Also got a good deal on a new Hella headlight. I'm waiting for a good deal on the driver side headlight

 

Replaced the coated T10 halogen bulb with a Hella LED



Osram Cool Blue Intense H7 bulbs with the Hella LED









And see the difference in light output. The bulbs are both Osram Xenarc Classic with the same amount of usage. I stored the Hella bulb as a spare

Notice that the left side does not have a hot spot! The hotspot on the side of the passenger is apparent.



View from the side



And from the other side

 

Replaced the steering wheel cover as I couldn't really get used to the material. I like the perforated look of this one better to be honest. Fitment is ok, not perfect.

 

Also replaced the leather gaiter with some fresh new leather

 

Seems I forgot to post the pictures of getting the old headlight off, so here we go!

Getting the bumper off was easier than I thought, so happy days



The old worn headlight...





You will have to remove the headlight washer, its only 1 philips screw and then you slide it of the headlight (towards the front)



The difference is crazy!







Added the installation date for my own documentation

 

Swapped the valve block last weekend

New vs Old









Happy that they were color coded, so you basically cant mess this up





Even with my small hands I found it quite fiddly

 

I did something similar on my CLS this month

 

Nice work my man

 

My first new part of 2024! A new original alarm siren. Quite an expensive part at €145 euro

Partnr: A219820322664

New vs Old





Build date from 2019 so it seems





Made by our dear friends at Bosch

 

The alarm siren housing has been battered by moisture over the last 18 years, so a little refresh is in place



Fresh zinc coating in my professional paint booth





Looking better already





And back in it's place! I extended the A-pillar drain hose with some extra hose I had lying around, so the water goes down as fast as possible instead of splattering around and draining. I did the same modification on the passenger side

 

The LED light image in my garage



As you can see, the new headlight unit has a way more intense hotspot

 

Made some shots of the "Golden" engine bay

 

Got new wiper blades. Opted for SWF after seeing them being recommended by M539 etc. There have a smaller footprint, but look well constructed. They are replacing the Bosch Aerotwins

DAS ORIGINALLLLLL











All in place

 

Replaced the interior fan and resistor. Started to make a little bit more noise and when I got it out, it gave more resistance than the new Thermotec unit. Easy DIY, only the location is a bit fiddly



NRF resistor







Location of the fan and resistor and how it sits in place



What 18 years of service looks like





Old vs new. As you can see, its an easy diy

 

Also bought new HT leads from Magneti Marelli, but I should've done a little bit more investigating. The connections on the coils could've been better. The leads protrude a little but too much. The old leads disintegrated on me when I pulled them loose from the coils, so no way back













Gave it the Gold treatment

 

Bought some different center caps which give a little bit more contrast. I like these!

You can see the remnants of the old HT leads



Before



After

 

And something which totally transforms the car with the push of a button....

I added 2 cutout valves, just before the mufflers. Even though the CLS sounds great, I miss some volume every now and then. The shape of the sound is good, just a little bit more volume would be great. And we succeeded in that with these 2 valves. They are vacuum operated.





















I found out that the company Sebring is responsible for these great sounding mufflers. They were highly popular in the Netherlands back then!







2 Weeks later I went back and added an Xpipe. As you guys know, the center resonator is basically an Xpipe and when I bought the car, it was already removed.

 

Found some 60mm hub caps for my Japan Racing wheels which will give a little bit of contrast (instead of full black wheels). Only difference is that they are a little bit recessed in the wheel

 

Created a howto video for replacing the coolant reservoir

 

Last year I found some PLM style headers. Unfortunately they were in backorder and a little while ago, I got the green light that they were in stock again. They looked very good for the price and I went ahead and bought all new hardware for replacing them (16x studs, the copper bolts, metal gaskets etc etc).

 

I got very excited when I removed the downpipe and matched it up

 

The difference in diameter is very apparent and got even more excited





Then I got to measuring

46mm for the aftermarket header



41mm for the stock header



But of you look closely, the real opening is even smaller at 36mm...



The collector also measures 46mm



vs 41mm for the stock collector



Seems I found another oil leak (rocker cover gasket)



BUT the biggest joke is...it doesnt fit! The bolt holes dont even line up, I think the heat warped the metal so much during the welding process. So I sent it all back hahah

 

Bought 2 Stahlbus oil drain valves for the upcoming oil change. Fumoto valves are quite hard to get here in the Netherlands and these were readily available. About 90 euros inc shipment for 2 valves

https://www.stahlbus.com/products/en...alve/index.php

 

With the exhaust work, I found out that the rocker cover on passenger side was leaking. 3rd time is a charm, this time with an original gasket off course. Drivers side was already done with OE gasket.

Partnr: A1130160321

 

Added some corrogated tubing to the new HT leads