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I thought it may be a good time to start my own thread since I've had the car for a few months now. I have already done some small repairs which I will outline below and I will have some more parts coming for the car soon.
I bought the car back in Feb. from a guy out in Michigan. The car has some typical rust in the wheel wells, bottom of the doors, and the trunk. Im going to fix everything mechanically with the car first and my plan is to send it off to paint in the Fall.
2002 CLK55 AMG with 121K when I bought it.
BAS/ESP light is still on and I believe I need a pass. rear wheel sensor. Im going to try and clean up the one I have in the next day or two and see if that fixes the problem due to some rust/dirt build up before i buy a new ring/sensor.
Car currently has an exhaust leak coming from the manifold and what sounds to be around one of the cats, which will be taken care of here in the next few months with a full Header back exhaust system. (something close to what Quant has) if you're familiar with his set-up.
Other then that it needs a few odd's and ends which aren't that big of a deal. I'll be sure to keep this thread updated as much as possible.
I'm picking up a couple things this afternoon so I'll be sure to post back what i found at a great price!
Considering I destroyed my rear tires last weekend having a bit of fun, I snagged a set today of lightly used rear tires for $25!
I’ll throw these on at some point this week. I’m curious how well they’ll grip. They are roughly 4 years old so can’t really compare them to a new set but the info is as follows.
Dunlop Direzza ZII 245/40R17 going on a set of stock 17 inch monoblocks.
Took some time this morning and restored the headlights best I could for now. I used the meguires medium duty kit. They probably should have been sanded down but this will do for the time being.
PS: I wouldn't be an internet geek if I didn't throw out my unwelcomed opinion or suggestion at you. So apologies in advance.
I think your car looks amazing, and I also think you should put on the OEM front grill. Your car will look awesome especially after a restoration.
I have also noticed that the US-spec 55's sit much higher than ours ( Rest of World ), perhaps install lowering springs?
Yep, thats on the list. I'll be going back to a factory grill soon. I may black it out if i like the look but it will be back to OEM soon enough.
I haven't decided what im doing with the suspension just yet. I like the idea of coilovers but im afraid that the ride will be too harsh. I may replace the shocks with new and a set of H&R Lowering springs for the time being to see how i like it, then go from there.
Yep, thats on the list. I'll be going back to a factory grill soon. I may black it out if i like the look but it will be back to OEM soon enough.
I haven't decided what im doing with the suspension just yet. I like the idea of coilovers but im afraid that the ride will be too harsh. I may replace the shocks with new and a set of H&R Lowering springs for the time being to see how i like it, then go from there.
I haven’t had any major updates recently but got a couple small things done. I was able to get the tires mounted and balanced, and I also got the Mercedes emblem in which I installed. The trunk is shaved so it’s a 3M double sided taped emblem, which isn’t going to last long. I believe the OEM emblem that bolts to the trunk has a slight curve to it and this one does not. It’s already starting to lift at the top. I need a new trunk due to rust and that will happen in the fall when it goes in for paint.
Other than that I gave it another good wash and detail for the weekend.
I’m waiting for a big upgrade within the next few weeks, but I’ll be sure to keep you guys posted.
I had an opportunity this weekend to Install my Monoblocks that I sent out to be refinished. I found a pair of 18's off of an S-Class for sale and sent those out with my stock 17's to a wheel refinisher here in the Philadelphia area.
I bought the wrong size spacers so I will need to order another set, along with new lug bolts as well, however my plan is to run 5mm front and 10mm rear.
Im running 235/45/17's in the front and 265/35/18's in the rear on Pirelli P Zero All Season tires.
I haven't driven the car very far but i can tell the tires are very grippy, even with local temps dropping down to low 60's this weekend. I Also wanted the diameter of all 4 tires to be as close to exact as possible, and with the sizes i went with they're almost identical. I believe the rear tires are just a tiny bit shorter then the fronts. Im very happy with this set-up so far.
I also replaced the front grill with the factory OEM grill which looks much better. The car is slowly coming along but i'm very happy with how this wheel set-up looks and feels.
Finally, after about 7 months my MSC headers came in. The quality and craftsmanship look great and the thickness of the metal feels heavy duty so hopefully I won’t have to worry about them splitting or cracking anytime soon.
Next step is to order a few more things I may need and get the car up to the exhaust shop. I want to put it Up on a lift and get under there with the fabricator to take a look and figure out a game plan of how everything is going to be ran back to the stock AMG muffler. I don’t want the car to be extremely loud, however I want the exhaust to be as free flowing as possible. I have a couple ideas that should work out perfectly for what I’m going for.
