AMGVice

History: bought '05 C55 about 3 weeks ago. Had car inspected by a service, actually got an inspector familiar with Merc (I think he worked there if I remember correctly). his inspection didn't mention missing fender liners but when I took it in for first repair, they told me I was missing them.

Almost wonder if small dealer I bought it from took them off and forgot to put back on because they did replace one of the fog lights prior to me taking possession.

When I first tried to research these, I thought they actually lined the tire well (clueless but trying to learn). Mechanic showed me they are pieces that run horizontal to the ground, in front of the wheels. see pics. He quoted me $164 "fender liner kit" and $100 labor. Dealership said $100 each (so I assume that means $200 parts) and $129 labor.

you can see in the second pic, there are wires (fog light?) hanging down a bit and exposed.

Any advice or corrections always appreciated!!

~M

AMGFrog

It's an easy fix you can do yourself. I had to replace both as well, due to the previous owner of my car. I was able to pick up both driver/passenger pieces and plastic push pins from the dealer and installed everything myself. No need to pay the extra money for labor in my opinion. Make sure you loosen the plastic under-tray to fit the pieces snugly and correctly. I didn't need to use a jack and the only other tool I used was a 10 millimeter wrench.

Saaboteur

Yup, these are an easy fix. They break easily if one is not careful with parking, or if any crap hits them from underneath.

And you can get the parts for pretty cheap if you look around. I forget if AutohausAZ has them, but there are some online sources that sell them too. I think I paid about $65 for one side, but that was quite some time ago. But you may need to buy the appropriate clips for the liners too. You should be able to buy reproduction clips from clipsandfasteners.com

However, you do need to cross reference appropriate part numbers. I think my subscription to the electronic parts catalogue expired, but you should be able to find all the part numbers you need there.

http://epc.startekinfo.com/epc/welcome.jsp

insame1

I bought the entire set front and back for my c32 for $100 from a wrecker.

C230 Mulac

Yeah, they aren't too expensive. If you google "c55 fender liner" you should get some results. If I remember correctly when removing mine for the headlights, I think that piece is an "L" shape and part of it covers horizontally and then turns up a little bit into the wheel well?

In any case, you will need some of each of these screws:

http://www.rmeuropean.com/Part-Numbe..._5C1313F8.aspx

http://www.rmeuropean.com/Part-Numbe..._671A15F4.aspx

I can't remember how many of each. I can take a look tonight and post some pics.

AMGVice

Oh thank you! Y'all are convincing me that this is my first DIY project. But probably not for another week or so.

I have no doubt it will be frustrating, hilarious, and rewarding.

I can't thank y'all enough for walking me through this!

~M

C230 Mulac

lol no problem.

insame1

just an fyi. When I got mine form the wrecker they gave me all the hardware also.

Saaboteur

I always found getting at the fenders liners easier with the wheel removed, but that's just my preference.

Other than a jack and jackstands (but obviously only if you are going to jack up the car), the only tools required would be a 10mm wrench or nut driver (but quite difficult to use a nut driver if you leave the car on the ground with the wheels on), and then some trim removal tools. If you're not careful, you can destroy those clips. I have a set of these:

http://www.princessauto.com/pal/en/A...-Set/8248494.p

AMGVice

Hmm. I was hoping not to have to remove the wheels. Maybe I'm not cut out for DIY....LOL

~M

Saaboteur

For sure, you can do it without wheel removal. I just found it a lot easier, as then you have much easier access to the bolts that hold the fender liner in place. Also a lot easier to get at the little clips that hold the fender liner in place, the ones that are right up front and point downwards. Why make your life difficult by trying to guess where they are and if they are lined up, when lifting the car up just a touch makes it clear, and allows more room to work?

DIY - you gotta start somewhere! Wheel and tire removal is bread and butter of DIY! Just do it, you will quickly overcome your fear.

Check out the nifty jackpads from Reverse Logic to ensure no damage to the plastic jack points on the car though:

http://www.reverselogic.us/

AMGVice

Thank you. I'll check it out. To be honest, I don't even know if the jack that came with the car is complete!

I have changed my a tire in the past when I had a flat but it's been a lot of years.

Do I need to worry about getting the lug nuts back on with just the right amount of torque?

How come none of you guys live in Austin and want to adopt an wanna-be-car-girl? I would bake for you in exchange...! LOL

Saaboteur

Any carguy/girl/person should definitely have his/her own jack and jackstands and assortment of tools!

But you gotta start somewhere. I knew a guy who wanted to do an engine swap and whole project car on a Civic hatchback with basically nothing but a multi screwdriver. The will was there, the wherewithal wasn't.

When you get more serious, you will want a few more specialised items. Benz uses torx fasteners a lot, and those nice jack stands and pads too. I think the lug nut torque is about 85-95 ft lbs. Otherwise, when refitting the wheels, make sure you tighten in a star pattern and make sure they are very secure. I am currently litigating a small claims lawsuit for a client who took her vehicle to a tire shop; shop forgot to tighten sufficiently, one wheel fell off when she drove away.

