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Been a while since I last posted anything and thought I would share another one of my projects. If this needs to be in the Non AMG section by all means relocate.
I have been a long time fan of wagons/estates but their power output is what kept me from owning one. An E AMG was an option but I would feel bad throwing junk in the back. This led me to making a couple of purchases.
First I found a C32 online and made the leap about a month ago. My buddy and I went up to NJ to pick it up. It was pretty much what I expected from a north east car. Rust on all the panels and poor maintenance. No real concern because now I had my donor car.
Last week I got my new beater. It was also from NJ but the VMI showed it was a MD native. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to find a car that checked off all my requirements for this swap to happen no rust on the tailgate being number one.
I will start the swap after hours next week and should be rolling soon. I'll keep you guys posted if the interest is here.
Last edited by money-one; Jan 19, 2016 at 09:13 PM.
2020 E63s Wagon, 2012 C63 AMG Coupe, 1989 560SL, 2023 911 Carrera T
subbed. a friend of mine recently transplanted the drivetrain from an e46 m3 into a donor shell 325i touring. the recipe led to one fast wagon! this should be killer
Started the swap. Interior first. Everything bolted up as I researched and was surprised that the rear seats were also still in play.
The only thing that needs to be modified are the rear seat backrest release handle fabric holes. The sedan release handle are attached to the hatshelf in the trunk and the wagons are attached directly to them. Haven't stripped the backrest covers yet but it should all be good.
The only other thing that is different is the driver seat switch assy. In the sedan it has a trunk release button and the wagon doesn't. When connected worked like it was made for it.
Next up I'll be under the car.
Engine, Trans, diff, exhaust, front struts and sway bar, wheels, calipers, s/c cooling circuit. There was a few bits that would be overlooked if you didn't have both cars next to each other for reference. Last two items will be the bumper and rocker panels. I'll send those out to get sprayed. Initially I did swap in the rear suspension but when she was sitting on all fours I had someone sit in the rear it sagged too much for my liking.
Today I finished swapping the rear leathers onto the wagon backrests. Needed a little trimming and stitched some locking tabs on. Good as new.
Next week I'll be doing the power plant. When I did some rough measuring the entire exhaust will match right up. And the driveshaft too. We will see.
You always seem to take on the cool projects that others can't do.
I know this will turn out flawless, wish I was closer for you to upgrade my c200 compressor wagon
The snow storm over the weekend has delayed this swap.
Wednesday
Finished installing the rear seat backrests and ran across a little issue. Nothing major and easily modified to work. The side bolsters are different. The sedans need to have a portion of the foam cut back and the steel locking loop has to be repositioned. As you can see it is about an inch higher and the wagons is lower.
Haven't done it yet but is on the short list.
Thursday
Installed the stock super charger cooling circuit in the wagon. The reservoir is different. Upper and lower radiator hoses and the small hose from the tank to the water pump.
With the front bumper off you need to remove this small steel brace for the circulation pump/bracket (green arrow) and it bolts right up.
The air ducting shroud needs to be cut flush with the crash bar(arrows)
With the lower shroud portion removed the stock heat exchanger will snap right into place. The dual hoses that route up to the SC sneak right through the radi support. To my surprise the non amg bumper snaps right over HE Assy. Before anyone says anything I will be upgrading. I'm just getting her to stock and then going up.
With the hoses in place and the secondary air pump/ bracket in I notice the heat shield was in the way and instead of swapping I cut and folded(dotted) tired it and it wasn't enough so I folded at the solid line
Also swapped in the c32 exhaust and was a perfect length. Just needs a little trim on the stock bumper. If I had the sport bumper it would be spot on. I tried to have one imported but I guess it's too big to ship internationally.
I started the engine swap today and she is sitting in the engine bay and bolted to the Trans. Should turn on tomorrow. A few more things that are different are the brake booster line, pcv line, high side power steering line, low side a/c line that attaches to the compressor, and Trans dipstick. Only real difference is a connector for the O2 sensor in the fuse box location. One is an 8 pin and the other is a 12 pin. I will need to run a power wire for the air pump and 2 for the SC circulation pump.
I'll finish this up soon.
Last edited by money-one; Jan 31, 2016 at 09:06 AM.
Rewired the O2 sensor connector. I cut the connector body portion from the donor car so it would connect like stock. The 32 is the larger one. The wires are pinned and colored the same so no chance of messing up. The large red/white wire is the power wire for the secondary air pump. Haven't ran that yet. Also cut that connector from the car.
I need to run 2 additional wires to the Rear Sam and ME for the S/c pump (m44)
Swapped in the 32 ME, EIS, and Steering lock. Already had the cluster swapped in when I did the interior swap. Filled fluids and turned her on.
Cleared all the codes and a few popped up I wasn't expecting. The SRS module has the vin and that error is current. The one that I had no clue would come on was the OCP seeing a different car for the sunroof. Also getting a accelerate code.
The hard part is done. These are just the finishing touches. Drove her out.
Just FYI. The Trans, ETC, shaft, diff. we're not swapped in yet. Need to press in a second mounting bushing in the rear subframe for the diff. And press a new center support bearing on the shaft. Old one was toasted.
Additionally the calipers were not installed so I can send them out and be matched to my other cars.
I will be retrofitting folding mirrors which I already had imported and parktronic.
I'm also thinking about having a set of long tube schedule 10 headers made.
And most important of all is a trailer hitch
I just about finalized the AMG conversion on the wagon. I swapped in the SRS module. Coded the EIS to stop looking for the teleaid module and recoded the OCP. I had a faulty S/c pump which was giving me my acceleration issue. Luckily I had 3 of those saved from the H/E upgrades I have done on E55s.
After driving her for a few days it occurred to me to swap in the 32 dual fuel pump Assy. When I pulled the super weak 320 single pump out I saw this. Man I dodged a bullet on that one
I continued the swap by pressing in the new differential mount bushing. Followed by the axles, differential, driveshaft, transmission, torque converter and ETC module.
The last bit of the interior involved me cutting and bending the steel loop so it would snap into the wagons mounting clip. Doesn't look pretty but it does snap in.
As it stands the only things not AMG on her is the bumpers, rockers and calipers.
This is how she sit now. Very happy with how it turned out and can't wait until I finish off the last of the conversion.
I am also waiting/ sourcing a few additional items for the fold in mirror and parktronic retrofit.
With the mirrors I just need the small mirror harnesses that plug in between the mirror and DCMs. Something cool that might be of interest to anyone doing this is that you can actually convert your own light switch to have the fold in mirror buttons and headlamp washer button.
Once you are at this point you will see the missing white plastic push pieces. Reds for the folding mirrors and green for the headlamp washer.
From a spare headlight switch you need to pull these pieces off the left/right rocker piece (red circles) The headlamp washer white piece is the same too.
Installed
The last part you need a dremel to cut the holes for the folding mirror buttons. You can see the indention in the plastic cover. I started slowly and made the holes match. Making sure that there was no tension on the buttons causing them to stick.
And the finish product. Only thing you don't get is the decals that the factory one has. Fully functional and tested for actuations via SDS.
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