advans

looks goood T! came back to look at a few things and saw you guys still going hard on the c coupe! love it!

infected

Glad to see you're still around, Gary!

advans

yah, still trying to get rid of some stuff I have... I still miss my coupe a lot!

infected

You've got a way better fleet of vehicles now! What else do you still have laying around you're looking to sell?

advans

just a set of wheels off the C55, OEM C55 intake and headlights, CLK grill

infected

March 2013 Update

Have been parting out and most of the stuff have been sold. The bigger pieces are still available but it's not worth it at this time to continue trying to let things go way below value.

I'll be using the car daily again for commuting to work, so may as well have something more badass while I'm at it!

New updates as of late are the Tein Superstreet coilovers that have finally collapsed on me. Looks like it's time for a new setup as I am doubltful I'll be able to go back to stock, even for a daily driver.

Midnight Koop

any thoughts of suspension replacements? i may be in the same boat with my H&R's and am thinking of doing Koni Yellows since their annual sale is going on. I think it was tommy who put a fresh set on, but i missed the deal last year.

infected

Which H&R's do you have?

I've decided to pick up a new set of H&R Street Performance Coilovers to replace the TEIN Super Streets. Looking for something comfortable for daily driving.

The TEIN's were good for what it was while it lasted, but the adjustable dampening was useless. I've heard great reviews about the H&R's!

The TEIN's have finally failed me. Time to remove my decals...

Midnight Koop

I have the H&R Streets.... they're comfortable. But after 6 years of use and moving to a city with cobble-stone roads... i think they're getting their life sucked out of them

tommy

You snooze, you lose. Yeah, that was a pretty good sale, I do have to admit. And I really like them.

Funny thing is that the same sale is going on right now. Just noticed that in my Roundel (so much better than the Star, it's criminal how awful the MBCA's mag is - even for me, it's too old fartish) last night while taking care of business. And verified it with Tirerack's site - 20% off Koni Sports through June 30th.

So no excuses.

infected

Are you only looking to replace the rears or all around? It's too bad the Koni's aren't height adjustable compared to the H&R's.

infected

More parts arrived!

The original Philips 85122 bulbs that were included when I upgraded to Bi-X were great for light output, but I wanted something higher up the kelvin scale. I switched over to the Philips Ultinon 6K bulbs but found the output appeared more purple than what I was looking for, so I got rid of those in a jiffy. Afterwards, I have just been using some cheap-o ebay 6K bulbs up until now. The color is great but I've begun to develop a bit of eye strain from the color over time, especially now that the bulbs have aged. With the new purpose of the Coupe having to be my all year round daily driver, I wanted to upgrade to a higher quality bulb this time around.

I picked up a set of Osram Xenarc 66240 CBI bulbs which just arrived this week. This line of bulbs from Sylvania has the standard 66240, and then a step up to the 66240 SVS which stands for the Silverstar brand. The SVS is advertised to have 30% more light output and 20m further distance, but are still rated at 4200K. The CBI is for Cool Blue Intense which is rated to have 20% more light output while maintaining 5000K. Perfect! I wanted something still higher up on the kelvins scale while being able to maintain at minimum a higher output than a standard xenon bulb. I was reluctant at first on the purchase as the Xenarc bulbs are not available in NA as far as I know, so the best bargain out there still has these bulbs priced slightly over $200 for a set. I thought it would be worth the gamble for better light output and optimizing the performance from the Bi-X though, so I went for it anyways.



The bulbs arrived in individual packaging. Upon inspection, there were very little salt deposits or close to none in both bulbs. I'm not sure if they usually perform a test before shipping these out for distribution. Everything looked good though so I installed them right away. I did a side by side comparison first but didn't have any good pictures to show. Performance wise, the Xenarc's blow the ebay bulbs and both Philips I had before out of the water! It's very evident upon start up and driving that I can see wider and further with the new bulbs. The color is also pure white with no signs of yellow. There are obviously no signs of blue as well compared to the 6000K bulbs I had before, but for the sake of better light output, this is worth it in every single way IMO! Being one of the most expensive bulbs on the market right now, I'd say I am very satisfied with my purchase. I've only ran the bulbs for about 2 hours, so I'm hoping they will be even brighter after break in, which should be around 20+ hours.

Here is a shot of my previous 6000K bulbs:



And after, with both sides swapped out with the Xenarc's:

infected

Another update! Coilovers are in!

Ordered H&R Street Performance Coilovers. I've always heard great things about H&R, and with all the new brands out now like BC, Ksport, etc., I didn't really have too much of a use for dampening adjustment from my old TEIN SuperStreets. This time around I just wanted something that I knew would be solid for daily driving in rain, sun, snow, so H&R's it was!

Install was straight forward and easy. I do want to note two things though. The H&R's are HUGE compared to the TEIN's. Very impressed with the construction. Second, the TEIN's I thought would be salvagable. I decided to replace them as there were a lot of noise that begun to develop from the rears, and it was getting bouncy as hell so that is never a good sign. When I took out the rears and compressed the shock, they just collapsed and sunk right to the bottom. In the trash they go!

Nothing fancy, other than height adjustability which is all I am looking for. No pictures of the actual coils. Just shots after they've been installed.





Rear is set at the highest setting and front is at half. It's a great height for driving in snow for the time being but I will lower it more once Summer hits. Ride is night and day compared to the aging TEIN's. The H&R's do a great job absorbing most of the imperfections in the road. Just have to watch out for the big dips like always. I'm very happy with these for a daily. More to come later!

infected

Little update for some bigger items that have just arrived...

Janiak

Oh snap, nicee! I plan on getting a pair of seats as well, not sure what kind tho. Would prefer a recliner if possible just they are so damn expensive

phister

Love the Recaros speed seats. those were going to be my next big purchase or some brides. Im still weighing on which one I want to get. Have you decided on which seat rails you're gonna use?

tommy

I thought you were either dumping this car or taking it back to stock?

JoaoMerc

What are the Rays model?

SunnyRayToronto

What do you expect? He's "infected",... once "infected",... always "infected"!

I_C_Class

tommy

It's good to see the interior set from "A Clockwork Orange" being used.

That's all I can think of when I see those pics.

infected

Do reclineable for sure! I don't think I could ever do a full bucket for daily again. Just not worth it.

infected

I am using Bride rails but they were custom welded.

infected

Wasn't worth it to continue parting out, so I decided to just throw everything back on plus a little more for now and enjoy it for what I can. Just a daily to work now.

infected

So more stuff came in. Couldn't decide on seats so I ordered both.

I think I have issues...