peppyhead

Hey everyone.

I picked up a 99 C43 AMG in Silver. I got it for a very good price. $2800 Canadian off the owner who needed the money. Anyway it does need some TLC and I intend on bringing it back to it's original glory. There was no documentation with the car, has some nicks, and generally like I said needs some TLC. That being said it does run pretty good and for the money it was a no brainer.
I'm going to work on it during the winter to get it ready for spring. What are the most important things to address/change? Obviously Oil, fluids, etc but is there anything else that these cars need attention to?

thanks and this forum is awesome and filled with Information.

mickey13

nice buy. maybe a transmission refresh. one of the guys here did a nice write up with pictures. HERE

KJI3jflarryfe93

welcome

do you have any pics of your car?

find out if these parts were replaced?
harmonic balancer
crank shaft position sensor = CPS
idler pulley and belt tensioner and of course the belt
airmass sensor
02 sensors
change oil in tranny/engine and diff if you don't know when it was done?
stick with MB tranny fluid.
engine oil is Mobile1 0w40


if you going to restore this car to her former glory, keep her in your garage for 5-6 months during winter and don't drive her in winter at all!
these cars are notorius rustbuckets

you will find out this is not a cheap car to maintain when it comes to specific AMG parts like front rotors!
good luck owning a cool old skool AMG.

peppyhead

Thanks guys for the info.
I'm up in Canada so no it won't be driven in winter, especially considering there is 6" of snow on the ground right now anyway.
It does have some surface rust starting on the lower reaar wheel wells, which I will address when I have time. In the meantime I have sprayed it with fluid film to stop it.
Like I said, no documentation but I know the oil was just changed, but I will get the tranny fluid changed. I will put up picks this week.

peppyhead

All I know is that the engine oil was just changed.

From running a car proof it looks like I'm the 4th owner. No accidents and like I said it seems to run fine.

I've phoned both dealers in calgary and one has a record of a key being repalced, other than that no luck. I'm assuming the previous owner after warranty had it serviced at an independant shop.
This is the frustrating part of this. I don't want to replace something that could have been replaced already. (like your list above).

I think I will change the plugs and transmission fluid for sure. From what I understand the tranny fluid requires a shop because the car needs a hoist. Now I have a car lift/hoist in my garage so I'm assuming I can change it myself?

Also I've heard these plugs are a pain to change because 1) there are 16 2) you have to remove the brake fluid resevoir on the drivers side for access to that side.?

thanks guys your comments and advice are great.

PJmak

If it aint broke dont fix it

mickey13

dude, go to the mercedes dealership and ask them from a print out of your service history. it will save you a lot of money and headache. yes the harmonic balancers were recalled but it could have already been replaced on your car. thats like a $500 part plus labor right there.

i agree though, do not go crazy on replacing stuff because that can cause more problems believe it or not. if she aint running right pull the spark plugs and see what condition they are in. they last like 60 or 100k miles so dont be in such a rush to change everything.

but the tran service is not a bad idea... changing the bushing will prevent the tran oil from traveling up the wire loom into in the computer and causing an expensive repair... however... check those MB records cause it may have already been done.

also fyi there is a company who is a sponsor here and they offer lifetime warranty on all parts including stuff like brake pads and other wear items. its a little bit crazy but they do it. their prices are just a little higher than competitors but its not bad considering the warranty they give.

peppyhead

I went to both dealerships here in Calgary and there was just one record, and it was for a replacement key fob. Other than that there is nothing.
I wish I could find out which independant he took it to because it has 208,000km (which is like 130m) so he must have brought it somewhere.

You're right, I don't want to just go and dumb a bunch of money, energy, and time into replacing stuff that could have been already addressed. I will however check the plugs and do the tranny flush.

Only thing I can say is that maybe the car might be running a bit rich, the inside of the exhaust are a bit black but there is no smoke on startup, it doesn't vibrate, or have a rough idle. Like I mentioned I got one hell of a deal on this car so I am almost waiting for something to happen because of the deal I got. That being said it's in my garage and not being driven in winter here.

What bushing are you talking about in regards to the transmission?

I'll also check out that company. thanks Mickey.

KJI3jflarryfe93

why don't you find who the previous owners were by contacting DMV?
your car license plate must connect previous owners unless every new owner registered to your car gets their own plates?

try to find PO names/address/phone numbers through DMV and give 'em a call asking about your car.

if you think out of the box you will find info
it's no rocket science

mickey13

its fcp euro with the lifetime warranty.

the bushing is like $10, i think i bought it from autohausaz or mbdirect
bushing part no: 13 Pin Connector - 203 540 00 53

check out DR. B's tran post

mickey13

kowalski, every owner gets a new plate. also it is private information to who owns a car. it is possible to find out but it is not free. even as an attorney i have to make a certification that the information is to be used for the practice of law. i cannot find out just because i want to contact previous owner and say hello.


edit: the bulletin i posted will tell you if your specific HB is bad based on the part number.

KJI3jflarryfe93

it's the total opposite in my country
everything is open information here, just contact authorities and you can get any information you want about a car and the owners address information.

this open info which is available for everyone is a good system for car thieves who steals luxury cars by checking owners address information.
carthieves comes home to you and rob ya!
It's been happening a lot lately, Audi RS6 are very popular to steal.

regarding license plates, we have personal plates create your own word BRNXM1K3 we have to pay for these which is very expensive.

or

stick with stock regular plates

peppyhead

So, spent all day working on the C43 yesterday.

