Doing some great work and mods. Really appreciate the updates. 44 pounds is a good chunk! Also like the new GLE! Congrats on that beauty and nice job on the C63....

 

Some thoughts from my track day at Sonoma Raceway via the onsite school SimRaceway Performance Driving. Kind of a confusing name since there's nothing "sim" about it. The School has a lockout on any other HPDE groups offering "instruction" at the track. Therefore most HPDE outfits don't really offer a novice group when they run there. Seeing as I had never been on track at Sonoma (aka Sears Point), I decided to pay the premium and try out their school to get on track with at least a little more confidence. I'll say from my experience with three other HPDE companies, Sim was top notch. Nice people, no attitude, there to pass on wisdom and get us moving faster. There were some car drills in the morning and then 4 30-minute sessions which were all lead-follow. Their next class up the ladder is on your own. I was fine with that. That many sessions chasing the car on the proper line I think helped ingrain braking, turn-in, apexes etc. Good fun. And not nearly as scary as I had made it out to be.

People always talk about the walls at the track. Yeah they exist, but I had confidence in what I was doing with the car and we weren't exactly going for lap records so it was the right amount of fear and exhilaration. There were a bunch of Audis, a Porsche, and a Ferrari 360 Modena. I'll let you fine people speculate which two cars were moving slowest in the groups. Ding ding ding... Stuttgart and Modena. LOL. My car of course received praise for the noises it makes. That track is special as you blast out of the hairpin at T11 and let the exhaust reverberate and echo off the concrete barriers lining pit lane. AWESOME.

Otherwise, I could finally appreciate the mods done to the car lately. Steering felt great with the Syncro arms. The ECE engine and trans mounts are a MUST and should be at the top of anyone's list. And best of all, the new wider rubber in the form of Nitto NT05s 255/275 really had her gripping around the Carousel (T6) and through the Esses. So much fun. Heading back on June 15 for HPDE with NorCal NASA.

Also still trying to figure out the Sparco seats. Haven't been able to confirm that I can run the OE 3-point belts through the pass-throughs. Obviously the outside buckle can be looped through the side from inside to outside and bolted to a seat base, but will the receiver be able to reach up high enough to access it. Anyways, probably some other things to do before removing seats. Jim how's your project with Studio RSR??? Updates man!

***Also, for anyone in SF Bay Area reading along, I'm encouring Jerry at Eurocharged to bring a Dyno Day here to our area sometime in the coming months. Please hit him up if you're interested so he knows NorCal needs some EC lovin' too! I'm in for his E85 tune, programmer, the works....fingers crossed I'm not out of town when it's set.

 

Interesting news I got my airbag recall notice yesterday. Parts ordered and booked for fresh bags next week. Just in time for Track Day #2 at Sonoma!

 

My recently purchased E63 18" Wheels and Nittos for sale in classifieds.
https://mbworld.org/forums/market/747458

 

It just has to be the best looking wheel on this car! From 53 lbs fronts down to 42. Awaiting new rear tires for comparison. Nuff said...

 

I agree, but not in black and not against silver. Too much of a contrast IMO and it's hard to distinguish the design unless you're up close... I personally like the 2-tone polished version a bit more:



And are the heavier weights the E63 wheels you have? Cause I recently weighed my OEM 18's and they were 47lbs/ea for the fronts and 48.5lbs/ea for the rears (w/ tires)

For reference, my 19" CF10's were 48lbs for the fronts and 52lbs for the rear (w/ tires) and I thought those were supposed to be "light" Guessing the 275's don't help much, but gotta find me some of those 507's...

 

Yeah Aesthetics are subjective, but to me, looks like the perfect amount of contrast. True Silver Arrow stuff.
Correct the weights are from the larger E63 wheels, which are for sale in the classifieds. Great for extra grip out there. Stock wheel/tire weights are posted around here somewhere. I added a lighter pic from the garage which is a bit brighter. Better shows how the black works with the rotor, caliper, and cf

 

To commemorate my 2nd year with this money pit, I found a Renntech air box nearby for a reasonable price. Thanks to @StanAE86 for working with me on the purchase and pickup. This thing is BEAUTIFUL and has been on my list for two years. Stoked to have it installed.

And now my ROW lids for sale. But I cannibalized the filters and MAFs so basically just ROW lids. $200? No idea what a fair price is but if anyone wants em, I’ll ship em lower 48.

 

Purchased a CF knob from Matt so selling my 507 set to make room. Only 10,000 miles on it, and never touched with the bare hand. Use leather gloves to preserve and protect interior from corrosive oils and salts! More photos via DM or text when I'm back with car.
$180 shipped PayPal F&F. In my car here: https://mbworld.org/forums/market/768491
Sample image:

 

Pm sent

 

Replied. You're #2. Waiting for member @Fhast to confirm and paypal. Thanks guys for the interest!

 

Such an amazing build so far!

 

Sold!

 

Well here’s my exhaust laying on the floor due to my attempting to swap out driveshafts. Good god it’s heavy. And that doesn’t include the powerpipe. Is there much we can do to save some weight here? I’m debating just cutting out the resonator and going straight pipes from factory cats back to stock mufflers. I KNOW all the back and forth on the subject, but sound is soooo subjective it’s hard to really know. Or would it be more advantageous to lighten up using some Magnaflow mufflers. Just toying with it now since it’s off the car.
What I’m really after is a used set of those titanium Meisterschaft bolt-on mufflers. So sweeeet.

 

OEM mufflers are just over 30lbs each. My Magnaflows weigh something like 12lbs each. So there’s 36lbs. Pipe is pipe, but that resonator has got to weigh another 25lbs. So if you reconfigure things back there you can lose 60lbs pretty quickly.

 

Well this is probably the biggest DIY I’ve tackled to date. Or at least the slowest. I fed wouldn’t have the nerves to do TBs or head bolts myself. I’m a failure I know. But more positively, I got my shaft out after finally going caveman on the guibo to get it to separate.
But now forward progress has been halted because like an idiot I left the key in the ignition overnight because I left the trans in neutral and car won’t let me remove key when not in park. So when I went to fire it, nothing. So now we wait.

 

 

It happens. I've been wrenching since my early teens and I did the same thing when doing my flex discs a few weeks ago. Bìtch was DEAD AF lol

Make sure you have a good charger designed for AGM batteries.

 

Still considering at least killing the resonator. I think I can handle the noise. No real neighbor issues. As I was cruising the threads and the web, I came across a pre-fab resonator delete from our friends at MBH, for $500. I suppose my exhaust shop could do it cheaper, but not sure I'd get the quality MBH appears to put in.


TO:

 

You'd want to make it an H to retain the "AMG" sound.

 

It’s two lengths of straight pipe. Don’t over-think it. Get any muffler shop to do it for $100. Maybe splurge for stainless for $150.

 

Go with a single muffler to replace the resonator and straight pipe the rest

 

On what basis do you give that advice?

 

Jim, how much louder does the car get if you get rid of the res, if you already have longtubes and sec cats deleted with xpipe?

 

15%. It’s noticeable.