ron m.

Well, what started off as an easy cleaning/polishing job turned into something a bit more involved. Yesterday, I began the day removing my right headlamp to remove the infamous plastic discoloration (I actually worked on the left one a week ago with adequate results). This time (and with the benefit of sunlight), I was able to get better results. With some apprehension, I also tried using a polishing wheel (on my bench grinder) on the plastic surface. I was afraid that the friction might burn the plastic, but with some finesse, it turned out nice and shiny. As I was admiring my work (and critiquing some of the missed spots that I won’t bother redoing), I noticed that the lower bumper lip was cracked due to numerous curb hits.

“Hmmm… that’s going to get permanently damaged if I don’t do something about it,” the internal monologue went through my head. Good thing I just bought a plastic welder from Harbor Freight so I went ahead and yanked it out. After some careful welding (the piece is very thin and would melt first before the welding stick), I was able to mend it. However, the cracks looked like crap and then I thought that perhaps I should paint it (I ordered two cans of paint from Automotive Touchup last week). So I prep it, bondo the cracks as best as I could, prime and paint. I re-installed it and now it’s looking a bit odd.

“The hell with it” I said and I continued prepping the rest of the lower sills and rear bumper. After several hours, here’s what I got:

ron m.

I left the rubber strip at the bottom of the door and the sill plates black since the paint might not hold up well if I painted those (I might change my mind later). Overall, the car looks lower (thanks to forum members for making the suggestions).

So, the wife looks at the car after all the work I've done and said, " It still looks the same."

MARK CUMMINS

You can also look around for a AMG E55 front bumper to replace the damaged one

Good to see another Wagon with mods

KC420

Ron.

from the pics, can only say it looks great!
really love the wheels you got on there
will the paint hold on those rubber lower parts (bottom bumber & sides)??

any tips on the headlights....mine are up for some treatment also!
(tools used, products, etc.)
keep it up & enjoy the ride

ohlord

polish tips on benzworld.org w210 diy section for the lenses.

ohlord

ron m.

Yeah, Oh Lord was the one who pointed out the dull plastic. I've done several oxidation removals and polishing in the past so I had some idea on how to remove it. For the lenses, I went through a progression of 600, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sandpaper until all the "perceived" discoloration was removed. I then went ahead and ran the surface through a polishing wheel and then a final hand polish using plastic wax.

I've also done several DIY paint jobs. For the damaged bumper, I had to use filler putty to even out some surfaces (not perfect, but good enough). I then primed and sanded before painting it initially with a generic silver automotive paint from Kragen (Plasti-kote). I then used two coats of the special order paint, light 2000 grit sanding and then 3 layers of clear coat. BTW, the generic silver paint and the special order one was a 99% match. Had I known, then I would have just used the generic one (the special MB paint appeared slightly more metallic).

For the bottom sills and rear bumper, I just thoroughly cleaned them, then acetone scrubbed the surface to remove organic/oil residue. Then I used an adhesion promoter (Bulldog) before going through 3-4 layers of paint and 3 layers of clear coat.

Oh, I almost forgot. I also installed a back-up camera (Costco special) and I must say that I'm not too thrilled about the product (the image isn't as clear as I expected). Well, it is a safety device and it does do what it's supposed to.

Busy weekend, huh?

eXpLiCitW210

looks great man! Dont paint the rubber piece at the bottom of the doors. I painted mine but the paint started to flake, so i had to repaint in some areas. Keep it up dude....

ron m.

Thanks. Your car inspired me to do this, btw.

ron m.

Labor Breakdown:
Right headlamp removal and polish: 1 hr
Back-up camera installation: 1.5 hrs
front bumper removal: 45 minutes
front bumper welding: 45 minutes
front bumper prep and painting: 2 hrs
front bumper installation: 15 minutes
bottom sill and rear bumper prep and paint: 3.5 hrs

Not too bad over the course of a weekend... it's like playing two rounds of golf and not being frustrated afterwards... hahahah!!!

eXpLiCitW210

Nicely done... glad to help.

foreyes

Good looking wagon Ron! I have been thinking about creating a w124 "hammer wagon", but your project has me reconsidering the w210 wagon as an excellent project basis, Mercedes never created a w210 "sport wagon" but they certainly should have, good work!

ron m.

Thanks, Foreyes. Actually, there is an E55 W210 Estate Wagon (although I think none were imported to the US market). I saw some examples on the E55 sub-forum (pretty cool).

Of course, there's something alluring about doing your own modifications. I started off with lowering the wagon after noticing a need to replace the shocks (and then stumbled upon a great deal on H&R springs). Then a few weeks ago, I was looking around for replacement tires when I saw a great deal on wheels and tires ($830 out the door). The black face/5 spoke star wasn't my first choice, but that was all they had so I couldn't pass it up. It turned out to be a really good look. From there it steamrolled into the current iteration. If you add it all up, I haven't spent more than $1.3K in modifications (I did all the labor), some of which were considered essential (tire change for example).

And they said that MBs were expensive upkeeps. Hah! (they are, but you just have to know where to look).

ron m.

Just going to use this old thread as an archive.

Backstory... I've owned this car for 17 years now. It's got 345K on the odometer, is fair/bad shape, had a few big dents and lots of little ones all around, dead AC, electrical gremlins, shoddy brake booster, falling headliner, severe clearcoat delamination. Basically what you would expect from a 23-year old car, right?

Anyway, I started patching up the most severe dent a couple of months back and after spending little chunks of time, I went for a full body paint (on the cheap... Harbor Freight gun, DIY paint booth, single stage polyurethane coat). I'm slightly disappointed at the result because I had to shoot the paint in VERY un-ideal conditions (windy, no room, minimal light because it was getting dark and I pushed through, limited time, poor prep), but it was my first time doing an entire car and I know that the next time, it will be 100% better. There are areas of paint that looked outstanding (maybe 20% of the surface area)... the rest have varying levels of flaw (runs, nibs, poor prep work, etc). I probably won't do this again unless I actually have access to a paint booth, to be honest. It looks acceptable from 15 ft, and I think I can improve it with sanding and buffing work (this will be over the course of months). I'll be doing AC repair and brake booster swap next. Wish me luck!

Paint color is Nardo Grey, for those who are curious.



What started it all. This dent was what we got for going to church. And no, the offender did not leave a message. So much for being a church-goer.

Should have left it at this stage. Almost acceptable.

Then I started sanding the delaminating clearcoat.

Bought these $200 EBay specials.



Prep work. I failed in this department.

Had to do some sanding of the primer.


This is probably the best looking stage. I should have stopped here.

The finished product. I will be doing a lot of sanding to correct the major flaws.