fbrglzdrmz

Just picked up this car about 3 weeks ago.
Great condition, couldn't pass up this deal.
Haven't really done much yet, just a few minor things.



All interior lights changed to white LEDs, as well as license plate lights.


Decided to paint the sidemarkers black using vht nightshades paint, but after 2 coats I decided I didn't care for the lights so added 2 coats of plasti dip and clear enamel.



Replaced lights with HIDs. Didn't have 6000k in stock so tried out 8000k...not bad

was going to paint my grill black but found one I liked so got that instead, along with new hood emblem

And of course park lights changed to LEDs as well....not a great picture, but they look awesome at night


I'm also considering painting my tail lights black, except for the clear area on the reverse lights, but I'm still undecided

Drag0na5h

Nice man enjoying the before and after shots! BTW how easily do the interior light lenses pop off? I worry about cracking the lens clips when trying to remove certain ones. Just got my interior LEDs today so will be attempting this soon.

AMGAffalterbach

I love everything except that horrid grille, the curved pre-facelift W211 does not do well with the in-grille star. That is my personal and blunt opinion, I would just plastidip the old one.

fbrglzdrmz

the only one that was a bit of a pain in the neck was the front dome light. I wasn't sure if the entire assembly came off or not. I used an old credit card and a plastic panel popper to take it off. The clear plastic comes off, just have to be careful.

fbrglzdrmz

Yea that's what I was going to do at first, but I thought I'd try this one out. It's actually growing on me. And I haven't seen any other w211s with it, so thought I'd keep it different.

Drag0na5h

Good to know. I was also very wary about removing the front dome light lens. I'll just try to be patient and gentle. Wouldn't want to resort to using tacky to hold any lenses in place after I'm done.

fbrglzdrmz

Got bored and decided to smoke the tail lights

Iqless

Those "mods" will satisfy your taste, but the value of the vehicle will drop dramatically. It's like buying a designer brand shirt and then remove the original buttons to replace them with cheap walmart buttons for $2 to make the shirt look better.

It's just so unoriginal. We had people come in and trade "modded" cars, we gave them the lowest $$$ since there are no serious people out there that are wanting to buy an ugly car with aftermarket crap on it and painted grilles.

LOL

apl175

hehehehhehe

Unfortunately I am going to have to agree. While I respect each owner's freedom to do whatever they want with their own car, when looking at pre-owned W211s and W210s, I tended to shy away from anything with large diameter wheels, especially if chromed, excessive chrome trim, and after market parts. Very dark, or mirrored window tints were also a red flag...although I did find a W210 that had a 20% Huper Optik applied all around that looked very good. I was much more impressed if the owner had spent money installing MBenzNL style options, like retrofitted Distronic, or had upgraded their car to NTG 2.5. One W211 owner even said he had retrofitted the additional trunk locking latches, which are normally for Eastern European markets only.

I also don't quite understand why people would want to "smoke" their rear brake lights. If someone rear-ends you, it seems like they could legitimately claim that they could not clearly see your brake lights.

Iqless

Exactly. People want clean and well maintained Mercedes-Benz cars it their original state, and therefore are willing to pay more.

The smoked tails thing is so 1990's and a cheap modification that catches eyes of 17 year olds.

AMGAffalterbach

To me, keeping a clean "modded" car with a few aesthetics changes (not painted grilles or lights) is not a bad thing as long as everything is legal and within stock specification (wheels and tint for example as long as they are high quality - I did 35% Huper Optik Extreme all around). I agree with the smoked tail lights though... when I see a car with them I immediately think: high school or college student. I especially don't like the look on already black cars as the murdered-out theme really doesn't have it's appeal to me anymore even though I am 17 lol ^ However, in the end the W211 isn't something that is a very high-value item anymore as German luxury cars don't hold their value very well anyway, and I respect the owner's tastes and opinions on how his vehicle should look. To me personally, however, I think getting the paint to look brand new on your car and doing various fixes and performance enhancements such as brakes and suspension is more worthwhile.

To OP, not everyone on the MBWorld forums is as against modding as the few posters above so don't worry, we are actually a very pro-modding forum overall - but they do make valid points you should consider in the long term.

Iqless

If you keep your Mercedes clean, in excellent running condition and stock, you'll be able to sell it for good money down the road.

I was in the market for a W124 E-Class, and the clean ones ran for over $10k.

I found some early 90's models that looked, felt and drove like new, and they sold for around $15k.

fbrglzdrmz

Oh I completely understand the value issue, I sold cars for a bit. I don't plan of getting rid of the vehicle, but if I did, I have the stock grill and I could easily get it back to stock condition. If I do something with the vehicle it's only for personal taste. I'm not trying to impress anybody else. I don't think there's anything else I'd like to do on the exterior.

Next upgrade is adding a small sub for some extra bass and considering adding a 4-channel amplifier to get better sound up front.

AMGAffalterbach

When you do the sub make sure you dynamat the sh*t out of the rear decklid and surrounding components or it will become a rattle box. A lot of people have been able to find larger units that just hang from where the existing speaker is.

fbrglzdrmz

Had a little time and decided to install a subwoofer I had laying around. It is an Adire Audio Brahma 12" reconed with FI Audio parts. Pretty bad cosmetical condition but still sounds great. Amp of choice is a Massive Audio N2, because of its super small footprint.

So it begins with finding and testing the subwoofer signal wires.


Snapped a quick picture of the factory amp hidden behind the driver side quarter panel.


Amp mounted. Used a small sheet of abs plastic for support behind the carpet panel and used speed clips on the screws. Amp is super light so it will hold perfectly. (Amp was mounted outside the vehicle then the panel put back in the car)



And the finished project. Wired at 4ohms, which I think does about 200 watts or so. Sub sounds great, blends in with the rest of the HK system perfectly and no rattles whatsoever.

06E5004ME

I like the original car you bought, just my $0.02.

Iqless

LOL

AMGAffalterbach

Resale value of a W211 isn't exactly sky high right now nor will it be down the road, let the man mod his car haha

beejAMG

I agree with the issue of resale value. But so far, all the mods I've seen are all reversible. I dont see any problems if he wants to sell the car later on...or burn it if he wants to, its his car! respect the owner! If he posts pics of his mods, you're entitled to comment but not to the point of laughing at what he's doin to his car. if you want, post pics of your car and leave a title "MY STOCK CAR". I for one will admire it for sure, but like I said. Its his car, not yours.

AMGAffalterbach

^ Could not have put it better. MBWorld is very mod-friendly in general minus a few old school members, so I'm surprised he got this response. He never asked you for any of the money for his car so he should be able to do what he wants.

One note here, I thought to myself it would be awesome to do a whiter LED setup for my interior lighting but when I came to think about it, I like the warm glow of the very yellow/amber ambient lighting in the cabin and how the reading lights also match that. Feels like a very warm place to be and it's much easier on the eyes.

Drag0na5h

I too like the nastalgic feeling of the welcome lights glowing warm. Although I am guilty of buying a full interior set with the intent of doing the swap, I've decided to keep them for use on the exterior so as to "keep up with the Joneses" and their Audi like LED equipped cars these days.

beejAMG

Its just a shame that owning a very prestigious marquee does not come with being a gentleman. I dont have anything with stock cars. Matter of fact i love em and admire em especially if the owner can keep it as clean as when it first drove out the dealership. Respect...its what separates the boys from men.

AMG, same here mate. Love the ambient color on my interior as well so ill keep em that way too. Imho, its more classy. My car may be a bit sporty outside but its a different feeling when im driving it especially at night time.