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Howdy, gang. I've had the car for a little over 2 months now, so i figured i'd start a build thread as it's rekindled a serious Mod Bug inside me. Hopefully, it'll get more CLS owners to share their journeys, as well. Here it goes...
So, I've always been a fan of fast 4 door cars. So after graduation, I jumped right in....
This is The Grinch. I'd been in love with the Gen 2 Lexus GS since the first commercial. Something Wicked This Way Comes. 1998 GS400. At the time, it was the fastest sedan on the planet
But then.... I kinda ran outta talent testing out the LSD...from a Supra. Not that *other* LSD.
So, I took a break from sedans and dabbled in coupes (G35) and SUV's (Tahoe and Denali). Hated both. So I returned to my first love... Another '98 GS400. Sold her with 240k miles on her. I truly loved this car. Bring back rims with fat lips!!!! This was a updated approximation of the GS. It was just so damn loud with the ISS exhaust. But lord did it sound good!! Figuring the IS-F was to boy racer-ish, I decided to get an 'adult' car. This is a 550i with a Dinan Stage 3 tune and custom exhaust. Lots of problems. But it looked and sounded great. I think thats a theme with all my cars. That and a predisposition for the color black
So thatbrings us to November 2018 and the reason that I'm on MBWorld... Pre Purchase inspection. Praying that they didnt find anything wrong Her first official intro to the world. I'm not sure if this car is as sexy as the Gen2 GS....but its damn close. The past owner really didnt take care of the exterior. I had a lot of work to do. I was actually looking at purchasing new tips. I thought that they were beyond repair. Paint corrected and sealed with CQuartZ UK. NOTHING better looking than a clean black car. Good ol Brillo and Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish... H&R springs up front with lower links in the back. the drop is damn near perfect for me. I feel no degradation in ride, either. I purchased some ECS Tuning spacers from a member (10/15mm) but the fronts didnt fit. So I'm only running them on the back. Very happy with the way they flush the wheel. This will tide me over until I purchase proper wheels this summer. My wife got me a spoiler for Christmas. I just installed it, yesterday. How come nobody told me that it was so damn hard taking off the tape residue? After hours of peeling and polishing, its back to new.
So whats next? As I mentioned, I have my eyes on some wheels but I just need to justify em in my mind. My wife also ordered CF mirror covers that have yet to arrive. This weekend, I plan on clearcoating the red calipers as the matte pink is starting to really get on my nerves. Looking at the spoiler, its obvious that the plastic diffuser is really out of place. I will likely get a CF replacement if I can find one that isnt too aggressive but a bit more stylish than the OEM.
@amgboy916 almost has me convinced that the 10.25" android screen is the right play, so they might be next. I'd also like to get the black interior trim pieces (doors and dash) covered in CF wrap.
Anywho, thanx for taking the time to go through all this drivel. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I'll be updating this thread more than my wife will likely appreciate...
The CLS is looking great! its crazy how similar your car history is to mine, all your previous rides are neckbreakers too. the CLS has raised the bar a lot higher for my next vehicles for sure. its really hard to beat this one lol. I'm glad to see you experimented with bmw as well. I am also a bmw fan however my only criticism is I really think you would've had more joy and a better experience out of the f10 535i with the n55 engine. The reliability of that engine is remarkable. although the 550i sounds better and is faster, the n55 has great tuning potential and mpg and unfortunately all of those "50i" engines found in 550i 650i 750i etc are problematic and really give bmw a bad name in terms of reliability. just something to consider about your experience and hopefully you dont hate bmw entirely after that but I'm glad you ended up coming to the right side. I like mercedes better but I still love and respect BMW amongst other brands. Lexus and toyota are also using BMW engines in some of their newer cars. I am a huge lexus fan as well. I have a "bippu" 1998 LS400 and I love it. same 1uz engine as your GS. plan to keep it until at least 500k miles. but yeah Good luck with your CLS build its coming out great. that android screen would be the perfect touch!
