Eliot

Phase 1 - November/December

Sportline Conversion

The E420 Sportline was only offered in Europe. It included the normal Sportline equipment with notable changes in the steering box and front suspension. The SB featured the tighest ratio of any of the W124s. If the car included a SLS then complete 500E kit was applied, if not then the rear of the car was equipped with the 6 Cylinder sportline suspension while the front used the 500E gear.

I'm holding out the possiblity that I'll find a Sportline Steering Box but they are no longer available from Mercedes directly. The Steering wheel is available but its priced in the 1000 USD range. I did not explore the seating upgrades.

My car does is not equipped with SLS so I'm going for the hybrid suspension. I'm also purchasing the KMac rear camber kit to correct the normal lowering issues.

Parts List

2xSwaybars
500E Front - 124-323-70-65
500E Rear - 124-326-25-65

4xFront Swaybar Bushings
2xE500 Front Bushings 124-323-51-85
2xE500 Front Bushings 124-323-47-85

2xRear Swaybar Bushings
E500 Rear Bushings 210-326-08-81

2xFront Struts
500E with Internal Springs 124-320-50-30

2xShaft buffer front 500E front Strut
124-323-06-44

2xRear Struts
Sportline Model 124-320-23-31

2xFront Springs
E420 Front Springs 124-321-42-04

2xRear Springs
Sportline Model 124-324-28/28-04

2xFront Spring Pads
201-321-09-84

2xRear Spring Pads
201-325-12-44

2xSportline Subframe Bushings

The Euro version of the 420 also sported a 2.65 geared differential where the US model recieved a 2.24. The 500E for comparison has a 2.82 unit. I'll be swapping in a 2.82 to improve the general acceleration. Hopefully a low restriction exhaust will mitigate the mileage loss. It appears the AMG muffler is no longer available, if thats absolutely true then I'll order a Remus.


Phase 2 - January/Febuary

Second Generation AMG Bodykit - Front Aero, Side Skirt, & Rear Apron. Still undecided on which wheels to get. I will be going with 17x7.5.

CDP

Have you found a source to get the GENII AMG bodykit yet? Pretty pricey from the Dealerships...

Looks like us E420 guys will have pretty dope rides when Jan/Feb comes.

Eliot

I've yet to reach Duval Motor Cars, GSXR suggested that they could cut as much 15% off the list price. My fallback is my local dealership, they were willing to order them for me at full price. Also need to find a shop to do the paint work.

I'm looking forward to seeing your WIP shots

Eliot

The check I was waiting on arrived today. I should be placing my order on Monday and getting the work done the following week.

The steering box has proved a nogo as has the AMG Exhaust. If I get a Remus I will need to modify it to fit the rear skirt.

Eliot

Placing my order tomorrow parts bill comes to about 1600 USD.

CDP

Eliot,

I got ahold of 500E front and rear - Hopefully I'll be installing next week. I'll let you know how it goes!

Saijin_Naib

Strut bars? They fit in the 300ce as well right? I wonder how stiff that would make my car.. I could lift them outta my dads 500e

Eliot

E500 Swaybar Kit

1243237065 $150.00 Each
1243262565 $238.00 Each
1243235185 $8.75 each (x2)
1243234785 $9.75 each (x2)
2103260881 $7.00 Each (x2)

439 USD

Looking forward to it!

CDP

hey, you got yours pretty cheap - did you get a discount or something?

Eliot

Purchased it through BuyMBParts.com - Rusty has great prices.

Eliot

Kit is being installed, it'll be ready by Tuesday.

I was unable to find a differential with the local breakers so it looks like I'll have to spend a day on the phone checking out of state.

ShoreBenz

Eliot, you won't need the KMac rear camber kit if your using SportLine springs. You can set alignment to SportLine specs.

Eliot

Should have the car today. I was unable to source a differential though. It will have to be done at a later date.

ShanMan

bump! Interested to hear how it's progressing, and how the car drives assuming the suspension is done. Anything yet?

Eliot

My friends are making Jamaica jokes "it'll be on the next boat... from nassau man... maybe next week..." But it is done.

Well except for the exhaust. I went by today and its parked out front but its missing the exhaust from the cats back. Hes been pushing my car back over the past week to work on other "more critical projects". He said he was have issues getting it back on do to its detoriated condition. I guess he just left it for the day to dig into his backlog of work orders.

Ordered my bodykit (did I post that yet?) Second Generation W124 AMG. Haven't purchased the wheels yet (trying to find a good price on those.) I think I've found a paintshop for the aero kit.

Worst case on the exhaust is that it won't go back on and I'll get a custom solution like 2Phast. I'd need to find a shop though... that might pose a problem.

ShanMan

Question: what is/was your budget for the whole project? Do you think you'll get it all done for under $10K? (can you hear the wheels turning in my nugget?)

Eliot

Sportline Suspension - 1800
Camber Kit - 225

Differential - 250-350
Speedo Calibration Unit - 120

Wheels - 1600 (Estimated)
Tires - 500 (Estimated)

AMG Bodykit - 4000
Painting - ?

Labor could get quite expensive. The paint bill depends on the shop, but it could be as low as 300 or as high as 1000. I also don't know if the rear apron in the bodykit will force me to make adjustments to my OE exhaust. The AMG version doesn't have an apetature for the tailpipe.

Diesel

Were you able to get the AMG GenII body kit direct from the dealer? If you didn't get it from the dealer, where did you get it from and do they have a website?
Thanks

D

Eliot

My local dealer, HBL of Tysons VA.

CDP

Eliot, I can't believe you paid $4,000 for the complete kit!

Eliot

I fell into a small windfall so.... and I figured that as a money sink the car is actually kind of important. Further self justification - the front spoiler was badly cracked when I bought it and even the OE ones aren't inexpensive.

I tried to get intouch with the dealership that GSXR (Dave) recomended but no luck at all. Their parts guys wouldn't return phone calls.

ZedStyle

i'm going to get in touch with you next time i'm in va, i want to see this car.

Diesel

Does anyone have any experience with the AMG body kit offered by NR Auto. Their website says the kit is made of Flexible Reinforced Plastic. Is it much stronger than the usual fibre glass of aftermarket kits? Im just wondering if it is worth buying the real thing for $4000+ or just buying this NR Auto kit for 1/4 the price....

CDP

The quality is still iffy on those Nrauto.com kits.

ShanMan

Hey Eliot, thought you might want to see this little ditty:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-M...67534210QQrdZ1