The ONLY C230 Kompressor BLACK SERIES has reached 90k miles. Within a couple weeks, it will be six years old.

The car has had a few problems and has had quite a few things replaced, but overall, it has served me very well, has never left me stranded, has been quite reliable, has fantastic fuel economy, still looks great, still drives great and still can be pretty fun…

So, I decided to give it a gift. I changed the stock shocks and struts that have been on the car from the factory. Although they never leaked and worked great for 90k miles, they’d become bouncy and felt a little floaty (much like the non-sport 325/328i’s that I hate so much). Like many others, I saw the RENNtech/Sachs shocks on eBay and decided to give them a shot. I originally wanted Koni’s, but for $351 shipped, the RENNtech’s couldn’t be beat.

I wasn’t too sure where I would take the car in to have these installed, but I mentioned it to my buddy Sam (who owns AutoTalent) and he said that they would do it. To be honest, I was a little embarrassed to ask them to install it because although they do fantastic, high-quality work, an M3 is pretty much the “cheapest” car that they work on. Their head tech, Zoltie, is hands down the best in Los Angeles and I would say the country. I’ve seen him fix things that other tuners have messed up badly and I’ve also seen him do the installs and fixes on quite intricate things. To give a background, AutoTalent installs and even builds most of the RDSport motors on BMW’s in North America—that includes the RS46 4.6L stroker V8 engine for the M3, the 5.7L S85 stroker V10’s found on Fiskers or RDSport M5/M6’s, etc. They’ve also done the Heffners TT on numerous Gallardo’s and Ford GT’s. I’ve been there when SLR’s and Carrera GT’s were getting worked on at the same time as well as custom wide-body 911’s. I’ve trusted them with modding my M3 and M5. But the C230, well, it’s a little out of place there…

I really don’t have much time during the week to bring in the C230, so Sam scheduled me in for Saturday. Little did I know that they’re not usually open on Saturdays, but they opened up the shop this Saturday JUST to do my install with Zoltie doing about 98% of it (he even cleaned up my whack *** V1 hardwiring in the trunk, lol). Now that is fantastic service. They did it in about 2.5 hours and charged me a ridiculously fair price. AutoTalent, Sam, Zoltie and Ryan get HUGE, HUGE two thumbs up from me.



Now on to the suspension, let me begin by saying that this is the best $351 I’ve EVER spent on this car and maybe on a car.

I kept the OEM springs. Yes, I didn’t lower it. I really didn’t want to put money into something that I didn’t think would make the car better, in terms of both looks (it wouldn't lower the front very much and I think the rear of my car sits perfect as is) and performance (I wanted to keep some of the stock comfort).

During the install, the shocks went in perfectly. The struts though, they had to bore out the holes for the sway bar bolts because they were a little too small being that the 2005+ w203's have the sway bars from the C32 AMG (this wasn't a problem, they actually made quick work of this). Other than that, everything went on without a hitch.

I put about 200 pretty hard miles (through some twisties) on the car this weekend on the new suspension and I have to say that the car handles noticeably better now. It’s a tad bit stiffer, but it’s still comfortable. It feels smoother and more connected to the road. There’s more grip and the car’s agility has improved. The rebound and stability is significantly better over my old worn out stock shocks and struts. I usually take some local turns pretty hard and I’ve noticed that my routine braking on this car has now become too early and/or too hard and that I could have braked later and even less and could have gone faster in the turns. For those of you from LA, the 110 freeway from DTLA to Pasadena is somewhat windy and narrow. I've driven that freeway hard in this car when it was new and over the years. The C230 definitely felt faster there with the new suspension. The suspension inspires more confidence. Although it doesn’t handle like an M, it’s not bad. Now I only wish the steering was tighter!

On a side note, the shocks and struts are red. So, it has a kind of cool look peaking through the wheels, lol.

Overall, awesome upgrade, awesome service by AutoTalent, not too much money out of my pocket, I’m very happy.

 

Looks 'evil'

 

adds 25hp!...LOL

i can't see anything through my wheels except my brakes.

 

glad you like them. Mine come in tomorrow and hearing your opinion on them is making me anxious.

 

Wish I had gotten a set of those when they were still available.

 

Nice Phil!

