I am close to 170,000 miles and on top of the things you are doing, I am also changing out all my front control arm bushings, and my wheel bearings are starting to go out also. You might want to have those looked at (or readjusted if needed), my mechanic seemed amazed that mine has lasted so long.

Why you doing the water pump?
I can tell you from experience, it's a miserable job.
Did it on an older ML. Took all day, but part of that was
due to the fan which is attached to the one of the pullies, and
requires a special set of wrenches, which you should not need
since our fans are electric.
Luckily, I am friends with the local indy mb guy
and he let me borrow them.

All totaled there was about 100 bolts to do the job.
When you replace the coolant, always use distilled water.
That will make all your cooling system run very well, and '
not require replacement of parts.

If you realy decide to do it, use a piece of cardboard as a template to keep track of the bolts on the water pump
as they are many different sizes. Trace the outline of the pump, and the hole in it,
and the gasket, and poke the bolts through at the appropriate locations, as they are all
different lengths. This helps on the reassemble, a tip from my local guy.
You have to pull the alternator and the mounting brackets.
Throw some new brushes in while you're at it.

Or just don't do it, unless you need to.

Thanks for the tips will have to research this more

I agree with that. If the water pump is not giving you issues, why mess with it? Same for the thermostat. Don't fix what isn't broke!

I took photos of the rims for you I just haven't had time to upload. They're in better shape than even I thought.

Drew have you ever been quoted a price to fix that seriously damaged rim of your's?

Trey - is that an 07 replica spoiler? It doesn't really look like it but it's hard to tell.

Well water pump was preventive maintenance and thermostat was also going to be changed because it has been known to go bad once it is exposed to air for awhile. (thats just what i heard and it is cheap) no rush on the rims i have all the time in the world. I think the spoiler is supposed to be an amg one but i may be mistaken i don't know what an 07 spoiler looks like. either way i love it even if it has the small gap above the third brake light it would cost double what i paid to get one that is perfect.

I just hope Drew's rim can be fixed for a reasonable amount of money. It's pretty bad off.

Two of mine are perfect, two have slight flaws you'll only see if you lean down and look intently. They'll serve you well.

Matt, I don't know of any repair guys in my area, so I have never gotten a quote I will look around, though, and try to get one for you. I wouldn't imagine the cost would be much more than a normal rim repair with multiple spots around the edge. The damage isn't very deep.

Trey, the spoiler looks great. Someone mentioned it in the JBSpeed thread, and I agree: the edges on your spoiler seem to be more rounded than those on the OEM spoiler. It's not bad, by any means, just a nuance I noticed. Where I notice it most is where it meets the body.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew-luke/5100280049/[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew-luke/5100280049/]

i actually didn't even notice the edges good eye.

Please do, Drew. Get the rim repaired and put it on Trey's tab.

wait what

Yeah let me know how much the package deal will be fore wheels and repairs. hell i might just keep the dam things. Just to **** off matt

you know matt i am still waiting for my pictures
I hope to make it down to GA in January would that be ok i know you are going to use them to you wear out your tires so you better not hurt them

Here are photos of all four rims, up close shots of their flaws for full disclosure, and how you can't really see them once you start backing away. I won't damage them before January if I can help it.

So the MG finally was supposed to be fixed got to drive it back from the shop. Right after I took these pics i found that the car was leaking gas so back it went. oh well next year it will be ready to go very interesting car to drive very slow, transmission feels like a tractor, brakes work but are scary, steering is jerky and no power steering so good work out. Still a fun car to drive you just don't want to hit anything or have any one hit your or you are dead. I will have to get some pictures while i am driving i wish i could find the girls that took a picture of me driving it today they were hott and i would like to see the pictures.

Damn that sucks.. Get that tranny fluid changed.. It wouldn't be the first time chicks have taken pictures or waved hehe =D your in a benz enjoy it Doesn't matter the class. If you need any help with anything just hit me up

Grrr i love those headlights ( me jealous )

He said the girls took pictures of him.. which means he was driving the MG.

