xsever

Looking at that last picture, I think I am going to swap that license plate holder in the front to the EU-style one which is rectangular; it fits the look of the front end much better.

xsever

Day 6 - Full assembly, Alignment, and Mods

We spent the early morning hours yesterday finishing the assembly of the car and replacing the difuser with the quad one to later install the quad tips. I then drove the car to the alignment shop where it got a front and rear alignment to the T. The car drives perfect now. I took some underside pictures of the car because I was very amazed how clean it is underneath given the mileage obviously.

I then visited the muffler shop where we installed the quad tips after an hour of measurements and fine-tuning.

Pictures below

xsever

Day 7 - Interior Detail and Quick Photo Shoot

Today, I spent the morning detailing the interior and setting up my phone/bluetooth as well as putting all my music on an SD card to listen to it he car.

I then went for a quick 15-minute drive and I love everything about this car. The suspension is so firm and composed and the exhaust/engine note are perfect for me. I am really happy with this project.

I then took some pics so I can share them with you!!

Pending items for tomorrow:

• Detail all rims and bring them back to brand-new state. I will keep them until I have to change my tires at which point I might go with 18" AMG rims. Still not decided yet because we have a lot of potholes and terrible roads here so I don't want to buy myself a headache I don't need. Another option would be to go for the 17" AMG (Code 784) which comes on the C350 Sport.
• Install the paddle shifters
• Brake fluid change

SteveE400

If I pay the postage, will you just send it to me?

I've followed your project, and I think it is just great to see this car back to like-new condition. Too bad it would cost too much to do things like this in the US.

xsever

Hehehe, then the car would've covered more distance being shipped than driven. Oh wait, it has done that already

Thank you! It is indeed a very rewarding feeling being involved in bringing this car back to life. The repair or replacement of each part feeds into this feeling throughout the process and the first time i drove it after it was all done, i just couldn't wipe the smile off my face. It's really amazing to be a car-guy.

I'm still interested in knowing whether another W204 has less mileage.

Adi-Benz

Nice!

As with many aftermarket grills, there is that gap at the top, which might make a whistling noise.
I know there is a fix but I have OEM grill so I don't know...but it should be here on mbworld

xsever

Thanks!

Yeah I noticed that gap right away but had no idea there's a fix. I'll look it up and apply it although I did not hear any whistling. The car is very very quiet.

Alfadude

Congratulations, it looks great. What amazes me is how much you got done in such a short amount of time. I doubdt you would have been able to get that much done so quickly in the US. Enjoy!

xsever

Thank you! Yeah this network of shops I know are all self-owned with honest hard-working people. I paid $750 for labour in total by the way (body shop, paint shop, mechanic, alignment, rims touchup)

Labour is relatively cheap in Lebanon compared to North America.

Alfadude

RELATIVELY cheap? $750 for all that work is all but stealing. Nicely done.

xsever

Day 8 - Rims' Repair and Touch-up

This past Monday, I drove the car to the rim repair shop to have my rims checked and repaired/touched-up as needed. The front right rim, the side of the accident, had some interior damage because the shock absorber strut had hit it and it needed repair before a touch-up. 2 remaining rims needed small touch-ups here and there. 1 rim did not need anything at all surprisingly.

The rims with the tires installed and inflated to the correct pressures (33 front and 38 rear) then got a re-balancing.

Adi-Benz

You know, we kind of do get screwed here in the US but we really have no choice. One of my cousins in Germany, for example, had his Audi totally sideswiped by another car, about €5k damage, so he took the insurance money, drove his car to our home country, and got it done, like new, for around €2k. Maybe if people live down south, they could do something like that in Mexico, idk.

Laxpower87

25th Car

Bravo on the find all the work so far. And not to mention how quickly you got it completed!

xsever

Yeah, labour rates in North America are very expensive compared to the rest of the world, but MB parts in Australia I hear are like 2-3x what they are in the US. Which country is the home country? In Eastern Europe? Because I hear their labour rates are also low just like here in Lebanon. The Mexico idea you suggested is definitely something I can see happening, before the wall at least, where one who take the car to Mexico on a flatbed, repair it there, then drive it back. Their labour rates are peanuts compared to the US and you could buy the parts in the US which is cheaper than here and/or Mexico.

Thank you! I really like them and their cutoffs are spot on, but I am still adjusting them for perfect vision. They cost me $600 with a 1-year warranty. The ballast and the bulbs are Aozoom which seem pretty reputable for a Chinese brand given their store on AliExpress and all their ISO and other certifications. Picture below for details.

Thank you! Like I said earlier, the network of shops I know are all nice people and I would go there every day and spend the entire day with them as we worked on repairing it. It's a very rewarding and fulfilling experience being able to work with your own hands on your own car while making sure everything is being done to your standards.

Adi-Benz

Yes, eastern Europe. I'm Albanian but fam resides in Macedonia. Same thing really lol. I go back every other summer, was considering finding a 190E sport or maybe something that you can't find in the US like a skyline to keep there. But I'd barely drive it unless I started going EVERY summer, and still I'd be worried about just leaving it sitting around. My uncle might get his hands on it, ya know, hahaha.

xsever

Ohhhh, I'm pretty sure your uncle would daily drive such a car while telling you that he's storing it well for you

Adi-Benz

Oh, I bet he would. Next thing you know he'll be doing "modifications" like "front bumper" and "airbag" delete 😂😂 ha

xsever

Day 9 - Paddle Shifters Install

I finally got to doing this mod and installing the paddle shifters. I had bought them off of eBay for $40. They came off a 2012 ML350.

A friend of mine who's into modding and I tackled this mod on a weekday afternoon and it was a cool enjoyable project rather than paying $100 for a shop to do it.

Pictures attached

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DanielFD

xsever

Hahahahaha! What a guy! Thanks again for all the help.

DanielFD

gotta love a clean build!

TheRulesLawyer

Nice progress. I love my 2012 350. Did the quad tips. Recently added a remote starter, but it's like -5C here now. Only thing I really want is a front lip. Did you add a rear view cam? Its pretty easy if you have nav.

xsever

Thank you!

Oh nice! That 350 engine is a beast, but all the problems it could have- kept me away from it. The car came with a rear view camera from the factory.

xsever

Day 10 - Engine Oil and Brake Fluid Change

Today, I changed the engine oil and the brake fluid for the car. The brake fluid has been in it from factory so it was definitely due. Regarding the oil change, I was told by a friend that the 4MATICs must be drained from below and not using an extractor from top because the front axle goes through the oil pan and extracting from the top would leave 1-2L inside. Contrary to that, extracting from top using both the plastic hose and then the grommet sealed around the oil dipstick opening extracted 6.8-6.9L of oil out of 7.0L. I then jacked the car and drained using the bolt and the remaining 0.1-0.2L drained out. For the future, I think I will use the drain method every other oil change.

As for the brake fluid, we used a special machine to pressurize the system and feed the new fresh fluid through the reservoir and then draining from each wheel until the color changes. The process used 1.5L of DOT4 Plus fluid.

I also got a chance to get under the car and inspect the oil pan which confirmed that I have the 7G+ transmission as per the picture below.





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