vas2vas

hello all, just joined the club...I bought a 95 C280 silver with grey interior...power seats 6 disk cd, and funny enough a cupholder (got it at an auction)... it's my second mercedes, after owning an 82 240D, and three BMW's (85 318i, 89 735iL, 95 318is-euro) it was a risky purchase, the car had 102K, but drove it 300miles back home the same day, and even thought the PO did his/her best to turn a beutiful german car it into a civic (worn out futura tires....cheapo blue lights blocking the brake ducts, squirell nest in the airbox etc) I'm starting to put it back into shape... today I got 4 new continentals, and after checking the car thourougly it needs a new spare....the one that's on is completely shot, both tire and rim! .... tried to recharge the a/c, but condenser has a hole in it, so $30 worth of r134a assended into the heavens for higly suspicious reasons the check engine light bulb is missing....or burned out (haven't investigated yet).....btw can anybody explain to me how do you safely get the instrument panel out....the rear defroster had some damaged strips, due to somebody puting a sticker on it and yianking it out.....is there akit that can fix that? ...... and finally it needs brakes all round, naturally!
long list, I know, but for $6400 plus tax I'm not complaining much!

tpliquid

good deal..kinda...

DougandhisC280

not for all that work. who knows what it's going to need in the future, the way that was ragged out. First, welcome to the forum. Second, search on this forum for "instrument panel." Someone has said with pretty detailed instructions on how to get it out. I don't think it's that hard but there are some tricks you will need to know. Third, I don't know of any way to fix the rear defroster. Maybe you can find a rear window in a junkyard somewhere. If you need new brakes, let me be the first to recommend www.bimmerzone.com . Since you have had 3 BMW's I'm sure you know the importance of OEM brands and they have nothing but OEM stuff.

vas2vas

I had the car checked by two mechanics.....they both OK'ed it....it just needs some TLC.....besides the prices of the parts.....labor is not really an issue because I can do most of it myself, and a good friend of mine also happens to be a qualified bmw/mercedes mechanic.....he doesn't really charge me much.... Thanks for the website recommendation....I'll check it out....I've had good experience before combining ATE rotors, and PBR deluxe pads.....I try to avoid aftermarket parts....unless they're better (ie putting urethane bushings), or in a non critical part of the car. The rear defroster is fixable......did it before on a 318i, was so long ago, I just can't remeber where it came from....

95c220

Regarding the brakes- I've heard that for W202s, Balo rotors and Pagid pads are the best combination to minimize your chances of warping and/or squealing, athough you will get a bit of brake dust from the Pagids.

DougandhisC280

I have Ate slotted rotors mated with PBR deluxe pads. I will never use anything else besides this combination again. Pagid is a good pad but it always seems to warp my rotors, no matter what brand they are. Textar is just a piece of crap. They squeel, make way too much brake dust, and vibrate like crazy too. And don't tell me they were put on wrong, I put them on myself. I like PBR because they stop just as well as Pagid, but they don't warp my rotors and you can go a month without washing your wheels and still not have hardly any brake dust. My Pagid pads in the rear make more dust than my PBR's in the front.

scorchie

I like the Textar pads. A lot of the Merceddes models come with Textar as the OEM supplier, and the OEM pads almost never squeal.

Most of the Textar pads have a rubber coating on the back and this combined with shims helps to prevent squeal.

-s-

DougandhisC280

What is this? An opinion board?

scorchie

Actually it looks like a useless response board!

-s-

DougandhisC280

Ha!