If he'd said the girls pointed and laughed then he would have meant he was driving the C320. But only until he gets my Sport rims.. then it will look much, much better and a lot less funny.

i think i have gone crazy https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...road-trip.html

So today was a good day I got another order in from RMEuropean. 2 oil filters, a engine drain plug, 2 washers for drain plug, and a new seat motor. So i changed the oil that i got form advanced auto parts $50 for 12 quarts what a steal. I know i will get yelled at for doing the oil the old fashion way but it was all that i had and i wanted it done now. To be safe i bought a new drain plug. I am glad i did it that way to because the drain plug was on there way to tight. I also found one of the trans cooling lines was leaking at a fitting so i tightened it up some it actually was loose. One thing i will say is that dam oil came out faster then i have ever seen. I have changed oil on many cars over the years but never seen it shoot out so far it went like 3 feet back and got all over the place. So the oil change took 15 minutes but the cleanup took 30 lol. Then I decided to look at the seat motor to see what type of flexible head screwdriver i needed. I then saw that if you can go 6 inches out from the screw or so you could get a driver in there. so i graved my extension and got the two torx screws out and the motor fell out lol. Put the new one in and it actually worked. So i was curious what died in the motor. it was not sized like i thought. I put 12 volts to it directly and it still did nothing. i even bypassed the wiring. When it went out it was smoking so i guess something important melted or something. Whatever the case it works now i just have to clean the rails really well any suggestions.

Well Post 2,000 oh yeah I have no life So the car is at about 152,500 miles runs beautifully right know it is acting as a moving truck and doing a fine job of it. I have still not done the front suspension and the rear sway bushings are making the classic noise over bumps so I have to get some grease or something for them. I am going to get a shop to put the front strut assembly together then install myself to save some money but not have the risk of taking my head off. Then of course take it to a local shop that does alignments on everything under the sun including bmw m3 that were turned into race cars. If only it was not so cold and i was not moving i would get it done. I also might just say f it and take it to the shop and pay them $350 for everything but we shall see. I also need to replace the crankshaft pully because i noticed it is not 100% centered when i do that even though i was advised not to i plan to replace the water pump ( I can imagine it will last that much longer) Alternator, belt, pulley and belt tensioner. I will also have another full flush done. My front brakes have a slight squeak every once and while. I need to check thickness of the pads because it has been 50k+ on the non sport brakes and I drive the car hard so i can't imagine they have that much life in them left. I will hopefully get Matts sport rims beginning of next year so that way I will have nice rims. I also will be replacing the fog lights with clear ones since one of mine cracked last winter. Really though nothing on the car is broken it has one funny noise it makes sometimes where i am about to back into a spot backing downhill and if i turn the wheel like half way to the right (never tried left) it make a loud droning noise. I checked PS fluid and it looked ok. I then added some and it still did it so i have no clue. I have been trying to catch it so i can play with the brakes but it always does it when i don't have time to work with it. It does it like once a week so i really just ignore it. The paint needs some TLC and i am lazy so i will be hiring a mobile car washing company that i have seen them clean some $100,000+ cars and do an amazing job and they have good prices so that is on the list after the move is complete. The car gets complements all the time and the people i tell the mileage too think i am lying to them so that makes fun conversation. I am going to regret saying this but I finally seem to have fixed the bix issue with one of the lights killing bulbs by replacing the ballast so that is a relief. I am starting to think about the sad day when I need to buy a new DD. My c320 will never be sold i plan to keep the car forever since it has been such a good companion but know that with some of the crazy trips i take i can't trust a car with so many miles like i use too. I know that some of you will say that if i do the maintenance and the list of things that i should have a car that will last another 150k but realistically driving a car with 180k on a road trip to the middle of nowhere or going to Atlanta or Tuscaloosa could be an issue if i break down in some small town and i need Mercedes parts. I will still drive the c320 on short trips under a few hours but will need to have a new daily car and road trip car. I won't buy anything until i go back to college at least and realistically probably won't buy something till i graduate so i am getting ahead of myself. The sad thing is that I might not get another mercedes even tough i love them so much. I really don't care for the w204's as much as the w203's but buying another w203 at this point would get me locked in a white padded room but a c55 is not out of the question I know i will get yelled at for this but i have always liked diesels but mercedes does not have a w204 diesel if they did i would want one. My father had an 06 e320 CDI that was nice but i don't like the driving dynamics too old man car feeling and the other CDI's are in the big cars. So the new VW GTD would be cool but it has front wheel drive which bugs me but my fathers 2010 gti drive really nice so i guess i could live with it. There is the 3 series diesel but i really don't like BMW's so that is questionable. So my short list is
1. SLK 55 AMG (Of course I would have the C320 for around town or airport duty if needed and would die in a epic crash)
2. C55 AMG (I would kill myself I have told a friend that I need him to keep me out of fast cars my C320 has almost gotten me into trouble many times)
3. 05 C320 or 06 C350
4. G550/G55 AMG (This is if some stars align and I get some luck with something secret )
5. Get my fathers 08 G8 GT (love the car but fuel would kill me and it is a little bigger of a sedan then I usually like)
Well know that I have written a book I think it is time for bed. My trip around the USA is still in the maybe section of my life this summer. I have been talking with some people that have emailed me about it or I emailed them and also sort of hinted at it to some family but they did not seem to take the 1/4 of the trip i told them about well so don't know what will happen with that I might have to postpone it but that could be good because then hopefully i can get one of my crazy friends to join me which would make the trip much more fun.

