When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I just picked up a fairly nice Tektite Gray 2003 CL600 with 95k on the clock for a pretty good price. She is not without her flaws and things I want to change so I am making this thread to show how it looks now and how it will change. Some of the current items needing attention are items like the tandem pump sometimes whines so I am replacing that before I have a failure. Car raises and lowers fine, steers fine and does not drop overnight but I know the pump is letting me know its about to go. There is some paint damage on the forward edge of the sunroof and since I dont wish to respray the roof I will be adding a wind deflector. I dont care for those but for now it will do. The front grill chrome is rippled on every slat and the Distronic cover is yellowed so I am installing the single bar grill. Mirror turn signals fog up when washed so I am installing a set of smoked ones. Car is missing all its valve stem caps so I figured why not spend $5 and ordered some Benz logo ones. LOL The trunk license plate frame has some broken tabs on the driver side so I am going to pull it and see about repairing it. Passenger door rattles when you close it unless you are closing it with your hand over the top of the door card so something in there is loose. I have already fixed the cup holder and removed the phone thing in the upper center console so I can use the space. I have to locate an ashtray thats not stupid expensive. Why everyone wants $50+ for used ones beyond me. Its not that I will use it, I just dont like missing parts. Also ordered in a hardwire kit and better mount for the radar detector. I like my 9500s but dont want to drop $2500 for the hidden one, more so since I know the Distronic likes to set their K bands off. Car already has a Pioneer App Radio in it so its nice being able to play whatever but a bummer I cant control it with the steering wheel. I also need to find the little gray plastic spring assy that pops the hood. Mine is there but its spring must have broken.
THEN we move onto the fun stuff! I am ceramic tinting all the windows so its not a fish bowl. Ordering in one of the Euro trunk spoilers, one of the low ones that just accentuates it a bit. Doing some LED conversions and adding some tasteful ambient lighting strips my buddy makes custom. Having the car fully paint corrected (no orange peel and minimal scratches and swirls) so I can have the car ceramic coated as well as have the leather treated and then ceramic sealed. Get some lowering links. Eurocharged will be doing my ECU and TCU and I will be removing the pre-mufflers (resonators) for a tad more tone. I will check to see if the ignition coils have been done and at the same time do fresh plugs with a tad tighter gap for the higher boost pressures. I will also install a remote starter for those hot Texas Summer days.
I dont want to go nuts with the mods and ruin it like Speedriven did my CL65 so just tune and small exhaust work. I will have to make do with 600hp at the crank.
Thats about it for now. Ill throw in some pics of how she looks now so we can see the changes.
So todays mods were minor, just hardwire the radar and figure out how to remove the mirror covers (still havent figured it out) so I can replace my mirrors turn signals as mine fog when I wash it. But my favorite mod is the new grill. Old one was having chrome peel, the star was yellowed and I just didnt care for it so out it went!
And yes, she is super filthy but thats because tomorrow is tint and then it goes for the ABC work and then full detail and ceramic coating.
Where did you get that grille? I never found nice ones to work with distronic.
Ebay. I actually should go test it. They had these for $180 or the non distronic ones for $130. Its of real nice quality (dare I say almost OEM), fit perfect and even the packaging was of high quality.
Ebay. I actually should go test it. They had these for $180 or the non distronic ones for $130. Its of real nice quality (dare I say almost OEM), fit perfect and even the packaging was of high quality.
Ahh. Let me know how it works, I would love to replace mine for the same reason, the chrome peeling. I do use my distronic from time to time though, and would hate to lose it just over the grille change. For that money, i'm sure it's good.
My first CL600 was non-distronic, and I bought a nice aftermarket grille for I think $25 that fit ok and worked well, but that same company didn't offer them for distronic cars.
Also those hood poppers are like $12 at benz, mine shot off one day when working on the car.
Dang, keep forgetting to order that and need it more now with the new grill so it pops the release out better. LOL
I saw on yotube a guy do a W220 mirror and all he did was tilt it up, used a flatehead to release the spring, power the mirror glass all the way inward and just slid the whole cover off! I couldnt find that little spring release to save my life though. My buddies shop does custom lighting, alarms, stereos and such and said he would just slap them in when we do the remote start.
