ibbij

I’ve owned my 2012 E550 Coupe in Olivine Grey with Natural Beige/Black interior since May 2021 and have done the following mechanical updates:

1. Replaced ruptured plastic coolant turbo lines (x3) and water tank + thermostat
2. Replaced control arms (upper+lower) and sway bar links (Meyle Heavy Duty)
3. Replaced all four dynamic handling strut and shocks (Electronic Monroe/OEM)
4. Replaced all four brake rotors and pads (ATE/OEM)

Other than mechanical improvement, I did the following to add to the beauty of the vehicle:

Exterior:
1. Illuminated Front Grill Emblem
2. “BluEfficiency” badges replaced with “AMG Edition” badges
3. Mercedes Benz + AMG welcome lights
4. Faded blue Mercedes wheel center caps with black Mercedes center caps

Interior:
1. AMG Steering Wheel trim
2. AMG Apple Tree Start/Stop button
3. AMG Door Pockets
4. MB OEM All Season Floor Mats

Any other suggestions to keep in mind to keep the vehicle running strong and looking it’s best? Everything is in pristine condition and I garage the vehicle. I am complimented regularly on the vehicle despite it being ten years old. Interior is amazing condition and exterior is also in excellent shape. Vehicle has 105k miles.

I do plan on doing a tune, OETuning is best price however really lacks the tune specs compared to Eurocharged, Weistec and Renntech. Hopefully OETune keeps same pricing and matches the performance.

Any tire recommendations for stock 18” staggered AMG five spoke wheels?

pca7ggr

Looks nice - like a twin of mine. Only mine is Designo Graphite Metallic Green w/ [size=13px]Saffron Beige (855A)/Black leather nappa semi-aniline interior[/size][size=13px] [/size][size=13px]and wood ash trim[/size]

Here's some upgrades I've done:
- LED interior lights
- [size=13px] Akebono Brake Pad Set: [/size][size=13px]EURO Ultra-Premium Ceramic - With Shims
[/size][size=13px] F[/size][size=13px]ronts Eur1342/Rears Eur1341 from R1 Concepts (CEX11226 - mbworld member)
- [/size]Michelin Pilot Sport 4S – 245/40-18 front and 265/35-18 rear - a bit larger than stock
- Updated the Navi software
(https://mbworld.org/forums/market/835169)
- Mounted a fire extinguisher tucked in front of the drivers seat using a Rennline adjustable mount.

ibbij

Thank you for the feedback!

By the way I love the tire choice and think it’s excellent that you widened the tires. I will definitely do that. I keep losing grip when I hit the gas two-thirds to the floor or more. With the new suspension parts I know it’s not that, it’s likely my tire aren’t sticky enough.

blawicki1

If I recall, the stock 2012 & 2013 18" Coupe AMG wheels are 8" wide in front and 8 1/2" in back. Am I correct ?
If so - I was under the belief that 265/35/18 tires required a wider (minimum 9") wheel as specified by Michelin. Again, is that correct ?
Have you had any issues with the wider rear Michelin tire choice on the stock 18x 8 1/2 wheels ?
Tire installation, traction control, ABS, rubbing, etc.
Thanks

pca7ggr

I have not experienced any issues after mounting the slightly larger tires.

SeanGarrity

I love your car. How did you illuminate the grill emblem? Was it a kit you purchased? Was it difficult to do?

ibbij

Appreciate the compliment.

I bought the led grill emblem from Amazon, this was the link but now it’s unavailable however many similar companies selling them.



In order to do the install you just need to either connect into the same cable going to the daytime running lights or run it directly to the fuse box. It is fuse 5 from the fuse box diagram. Here is a link to the fuse box diagram and at the 2:06 mark you will see fuse 5. I ran the cable that was provided with the emblem to this fuse location. Had to splice the outer jacket a bit to separate red and black wires more so I can connect the black wire to grounding nut.


The hardest two parts of the install were:

1) Yanking off the grill. The front clips are a pain to get free and required patience and watching and rewatching this video as well as a couple others. You then release the emblem from the grill and put in the led emblem.


2) Doing a clean wiring harness style install that was neat and out of the way. I used zip ties and getting between the radiator and hood release was hardest section to thread the cable. I made a video for a friend, you can watch it as well (sorry had to shorten to meet the 20 mb max upload size for forum) and you’ll see from the engine fuse box all the way to the plug of the led emblem to the provided wire that came with my emblem when I purchased it.

SeanGarrity

Thanks for the response. Have to get the car first, may give it a go.