sybron

Hi Fellow Mercedes-Benz enthusiasts in Singapore

There has been a Mercedes-Benz forum at delphi (see http://forums.delphiforums.com/Mercedes306/start) for some time, but frankly, from the number of postings there, the MB community in Singapore seems to be rather lethargic.

So, let's see if we can drum up some following here among the Mercedes-Benz community in Singapore and change the image that Mercedes-Benz drivers in Singapore are Towkays (Rich Businessmen) and Old Men (Ah Peks).

The host (Evow124) of the delphi site organises monthly Kopi/Teh sessions. The next one will be held on 25 March 2006 at Kallang Mac tentatively at 2 pm.

So, we hope to see you there!

The Mixmaster

sybron

Why don't we give a little introduction of ourselves and our rides?

To get the ball rolling, I shall start with myself.

Nickname: The Mixmaster
Ride: W211 Black E-Class E320 Avantgarde
Mods: Full AMG bodykit, rear muffler and tail pipes, Style IV 18 inch rims, CL Grille & various other cosmetic exterior and interior mods
Hobbies: Cars, Consumer Electronics, Arsenal FC, TCSS (in no particular order)

Here is a picture of my ride (sorry, poor quality, I'll post better pictures later)

Cheers!

sybron

Hi

Who has NOT been to Cycle & Carriage's new Mercedes-Benz Centre? If not, do go and check it out. I was impressed. For the first time in my memory, Mercedes-Benz has a showroom in Singapore that is better than BMW (well, at least until Performance Motors Ltd's new building next door is ready).

See pictues posted at the BMWSG website - http://www.bmw-sg.com/forums/other-m...alexandra.html

During my visit to the new Mercedes-Benz Centre, I met a C&C sales executive that invited me to view the F1 season opening Bahrain Grand Prix on this Sunday (12 March) at the Mercedes-Benz Centre.

I think it is great that Cycle & Carriage is making an effort to woo the MB owners who love their cars for reasons other than just the prestige of the marque. Anyone else here going? If yes, please say hello.

CBlack

Hi here's my intro

Ride: W203 Black C180 Kompressor pre facelift
Mods: Exhaust tip, 18 inch rims, CL Grille, black projector headlight, clear side blinker, clear fog lens, tint tail light.
Future mods: Lowering my ride, carlsson front and rear lips + CRS side skirt, amg c55 trunk lip spoiler, amg front brake, performance mod probably Kbox and more...

Pics of my ride

sybron

Hi CBlack

Nice ride you got there! I am also interested in adding a Carlsson front lip spoiler to my E Class but it is really quite expensive. Autovox can bring them into Singapore. I wonder if there are replicas available for this? I don't really want to spend so much $$$ for a piece of kit that is likely to be kerbed easily.

Mixmaster

sybron

One of my next mods is to instal the Ipod adapter into my E-Class. Who wants to join me?

Benzsolution is doing this mod for me and I understand that the sound output will be a little softer (as mentioned by others o this forum), but as long as it is not too soft, I can accept it because of the convenience of being to play all my songs via an Ipod and the song names will appear on my instrument display. Anyone has feedback here about this mod?

I wanted to upgrade the Mercedes Comand system to have GPS but the price (I was quoted $13,000) is prohibitive and in my opinion, not worth it. Think I will look into buying an after-market GPS unit.

Mixmaster

CBlack

i got quote for the replica for about S$880 (excluding shipping) havent decided yet to get it or not cos not sure about quality and fitment.

gianfranc

Hey man do email this guy Steve info@MBenzNL.com to inquire about COMAND. He's a regular on this forum and sells any OEM Mercedes part for extremely good prices. He's based in Holland though. Wanted to buy a COMAND set from him but don't know who can install it here. I asked Benzsolution and AutoM Garage, but they told me that they couldnt do it. For my car he sells a good condition refurbished set for USD$1600 with a 3 month warranty and a new set with 12 month warranty for USD$2400.

If you do pursue this mod, pls tell me where u managed to install the set.

