First year maintenance on my C43
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 384
Likes: 41
From: West Palm Beach, FL
'99 C43, '88 560SL
First year maintenance on my C43
I bought my C43 roughly a year ago with no maintence booklet and I'm starting to see why it wasn't included with the sale. In the first year alone this is everything I replaced due to lack of maintenance
Water pump
idler pulley
windshield
weather stripping for the windshield (cracked and dry rotted)
inflatable seat bolsters (both sides needed, only driver side done they are a pain to replace)
transmission service and conductor plate replace
ac compressor O-rings (it was leaking)
rear crankshaft seal
front crankshaft seal
motor mounts (both sides, the kompressor mounts were a nice upgrade)
transmission mounts
spark plugs (16 on a v8?! )
steering drag link assembly (center link and tie-rods)
both suspension ball joints
front left control arm
front right control arm
steering damper
steering idler arm bushings
differential bushings/mounts
fuel filter
air filters (K&N)
Oil changes (I'm on my 3rd change now, only using 0w-40)
Tires 265/35R18 rear 235/40R18 front Michelin pilot supersports (the best tires I think)
I know the car is going to be rock solid after I'm done, ive already put 16k+ miles on the car this year without any problems. Theres still lots more to be replaced on this car to get it to a level where I will be happy but this is what ive done in my first year.
Water pump
idler pulley
windshield
weather stripping for the windshield (cracked and dry rotted)
inflatable seat bolsters (both sides needed, only driver side done they are a pain to replace)
transmission service and conductor plate replace
ac compressor O-rings (it was leaking)
rear crankshaft seal
front crankshaft seal
motor mounts (both sides, the kompressor mounts were a nice upgrade)
transmission mounts
spark plugs (16 on a v8?! )
steering drag link assembly (center link and tie-rods)
both suspension ball joints
front left control arm
front right control arm
steering damper
steering idler arm bushings
differential bushings/mounts
fuel filter
air filters (K&N)
Oil changes (I'm on my 3rd change now, only using 0w-40)
Tires 265/35R18 rear 235/40R18 front Michelin pilot supersports (the best tires I think)
I know the car is going to be rock solid after I'm done, ive already put 16k+ miles on the car this year without any problems. Theres still lots more to be replaced on this car to get it to a level where I will be happy but this is what ive done in my first year.
Last edited by brad_c43; Jan 31, 2018 at 08:47 PM. Reason: forgot stuff, there probably more i forgot but this is most of it
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,418
Likes: 194
From: America
1999 C43 AMG, 2005 E55 Wagon
yup the majority of that is not maintenance but the kind of things you have to do every 10-20 years on this car.
you wouldn't have seen any of that in the maintenance booklet because it wouldn't have been necessary until now. except obvious things like filters and maybe spark plugs
you wouldn't have seen any of that in the maintenance booklet because it wouldn't have been necessary until now. except obvious things like filters and maybe spark plugs
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 5,889
Likes: 323
From: Land of mountains, cheese, chocolate and watches
12' W204 C63 AMG coupe "T-Rex", 12' W451 Smart Fortwo Pulse (99' W202 C43 AMG + Ultima Can-Am sold)
Yup, unfortunately as our queens get older they need some serious pampering from time to time 