Here is what I did.

- Installed new OEM fog lights and got rid of the garage hack job special, looks awesome!

- Installed new speaker door covers on front doors (Interior is now complete and is actually quite nice!

- Changed the Air Filters (Filters were so dirty)

- Changed the oil and used Mobil 1 0-40w full sythetic euro blend. The oil I drained out was so dark and black I felt sorry for the car.

- Cleaned the MAF sensor and components.

- Put everything back together and installed the air box and then finally put the stock intake/snorkels on!

Started the car up and noticed a huge difference from the get go how it was running. Felt tight and strong only downfall is I couldn't take it for a rip because there was snow on the ground.

Next on the list is to secure the headlight bezels below the chassis rail just below and behind the headlight as per the factory. Only problem is I don't have the stock bezels, they are aftermarket ones that came with the car....so if you know where I can grab the brackets let me know, or else I might just use 3m double sided tape (that's what I am resorting to).

Anyway not sureif anyone has felt the same but I feel that I am doing a good deed and this car will repay me with a spring/summer full of driving excitement!

Thanks everyone for helping me with parts and advice!

DRBC43AMG

Hope you also changed the oil filter...
Next job, change the plugs. A time consuming job, but well worth it. Imagine how much it would cost to get it done by the dealer or an independent tech?

peppyhead

Oil Filter, what is that????

The plugs is something I'm going to tackle in the next couple of weeks. I've mentioned before I got f*ck all documentation with this car so I am doing things on investigation, instead of just dumping a bunch of money in it where maybe I didn't need to. I'll take one out this week and see, but yeah I will most likely change them. I heard it's a big job so I have to get myself amped up to do it. Too bad there wasn't a youtube video on it.

speed43

This link can help you further.

http://www.mercedesmedic.com/spark-plug-diy/

DRBC43AMG

Nice find George Plenty of interesting articles for the w202 also

DRBC43AMG

I hope you are kidding....

nkctb7

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the forum, peppy. Nice to see another Canadian C43 saved from extinction.

Mickey,

I'm wondering why the harmonic balancer recall wasn't issued in Canada. My harmonic balancer badly deteriorated as the sleeve came halfway out and was hitting the clutch fan.

I've looked into many recalls regarding my wife's 335 and the C43. For some apparent reason, both manufacturers don't apply the same recall to Canadian vehicles.

Also, I agree with FCP Euro in regards to parts. They have drastically lowered their prices since I first checked them out years ago. I recently purchased a new genuine BMW 335i expansion tank from FCP Euro and their price was $35 USD cheaper than everyone else. I was shocked!

mickey13

They should be ashamed of themselves.

KJI3jflarryfe93

no recalls in Kanada because there are no lemon laws, same thing goes for eürope, there's no help from stealerships for HB recalls.
only US of A has lemon laws which makes manufacturers poop in their pants when their products go bad!
like Volkswagen using cheating software for fuel consumption and pollution to scam every buyer thinking their cars are clean.
now they got busted loosing lots of dough in hefty fines!

other car makers will also go down when the truth comes out!

Peppyhead where are your pictures of your car now that you have fixed the foglites?

peppyhead

Yes, yes I am.

peppyhead

Okay I didn't take many pictures but here are some while I was working on it. I ordered oem aftermarket fog lights from pelican and installed them. I also had to order the fog light harness on ebay to connect them. Such a difference between the stock and the garage hack job aftermarket ones the guy had on the car before.
Other picture is just it on the ramps while I did the oil change, and also I cleaned the MAF...I know such a riveting picture of me holding it! When it finally turns spring here I will get out and actually drive it, and detail the p!ss out of it and take proper pictures. I still can't believe the sound of this thing, especially with the proper intakes, etc on it. This might be offside but I swear this car wants to get it on with me as a big thank you....Next up is the tranny fluid but I might take it to a shop.
Also this was done in my parents garage. I haven't moved it to my garage because of the weather, but I have a 4 post lift in my garage, would that make it easier to do the tranny fluid change? If so is there any links to assist or should I just go and get it done by an indy? Also here is a pic with the old fogs on it, disgusting I know...looks like an episode of roadkill.

KJI3jflarryfe93

car looks def so much better dude!
congrats on doing a great job getting her back into shape and proper looks.

did you buy Hella foglights, they are genuine for C43.
I have also bought new foglights for my car, these were bought from an aftermarket auto parts shop.
my old ones sitting on my car are getting milky and ugly inside.
I noticed on my new foglights that Hella factory had melted and covered the MB star and partsnumber back on plastic housing , they are selling foglights as aftermarked.
so it's def real stuff

peppyhead

Yeah they were Hella fog lights, and they are hella good!

thanks. Still a ton of work left to do. It drives fine even though I've only driven it like 1 mile to car wash and back but the front seems very low, almost like it was lowered? Are they factory this low? When I get it on my hoist I'll check.

also the passenger side headlight Lens is foggy and needs to replaced, anyone know of somebody selling an extra one or where to get one for cheap!

thanks