Plug

Well, after some 18 months looking around, I finally took the plunge yesterday and bought a C43. Pick it up next Saturday... I am rubbing my hands with glee at the thought of having my own AMG parked on the drive, and also bricking it at the thought of the servicing bills!! What the hell, you only live once....

I also have to re-learn how to drive a powerful rear wheel drive car, on the test drive I booted it too hard coming out of a side turning and the traction control cut in leaving me high and dry.. I have been spoiled by 4 wheel drive for too long!

Doubtless I'll be asking dumb newbie questions once I've got the car.. please bear with me, I am a quick learner so hopefully I'll start to find my way around quickly.

Cheers,

Plug

Teck

Welcome to the boards and congrats on your new ride
You know you have to post some pics of your car as soon as you got it
The C43 is a beautiful and powerful car so you really can be proud of having one

VAamg

Hey man, congrats on the new ride. I bought mine last October and still have to turn and look at her everytime I park to go in somewhere. As you will find out through these posts, there are lots of different ways you can go, perform mods, keep her stock, add a nicer stereo, tons you can do to make your car, yours. Post some pics, don't be shy about questions, and don't make fun of Newbie320's car (just kidding newbie, if we can't laugh at ourselves, who can we laugh at)

Welcome.

e320newbie

press that little button that says esp off
congrats man c43's are the bomb!

Vardar

That's the way I see it. I bought mine about 3 weeks ago. Just like the other guys, I still stare at my car wherever it is parked. It is a great feeling of owning a BENZ, Hotrod, craft quality, and monster engine under the hood. We only live at once, I am proud to own and drive it.

Plug

Thanks guys, I am so looking forward to picking it up..

Will post some pics when I've got it, it's in Green/Black metallic (I think it looks more blue than green) with full black leather interior.. I'm not a big fan of the two-tone interior that a lot of AMG's have (in the UK at least) so I'm pleased to find one in the right colour/trim.

They only made 400 examples in RHD so they are few and far between on these shores... hence why it's taken me so long to find the right one. I don't do big miles (probably 7000/year) so didn't want one with starship mileage. Mine's a '99 with 2 previous owners and has just over 50K on the clock.. it was pricey but you get what you pay for..

Cheers,

Plug

Vardar

Wow! My situation was similar except the mileage. I had everthing same below but 76k miles. Man! I am excited for you too. My first 3-4 nights; I was sitting in the car in the garage and reading the manual, checking the back seats, checking the engine and so on. I am lucky to have a friend here in town that has the similar car. He is the STAPLE GUN. I am lucky to have him here. He his absolutely wonderful, he met me at the local Sears and showed me the right tools to buy for oil change, changing plugs, etc.... Hopefully you'd find a nice guy close by for help on maintenance unless you know it all.

e320newbie

there is a guy in my town who owns a c43 too the only other one, its black , i know his brother! i am dying to meet up with this guy to learn tricks and hear about the car haha , and vardar, if u own that car till the day u die, ur still gonna find urself shoulder checking it 50 times as u walk away from it every time haha i nkow i sure do, and staple is good he hooked me up with the grill, i love it, adds that extra touch it was missing, i think a all blacked out grill would look nice on ur black one vardar.. ur not gonna do any mods? nuttin at all? stereo maybe?

VAamg

Newbie, et all. I know this was brought up a little earlier, but what is the difference in the s600 grill? I have looked at the pictures and maybe I am looking too hard, but I can't see the difference?

VAamg

On this note, anyone have a high resolution up close pic of both grilles they can mail to me at my normal email address?

Vardar

Yeah! I don't know the difference between stock grill and 600.

e320newbie

k ill go make a pic and post it for u guys

e320newbie

see the difference? both grills are painted body color tho... bars are still chrome tho.... see the diff guys? s600 grill is a must on these cars

VAamg

Yeah, I can see it now, much more dramatic than I thought. I think I have seen a s style grill with carbon fiber, that might be tight.

Vardar

I see a difference too. How do I know to pick the right grill? I typed it on EBAY, there were 73 results. What am I exactly looking for? They are not pricey either..

Thank you

e harmon

I have the Bekkers carbon fiber grille on mine:





I have been pleased with it. It's not cheap, but the service from Bekkers is very good, and in my case, the fitment was very good as well. Here's another thread on it from someone with a different experience.

I am beginning to notice a few chips in the finish, though these could just be from road hazards. Either way, I think the CF look adds a nice touch. YMMV.

Regards,

e harmon

linuxfoo

orginally, certain model w202's in europe came with an avantgarde package. these models came original with the s600 type grille except that it was made specifically for w202. because these original grilles were so hard to source unless you ordered the originals from germany, people found out that they can order the US s600 grille and modify them to fit inside the w202 grille chassis and have it look much like the original avantagrde grille. now you will see people in the US modifying them and selling them as s600 STYLE grille. alternatively, you can also use an 03 to present e-class grille as i did. the only difference is that the e-class grille already came in black plastic which i liked where as the s600 came in silver, and of course on the s600, there is more to cut to make it fit.

quality difference between the cheap taiwan made grilles on ebay vs, making your own grille from MB part is night and day. on the MB part, the plastic is not flimsy like the cheapo and it looks alot sturdier. you might not notice unless you've seen both grilles, but the cheapo plastic fades in color if you bought the black one and also the fins looks like they warp from heat. i know cause i got lazy and instead of making another grille for my wife's c280 using the e-calss parts, i just went and ordered one from ebay and although she doesn't really know the difference i can tell night and day.

not sure if this is the original Avantgarde grille from europe but here is the link i saw on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/COMPLETE-AVANTGA...QQcmdZViewItem

e320newbie

linux u have a 03 s600 c class grill in ur car? show me pics man that sounds crazy

linuxfoo

hey newb, i have an e-class grille on my car that i modified. they look the same as the s600 except mines came originally in black, the s600 comes in silverish color - or at least that what the dealer parts guy told me, other than that they are the same.

e320newbie

why an eclass one? staple sent me a 202 one, it was all black,, i painted it silver... when i had a 124 e320 my grill came in black too.. urs came in silver? looks the same as mine no? looks good, i like ur wheels too and ride height, brabus right? err lucky!

linuxfoo

i bought a new body e-class grille from the dealer and modified mines just out of preference. i just didn't want the s600 one cause it was silver and i didn't want to buy one on ebay cause of the quality, its hard to describe the quality difference until you see them both in person. but the look is identical.

the wheels are carlsson 2/6 evo brilliant edition but painted in black.

Teck

I got an original W202 Avantgarde grill wich comes in black but I'm not sure if I should black the whole grill out like this (photoshop)

blacked out


original

linuxfoo

hey teck, yeah i kinda figured that yours was an OEM advantgarde grille. it was hard to source one here in the states and if one was available, they wanted too much for it. blacking out my grille is next on my list. but i know what you mean, the decision is so hard because they both look so good - chrome or black

also i just noticed and i've seen your car pix many time, but did you also shave your front emblem? looks tight!

Teck

You got a black car so a blacked out grill would look hot but on my silver car

VAamg

Teck, black out the grill, imo, it looks very tight on the photoshop. I woudl go for it.