The CLS is looking great! its crazy how similar your car history is to mine, all your previous rides are neckbreakers too. the CLS has raised the bar a lot higher for my next vehicles for sure. its really hard to beat this one lol. I'm glad to see you experimented with bmw as well. I am also a bmw fan however my only criticism is I really think you would've had more joy and a better experience out of the f10 535i with the n55 engine. The reliability of that engine is remarkable. although the 550i sounds better and is faster, the n55 has great tuning potential and mpg and unfortunately all of those "50i" engines found in 550i 650i 750i etc are problematic and really give bmw a bad name in terms of reliability. just something to consider about your experience and hopefully you dont hate bmw entirely after that but I'm glad you ended up coming to the right side. I like mercedes better but I still love and respect BMW amongst other brands. Lexus and toyota are also using BMW engines in some of their newer cars. I am a huge lexus fan as well. I have a "bippu" 1998 LS400 and I love it. same 1uz engine as your GS. plan to keep it until at least 500k miles. but yeah Good luck with your CLS build its coming out great. that android screen would be the perfect touch!
one of my patients has a Gen2 GS3. Doesn’t drive it since her husband passed. I told her I’d buy it as long as she’s not talking crazy on the number. It’d be the perfect ‘beater’...until I slap a single turbo on it with a loud BOV and new exhaust. 😂😂😂
Lexus really USED to make outstanding cars for the culture. Before I got this, I was thinking of a ‘13 LS and going VIP style. Is that still a thing?
Nice write up and thanx for sharing the pics. Did you roll that car in the 2nd pic? Holy smokes!
CLS is my only Mercedes now, and it's holding up great.....couple of squeaks and rattles, but hey.........everything else is solid
Good luck with it!
rolled THE hell out of it. i had just installed an LSD out a Supra TT. it was a bit wet and i wasnt ready for the way the car reacted. left....right...left...embankment. just a really bad look. my first *real* car...
one of my patients has a Gen2 GS3. Doesn’t drive it since her husband passed. I told her I’d buy it as long as she’s not talking crazy on the number. It’d be the perfect ‘beater’...until I slap a single turbo on it with a loud BOV and new exhaust. 😂😂😂
Lexus really USED to make outstanding cars for the culture. Before I got this, I was thinking of a ‘13 LS and going VIP style. Is that still a thing?
Were you ever on ClubLexus?
thatd definitely be a fun beater car!
yeah lexus has made great cars. I truly feel they are the best under a certain price range but to be honest. once you're over a certain price range, what lexus gives you compared to other cars in the same price range, It just doesnt measure up
as for VIP style. well im a huge fan. most of my car friends are too I know a lot of people with 13+ lexus all VIP out and entering shows
my ls400 is a vip build
and my CLS is VIP themed as well, just still finalizing the look. car is lowered with junction produce goodies inside but its hard to find the deep dish wheels I love in 20inch 5x112 haha but itll come along
Took some time, this morning, to re-clear the calipers. I should probably wet sand em because there's a bit of overspray but...yeah, its not *that* real Matte pink just aint it... Much much better.... May be time to refinish the wheels, as well...
Looks great! A detailer once did this to one of my calipers and it was so lame.......it's a small spot, but a imperfection nonetheless. The rest are pristine even after all these years.
Those stock wheels are really heavy wheels, but do look nice...just not wide enough for 305's
Looks great! A detailer once did this to one of my calipers and it was so lame.......it's a small spot, but a imperfection nonetheless. The rest are pristine even after all these years.
Those stock wheels are really heavy wheels, but do look nice...just not wide enough for 305's
i was shocked at how heavy they are. I thought they were forged and lightweight. Weighed about as much as my 20’s on the 550 and they were anchors!!!
Took some time, this morning, to re-clear the calipers. I should probably wet sand em because there's a bit of overspray but...yeah, its not *that* real Matte pink just aint it... Much much better.... May be time to refinish the wheels, as well...
Nice build thread! Did you respray the red also or just the clear coat? My caliper’s clear coat is starting to chip.
Nice build thread! Did you respray the red also or just the clear coat? My caliper’s clear coat is starting to chip.
just clearcoat. i touched up the nicks with this...
The color is 1103T...
btw....shouts to @ev4530 . i searched threads for the discolored calipers and he had a DIY in one of the threads. really helped a ton. you can find his step by step here, starting at post #18 ---> https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...per-paint.html
Ok, thanks for the info! I clicked the link and actually remember reading that thread before. Get info in there and definitely thanks to ev4530 for the pics
The tinkering continues. Nothing really major and a couple things I’m not very happy about. I added smoked side markers that I’m pretty happy with.