I’ll also post up the video I put on YouTube of the on boxing, if anyone is interested. I’m not exactly sure when the rest of the exhaust will be done, but I’m hoping to have the car dropped off to the shop sometime before Christmas.
I took some time a couple weeks ago and Installed my "Motorsports Hardware" (90mm race stud kit)
Im running 5mm spacers in front on stock 17" monoblocks and 15mm spacers in rear on 18" Monoblocks. I wanted a little added security with the length of the stud while running spacers. In addition, they make switching wheels setup's much easier and they also look a million times better.
A great product by a great company.
*Pictures are with 17" Front and Rear
With this set up my Wheels are perfectly flush and look great. Now i just need to lower it a little bit
Another small update, I ordered a set of K&N drop in Air Filters. While i was in there i took the Throttle body off and decided to remove the secondary screens inside as well as clean it up as it had a bunch of dirt build up inside.. The first screen is plastic that i carefully broke apart, the screen below that was a mesh metal screen that i took out as well. After the air filters there's also a secondary screen in the Airbox, so i figured removing these won't hurt and it will help the engine breathe just a little bit better.
I also picked up a breather hose/Radiator kit a while back off of eBay. The kit is for an E-class W210, so the radiator hoses won't work, however the breather hoses are identical. Just some preventive maintenance for now.
I had the car out a few times after the install of the filters and the throttle body mod. Throttle response has improved slightly so i would say its a good free mod anyone can do. I would recommend making sure you have a fresh set of air filters in the car afterwards just to be sure you're not getting any dirt in the engine. Otherwise its good to go.
a couple of notes on this:
1) renntech airbox never had screen after the filter, so probably no issues removing that
2) screen on the maf is supposed to "straighten out airflow" before sensor, some thinks its great while others says it bad and not to do it
I took some time a couple weeks ago and Installed my "Motorsports Hardware" (90mm race stud kit)
Im running 5mm spacers in front on stock 17" monoblocks and 15mm spacers in rear on 18" Monoblocks. I wanted a little added security with the length of the stud while running spacers. In addition, they make switching wheels setup's much easier and they also look a million times better.
A great product by a great company.
*Pictures are with 17" Front and Rear
With this set up my Wheels are perfectly flush and look great. Now i just need to lower it a little bit
Please tell me you are not running a conical lug nut on a ball seat stock wheel whiteout the adapters. if so please make this the next thing you change.
Please tell me you are not running a conical lug nut on a ball seat stock wheel whiteout the adapters. if so please make this the next thing you change.
I'm running 235/45/17's in the front and 265/35/18's in the rear on Pirelli P Zero All Season tires.
I haven't driven the car very far but i can tell the tires are very grippy, even with local temps dropping down to low 60's this weekend. I Also wanted the diameter of all 4 tires to be as close to exact as possible, and with the sizes i went with they're almost identical. I believe the rear tires are just a tiny bit shorter then the fronts. Im very happy with this set-up so far.
I just picked up on that statement now. WOW
How did that happen? So you currently have 2 sets of Monoblock 2 wheels (17's and 18's)??
What made you go for that kind of a setup? I'm curious.
Im running 5mm spacers in front on stock 17" monoblocks and 15mm spacers in rear on 18" Monoblocks. I wanted a little added security with the length of the stud while running spacers. In addition, they make switching wheels setup's much easier and they also look a million times better.
Are you having any clearance issues with your extended bolts tapping against the parking brake on right rear?
I installed 12mm H&R spacers with the extended bolts accordingly and was having one bolt tap the parking brake. I found it strange that only one bolt was doing that.
My setup right now is front 8.5x18 (235/40/18) and rear 9.5x18 (265/35/18)
I get fender rubbing in the front with those tires, hence factory recommends 225/40's for those wheels on the W208, and 255/35's for the rears.
The 18" Monoblock 2's were never really meant for the W208.
Are you having any clearance issues with your extended bolts tapping against the parking brake on right rear?
I installed 12mm H&R spacers with the extended bolts accordingly and was having one bolt tap the parking brake. I found it strange that only one bolt was doing that.
My setup right now is front 8.5x18 (235/40/18) and rear 9.5x18 (265/35/18)
I get fender rubbing in the front with those tires, hence factory recommends 225/40's for those wheels on the W208, and 255/35's for the rears.
The 18" Monoblock 2's were never really meant for the W208.
04-19-2021, 09:45 AM