Also, the jack that comes with the car is really only for emergency use. I wouldn't crawl underneath it to work on the car. You really need proper jackstands for that.

AMGVice

making lists of equipment and tools needed.

And then off to buy a lottery ticket! BRB

thanks!
~M

Saaboteur

I consider myself a fairly serious 'car guy', and probably have several thousand dollars worth of tools in the garage. But that collection of tools takes a bit of time to get together, probably 15-16 years in my case.

My suggestion is to buy decent quality stuff immediately, as opposed to buy cheap stuff first and then upgrading later. You just spend more money doing that. After you've wrenched for a while, you'll get a feel for other stuff you want/need. Other than the normal wrenches, sockets, extensions, ratchets, etc you definitely want some torx sockets and bits.

If you were in Canada, I'd say to keep a close look at the Canadian Tire and Princess Auto flyers, there are always good deals, and on some quality tools too. I don't think there's a need for Snap-on quality stuff for shade tree mechanics, but definitely the nicer stuff from Craftsman is doable and certainly not prohibitively expensive. But it's hard to justify several hundred dollars for, say, a set of Snap-on wrenches when you only use them every couple weeks or whatever. Different for mechanics who would use them every day.

C230 Mulac

Listen to Saaboteur, good info

I'll throw in a few recommendations for you. This is the socket set/toolbox that I have: http://www.sears.com/craftsman-258-p...&blockType=G21

Yes, it's $250, but you'll have just about every socket you'll ever need and of course, Craftsman lifetime warranty so if anything breaks just go to Sears and they'll replace it no questions asked. I actually broke one of my ratchets and just walked in and before I could even ask the guy knew I wanted to exchange it, took about 30 seconds. Gotta love Sears! As Saaboteur said, it's worth the investment because if you buy this you basically won't have to buy anymore sockets until you get into the really advanced stuff that may require a long 18" extension or some large size socket like 30mm or so.

These are the torx bits you want, there are two sets, male and female:

http://www.gearwrench.com/sockets-an...ocket-set.html

http://www.gearwrench.com/gearwrench...ocket-set.html

Don't buy them from these links though, overpriced. I picked each one of my sets from Advance Auto for around $25-30 each. These 13-piece sets should take care of all the torx bolts on the car. These are ESSENTIAL when you own a Mercedes-Benz. Just about every project you do on this car involves these torx type bolts.

Also, you may not need it immediately, but a universal joint helps a lot when you're working in some of the tight corners.

Full socket set and the torx bits and you'll basically have almost everything you need to work on this car.

Oh, as far as the wheel lug bolts, when the car is in the air, tighten them all the way but don't fully torque them, just get them snug. After you load the car back on the ground, then you fully torque them in star pattern as Saaboteur said. I would say you don't have to worry about torque spec, as 100 ft lbs is quite a lot. Just tighten them pretty much as hard as you can turn and you'll be good. You would really need to hit the gym hard to be able to break those bolts.

AMGVice

You guys are the best. Maybe this should be a sticky for new owners!

Must have list of tools and equipment!

~M

Saaboteur

Those all inclusive socket sets are a good place to start.

I still have my set of Craftsman 3/8" sockets from the late '90s, works fine for me. I've also replaced the ratchet numerous times, like previously posted, no questions asked by Sears. But Sears is facing a tough time in Canada, lots of store closures, so not sure how long they will last here!

I did spend quite a bit on a Snap-On ratchet. It has, as expected, proven very reliable, so much so that I rarely need to use 1/2" ratchet. I went with the Snap-on ratchet because the Craftsman one kept breaking!

Remember, a wrench is not simply a wrench. The $10 set of a dozen or so metric wrenches is probably just junk and may easily round the fastener. While I couldn't justify the $300 Snap-On set, there's a happy medium with the 'pro' line of stuff available from other sources. At Canadian Tire there is a cheaper range and then the pro range, maybe $70-100 regular price (but frequently 50% off) I'm sure Craftsman is the same. Go with the pro range is my suggestion.

insame1

just fyi. in the US ACE hardware carries craftsman and if they go under Walmart already offered to buy the brand and honer the warranty.

C230 Mulac

No sh**? Didn't know that. So ACE Hardware owns Craftsman and only distributes through Sears? Interesting...

insame1

Sorry I meant OSH But ACE sells Craftsman also. The parent company owns Kmart, OSH, Sears, and a number of other company. Any of the locations that carry Craftsman will cover the warranty.

Viper98912

You sound like a cool girl, so if I lived in Austin (only visited there twice) I'd adopt you as a wanna-be-car-girl

Post a pic of yourself and I bet you'll get some PM's real quick of guys wanting to help you lol

C230 Mulac

AMGVice

LOL, I'd hate to disappoint! But I have to say, this is the only car that I'd want to pose with. and I hate photos so that's saying something.

Viper98912

Posing? Oh jeez walking into a hornets nest with that one lol...