I also copped the old rear diffuser that @CLS63Matt used to have. The shop that installed it didn’t do the best of jobs on it. Matter of fact, the bumper doesn’t fit properly, anymore. I’m taking it to a more recommended spot and will my wife, who’s any attorney, deal with the incompetent original shop.
Also changed factory air filters. Amazing how dirty these things get. Went with K&N...
Now...here’s the part of the post where i and offer a word of caution. DO BUSINESS WITH CKM DESIGNS / @Chris The Swede AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
My wife ordered a RT style wing and CF mirror covers from him in mid December. We were told they would be delivered in 2 weeks. A month later, I’m told that the wing shipped but the mirror covers had a ‘bad finish’. Anywho...I get the wing and discover that it, too, has a ‘bad finish’.
When I sent him the pics, he said he will take care of it and have it replaced. He assured me that he ‘will not rest until you are happy’.
Unfortunately...I had already taken my spoiler off and decided to mount this on until the new one comes. This is around the 25th of January. And still no work on the mirror covers.
I continue to wait for the covers. But then I noticed something about the wing. It looked good but it just seemed....off.
The pic on the top is the wing shown on the site. The one on the bottom is mine. While the difference may not seem like much but it looks MUCH bulkier and almost tacked on (which, of course, it is but...yanno). That was the last straw. I had already told him to just refund the mirror covers...to which I got no resolution...and now I’m just beside myself.
I point this out to him and he he tells me he can get me another. That was early February.
In between then and now, there have been email exchanges (to which he will ONLY respond to one per day, no matter when you send it), excuses as to how busy he is and still no refund or merchandise.
He tells me that i have to ship the wing to City of Industry but has not sent me shipping label to do so. Enough is enough.
I have had my wife file a dispute with her credit card in order to get the charges reversed. This has been an extremely unsatisfying ordeal. If I had known he was getting the items from China, I would’ve just order directly thru them. At a cheaper price!!!
Anywho...I hope that helps anyone out there wondering about whether to get something from them/him does so with a full understanding of how things can go b
The tinkering continues. Nothing really major and a couple things I’m not very happy about. I added smoked side markers that I’m pretty happy with.
I also copped the old rear diffuser that @CLS63Matt used to have. The shop that installed it didn’t do the best of jobs on it. Matter of fact, the bumper doesn’t fit properly, anymore. I’m taking it to a more recommended spot and will my wife, who’s any attorney, deal with the incompetent original shop.
Also changed factory air filters. Amazing how dirty these things get. Went with K&N...
Now...here’s the part of the post where i and offer a word of caution. DO BUSINESS WITH CKM DESIGNS / @Chris The Swede AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
My wife ordered a RT style wing and CF mirror covers from him in mid December. We were told they would be delivered in 2 weeks. A month later, I’m told that the wing shipped but the mirror covers had a ‘bad finish’. Anywho...I get the wing and discover that it, too, has a ‘bad finish’.
When I sent him the pics, he said he will take care of it and have it replaced. He assured me that he ‘will not rest until you are happy’.
Unfortunately...I had already taken my spoiler off and decided to mount this on until the new one comes. This is around the 25th of January. And still no work on the mirror covers.
I continue to wait for the covers. But then I noticed something about the wing...
The pic on the top is the wing shown on the site. The one on the bottom is mine. While the difference may not seem like much but it looks MUCH bulkier and almost tacked on (which, of course, it is but...yanno). That was the last straw. I had already told him to just refund the mirror covers...to which I got no resolution...and now I’m just beside myself.
I point this out to him and he he tells me he can get me another. That was early February.
In between then and now, there have been email exchanges (to which he will ONLY respond to one per day, no matter when you send it), excuses as to how busy he is and still no refund or merchandise.
He tells me that i have to ship the wing to City of Industry but has not sent me shipping label to do so. Enough is enough.
I have had my wife file a dispute with her credit card in order to get the charges reversed. This has been an extremely unsatisfying ordeal. If I had known he was getting the items from China, I would’ve just order directly thru them. At a cheaper price!!!
