drexappeal

LOL...Actually, I was thinking that when you posted. Part of that is also because of the accident you got in (sorry to bring up sore memories), so you weren't able to make it out for any of the small gtg's we had.

You gonna go to the O.C. meet? Me and nlpamg are gonna be caravaning. You're welcome to role with us (not sure if your car is fixed already).

DC240

I live in Salem, NH and although my car is slightly modded with 18" Chrome amg Mono II replica wheels, window tints, chrome door handle cups, 3 12"
JLW6V2's and a 1000/1 JL amp.

I have seen 1 C230 black with black rims and silver lip, nothing else????

I am frequently in Beantown and see nothing?

SeaCoupe

I think that would be me! I have Blue, but now I don't remember if it was Orion or the Capsian? I am on the 405 quite a bit.

E

nlpamg

hmm... when did you see that one? was it me?

I see a decent amount of modded C-Classes in LA. There's one blk/blk 05 that's modded pretty nicely in the parking structure of my office in Century City.

ChristianJan

Here in SD, everywhere I look there's a C, let alone a benz. As far as modding goes, there's barely any. Most of the people driving a benz are old. I've seen like 5 in my lifetime here in SD that are modded SLIGHTLY. Other than that, its just chrome wheels everywhere on benz's.

b3d_sage

I'm in a similar situation to the original poster. I live on campus where the Mercedes/BMW/Audi/Lexus/Infinity owners outnumber the everything-else owners. Just parking I drive past two or three M3s. I have seen ONE modded BMW in front of the frat houses. Everyone else seems to be totally mod-less.

I'm also originally from Oklahoma. It was a rare enough occasion that I would see even a C230 there. Of course, I'm from Ardmore and not Edmond. I can say with some assurance that I had the only purple Mercedes in Oklahoma.

Tangerine

yep, dont think boston has much modded benz, mostly stuff like accords, evos, civics, wrx

i'll keep an eye out for your car around. if you see someone in a black c240 with shaved emblems, white blinkers, and maybe black rims waving at you, that will be me

FrankW

pretty much all real heavy modder are once a member or currently a member of this forum.

light modder are every where in LA/OC.

patrick_y

From the Silicon Valley here, I see a lot of lightly modded vehicles. Mostly new wheels and tires. I'd say nearly 10% (which is pretty high) of the Mercedes/BMW cars I notice have at least one mod on them. This is usually wheels but sometimes also includes aftermarket body kits.

In my high school parking lot (which looked like a BMW dealership), I've seen some cars with TV screens for rear seat passengers but no wheels (does this count as a mod?), some cars with just wheels, and all the BMW M3s had one mod in common, they had the orange reflector on the front bumper painted to match their body colour. An Imola Red BMW M3 had the black/white BMW badge (instead of the blue/white normal badge), HR springs, and stock wheels I think.

There were a few project cars with under the hood mods. Some Dinan cars, one AC Schnitzer (with body kit, wheels, suspension, brakes, possibly even something under the hood), a Hamann car (at least wheels, body kit, and some weird tail lights that looked weirder after they got smoked), and some cars that were outfitted with JDM stuff.

There were also many cars without any mods at all.

I don't consider window tint as a "mod".

drexappeal

patrick, nothing against you or people whose parents make a good amount of money (cuz my parents were pretty succesful themselves), but this statement troubles me a 'bit...

I guess it's a sign of how the world has evolved, but I never would've imagined a High School parking lot to look like a BMW dealership. That's just insane and it's not exactly like I haven't seen HS parking lots in the L.A. area with nice cars (for those that know, I live close to Brentwood High and Harvard Westlake).

Well, more power to the parents who can afford to do that. I remember being in HS and 1 of my friends got a BMW 840 CI and all of us were wonderin' what the hell his Dad was thinkin' getting it for him. The justification was, "my Dad felt like this would be the safest car for me to drive."...LOL...Okay, I guess so.

Blake P

I know what you mean Drex. When I was in H.S. I had an '87 Buick Centry handed down to me when I got my license and I was so damn excited to just have something to drive. A few years later as a graduation present I got a '97 Honda Accord and thought I was on top of the world!

Cigalert

I live in South OC (RSM for those that know it). I've seen 2 SLR McClarens , Ford GT, Carrera GT and and more Bentley's and RR's than I care to mention. It seems like there are a couple hundred c's within 10 miles of me. I have only seen 2 or 3 with CL style grill. Nobody with wheels, nobody with any other mods of any kind (including tint). However a neighbor has M3 with carbon hood, wheels, exhaust body kits...WTF?

b3d_sage

I think BMWs are just simply much morepopular among the modding crowd. Personally, I am wanting a black S55 at the moment. Screw BMW.

patrick_y

My parents said the same thing, they were wondering why all of these kids were spoiled to get brand new cars. However, when it came to me getting a car, safety was of paramount importance, the first car I test drove was the Volvo S40 (which unfortunately I didn't appreciate the brake pedal very much), then the BMW 325i and C230. In 2005, the 325i was just about to be changed so I thought that would be a poor investment, additionally, my car insurance was much more expensive in the 325i. Then we got a great price on the C230 plus a company discount and that sealed the deal.