Oh yah i'll take some pics of my car soon. Car's an obsidian black facelifted w208 CLK230 Komp Avantgarde

Mods so far:
Brabus rear muffler
Brabus Mono V 18" w Michelin Pilot Sport 2
Brabus door pins
Brabus illuminated door sills
Brabus pedals
C32/C55 amg full brake kit with custom discs (front and rear)
Steel braided brake hose
OEM Xenon with upgraded Philips 6000k bulbs
Clear fogs with Philips 6000k HID
MP Design steering wheel (looks just like a Brabus wheel)
Bilstein shocks
Eibach springs
Boot lip spoiler
Smoked tail lights
Flat hood badge
Vkool window tint
Glare polish

Mods to come:
Brabus gear knob
Brabus replica add on full lip kit (front, sides, rear)
Custom CF lip for the Brabus front lip

Didnt want to get the original Brabus kit coz im scared i'll scrape the kit. Haha.

jrustrick

Hi all,

Good to know that there are other Merc enthusiasts out there. Brief intro of myself:

Ride: W203 Perlite Grey C-Class C200K Avantgarge (MY04) with optional 17" rims and lowered sports suspension.
Mods: MKB ECU Stage 1 tune, Kleemann Pulley, Fuel Pressure Regulator, Custom Header, K&N Filter, C32 AMG front brakes, iPod integration kit.
Planned mods: uprated intercooler, AMG bootlid spoiler, C55 AMG 18" rims
Hobbies: Cars, Consumer Electronics, Liverpool FC

Will try and meet you all at the meetup on 25th.

jrustrick

I already got the iPOD integration kit installed by Kent@BenzSolution. It's likely the best mod that I have done to the car. You're absolutely spot-on when you say that you can play all the songs via the iPod - 60GB means that you never have to change out once.

Drawbacks (as mentioned in other treads):
- volume level is soft. I usually need to crank it up 3 notches compared to radio/CD source outputs (even when these are leveled out). No major fuss... except that sometimes, when you switch from iPod back to Radio, you go deaf!
- The central display can only show the first 9 characters of any text that you're reading (genre, album name, artist, etc)... so it can be pain locating things. And the Audio 20 becomes completely useless when in iPod mode (none of the buttons work, display doesn't work, etc).
- You spend FAR TOO MUCH time staring at the instrument binnacle and not at the road when searching for stuff. Need to build discipline into switching albums/music at the lights or parked at side of road.

I'd say go for it.. especially if you already own an iPod.

heliosmatrix

Hi,

A simple introduction of myself:

Model - W203
Mods - AMG body kit, Exhaust tips, CL grille, Carlsson RS spoiler, 17" Oz rims

Future mods - Clear projector headlamp, maybe Remus exhaust, Kleemann ECU kit and big brake kit

Cheers!

shadowlord

Chopard Mille Miglia Private ****tail Party at the Mercedes Benz Center, AMG Arena level 3 on 15th March 2006 @7pm.

As stated, it is private, pls check with your sales person for the invite. It is only opened for 150 guests. I have one but i have to be in the US next week, so too bad. Not sure if got discount for the watches or accessories, but not harm to drown a few glasses of wine and have some eye candy.

kepiting

Hi CBlack,

Nice to see another done up C180.
Hope you will come to our coming meetup on the 25th Mar '06
http://forums.delphiforums.com/sgmer...ges?msg=217.16

Pics of my ride

sybron

Hi Gianfranc

I don't think I will pursue the COMAND with GPS mod because it is too risky to buy the COMAND set and not have anyone in Singapore who can instal it for me.

I'll save the money on some other mods. Haha.

sybron

Gianfranc

You got an impressive list of mods on your car man! I like your style of modding where you keep to a common "Brabus" theme. Two questions on your mods:

1 "OEM Xenon with upgraded Philips 6000k bulbs & Clear fogs with Philips 6000k HID" mod.

The OEM Xenons are already quite bright. Why do you need to upgrade to the Philips 6000k bulbs for the Xenons and 6000k HID for the fogs?

2 "Bilstein shocks & Eibach springs"

How much has your car's handling been improved and how much has it lowered your car?

sybron

Hi Jrustrick

I have decided to go for the Ipod integration kit. Thanks for your feedback. Kent told me that there is no need to create a special playlist with the Mercedes Ipod integration kit (unlike the Ipod kit for BMWs which I read on the BMWSG forum where someone said "also another bad point is that all your playlist must be named BMW_1, BMW_2 to the corresponding cd buttons on e radio interface .. you cant just plug in anyone's ipod .. it wont work .. they must be named bmw"- see http://www.bmw-sg.com/forums/i-c-e-s...highlight=ipod).

I can see that you are "performance" type of modder. Where did you do your performance mods?

sybron

Hi heliosmatrix

Please post some pics of your car bro!

Looks like quite a few of the bros here own W203 (C Class). See you around.

sybron

Bros

Another mod I have planned is to change my stock steering wheel to a MP Design steering wheel with quickshift "+" and "-" buttons. Benzline will be bringing in one for me soon.

As I have always wanted to have paddleshifts like those in the BMW M3, I think I will like the steering wheel with the quickshift buttons. Can anyone (who has done this mod or has a newer Mercedes such as the new SLK which comes with the quickshift buttons) can give any feedback about the quickshift buttons. How fun is it?