Anywho...I hope that helps anyone out there wondering about whether to get something from them/him does so with a full understanding of how things can go b
I'm not positive but i'm pretty sure that guy was banned from forum.
he is nothing more than a reseller of chinese parts. thats why I tell people its better to go directly to the source than paying resale prices and expecting customer service from a reseller that literally does nothing but resell.
He was also selling android screens for a long time. people were praising him like a magician or almighty MB stereo expert when in reality hes just reselling chinese units.
that being said, nothing wrong with those chinese units. I cant speak on the carbon fiber bits, but the android devices are only coming from china. there is not US manufacturer for these so your options are buy a resold chinese one or buy a chinese one from china for much cheaper.
for the carbon fiber bits, chinese products arent always the best but you get the trade off of them being very cheap. (from the source) but paying resale price for low quality chinese carbon fiber bits is a scam. You're basically paying the price of good quality parts. but for cheap chinese parts. Get what i'm saying?
never bought from CKM or Chris but I saw through the bs early on. Hope other people can as well. I also heard he sells or sold downpipes that had horrible fitment and needed lots of modifications to fit.
I'm not positive but i'm pretty sure that guy was banned from forum.
he is nothing more than a reseller of chinese parts. thats why I tell people its better to go directly to the source than paying resale prices and expecting customer service from a reseller that literally does nothing but resell.
He was also selling android screens for a long time. people were praising him like a magician or almighty MB stereo expert when in reality hes just reselling chinese units.
that being said, nothing wrong with those chinese units. I cant speak on the carbon fiber bits, but the android devices are only coming from china. there is not US manufacturer for these so your options are buy a resold chinese one or buy a chinese one from china for much cheaper.
for the carbon fiber bits, chinese products arent always the best but you get the trade off of them being very cheap. (from the source) but paying resale price for low quality chinese carbon fiber bits is a scam. You're basically paying the price of good quality parts. but for cheap chinese parts. Get what i'm saying?
never bought from CKM or Chris but I saw through the bs early on. Hope other people can as well. I also heard he sells or sold downpipes that had horrible fitment and needed lots of modifications to fit.
im usually able to sniff out stuff like this but I got got. And now I feel like an idiot for not only purchasing but waiting for him to make it right. But the accounts been credited and it’s unlikely he’ll even respond to the dispute from the cc company.
And look...I got no problem with buying Chinese reps. The Benz Tax is REAL. I’ve popped off real front splitters as well as fake ones, over the years. And have had problems with fitment on both, as well. If it makes me cheap to NOT wanting to spend 5-10x the price on aesthetics...I’ll be dat!!!
im usually able to sniff out stuff like this but I got got. And now I feel like an idiot for not only purchasing but waiting for him to make it right. But the accounts been credited and it’s unlikely he’ll even respond to the dispute from the cc company.
And look...I got no problem with buying Chinese reps. The Benz Tax is REAL. I’ve popped off real front splitters as well as fake ones, over the years. And have had problems with fitment on both, as well. If it makes me cheap to NOT wanting to spend 5-10x the price on aesthetics...I’ll be dat!!!
Totally understand bro. He has wronged you and i hope you get compensated by your CC company
and yeah I am not against chinese parts either, but at the very least I better be getting a chinese price lol
I'm not surprised by this guys behavior I know other people have had issues as well.
Hope everything goes well for you, the car is coming out really nice.
It's been a minute since I've really done anything with her....other than drive. Bad weather, travel, work, etc have all conspired to keep her status quo. Also...waiting for parts. hahahahaha. Today, I was able to install my 'Christmas' parts....see the crap with CKM Designs above. luckily, our CC company made us whole as he never even responded to the dispute. smh. live and learn!!! anywho....
I received my mirror caps from Carmarka. After some modification, they fit perfectly. And yes...I see the vertical line of old wax/polish in the factory pedestal. Missed that on my initial detail. Smh...
New, sleeker spoiler from Carmarka. Much better look than the one sold to me by CKM.
Its a subtle difference but very big to me. It just flows with the lines of the car sooooo much better, imo
So here's how she sits. I gotta admit that I'm very happy. I want to get some wheels but really need to reconcile the expense/desire vs practicality.
I have those same wheels.......that have been sitting for nearly six years..........might have to rock those a bit........too bad they can't take a 305
I have those same wheels.......that have been sitting for nearly six years..........might have to rock those a bit........too bad they can't take a 305
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