I might possibly exaggerating about the high school student lot looked like a BMW dealership, however, nonetheless, many of my high school peers drove brand new cars and/or brand-name vehicles. I remember many people walking up to a silver BMW 325i and realizing it wasn't theirs.

The kids who got M3s sometimes got it because of good grades or good SAT scores. Then again, some got it without any reason at all too.

My tutor, who's also a parent of a high schooler said that the price difference between a Toyota Camry and a BMW is somewhat minimal upon his perspective, the difference is approximately $8,000, which I guess can be overlooked by some families.

I believe getting a BMW 840i compared to the BMW 325i is a big difference, I wouldn't consider the 840i to be a safe car in general since it's very low, you can kiss the back of an 18 wheeler and get your lips stuck. However, I believe the BMW 325i is a very safe car. Lastly, most parents are terribly afraid of buying pre-owned cars since they're afraid of problems, so many simply opt to buy new.

I've heard of worse cases. I've heard of a high schooler living in Los Gatos (a very pleasant town) driving a Lamborghini Gallardo to school every day (imagine the maintenance on that) and perhaps the same student (or another one) also drives a Mercedes SLR on a regular basis. I think this guy's parents are not thinking clearly, since these cars are not safe at all.

Take it for what it's worth. Are the high schoolers spoiled, probably. Do they drive unnecessarily valuable vehicles? Can't say too much about the 325i drivers, but the ones who are driving M3s, CLK 500s, Range Rover, etc; are likely to be over indulged. My understanding is that most high schools that serve a very good neighborhood often have a large percentage of brand new cars in their student lots. High schools in the best neighborhoods of Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Peninsula all are subject to this case. Thus, my high school is one of many that share this problem.

However, if I were a over protective parent car shopping for my child(ren), the first thing I would probably be looking at would be Volvo or Mercedes.

DC240

I'll keep my eyes open for ya

Blake P

Whether the parents feel the cars are safe, affordable, or whatever the case, they're helping their kids get comfortable with a lifestyle that they will likely not be able to support on their own. Though a few of those kids will go on to be successful and self-supporting, the majority will end up leeching off their parents and never make anything of themselves because they were never "forced out of the nest."

EDIT: I sound so damn old.

b3d_sage

I disagree. I would assume that most of these parents are also spending money on educating their children so that they will be able to go on and support themselves adequately. Of course, then there is inheritance of the parents assets when they kick the bucket.

Blake P

Sure, they're paying to send them to private schools, but that doesn't mean they're actually learning. When you've got everything handed to you, there's no motivation to actually get out and make something of yourself. I've seen it first hand way too many times. The public school kids are getting stoned, but the private kids are all on coke. Ok, back to those modded C's...

b3d_sage

while thats certainly true (BIG coke problem at my school), most of the kids are actually making something of themselves at the same time. Some lives get wasted, but I'd say most people here go on to be something.

ultraseven

here in the SF Bay Area, riced and kraut out cars are a dime in a dozen.

patrick_y

That's very true. There's a saying going on right now, that young kids today (including me) have their lives too easy and have their very responsible and sometimes well to do parents to back them up too thoroughly. There is a true fear of failure for these young men and women when they enter the workforce and find out that life isn't as easy as they thought.

patrick_y

You are right, most parents do spend a greater amount of time and resources on their kids educations than their cars. Unfortunately, I do know of one rather distracted friend of mine who comes from a very well to do family who put him through the best and one of the most expensive college prep schools in the Silicon Valley area spending well over six figures on the high school education to see him end up attending a community college.

Albeit, he drives a BMW M3.

I truly feel sorry for his parents. Of course, this is a rare case as most parents pay particular efforts and devote much energy to their offspring's educations and usually see better results.

patrick_y

This is very true as well. However, there are quite a few coke users who maintain excellent grades, at least all of the ones I know personally. Most of the time, those who are stoned fail.

Some lives are wasted, some remain static. Overall, I don't cry over this kind of spilled milk, they made the decision themselves.

STi_JL

i live in Van BC ...

i see a modded mercedes almost everyday.
modded C class .. the ratio would be 3/10 each day.
couple of my buddies all have c class / coupes.

white_w203

im in the east bay. so there's at least one modded c-class around these parts