 

Nice feedback on the Renntech shocks! What a great deal as well.

 

Looking good Phil! My 2005 is only at 57,000 miles. Hope it ages as gracefully as yours (without too many problems)!

Thanks for sharing your experience with the suspension installation!

 

Excellent write-up. I'm at 85,300 and I think my car has had a few less problems than yours - but I'm a 1/25/05 build so it's a few months younger. Glad we are here to show that reliability can be just fine on the W203.

 

Nice Phil

Why do you care about handling you have an M5

 

thanks for the kind words guys!

lol, that's because your brakes are huge and barely clear your wheels that have stepped lips!

I was pulling into the garage tonight and I spotted the rear shocks bright as day...

On Dinan Stage 2 suspension! What's wrong with improving the little things? lol.

 

AutoTalent seems a first-rate outfit. Good find.

Commuted daily on that Arroyo Seco Parkway for more than three years. A thorough --and sometimes treacherous-- workout for any chassis.

Have often preached to the choir that judicious suspension maintenance and upgrades are almost always the best ROI on a C. Their presence feels good every time behind the wheel…even at part-throttle.

Pleased to hear they’re working well on yours.

 

Well, I've been meaning to post this as this occurred a few weeks ago, but the ONLY C230 Kompressor BLACK SERIES, finally hit 100k miles.



I took delivery of the car in August of 2004, the car was already titled to me and insured prior to even reaching the US. It took a little over six years to get to 100k miles and during the entire time, it has never left me stranded and aside from a somewhat rough cold start, it still runs very well.

I've driven it hard, but I've also had maintenance meticulously performed, all of which, well before the required mileage. But, it's had it's fair share of issues.

The notable issues are as follows (these are all post warranty expenses, that's why I remember them, they came out of my pocket):
head gasket leak
cam sensors
throttle actuator
fuel filler neck
alternator

I've done quite a bit of preventative maintenance and hopefully it'll last a bit longer. At the next Service A, I'm going to be replacing the coolant and might as well do the thermostat.

Thanks to Glyn, John, John, MJ, Eric, Drex, Frank, Jose, Blake, Karo, Matt, Ed and all the others that helped me mod, fix and diagnose things along the way. This forum has completely helped me out and helped keep this car running well. Not to mention, because of this car and forum, I made a lot of really good friends

Here's a pic of the car taken today:



And, here's a pic of the other car for good measure

 

Looking good Phil, I'm glad she hasn't been much trouble for you. Your car looks very classy

Here's to another 100k miles

 

still looks like a new car!

 

Congrats! I'll be joining you in the 6 digits in the next couple months...

 

Car looks great Phil What's it currently wearing? Menzerna Power Lock?

 

Thanks, guys!

Actually, it's a little embarrassing, the only car I've put the Power Lock on so far is my gf's Cayman S. I haven't had time to do either the w203 or M5.

The w203 was just washed with Prima Mystique (which is now my favorite car wash) and "waxed" with Prima Hydra "spray as you dry."

The M5 was actually polished and waxed with Meguiar's Pro Line at the BMW dealer (free full auto "spa" treatment from their new detail shop). For a dealer detail that retails at $200, it was pretty good. But, after a week, the crappy Meguiar's tire dressing slung all over the car, so I washed it with Prima Mystique and topped it off with Prima Hydra.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to do a correction and apply some Power Lock to both cars soon.

 

 

 

Nice one man, how I miss having a sleek black car.. But when I think of how less dirty my silver car looks.. Then I don't wanna have a black car.. Lol..

 

I'm sure you'll be fine for another 6-years and another 100k. I'm at 108k on mine and I wish mine still looked that good! I just don't have the knack or patience for car detailing that you guys do.

 

Wow that is one BEAUTIFUL w203. Good job keeping it so clean!

 

Don't be embarrased Phil, I STILL haven't done correction on mine, and STILL haven't tried the MPL. Hoping to take a whole weekend this summer and finally get it done. Just not enough hours in the day.

That Prima Hydra looks great. I love the spray waxes for a quick and easy application while drying. I alternate between Optimum Car Wax and Optimum Instant Detailer every wash while drying.

 

Every time I go through this thread I want euro impact strips hahahaha