Steve of MBenzNL also posted on this forum that AMG will have a paddleshift kit availabe soon. See https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...34#post1510434 If I can do this mod, that would be really exciting!

sybron

Bros

Anyone know where I can get replica ///AMG floor mats such as those in the picture below? Those that appear on ebay are priced attractively but they are for left hand drive cars. I've contacted the vnedors on ebay before but they do not stock right hand drive floor mats.

Please let me know if you have any "lobang" for this.

sybron

Bros

My latest mod is to instal the illuminated door sills with "///AMG" logo. such the one in the picture. I got a set from R-Style at MBK in Bangkok for Bt 2,000 (revision - error, actual price is Bt 4,000 for the set of front (2) and back (2) sills).

In case you all didn't know, R-Style at Unit I32 on the 4th Floor of MBK stocks many car accessories including nice stuff for our Mercs. The last time I was there, I saw gear knobs, chrome door pins, badges, stickers, lights ...... too many items to list them all. All I can say is that the first time I went to R-Style, I was like a kid in a candy store.

If you know other places in Singapore, Malaysia or around the region where we can buy stuff for our Mercs, please share share hor!

gianfranc

I agree with you. No reliable installer = no mod! What a pity coz it would be cool to have.

Thanks for the compliment! Brabus has been my favourite brand since 1997. Saw it in a car magazine and fell in love with it.

To answer your questions:
1) My OEM xenons are not projectors like yours. They are the reflector type. So the beam is not very bright and kinda yellow. The 6000k's are extremely white. Not of hint of "blueness", which i like. Still not very bright compared to stock 4300k projectors though. If only i could find projector headlights for my car. And i got the fogs for show, to pair up with my OEM xenons and hated to change the fog lamp bulbs ever so often! Oh and the beam in front of my car is wider and the white is more pronounced, which i like. LOL!

2) In terms of lowering, i was quoted 30mm by benzline. Never actually measured how much it actually lowered my car by. I'll take a pic soon.
Initially, i just installed the eibach springs with stock shocks. Ride became very uncomfortable and i had to crawl over humps! But there was noticeable reduction in body roll. When the bilsteins were installed, the ride was super comfortable compared to before and i could go over humps at a moderate pace! The handling improved tremendously! Car felt much "smaller", like more taut! Really fun to corner fast. So now im not sure if i want to get Eibach sway bars. I'd recommend this combi! Unless you go to the track and want more performacne, then maybe you need coilovers.


Oh regarding the MP design steering wheel, mine looks similar to the pic u posted but with a different airbag cover. Interior trim is bird's eye maple as well. Get it man! Wheel feels thick and grippy and the perforated leather looks really nice. With the paddle shifters, it would be great!

Oh and ive actually seen the shop in MBK! 2000Bt is damn cheap! For front and back? Or just the front?

heliosmatrix

Hi Bro,

Sure! I will post once I change my fogs and headlamps to the clear and projector type. You have a great looking car especially there are not many E320 on the road. Cheers!

CBlack

hi kepiting,

i will try to make it on 25 Mar 06.

CBlack

[QUOTE=gianfranc]
2) In terms of lowering, i was quoted 30mm by benzline. Never actually measured how much it actually lowered my car by. I'll take a pic soon.
Initially, i just installed the eibach springs with stock shocks. Ride became very uncomfortable and i had to crawl over humps! But there was noticeable reduction in body roll. When the bilsteins were installed, the ride was super comfortable compared to before and i could go over humps at a moderate pace! The handling improved tremendously! Car felt much "smaller", like more taut! Really fun to corner fast. So now im not sure if i want to get Eibach sway bars. I'd recommend this combi! Unless you go to the track and want more performacne, then maybe you need coilovers.

QUOTE]

Hi gianfranc, did you get the eibach springs and the bilsteins shocks from Benzline? How much did you pay?

slkfans

Hi guys.

Great to meet all of you here. It is hard to come by to gather a group of mercedes enthusiast...we only had the SLK club community before...

An intro to my ride :

Nickname : SLKFANS
Mods " Kleemann M271 Performance Kit, Kleemann K-Box, AMG Shock Absorbers (Front & Rear), AMG springs, AMG Body Kit, 18" LM-6 replica Rims, AMG 55 4 piston Rear brake calipers, AMG C32 front brake calipers (AMG 6 piston front calipers on its way ), AMG Quad Exhaust. Spearco Intercooler. High Flow Metallic Cats. AMG F1 Steering with shift pedals (on its way )...AMG illuminated door sills, AMG Gear Knob, AMG Tail lights, AMG Centre brake lights, AMG Boot Lip Spoiler.