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Well I got another car back so the CLK is going in for paint finally, and there's lots of little things to fix on it so I am opting for a full respray on it rather than try to do it all piecemeal. Since this is a perfect opportunity, I'm thinking about a color change to arctic white (period correct for the CLK). It would make the car feel new to me and really be much better climate performance (solar rejection) and be less maintenance/cleaning for it being a daily. OTOH it may affect resale, but it's such a modified car that I don't think this would be a big deal anyway (nearly every panel painted prior).
I am not sure how it will turn out if I do white, because I really like it on the black series cars as it shows off the bubbly bodywork and shadows, but on the regular body cars I think it's also nice but far less striking (and it's been done many times, even locally). Here's my inspiration:
But I think it would be more like an upgraded version of this:
Well I got another car back so the CLK is going in for paint finally, and there's lots of little things to fix on it so I am opting for a full respray on it rather than try to do it all piecemeal. Since this is a perfect opportunity, I'm thinking about a color change to arctic white (period correct for the CLK). It would make the car feel new to me and really be much better climate performance (solar rejection) and be less maintenance/cleaning for it being a daily. OTOH it may affect resale, but it's such a modified car that I don't think this would be a big deal anyway (nearly every panel painted prior).
I am not sure how it will turn out if I do white, because I really like it on the black series cars as it shows off the bubbly bodywork and shadows, but on the regular body cars I think it's also nice but far less striking (and it's been done many times, even locally). Here's my inspiration:
But I think it would be more like an upgraded version of this:
Opinions?
If only there was another clk with the renntech widebody, I would buy it in a heartbeat.
Work is underway, now I am thinking I'll just keep it black and get a car wash membership or something. I really like the white black series cars but I've never really liked the 63 cabrio front bumper I have that much. The vertical plane where it transitions around the corner always stuck out to me as odd. Anyway, making it white just makes it look more apparent to me and I think my bodywork won't be as noticeable if it's white since it's so subtle.
Anyhow, I finally confirmed a long held suspicion of mine about the rear bumper. In the original build paperwork it was missing the letter K and thus thought to be a CL63 bumper but when I looked that up it was pretty obvious it wouldn't fit. Also the CLK63 cabrio does not have an integrated diffuser like mine did so that was a dead end too. I started to think it was an OEM bumper with the diffuser molded, as it started to show some cracking where joined at the top of the fins. This is exactly correct as these pictures show so mystery solved.
Prep right quarter
Prep left quarter
Front bumper sanding
Diffuser cracks
Rear bumper OEM
Diffuser added on with epoxy
Clearly two pieces
Last edited by Nero Tenebre; Dec 3, 2016 at 04:51 PM.
The other reason not to paint my car white, always see this car at the local gym! Really like it but don't wanna be twins, haha. He even has the Vorsteiner deck lid spoiler...
I must admit that I've always been in love with the San Marino Blue Metallic paint color code B51 on the BMW M6, and I wondered if it would look good on my CLK. I've been thinking hard about it... so here's some of that process I wanted to share.
Photos I have been drooling over:
Leading me to do some photoshops of my own to try and visualize it on mine:
Orion Blue >>> B51 SMBM or close
I even got a sign to paint mine blue, haha. There was a blue metallic car right next to mine at the body shop so I could see it side by side!
My reluctant conclusion though is that I'll just keep it black and go with the same theme it started with. I hate to miss this opportunity to live out a personal dream of mine but I like to separate my emotions and find the most appropriate solution to a design problem. When I analyze the BMW body surfacing it has much more complex shapes with both convex and concave contours which I think really show off the depth of the blue. By comparison, the CLK is pretty much egg shaped and more boring though elegant/timeless overall IMO. It has only a few restrained contours that are exaggerated on my car's body particularly and other cars with AMG bodywork, but it is predominantly just convex (especially the slab-sided quarter panels I've never liked) and it has a tall greenhouse/glass cabin area which says more luxury than sport.
