Depressed...
Member
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 119
Likes: 56
From: SD
2000 C230 - 2001 E430 - 2003 E320 -
Sorry you didn't take the car of an indy to look it over before the $1500 was spent. But here you are. Just about everything on the list you can do yourself - and can ignore some of it given your stated goal is hold it short term and keep costs down as much as possible.
Front Coil Springs Replaced (2) - ignore for now unless they are cracked or broken. If you replace you have to match the correct part number and colors (there are three paint stripes on the springs that identify them).
New Mufflers (2) - unless you see an actual hole - ignore.
New 3rd Brake Light - ignore unless your state inspection requires it. You can do this yourself.
Short in Trunk Light System. Trace the wiring - look for something obvious. Or ignore.
New Front Suspension Top Plates (2) - if you replace the front shocks, just replace these at the same time since you already removed the old ones.
New Shock Absorbers (2). Bounce test the car. Is it more movement than you want? If so you can get some bilsteins. The hard part is recompressing the coil over shock assembly - requires a GOOD spring compressor - not the kind of stuff you will have or can pick up for low cost. What I did was take my new shocks and old springs to a local indy shop that did toyotas and asked if their tech could attach them for me. Gave them $40 bucks. These springs are under CRAZY force - do not use home type of spring compressors on them unless you have a death wish. I'm not kidding here.
New Front Axles (2) - was this in an accident and they are bent? Unless they are bent, ignore. Do the 12/6 oclock wiggle test to see if you need to look into this more.
New Front Ball Joints (2). Jack up the front end. Do the 3/9 oclock wiggle test. Even if the boots are shot, if you don't get movement, ignore. Or you can replace these - it is not a hard job - pickup a front end kit on amazon or harbor freight or borrow one from Autozone.
Rear Exhaust shield covers (repaired). Ignore unless they are gone or around the rear driver seat (fuel tank). Then pick up some hand cutters and enough sheet metal. Cut out and use self taping short screws and repair it yourself. You just want to put a barrier between the heat and the underbody by the fuel tank with an air gap on both sides.
New Trunk Lock Mechanism. You can replace this easily.
Short Circuit in Passenger Seat. ignore unless it is unusable
Online places like rmeuropean.com, fcpauto, eeuroparts, etc all carry the parts you want. Heck amazon sometimes has better prices. The main thing you need is the EPC (electronics parts catalog) and ideally the WIS factory manuals so you can see how to do this stuff and know what to get. Look on ebay and you can find EPC/WIS for under $20 - they run on a vm on your computer and yes they do work.
The main thing is making sure the car is safe. It has to be properly aligned and safe to drive (no broken springs and shocks that at least try and reduce movement). Steering needs to be solid so it does not drift. For alignment you really only have one choice - the dealer - $200. Very few indy shops have the gear to properly align these cars.
The good news is - you will learn a lot fixing what you can. The bad news - it will take you some time, a selection of metric tools (don't forget those E sockets), torque wrenches, etc.
Front Coil Springs Replaced (2) - ignore for now unless they are cracked or broken. If you replace you have to match the correct part number and colors (there are three paint stripes on the springs that identify them).
New Mufflers (2) - unless you see an actual hole - ignore.
New 3rd Brake Light - ignore unless your state inspection requires it. You can do this yourself.
Short in Trunk Light System. Trace the wiring - look for something obvious. Or ignore.
New Front Suspension Top Plates (2) - if you replace the front shocks, just replace these at the same time since you already removed the old ones.
New Shock Absorbers (2). Bounce test the car. Is it more movement than you want? If so you can get some bilsteins. The hard part is recompressing the coil over shock assembly - requires a GOOD spring compressor - not the kind of stuff you will have or can pick up for low cost. What I did was take my new shocks and old springs to a local indy shop that did toyotas and asked if their tech could attach them for me. Gave them $40 bucks. These springs are under CRAZY force - do not use home type of spring compressors on them unless you have a death wish. I'm not kidding here.
New Front Axles (2) - was this in an accident and they are bent? Unless they are bent, ignore. Do the 12/6 oclock wiggle test to see if you need to look into this more.
New Front Ball Joints (2). Jack up the front end. Do the 3/9 oclock wiggle test. Even if the boots are shot, if you don't get movement, ignore. Or you can replace these - it is not a hard job - pickup a front end kit on amazon or harbor freight or borrow one from Autozone.
Rear Exhaust shield covers (repaired). Ignore unless they are gone or around the rear driver seat (fuel tank). Then pick up some hand cutters and enough sheet metal. Cut out and use self taping short screws and repair it yourself. You just want to put a barrier between the heat and the underbody by the fuel tank with an air gap on both sides.
New Trunk Lock Mechanism. You can replace this easily.
Short Circuit in Passenger Seat. ignore unless it is unusable
Online places like rmeuropean.com, fcpauto, eeuroparts, etc all carry the parts you want. Heck amazon sometimes has better prices. The main thing you need is the EPC (electronics parts catalog) and ideally the WIS factory manuals so you can see how to do this stuff and know what to get. Look on ebay and you can find EPC/WIS for under $20 - they run on a vm on your computer and yes they do work.
The main thing is making sure the car is safe. It has to be properly aligned and safe to drive (no broken springs and shocks that at least try and reduce movement). Steering needs to be solid so it does not drift. For alignment you really only have one choice - the dealer - $200. Very few indy shops have the gear to properly align these cars.
The good news is - you will learn a lot fixing what you can. The bad news - it will take you some time, a selection of metric tools (don't forget those E sockets), torque wrenches, etc.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 6,190
Likes: 1,550
From: MA
2008 E350 4Matic, 2011 E350 4matic
You can get them aligned at any shop. They basically only set toe which anyone can do. The other two really aren't adjustable anyway and if they're off badly, there's probably some frame damage or parts wear that can't be fixed by an alignment anyway. They should be able to measure it and tell you how far out of spec the other two are. I just get a 3 year alignment warranty at Goodyear, about $179 for 3 years. Every year or so, with all the potholes in the area, it gets knocked out and once they set the toe, it's fine again. NTB and Firestone also offer anywhere from 3-5 to lifetime alignment packages.
