JoaoMerc

The Coupe style!!

tommy

Guess what I'll hit tomorrow. No, not J Lo, silly. I'll be hitting my much-desired 155k goal for my $1.98 grille badge from MB. Downloaded the form tonight, filled out my portion, and I'll be hitting 155k either on the way to work tomorrow, or on the way to the dealership at lunchtime.

Since my new battery/alternator in March, I've swapped out the Eibach struts for Konis, and gotten Michelin Super Sports. I didn't get an alignment when I got the Konis put in, which was probably a mistake. So I'll be looking to get one sooner rather than later. Found out my liquid-filled tire gauge wasn't so liquid-filled, so ordered a new one when I realized that my tires were very low because my gauge wasn't reading things correctly, and I had them in the mid-20s for pressure. Filled them back up correctly a week ago, and they've been great since.

Am surprised that nothing else has fallen apart, but I guess I'm currently in a lull between horror stories.

Opened up an account at my local credit union, as I'm getting tired of BoA nickel and diming me, and they've got 1% loans for 25k or greater car loans. Made me think about when I should be dumping the smurfy lemon again, but am going to ride out this puppy til it's more seriously dead in the water. Right now, just enjoying it working and not paying anything more, especially since the CRX has needed so much work this summer.

kluvsbenz

Hey meant to ask you a while back. Around July 4 week, were you ever in the area of 206 south near 80. I swore to God I saw your car rolling along. Not many smurf mobiles around so I figured it was you I feel you on BofA. I already opened an account with a local bank in PA. Just haven't switched everything over yet. BofA is so convenient even though they are killing me with their fees!!

tommy

Yes, it probably was. Was down in Bridgewater, unloading CRX parts for unholy amounts of dollars.

LOL on banks; I'd totally close up everything with BoA, but dread all of the reconnecting of billings that I'd have to do if I closed out my checking/debit card. I guess they've got me, at least in the short-term.

LILBENZ230

I nearly got rid of my C230 on Monday.. numbers didn't work like I wanted so I decided to keep it. Right now I am freaking out about the timing chain issues. For all your other problems, at least you don't have to worry about a destroyed engine.

tommy

That's true. It does seem pretty much bulletproof. (famous last words!)

Were you about to trade in your Benz for an E46?

LILBENZ230

Err no. Nissan Rogue SL. CVT and all!

tommy

Get the Juke with the 6-speed manny.

Or wait for the GT-R engine swap (Google it if you don't believe me - looks impressive!).

LILBENZ230

Leather, Bose, and factory HID were a must. So the Juke was out, that and it being horribly ugly. The deals on the Rogue were very good. $29,750 list and they were willing to discount it to $23,400. The trade-in value on the C230 stopped me from doing it.

tommy

I think the Juke is a cute little frog. I'd paint it green and put black dots on its back.

I did a price calculation on Edmunds the other day; my car is worth $3500 in stock form. With all of my mods, about half that, I'd figure.

So we're in the same boat; car's not even worth trading in, but one big problem, and you'd be spending more than the car's value. Wish the current Civic Si weren't so damn ugly and had the good ol' double wishbone.

kluvsbenz

I knew that was you The credit union is the way to go. Still a member of one in NJ. I financed my W203 through the credit union. I used them for car and personal loans. I am always in Bedminster so I might pass you again in either W203 or W124

tommy

You passed me? Oh, the humanity!!

Next time, give me a pass by, and we'll race till one of us goes down in a blaze of glory.

LILBENZ230

I bought a Civic Si sedan/Navi new back in 2007. It was a fun little car. Did $9k in damage to it when it was 8 months old, though, thanks to a Ford F350. "twas never the same. Traded it off 6 months after the repair.

tommy

Little update on the car.
Everything's running fine, knock on wood.
I got my new cluster several weeks ago and have been trying to figure out what to do with it. Decided that since I now have two cluster enclosures, I'll do something "Pimps Up, Hoes Down"-ish to the one I just bought. So I'll be flocking the inside of it in a bright royal blue (like I did the ashtray and inside of the glovebox), then I'll swap out the cluster to this enclosure, put in the new MFD screen, and put the whole thing in the car. If/when I get tired of seeing that much color around the gauges, I can just swap back to the original surround.

Because of a miscommunication on my part, I had an extra set of interior door pulls for the car from Wanda, so shipped them off to TomCarbonDesign on Saturday - he's going to cover them in real carbon fiber, and when I get them back, I'll install them, to replace the ones I covered in 3M Dinoc cf. Should be great - Tom's work on this forum has looked great so far. No pressure, Tom!

Other than that, really enjoying the Koni Sports, glad I bought them. Replaced a rear brake light on Sunday - still amazed at the assembly, looks like something out of the 70s - MB shoddy design, imho.

Will post pics when something changes...

jcnash

Tommy....good to see youre still moddin the coupey!

Havent forgotten about you dude...been crazy busy preparing for the GMAT and applying to B-school etc...so havent had a chance to make it down to the 11th province as yet

Planning a trip to Chicago to visit a friend for Canadian thanksgiving though, so Ill shoot you an email once the details are confirmed with the address etc.

tommy

OK, that sounds good. Was going to shoot you an email - I'll most likely be in Rochester this weekend, so I could bring the box up to your friend there instead, but whatever works out easiest for you...

jcnash

Nah wont be going to Rochester for a while...got all the stuff I need till next summer atleast (hopefully!). So chicago will be better...ill shoot you an email once its confirmed.

tommy

Yes, Your Highness, I await your command...

tommy

MBFinatic, that's the best pic I have of the Recaro. The alcantara's much more worn down now than in that pic, but that should be no surprise.

MBfinatic

It looks nice! Does it hold you in? I dont like being thrown into my door card..

tommy

It does a better than OEM job of that, yes. Though that's probably a combination of no leather and the shape of the seat.

If you're getting thrown against your door card, though, those kind of g forces cannot be contained by just a change in the seating...

flomofo

You guys know a good source to replace door cards...lol

tommy

Found a great use for Gorilla black tape. Right now, it's holding the flap in front of the sunroof in place on the passenger's side. At least two of the pins are out on that side, but can't really figure out what happened. There's a clip-like assembly coming down from the flap that looks like it must attach to another piece that must attach to the body through a small hole in the metal, but those pieces are gone (if that's how the parts go). So it's now taped on to the windshield with the tape, looking very sexy!!

If anyone's got any experience in this area, I'm all ears.

No 155k grille badge yet, btw.

MBfinatic

What did you say you payed for your seat?

tommy

Think I paid around $940 for the seat, and $120 for the bracket to go between the slider and the seat (including shipping). Expensive, but the cheapass plastic trim of the seat base was crumbling down around me. Now, that could be the general cheap quality of the W203 plastics, me having too much Popeye's, or a combination of both.