Kevwood

Hmmm, now that you mention it, I don't think I have either. Other than the BS of course. I think a white CLK BS is one the most beautiful cars on the road. Tomorrow I'm going to visit a short list of 3 body shops to decide where I'll take mine to have the diffuser and spoiler done. Then I'm heading to the exhaust shop to order tips, the ones I have aren't going to work.

dynomite05

That carbon against the white is going to look awesome. I have really been considering wrapping my car in white this spring. So the tips are too small for the diffuser openings?

Kevwood

Yeah, Andy got me in touch with the same tips as he used, they are fantastic quality and have a perfect stagger to them, but being round they are too narrow for the diffuser. I'm going to use the Magnaflow muffler I brought over and the tips on the C class now, I ordered a different muffler here already and now I need to get some tips. The exhaust shop I'm using has AMG replica tips so it's all good.

Badblackfolife

Please post AMG replica tips pics i bet they are Ebay type.

Kevwood

I will when I see them on Saturday.

M_L

What tips do you have right now? the one that is too small for the diffuser?

Kevwood

They are in my pic (post #1), sitting on the wheels. They are great tips, really well made and finished, they are just too narrow for the diffuser openings.

M_L

what brand is that? and do you know the overall width of the tip? cause im planning to buy a set of tips too

Kevwood

Brand? No idea, they came off ebay. I just measured them, 3" X 6 3/8", double wall, very good quality.

Kevwood

Just got back from dropping the car off, wheels, sways, springs and brakes will all be on by tomorrow evening.

I went to the exhaust shop and took a look at the tips, they aren't the ebay type, nor do they have AMG stamped on them - they are Fox exhaust tips (it's a Fox shop I'm using). They have a whole bunch of different styles, I think I am gong to go with a style that isn't quite as tight as the AMG oval, it's just slightly rounder, it's a little beefier looking IMO. When I get the car into them after the diffuser is installed I'll make a final decision.

Kevwood

Okay, first the good news, springs, sways, Koni's and brakes are all done and everything went a-okay. I wish the same could be said of the wheels, spacers and lug bolts...

Last night I slipped a wheel on the rear to see how it looked, it was great and the clearance looked good with my JD goggles on, today when they went to put the wheels on at the shop it was a whole different story. The front wheels do not clear the 500 brake calipers (even though I was told by the wheel retailer they would), so, I had to shell out $220USD for a set of front 10mm spacers. Of course, now the front lug bolts that I had sent to me from the US don't work so I had to shell out another $82USD for a new set (not even chrome!). Now the rears... The bolts that I got sent from the US (they were what was spec'd by the wheel retailer) are too long, even with the 10mm spacer and to add to that, the wheels sit inside the well pretty far, soooooooooooo, I had to shell out another $300USD+ for a set of 20mm spacers and yet another $82USD for another set of lug bolts.

I'm quite dissapointed in the information that was passed to me by the wheel retailer as it was basically all wrong - the wheels don't clear the brakes, the offset is not near flush and the lug bolt lengths supplied for the rears were also wrong. I still would have bought the wheels but I would not have wasted a friends time and spent a fortune to have the wrong spacers and wrong lug bolts shipped to me from the US.

Despite all that, I am very pleased that I took my car to MSW here in Dubai - it makes a world of difference when you're dealing with a group of guys that are as knowledgable as they are. The car gets the alignment in the morning, a road test and then it comes home to papa

chrislis

hate to say i called that happening.

what's the offsets of those wheels? mine were 9.5 +38 (25mm spacer) and 8.5 +35 without a spacer and i cleared the brakes by a millimeter or two. the wheel sizing/spacing is really meant for more of a 320 or a c class. there's a lot of studying to do when shopping for wheels which is why it generally takes me around 6 months to make a concrete decision. sucks you're in dubai too, that just means sending things back and forth are a pita. sorry buddy.

Kevwood

That you did...

I can't remember the offset, I'll have to look on the side of the box when I go tomorrow but rest assured, I, like you do a lot of research before buying. I got the wheels from Sonic and emailed Ray back and forth numerous times asking about fitment, lug bolt lengths, spacers, etc. and made all my further purchases based on the replies. He was very good about getting back to me, unfortunately the information was not correct for my situation and has ended up costing me a heck of a lot more than I wanted to spend due to buying new spacers and lugs.

Yes, I bet these fit a non-500 just fine but even if so, the offset has the wheels really deep in the wells - this is not an ideal 'out of the box' solution. Regardless of this mishap though, I really like the design of the wheels and have no regrets buying them- they are going to look great with the right spacers and the overall finish quality is quite stunning. Unfortunately there is no chance of returning things to the US due to the outrageous shipping costs.

Life goes on mate, I'm still grinin'

dynomite05

Talk about a journey, huh! It sucks that you're stuck paying those outrageous prices. At least you're seeing it through and staying positive.

Kevwood

Ya, just dissapointed. Hey, in the end I'm still going to have a great little car, it's just going to take a heck of a lot longer and cost a whole bunch more than if I was doing it back in Canada. Although saying that, I still have 365 days of summer, virtually empty 14 lane divided highways, several world class race courses and a damn near castle to fill with all my toys here so it makes the hardships of life so much easier to deal with

I'm looking at it this way, my (and everyone elses) hardships are all discussed on this forum so guys that want to do mods in the future can get the right info the first time. We're all in this together!

2MCHCAR

You are a trailblazer Kev! I'm paying close attention to the BS strut bars install, but am beginning to think the Weicher's strut bars are easier to install.

chrislis

i have a feeling your front offset is 38 on those wheels. having had 35's on my car barely clearing and yours not clearing kind of signifies it. anything of 38 shouldn't ever be advertised to fit our cars. but in all honesty the reality of life and sales and marketing is ADVERTISE ASSUMPTIVELY. worst business practice around because of course it's hard to test fit every single rim on every single model, but when you're advertising and specializing in one specific car make you should have no problem rounding up the models for test fits. and really its one wheel generally, a front wheel. everyone knows big brakes are highly unlikely to take most wheels, so factory spec is fine. oh well, the business of making money can be a pita to deal with.

dynomite05

Reminds me of an Oscar Wilde quote I heard:

Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.

Badblackfolife

Damn that sucks Kev! for that money you could of been rolling in CLK63 AMG.

dynomite05

You added so much crap to your sig, you can't even see the car. lol

M-bENZ

if the wheels have offset of 37 it will clear your front caliper because the stock offset of W209 CLK55 for the front is 37.

Andy

Badblackfolife

not the best pic so i had to cover it up =D

dynomite05

If that's the case then you made some nice choices to cover it up.

chrislis

so what you're saying is a 12" width wheel will clear the brakes with 37 offset right?

M-bENZ

How do u put 12" width wheel in front of our cars ? I was saying if his rims (im assuming he got same width like your too ? ) offset is 37 it will clear his front caliper or maybe im wrong ? .

Edit: Kev, what is the rims offset and the width ?

Andy