Vu's Granite Grey C55
 

Hey guys, I recently just picked up this 2005 C55 at 97k miles!

My previous car was a 2007 C230, and I while I did loved the car. I just had to get a V8 in my life :naughty:. In other words, I went from this:
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to this:
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The first week I got it straight piped, left the secondary cats on and went with burnt tips.
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My next mods are getting the windows tinted, black window banner, and black roof wrap.

Can't wait to see what the future will hold for this car :y.

A couple of clean W203's

Lovely colour. See your rim there looks like a few of mine thanks to the previous owner for poor judgement of parking lots and curbs

Ahhh finally found a C55 out there!! Congrats bro!!

Id be sorting the wheels out first, there shocking, lol. Must of been a woman who cant park.

It looks like the original mufflers or at least exhaust tips have been replaced. They look cool!

Loving the color. Congratulations!!

Thanks guys! The only downside I can see from this car is that it came with chrome mirror cover :smash:



Yeah, all the wheels have minor rashes, but the front left has clear coat cracking everywhere lol

I do want to redo the wheels and paint them gunmetal as temporaries. :)

Lol mine came with chrome b pillar covers, first thing I did was deposit those in the trash.

Congrats, love the Granite Grey!

Congrats dude! Looking forward to seeing where you take this one!

Also where are the vids of the straight pipe?!

Didn't want the neighbors to complain, so here is a short still warm start and little rev. :p:

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You need to drive the car, gently pressing the throttle in park does nothing for the noise hehe.


Lovely colour. Never seen one that colour before.

Met up with some friends this weekend and grabbed some shots!

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Nice ride.

I see your profile shows San Diego, still around? I recently moved to the area. Black C55 with a black grill.

Unfortunately, I just recently moved up to Sacramento for school and other things.

I do try to come down and visit every 2 or 3 months for the family and friends though.

My car has been pretty stock and untouched, up until about the last 18th when I took my summer break and went home to San Diego.

2 hours after an 8 hour drive home, immediately went to homedepot to pick up some paint. I blacked out the hood grill and vents, also plastidipped the emblems on the rear and blacked out the diffuser area.

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Definitely had to get my roof and window banner wrapped. My friend Casey over at MacWraps in Mira Mar did a fantastic job.

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Next I did a brake flush and repainted my brake calipers in a Lambo green epoxy paint. It is a night a day difference between that and a rattle can. The epoxy covered up the casting pits and left a very smooth and glossy finish. Brake dust comes off easily and brake cleaner will not ruin the finish.

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Finally I went to refinishing all 4 wheels on Memorial Day. The previous owner had curbed all 4, and the drivers left had clear coat cracking all over it. I had to peel most of it away, bondo, and sand.
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The color finish I chose is a 2011 Ashton Martin Tungsten Silver. Has a nice depth of gray/ silver with a nice volume of flakes.

This is about 4 layers.
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We let it cure for a complete day, and resumed to clear coat.
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It definitely pops out and compliment the lambo green calipers.

Also, during the time of the wheel refinishing process. I had gotten rid of the horrendous chrome mirror covers and the corner lights. Colored matched them and it completely bought the car all together.

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Next on the list, Maybe lowering it?

Love that wheel finish, beautiful car man!
..that girl down the street in a tutu:rolf:

lookin good soldier-

An american Airman

Those wheels look great. I think I was searching the C55 hashtag and stumbled across your page on Instagram. I might want to finish my stock wheels in the same color. How did you refinish the wheels?

Sorry for the late response!

The refinishing process was very time consuming. I wish I had taken pictures now that I think about it.

All the wheels had curb rashes, and the drivers front left had clear coat cracking off.

I sanded down all the rashes and pealed all the clear coat off the cracked one. Wheels that have deep rashes that can't be sanded down with low grit paper, I used bondo to fill. Let dry, then sand in a high grit paper to smooth.

Once you can feel that all the wheels are smooth to the touch, apply primer/filler. It's not jsut regular primer. It will fill into any unleveled or tiny microscopic pits in the wheels. The primer dries pretty fast, so once that is done, sand in high grit paper again until smooth.

Next, use a degreaser. I used Klean-strip Prep-All to remove any dust, oils, and etc. I masked off the tires from the wheels, exposing only the face. Then applied Klean-Strip Adhesion Promoter, to make sure the paint adheres to the wheel.

The paint I used is off of a 2011 Ashton Martin Tungsten Silver, I forgot what the color code was. I had it professionally mixed using waterbase as I was painting it in my garage.

Make sure you have proper ventilation and a proper mask with a filter and not a dust mask. I used a paint gun I borrowed from my buddy's shop.
I applied 4 to 5 layers each, used a heat gun in between layers to significantly cut down the curing time. I let the paint sit a full night, and began to use clear coat the next day applying the same heatgun method to cure it. Let it sit a full day to ensure cureness, then you can unmask everything and boom. Done!

Wish I had pictures to show of the process. My method was by no means simple. You could always use the rattlecan as a cheap alternative but the quality might not be that great. From my experience, 99% of the time, clear coat from a can will never offer as much shine and eveness than from a paint gun.


UNRELATED:

Selling my C55 Mufflers w/ amg tips. $250
http://sacramento.craigslist.org/pts/5631015108.html

Vu, the car looks great! I love the color combination as well!
Not many of us active c55 owners on here

Thanks man!



Pictures from Today:

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great job on them wheels. Wish I could do mine like that but I don't know about bondo and that. will save up some and send them through to get refurbed.

Did you paint the grill and hood vent? I keep debating on doing that.

Yes i did, and you should! Its really simple besides the annoying tabs on the hood vent. :y