C55 would be the best choice. You already know the w203 pretty well. The G550 and G55 are going to be high maintenance and really aren't fast but they are great cars.

wait you are calling a G55 slow I assume you mean around a track and not a drag strip 0-60 in 5.4 seconds in a car that ways more then your mom around 5,721 lbs
And the sound it makes is just so addicting.
If I have the money to buy a brand new g55 I won't care about maintenance gas or insurance
but like i said some stars would have to align for that to happen. The c55 is your right the best choice for practicality vs the slk 55 but my dads slk 55 was just so much fun i put more miles on it then he did

G55 is ok G550 not worth my time. Atleast with a G55 you can do a pulley upgrade and tune and have a fast *** SUV. I once had an encounter with one and it was nice but again not fast. The new one should be in the 4s.

Forgot to say I rather take a Cayenne Turbo over the G anyday of the week ...buy that instead

MG is wonderful!

i really like the VW TDI's... a lot of torque for a little car, and mpg exceeds what they're rated at. they're also one of the few manual diesels out there... which would be the ringer for me.

all the amg's are too high maintenance... however, my family owns a slk55amg in designo graphite, and i am a big fan of the looks. i recently saw the exact same model for sale at euromotorcars in bethesda. you should take it for a test drive

since you live where i live, we have 4-season weather, so i would probably go for a 4-season car. have you considered any all-wheel drive cars?

My head hurts. When are you coming to GA? Try not to flip the C320, okay? And yes, you'll be fine to drive the C320 anywhere. At 195,000 miles the 98 Camry was still making regular Atlanta-Little Rock round trips. It doesn't get much more rural than that.

And did you just make a fat your mom joke to Karo?

I can't wait to test drive a GTD 6speed and dsg.
and no way I could go drive a slk55 again I will do unspeakable things to obtain one I have driven a few of them including my fathers one which I put like 10k on easy so i know i want one. His had zero issues and we had it till like 45k the really expensive part was the gas and insurance. I do want a more all season car but there are few that appeal to me I do like the glk and ml's but to expensive and I really don't need suv's. I like w203 4 matics but that would be repetitive I would rather just get snow tires on my 16 inch rims and have a car that will be great in the snow. The only all wheel drive i cars i see myself in are expensive like a g55 or the gallardo spyder