cassard

Hi, I'm still new in the Mercedes Domain since I'm only 23. I have the luck to say that I'm the proud owner of a C36 AMG 1996 and I love it. Before buying my car, of what I'v been reading on it, I thought the C36 was a very good and reliable car, but after 2 years of having this car, I find it more costly than I thought... so I'd like to ask you guys your opinions on this Mercedes. Either on the C36 itself, or compared to any other AMG models.

thanks

DRBC43AMG

Well, a 15 year old vehicle is bound to cost you some dough (wear and tear). This becomes more important when you consider the importance of maintenance and the way you drive it. If you are thrashing the poor lady all the time, guess she will get the message to you to lay off and by breaking something. Also, any AMG will be expensive to keep in good condition. If you do regular preventive maintenance (oil and other fluid changes) and look after her, she will be happy and so will you.
Enjoy

jayrasheed

I got my 1995 36 almost 3 years ago it had on it 112000km and was owned by a very professional merc mechanic. the car was supposed to be in mint shape and for a used 36 it was.
It still needed new shocks.
New gasket
new harness
then came a few electrical issues all related to degraded wires.
I had to change AC controler, had to fix the ETC and then re-wire it again., 2 new OVRs.
and now since it had covered a few more km its now at 156400km and it needed new rotors. the new ones would have set me atleast 600usd so i got used ones in real good condition for 200.

any way i got my car for a lowish 10500USD (usually a 1995 sells for 12-13k)
and then i had to spend a good 3k in fixing it.

Problem is thou servicing the car is not cheap. Every oil change is 100usd and the car drinks fuel at alarming rate.

cassard

That's a point I forgot to tell. I'm a car lover and I'v been raised to treat my car like I'd treat a lady. So I try to take care of it as mutch as I can. I don't do any burnouts, drifting, ect. I'm very gentle with it, but It's a mercedes and like I said, I'm a car guy and it's an AMG, so I cannot hide that I like o "take a good curve" as we say in french and I go on a lapping circuit 1 or 2 times in the summer. Also I live in Quebec, canada, so I store it for the winter.

Oh and It my helps you guys in your comments. But I bought it at 126 000 km and now I'm at 146 000

DRBC43AMG

My "T Rex" is getting close to 220'000km

KJI3jflarryfe93

your old lady's still sexy!

PaulRicciardi

I've had mine for about 2 years now, it's been great so far, never let me down.

Service/parts are not too bad. When I bought my C36 I was deciding between it, a R129 SL600, a W203 C55, and a Porsche 911 SC. The C36's maintenance cost was much less than the other cars.

If I could change anything about the C36 I'd make it 200-300 pounds lighter, put in the Getrag 5 speed manual, and bump the power to around 320 hp. It's certainly not a slow car, just could be so much faster and more engaging to drive.

With that said, I've found my interests lately have drawn me away from Mercedes and into the aircooled VW/Porsche world.

Something about that combination of an 1800 pound car, rear engine, rear wheel drive, and a manual makes for an exciting drive. Plus the fact that I can rebuild an aircooled flat-4 in my kitchen with hand tools is a big plus.

-Paul

jayrasheed

Well I don’t nanny my AMG at all. to be honest i drive it like i stole it on every possible chance i get.
And for that i have almost completely changed the suspension on mine in the search for ever higher nimbleness and control. and i drive year round on semi slicks too and that ups the running costs thru the roof :P.
I have also modded my gear box so it now holds revs up to 6800+ in all gears including first

Pual where u been dude!!!!! wb

w202mylove

He o say keep the car i just got one since last friday they aint cheap to mantain, but when you do it right you will have so much fun with it

PaulRicciardi

Been busy man...work, school, cars. But school is out for the summer, so have a little more time to visit the boards.

How did you get the trans to hit 6800 in 1st? My car revs to 6800 in all the other gears, but 1st gear shifts at about 6,000. Would love to get it revving over 7,000 with some bigger heads, bigger cam, and lighter valves/springs.

jayrasheed

Paul, thing is i went out one day and i did a crazy burn out, after which my tranny wouldnt hold gears anymore to 6800 . Before the burnout it used to rev to 6k in first and 6800 in the rest. but since my kickdown relay was shot i took it out and hard wired the pedal kickdown switch to a 12volt switch that i manually trigger. when its on the first will rev to the redline and not shift out untill the switch is off.

but after my stupid burnout all that went out the window. so i modified the valve body but loosened the kickdown cable to the max, thus my car almost has no kickdown feature, but i can live with that since torque is more than available to move the car at brisk speeds.

any way try the first trick man. pull out the kickdown relay, remove the kicdown switch under the pedal and insert a wire into the pin with the black wire (insert it in the pin that is in the part of the switch thats stuck to the floor. put everything back as it was but keep the relay out. Now just find ur self a 12v source and connect both to a switch.

cassard

cool, thx guys ! but I'm also looking for opinions on reliability. Known problems, ect ect.