LegitLifeStyle

Just got home from a horrendous drive last night. Car looks to be in great shape on the exterior and interior but there are a lot of indications that her former owner made some changes.

I didn't realize it but today it dawned on me it has been debaged (MB Front and rear logos remain - no 230 Kompressor though on the back)...

It already has an iPod dock (the one that you can skip songs via the steering wheel controls), it had a hardwire mount for a radar detector I had the dealership remove, and i'm pretty sure its got its city lights replaced with silverstar's as well as clear side markers.

Nothing insane... but a few Q's... First up... the brakes...

Are these puppies stock? Slotted? AMG logo on the caliper? I didn't think the calipers on the C230's looked like this. Rears are painted gloss black.



Second... the rear window is tinted (all the windows seem to have that blue-ish mercedes tint but the rear is much darker. Is this normal or was this done aftermarket?



I apologize for the cell phone pictures... but hopefully they give you the gist.

I'd appreciate your input!

Also... anyone know how to turn on the fog lights? Its a bixenon car? lol... i'm clueless and am just starting to figure out all the toys today.

giannidy

That rear windshield does look darker than stock.

I just learned about the fog lights too lol. The light switch next to the steering wheel has to be on one of the options after "Auto" then you can pull the knob outwards and that turns on the fogs. Once for front fog lights, twice for front and rear fog lights. Hope that makes sense.

ROLLNNN

the front calipers are oem, i think the previous owner just put decals or painted the amg on it.

The rear window is tinted. it kinda looks like all the windows are tinted from that pic...

BigBodyBenzC240

+1 and are those scratches on your gas cover and a few inches above it or just a reflection?

Song

umm,,the front brake for c230 has "mercedes-benz" name on it, no? is this sport or classic?

LegitLifeStyle

Thanks for the replies guys...

gianndy - Thanks for the fog light tip! Would've never figured it out.

ROLLNN - If you say they are I guess they are. I thought it was a decal at first but it appears to be painted as it is raised from the rest of the caliper?

BigBody - Just reflections! Only 1 tiny scratch on the entire car. No dents or other damage.

Song - That's what I thought as well - all the car's i've see do. Its 2005 C230 Sport 6-Spd.

LegitLifeStyle

Found this pic on cars.com of an '05 6-spd.



Agreed, it could just be a decal but it sure doesn't look like one (or feel like one) but the overall caliper shape appears to be the same.

BigBodyBenzC240

Yeah I thought the AMG logo on those calipers wasnt a decal and looks etched into them. Hmmm. Ask the person you bought it from since they normally come with the calipers that say Mercedes Benz like you pictured.

LegitLifeStyle

Well it was a dealer bought car so there is no help there. Just went through the oil check procedure and apparently the dealer put too much oil in it as well. I got the message to reduce engine oil. Should I stop driving the car until I can get it to a mechanic on Monday?

W203E35

Those look like stock brakes just with AMG on it. I'm wondering if it's a sticker or painted on there. Can you tell if it's a sticker or not?

You can do driving around but don't do long driving until you get the excess oil issue sorted out.

OneOfaKindTrini

Without an oil extractor how would one go about removing oil? This always struck me as interesting

LegitLifeStyle

Is it normal for the parking brake to only want to release when the car is being moved slightly? I pull numerous times to remove the parking brake and it seems to only finally kick off if the car is being moved. Trying to release the brake at a standstill doesn't do the job.

I've read that this could be a dirty sensor (S12 in the diagram I found) right ontop of the e-brake pedal. Does that sound like the problem or is this normal?

FrankW

parking brake should release when you pull the lever. sounds like you have a loose cable leading to the release catch. i would suggest not to use the parking brake for now.

LegitLifeStyle

Its a manual transmission... kind of hard not to.

FrankW

hmm...leave it in gear it should lock up, no?

LegitLifeStyle

^^ Yea... I just have it parked on a REALLY steep driveway and i'm way to paranoid that i'll wake up to find the car down in the street with a mailbox through the windshield!

LegitLifeStyle

The fun continues...



Didn't drive the car at all yesterday and started it up to take it over to the mechanic to have the oil issue taken care of (oil change, possibly oil sensor replacement) and I get this error. WTF. Not exactly the first 3 days of ownership I was looking forward to.

Hopefully it isn't anything severe and the dealer I purchased the car from out of state doesn't flake out on taking care of the repairs.

LegitLifeStyle

Just heard back from the Mechanic... 3 days into ownership... first repair bill 608.26... WOW.

Oil sender was faulty - hence the too much oil error. Alternator and relays checked out - but the car has the original battery so they suspect that is the issue there.

E-brake was sticking and they had to take off the rear brakes and readjust the pull on the brakes.

Now it just comes down to hopefully having the dealership step up and honor their 1000 mile warranty and hopefully cover the expenses of these repairs.

e1000

AMG is a decal added to stock brakes. Those are the stock rotors which are cross drilled, not slotted.

Rear window is most definitely tinted.

C230 Mulac

those windows are definitely tinted, not stock

those rotors are cross drilled and that is stock. i would agree with everyone and say the amg is a decal, BUT take a look at the color of the stock picture you posted and the color of yours. the stock one is a really dark grayish black, yours is a lighter color gray. but then again, they are the exact same shape and i think the amg brakes would be too big to fit behind that wheel, no?

i think you should return the car and find another similar one, seems like a lemon to me.

LegitLifeStyle

Thanks for the input guys. I've decided to keep her based on the recommendations from my mechanic that overall the car is very clean and in great shape (63k miles). Just needs a new battery and he found a transmission mount that needs to be replaced.

So i'm going to take the car back in a few days to get the transmission flushed out and replaced with Royal Purple and have the tranny mount fixed (its like 1/2 hour labor and 40 bucks for the part).

One somewhat interesting thing was that he said the car has Eibach springs on it. I'm assuming its a pro-kit but the car doesn't really look lowered 1.2" F&R.

Does anyone know if the OEM springs would say eibach on them at all?

After the maintenance stuff stops - the mods begin... eurocharged tune, ADV.1 wheels and we'll see from there.

draz.amg

amg brakes are almost the exact same width. they'd fit no problems at all.
he has the regular two piston fronts, though.

C230 Mulac

good point...they just don't look like they were painted that color, i dunno, its confusing, i guess it doesnt really matter as long as they work well!

C230 Mulac

my knowledge isnt the best on springs, but i do know that the sport versions of the c230 come with sport suspension on them and they are already lower than the normal c class sedans. depending on which lowering springs you get, some of them will actually sit higher than the OEM did and might even be a bit softer. the OEM sport springs are actually pretty solid and they handle really well, which is why i probably won't be changing them out anytime soon, that'll be a mod for later down the road

C230 Mulac

oh and by the way, you're going to like the eurocharged tune, it makes the car a lot more responsive