bdowl215

I shopped the car market for about the last 18 months, but could never find anything that I appreciated more than the car I've owned for the last 6 years. I decided to keep my 2004 CL55 and two weeks ago began a project to breathe some new life back into it. We are about two weeks away from completion. The mod list is below. Most of these mods were inspired by reading posts from other MBW users. I appreciate all the great information!


Cooling & Exhaust:

• Resonator delete
• Fabtech Performance (FTP) Heat Exchanger
• Meziere WP136s pump
• K&N air filters

Body:

• Refinish all chrome trim and badges matte black
• Remove “V8 Kompressor” badges on fenders
• Powder coat exhaust tips matte black
• Prior Design w215 front bumper
• 55tech Single fin grill. refinish: paint grill matte black and gloss black star and fin
• Re-spray hood, new front bumper, and blended front fenders in original Tectite Gray Metallic
• Paint ///AMG Logo on heat exchanger
• AMG Affalterbach flat hood emblem (black)

Lighting:

• Clear front side marker lenses w/ 6000k LEDs
• Replaced HID bulbs with Philips 85122wx 6000k
• Replaced running light bulb inside of high-beam lense with 6000k LED
• W212 style DRL LED strips (hockey stick shape) strips hidden behind fog mesh – 6000k

• Wheels & Suspension:

• Adjustable Airride lowering links
• Had an offset issue with new wheels and stuck with an old set of unknown 20” 3-pc wheels. (BBS replicas I assume). Painted: Matte black center, gloss black barrels. 20x10.5; 20x9

Interior:

• Refinish all interior wood grain parts piano black

Pics to follow.

bdowl215

Here are some pics of the progress

Exotic-metal55

Very nice so far but now to add some more power mods!

anton28

So sick! I miss my techtite grey 03 so much that I've been thinking about picking one up again. Looking forward to your progress!

bdowl215

Thank you! I agree - need to do more performance mods. Waiting for the wallet to replenish

bdowl215

Project was idle for a few days but the Prior Design front bumper was delivered today and is getting prepped for paint. I attached a pic of the bumper fitted to the car. Also - the new the grill assembly is back from paint and installed.

RoCL

It all looks very impressive...hard to find a replacement for these cars...nice to see some quality fun and restoration

Crissus

The Prior Design front Bumper does not look much different to the stock facelift AMG front bumper... at least i cant spot a major difference....

bdowl215

The corners have more depth much like the bumpers with a front splitter added. The Prior bumper has this "built-in". There are other slight changes in the lines. But yes - not too far from the OEM bumper which is why I find it appealing.

bdowl215

Thanks for the feedback!

bdowl215

Low res pic off dash installed after paint

bdowl215

Piano black interior

bentleymp21

Thank you for sharing this project.

How did you achieve, or where did you purchase the piano black interior pieces?

Eagerly awaiting more photos.

bdowl215

The factory wood interior panels were removed, sanded, sealed and painted. 5 coats black + clear.

bdowl215

Here is an update through today! Pics attached.

• We mounted the wheels and installed the lowering links to test the clearance of the wheels before sending them off to paint.
  
• Installed painted interior pieces. The piano black finish shaved several years off of the car IMO - I really like the finished product.
  
• Decided against the "L-shaped" LED's after mocking them up. Ordered the 8-LED strip form AZN Optics instead. The look great mounted inside the fog-light area of the new Prior bumper! By chance - the curvature of the LED strips nearly perfectly matches that of the bumper. They fit as if they were custom made for this location. These will be mounted behind the mesh during final assembly.

Exotic-metal55

Looking real nice!

Blkvip

more pic of paino finish plz? doing mine over winter like to see more of how itll be

bentleymp21

That's awesome! Thank you.

bdowl215

Thanks for the positive feedback from you all! I'm excited about it.

The bumper and mouldings are going into paint tomorrow morning, the wheels are back from paint, window tinting Tuesday, and the new Hankook's will be delivered Tuesday. Will have photos of the completed car up in 4 or 5 days.

SIDE NOTE: If you're considering the Prior Design bumper, it does NOT accept the front bumper mouldings from the AMG facelift bumper. I had to buy the non-AMG or 2000-02 front bumper mouldings. I don't want to bash Prior because I'm pleased with their product (and price), but I did clarify this over the phone and was told my mouldings were compatible. Found these with chromium trim for $370 total.

bdowl215

Bumper painted and fitted. LED strips mounted.

(Parktronic sensors and headlight washer covers not mounted until final assembly tomorrow)

anton28

Can't wait to see the finished product!!!

bdowl215

So - we spent the weekend addressing some small and final details to make sure everything lined-up well, etc. The Prior bumper requires slight modifications to get the headlight washer covers and other moldings to fit well.

I've only received 3 of 4 wheels back from the wheel repair guys as they're having issues sealing the inner/outer barrels without any leaks. We mounted the left side today and snapped some cellphone pics (attached). Once all four are mounted I will take some high-quality photos and give a full detail write-up on all the mods, process, etc.

Everything listed in the original post is complete excluding: matte black exhaust tips (sticking with chrome), and AMG logo on the heat exchanger (overkill IMO).

bdowl215

One more pic of the rear.

Also - the night pic of the front clip lit-up shows an orange tint from the headlights. This is camera lens glare from the amber turn signals. The 6000k color temp in the HIDs, LEDs, and side markers is nearly an exact match.

Guilty

Poor car screaming RICER!

bdowl215

In what way does the car "scream ricer"?