Ahh. Let me know how it works, I would love to replace mine for the same reason, the chrome peeling. I do use my distronic from time to time though, and would hate to lose it just over the grille change. For that money, i'm sure it's good.
My first CL600 was non-distronic, and I bought a nice aftermarket grille for I think $25 that fit ok and worked well, but that same company didn't offer them for distronic cars.
It works perfect! Seems to work better now. It used to over react and you could see on the screen the cars do 25-50 jumps in distance. I think it had to do with the old emblem being so weather worn and micro cracked. This time it didnt fail once and kept perfect distances!
Now to replace the distronic scroll wheel as it is random on its distance stetting unless I leave it in the center.
It works perfect! Seems to work better now. It used to over react and you could see on the screen the cars do 25-50 jumps in distance. I think it had to do with the old emblem being so weather worn and micro cracked. This time it didnt fail once and kept perfect distances!
Now to replace the distronic scroll wheel as it is random on its distance stetting unless I leave it in the center.
Mine is the same, i'm sure the rheostat in them is dirty, as when you are scrolling it, it jumps around like it makes poor contact, so I leave mine centered or fiddle with it until it works right at minimum setting. Even then, it's too far for Miami traffic, the gap it leaves gets people cutting you off constantly and the car just slows down more to compensate sadly. I wish it had an ******* mode where it would follow cars the way I follow cars lol.
All my parts are in so Wed it gets its ABC pump replaced before it fails (its noisy) but went ahead and had a mini detail done and ceramic tinted it. Stays SO much cooler inside now.
Its 5% on sides and back and 70% on windshield. Not sure of brand but I can ask him Monday.
Thanks Joe for the info. Never knew if those were factory wheels or not.
The base 600 wheels were horrible, so i'm not surprised they got changed. The AMG 600 wheels, which are simple 5 spoke, are much cleaner, but the 55 ones you have are nice too.
Well this thing is eating my lunch! When I bought it I knew it was going to need a new ABC pump and figured about 3k to do it or $1600 if I do it myself. I looked at my shops log and figured I would be better off sending it to the dealer so I can have a loaner and I ordered all the parts needed and a reman pump. I knew I was taking a chance on a reman pump but thought it was a $1000 gamble worth taking. Well I lost. So they ordered in a new ABC pump and installed it. Yesterday I call because the car should have been done already. He tells me a line that literally goes nowhere (its for the S class) burst and has to be replaced. $450 and they will waive the labor if I buy the part from them. Well the line is cheaper online but once you figure in 3 hours of Benz labor its no longer cheaper. At least they have to warranty it all now. Down side is paying twice for ABC pump install. I think we are at like $2400 in just labor. Worse yet I calculated the profit one lift made in that week at my shop and would have come out $600 ahead had I just done it myself and had the lift down all week.
In the mean time I will continue to treat this C300 like a red headed step child.
I know it's too late now, but I was able to source an AC Delco reman pump for mine for <$300, and it's been great for 2 years. That dead-end hose fails on all of them, I also bought them from work as opposed to trying to save a couple bucks online, for me the downtime was costing me my regular working bay so I wanted my car back together and off my lift ASAP
Enjoy that 600. For about $10-12k now they are a steal! I had a eurocharged tuned 05 Amg sport. One of the best cars I've owned. It was a $144k car for $16k in 2013 for me.....
Yeah they are an amazing car for the money. Blows me away mine has been for sale now for over a month and no serious bites even though its only $9000!
they are selling for $6-7000 that’s why . Drop your price to $6-7k and it will sell in a week . People are always confused why no one calls them about their car for sale and the answer is simple it’s priced too high . Once priced attractively cars sell quick .
I bought mine for $6100 last year and have seen them for $5k occasionally .
. Like i says , there’s a reason you’re not getting calls for over a month . Yours might be nicer then others or have recent work , but buyers look for the cheapest ones .
05-27-2018, 05:42 PM
Worse yet I calculated the profit one lift made in that week at my shop and would have come out $600 ahead had I just done it myself and had the lift down all week.
