tw2

Hey guys, I have been lurking a bit since I sold the C32. I missed it in a way so I have been looking out for a C55. Unfortunately there must only be about 10 in the entire country. The last one up for sale was there for less than a week and that was the only sedan for about 4-5 months.

Then I started looking for E55's but the added expense and fuel sender/airmatic/many other problems put me off. I was about to give up when I found this. The seller needed it sold asap and was getting rubbish offers and swaps so I got it for dealer trade in price, just had service B done.





I had a question about the headlights that maybe someone can help with. I am pretty sure they are supposed to be clear like the C55 but they have turned hazy in places. Would a headlight restoration kit work well or are there better upgrades to look at instead?

BobC32AMG

Restore kits are a temporary solution. Looks ok, not great, for a couple of months and then you have to repeat the process. You could look if there are any professional companies that provide a more lasting solution, but I doubt it..

Very nice car, any plans for mods?

tw2

Thank you. Yes unfortunately..... kleemann headers, needswings intake and eurocharged tune most likely but not for quite a while. Maybe a quaife or wavetrack.

In the mean time I just need to touch up a few things the previous owners didn't take care of very well.
- 4 new wheel centre caps as there are 2 titanium background and 2 white background. Might just ebay these.


- There is very minor damage (can't tell unless you look closely) from parking into something- at some point I need to take the front bumper off realign it, set the left fog dead straight and get a new mesh grill for that side.
- Perhaps get some new headlights if these ones are never going to look great again. Maybe blacked out housings. A lot of these say not suitable for cars with zenon headlights.... not sure why. I could also try the sylvania kit.

ddtham

Welcome back! Sort of... Glad that you decided to stay within the amg family.

Headlight restoration kit would work well if you use DA orbital, instead of arms.

That type of projector typically has a weak, uh projection. I would try retrofitting your oem projectors to the black housing. Or you can microwave your headlights and paint the housing black.

Viper98912

Don't put cheap aftermarket projectors onto your car; you have an excellent set of factory headlights. Use a restoration kit; some people say clear coating over the headlights afterward keeps them lasting longer.

BobC32AMG

I agree, if you can have your headlights polished and then clear coated by a professional I would definetely prefer that over cheap, lower quality, non-OEM headlights.

Good luck with your project and keep us updated!

wawy

Good choice of car!
In respect to the headlights, I would use a restoration product or procedure and then cover them with an XPEL, 3M etc stonegaurd film. I would also consider it for the entire front and hood. Just get any chips and scratches fixed first..

tw2

I will have a look at doing it myself. I am not sure I would trust anyone around here. There are 3M, rainX and meguires headlight restoration kits available locally. I will have a look and see which one looks like it will do a good job. I will post some proper pictures of the car once I get a chance to clean/polish it and it stops raining.

Saaboteur

I've used the 3M head,ought restoration kit with good success on a couple of cars, and second wawy's comment re: subsequent clear protective film.

Previously on my S2000, there were still some scratches visible after the 3M polishing, but wirh the protective film applied, the scratches were no longer apparent.

macbryanie

Awwwh -yeah !!
Nice, very nice. Well done.
Don't forget about the 63 front fender when you start playing the mods. Hang on, you already have started with lights.
Its all down hill from here...
at least it will be very quickly and with an exquisite v8 note and pull,
only the bark of a 63 can make that 55 rumble old.
Congrats mate,

aussie e55

loved my C55 exhaust my C63 exhaust is one step up almost as good as my long gone old 1971 falcon phase 3 GT .

tw2

I have just ordered a 3M kit so I will give this a go. Wow the stoneguard is not cheap but looks like a good thing to have. Perhaps once I have sorted out the front to perfection I will look into it. Would you look at a regular bodyshop for stone chips and touch ups? Luckily I have never had this problem before.

Thanks Bryan. The 63 bumper is really nice but to be honest I actually like the 55 a little more. I would be happy with either but the 55 is a little more subtle which I like. If it ever needed replacing I would give the 63 a go. Haha you know my old car, the mods will not take long to appear on this one either.

tw2

Me too. Honestly the 350z crowd, its almost like Hondatech. Every thread has thousands of flame posts and finding actual info is very difficult. If it was posted in the middle of a 500 post thread in 2004 then you better not ask the same thing again. The benz community couldn't be better.

tw2

3M worked well. Not quite as crystal clear as I was hoping for but almost perfect. What a mess though. Definitely need to clean the entire car, engine bay and garage afterwards. Puts 2 layers of tape down around the edges to prevent scuffing the paint as it is easy to slide off the lights with the drill. I recommend doing this outside.

Before


After





Before


After





Before


After

Viper98912

Looks good, I still need to do the same