Midnight Koop

nice congrats!

i think tommy has MT... does that still require a tranny flush?

tommy

Isn't the mileage award at 155k? Did you delay telling them, or are they that ungodly slow?

I got a new clutch about 18 months ago; fluid was changed.

As far as trannies, what happens in Manila stays in Manila.

As I always say at these times, once these repairs are done, the car should be good for a while. But then again, that's rarely been true.

Midnight Koop

how much did that run you? (dealership or indie?)

btw... you filipino?

Jreece

Tommy: What kind of gauge pod did you use on the a pillar?

tommy

MK, I think it was about a grand at the dealership, but it was included as part of the world's most expensive oil leak repair, so there may have been a reduction to the labor due to the teardown of the engine bay.

No, I'm a mightie whitie - the Manila reference was a bad transvestite joke.

Jreece - the three gauges are Autometer ones, using Autometer mounting cups that I had powdercoated blue. The tach (the middle one) is currently not working; have a Prosport sweep tach gauge that i'm going to get installed eventually to replace it.

Not much of an update on the repairs; should be done late Mon or Tues. I did notice some rust on the bottom of the passenger's door. Oy. I do have to say one thing - though our door pulls break, they make a hell of a lot more sense than the ones on the W204s - those are just too funky for my taste, though the cruise control speed indicator on the speedometer is funky in a good way; wish we had that instead of absolutely nothing. What up with that?

LILBENZ230

There's absolutely no cruise control notification in the 05s either, but Drew said his 07 would display "Cruise control set at XXmph" in the MFD for a moment after being set. I've wondered why there is nothing on our cars every time I set it.

johnand

Drew would be correct. My 07 does the same.

Tommy, looks like I am not the only one spending $$$ to keep a 203 running

LILBENZ230

How useful is this feature on a car that won't run correctly?

John I think you should sit down and have a serious talk with your 07 C230. Clearly it is confused and thinks it is a 2001-2002 model. Prove to it that it is an 07 model, the most mature of the W203 line, and request it behave as such.

tommy

Yeah, karma's a b1tch!

As if I needed any other reason to not buy another Benz. Good thing none of the current options interest me at all.

LILBENZ230

As much as I love my W203, none of the new Benzes interest me either.. except for the "My Car Did" commercials that make me want a W212 every time. For about 30 seconds.

johnand

We have had the talk. She said she would start to cooperate, but for some reason I don't believe her

I am going to replace my 1998 Grand Cherokee later this year, or early next. I was seriously considering a W166, but I am really starting to re-think that

tommy

Get the R class; you can pick one up for less than a C300 these days.


What a dud that was. Anyway, if I needed a medium-sized suv, I'd lean towards the Cayenne (base has a manny ). But I'd assume you wouldn't care about that. New ML's much nicer, but isn't it due for a re-do?

johnand

R class

The W166, is the re-do for 2012 model coming out this summer. I am looking for a diesel SUV to be able to tow a travel trailer. The top of my list right now is the 2011 VW Touareg, but the new ML looks to be some competition. Also on my list is the BMW X5. If the Cayenne has a diesel option, I would consider it. I have absolutely no aversion to a 3rd pedal, other than my wife refusing to learn to drive one.

tommy

Well, there is a Cayenne hybrid that starts at $67k.

Towing around a tank of pee doesn't sound like fun to me, but if that's what you're into... It is funny that MB's "future models" section doesn't list it. Speaking of that section, the new SLK is getting a bit too beefy. I could still get an SLK350 with a six-speed, but if I'm going to go 2-seat roadster, I'd probably go M roadster, even though the ride is said to be bone-jarring.

CoupeCrazy03

Whats new Tomtom? :p

tommy

Car's all done now. Will pick it up in an hour. This better be it for a while (well, the stud conversion I'll be doing this weekend doesn't count - I already have everything for that).

Oh, and that doesn't count the rust fix I'll be taking it in for within the next couple of months, either. Or the hood badge they'll be installing with it, or the full center console switch row, or updated turn signal/cruise stalks, either.

It's always sumthin'. And that's not even mentioning the changes I'll be doing to my crx in the next couple of months. Looks like it'll be apartment living for a while longer. Oh well, it's not like real estate prices are jumping around here anyways.

tommy

So as I said when we were postwhoring on the Aussie's thread, I got my stud conversion done today. Would have done it myself, except for the guys who mounted my summer rims after re-balancing torqued the pi$$ out of them.

So, pic time:







Think I can get 5 or 10 mm spacers in the rear to get them more flush. Nice to not have to worry about the correct lugbolts now.

Unfortunately, car's in the shop right now - had some weird flat spots in the steering after all of my work last week, so it's back. And I really cannot stand the boringness of the W204; if I wanted a Chrysler, I would have bought one.

Also finally got the door pulls in; did 3M cf on the exterior side; think it looks ok, but not sure about it; the interior was already too busy. This weekend, aslo repainted the trim piece above the starless grille, and installed a new wire going from the ashtray where the scangauge is to the OBDII port. Didn't realize before how easy it is to pull the carpeting from the center console area, and run the wire off to the side from there.

phister

whats your offset in the rears? I'd start with a 5mm spacer, it may not seem like a lot but it'll push it out quite a bit.

tommy

35 all around. I agree - i'll start smaller, then go from there.

CoupeCrazy03

Before you do spacers. . . how is your camber? By the looks of it you can prolly get away with a 10mm spacer. Get some cheapo non hub centric 5mm and stack them before getting legit hub centric spacers to test it out.

The studs are looking super sexy Tommy The best mod anyone can do without a doubt! How long are they?

havoc_vulture

now tommy was that so hard to get you're rims clean

W203E35

Looks great!!

Hcclark

Tommy, idk if your still planning on dynoing ur ccoupe, but if you are I always go to krazy house customs in Monmouth junction, nj. Really good and professional.

phister

you can get away with 10mm spacers in the rear with a 35 offset wheel. I'm running 25 offset in the rear with a camber kit.

tommy

Answers:

Camber's fine; only have Eibach Pros, so the drop was what was called "normal" before you people with your c/os dropped your cars to the ground.

The studs are 75mm in total, but no threads at the end. Link here:
http://www.rogueengineering.com/rogue/W-Stud/WSTUD.html

And RE actually has a dyno, so when I'm ready, it's 2 miles from work, with about the normal amount for a set of runs with a/f, so I'll get to that eventually, but thanks for the info.

Good idea, Coupe; you're not as dumb as they say. I'll have to try that. I'm going to have to remove the rears anyway, since I still need to paint the rear rotor hats and brakes.

Anyone have any suggestions for cheap, non-hubcentric 5mm spacers? I'll check out ebay.