maybe a daily driver...

Oh and looking at your car makes me miss my chrome grille haha

 

How come the top pic shows blue-ish foglights whereas the one below they look more yellow-ish? What kinda bulbs are you running?

 

That's a 230?! My life is a lie! Haha. It was cool back in december when I picked up the 43, because I had that EXACT setup (36 with brabus VIs, amber corners, lowered, and the 43 with 18" monos, just not lowered)

Trust me, there are many, many awesome ideas I have for that car (or at least the engine), but it's just not in the cards. I was planning to pay for a decent chunk of the 43 by selling it, and I have lots and lots of stuff to do on the 43 and an SR20de waiting for my attention too. I would totally get some M5 itbs, a c230 or c280 with a 5spd manual and make one sweet little frankenstein, but I don't have the time, space, or extra cash now. And I don't really have any realistic need for another car.

You can take it off me if you like! I was just going to keep it and plasti-dip it so I could switch out black and chrome whenever I felt like.

I'm running a 3000k HID kit. I forget the manufacturer. The blue-ish hue comes from taking away the saturation in the first shot, and the yellowish one comes from adding it. In real life, it's about in the middle of those two colors. It's a lot more green than I'd like. I wanted some Lexus IS coloured lights, but the kit was sitting around so I stuck em in.

 

Been struggling lately trying to figure out a vibration in the car. It was mostly between 50-60, and was in the steering wheel, back and forth, badly enough that you could see it in the head rests and my pantleg and stuff while driving. Started with the unevenly warn rear brake pads. Drove up to Montreal and back, checked out the new pads and they were already warn unevenly again. Put new rear rotors on last week, and new fronts on today. Replaced my crappy snow tires with Hankook V12s a couple weeks back, and about to do the terribly warn fronts too. Got new pads for the front, and more new ones for the back. But after doing the front rotors I'm happy to say the vibration is gone! The old rotors were pretty warn, and probably warped. We'll see how these new Chinese rotors hold up. Fingers crossed as I've heard good things.

Suspension has settled nicely. I think I'm going to raise the rear a little. It's on #3s right now. Going to go to a #5 to get that raked stance back that I miss. Hopefully getting the SS brake lines and caliper pain on there sometime, and also hopefully doing the res delete tomorrow. Then it's back to school, so time away from the car
But hopefully that will mean plenty of time to save and plan for the next round of mods! Haven't given up yet on my EGS52 swap, and am dying to get a Command system in there so I can put in my new cluster and MF wheel.

 

You have a great fun job,, Brake kit looks fabulous,, good luck......

ZAYED,,

 

Uneven pad wear in the front or rear? Front would mean the slide pins need to be lubricated. Rear could potentially mean one of the pistons is seized. Is it both sides or just one?

I'm loving the amber side markers. I remember how clear corners were so cool ten years ago. Now I just want amber

 

Both. Only on the passenger side though. The vibration was all but eliminated with the new disks, and I'm having my shop install the new pads just so he can check for seized pistons and sticking on the pins that hold the rear pads, or the slide pins in the front. When I changed the rear pads, I made sure to move the pistons in and out plenty and they moved without a problem, so I don't believe that was the culprit but it'll be nice to know for sure.

Gotta love the Ambers! I first wanted them because they were rarer than the clears. Stock wasn't cool and everyone else had the smoked or the clears I liked them better on the c36 for some reason though.

 

Hey i still have this 5.4L sitting in my garage!!!

 

Mmm that's tempting. If you want to trade for a 3.6l AMG M104 I'm down!

 

The 5.4L would really seal the deal on your investment if you can get it!

 

Hi,

how did it go? Did you manage successfully to install MF steering wheel and the cluster with digital display? Show the pictures please. Cheers.

 

Parts are not installed yet. I'm waiting to buy a Command unit so I can use the info on the cluster, and the multimedia buttons on the steering wheel. Once I get the command I will be sure to do a full write up of the install.

 

Great. Best of luck. I also bought W210 parts - comand unit, MF steering wheel and the cluster, likes yours. Planning to put on my ML270 CDI. Don't understand why Merc did not upgrade this model when they upgraded all other models back in 2000. Anyway, wondering how to connect them together. Using Canbus adapter and wirings? Also behind the cluster are two connectors whereas W163 has one connector. How to make it work? By splitting the cables into correct connectors and then connect them to the back of the cluster?

Any useful advice will be appreciated.

 

When you get down to it, although there are a lot of wires running to the radio/cluster, it's pretty simple once you see how they are mapped out. I only have a pinout of the radio connections, not the cluster ones, but I'm sure you can find one pretty easily. Once you've done that you can compare the connections between the W210 and the W163 and decide if you're better off buying a 163 cluster or doing some wiring. In terms of the communication between cluster and command, it's just 2 or 4 CANBUS wires to add. Then the correct wires and clockspring from the multifunction wheel to the cluster. I would warn you though to confirm that the W210 cluster physically fits in the gap, and also you may have a reversed gas gauge. I know I will because 202 only has 1 fuel lever sender vs. 210 which has 2.
Lastly there is a difference between clusters for 163 and 210. I believe you will need to add a VSS in your 163 for command to work correctly. This link should help you: http://www.whnet.com/4x4/vss.html