In the end, I think leaving it black "shrinks" it's size and hides some of the mass- black is thinning, as they say. Also, the black is more aggressive by far, and I think that works so well on this car in particular with all it's sport oriented modifications. So that's probably the direction I'll continue with, and I'll likely save getting my blue car itch scratched by an Interlagos Blue E92 M3 coupe. Sadly that is as close to the B51 as you can get on an M3 (but it doesn't have the same popping highlights). Here's a pic of the difference while I'm on topic:
Last edited by Nero Tenebre; Dec 9, 2016 at 12:37 PM.
Well I'm not doing this myself, it's at a body shop... I once tried to fill in a deep scratch with touch up paint and then level it by wet sanding it and I sanded all the way down to the body panel! I learned to leave that work to the pros, haha. This is the same shop I used to do the 02-05 front end conversion on my NSX which I found after learning past lessons from other shops. I've used more popular shops and I will never use a body shop which lies and can't keep promises because your car will be gone or months or years and you will be at their mercy. I checked out numerous shops locally before carefully selecting this one, second generation body shop owner who learned the trade all his life, has well trained long time employees, and a paint guy with 40 years of experience.
So nice! Maybe when the rust begins to really work it's way into the meat of the fenders (right now its just on the very edge of the metal) I'll have an excuse to do a fender roll! I would want exactly what you've got, you've got a goldylocks car right there.
Well I'm not doing this myself, it's at a body shop... I once tried to fill in a deep scratch with touch up paint and then level it by wet sanding it and I sanded all the way down to the body panel! I learned to leave that work to the pros, haha.
You and me both, my friend! I can turn a wrench, but don't ask me to do any body work.
He has a custom widebody. No need to roll the fenders though I think his rears are rolled with a 1" spacer when he's running the work wheels
oh okay, thanks. i just would like to know how i should approach my kit. i am debating on getting the black series body kit. i think i dont have a choice because i have 4x 19 9.5 wheels and 4x 25mm spacers. they told me that would be flush with the black series body kit. but if i can roll the fenders i would but i am not sure if its possible or if it would look good. What do you think ?
oh okay, thanks. i just would like to know how i should approach my kit. i am debating on getting the black series body kit. i think i dont have a choice because i have 4x 19 9.5 wheels and 4x 25mm spacers. they told me that would be flush with the black series body kit. but if i can roll the fenders i would but i am not sure if its possible or if it would look good. What do you think ?
You need to use a wheel offset calculator and compare it to your current wheels to gauge how much farther the wheels will come out, then check your body kit for their measurements to see how far that will come out too. There was a CLK that had been salvage titled on eBay which had a black series body kit so you might try reaching out to him for help, or just look into buying that car and save a lot of headache. My car is still in the body shop and it's been months! However, this is always the case with custom work and the waiting game is just part of the build process.
I took advantage of having the bumper off the car and did a really proper job installing a new HID kit for the new projector headlights. I also am deleting the awful fog lights that detract from the sportiness of the front so I will have a custom look for my oem clk63 front bumper that will set it apart.
Red seat belts installed! These are my favorite interior upgrade to set off the other red accents I added. Process pic with new head lights test fit Utilized the oem piece underneath the new mesh for the fog light delete. Will look different once painted black. 5000K HID lights testing Process for HID kit install. I drilled the caps and the beams to mount everything securely in ventilated areas.
Hey Nero, on your fog lights delete, I see you removed the light assembly and then covered the OE plastic grille with mesh. I did something similar when I put LED DRLs on my CLK550. Just an FYI, that chrome trim ring on the grille is easily removed. It is glued in place, but just pry around the edges and it will come off.
Got the car back with still around 55k miles, new headlights and modified front bumper installed, deleted the spoiler for now, red belts installed, etc. now for some pics! Rained on pickup day Got so tired of waiting I bought Another black Benz coupe! 98 CL600 V12 because I missed my 94 S500 coupe. I already did an exhaust setup on it so it sounds like a Zonda Front end Friday
Probably my favorite part of the whole renovation! I've got a couple more small things in mind left to do, and I want to get the stereo system in this car up to par too.
Very Nice results!!!!!
The front bumper seems well integrated.
I think it looks better w/o the large trunk spoiler....
The finish looks like a mirror.....
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I would want exactly what you've got, you've got a goldylocks car right there.
