So an old time petrol head with a car history that includes a plethora of convertibles including, Mazda mx5 mk1 and mk2, VW EOS, BMW z4 3.0, z4 3.0si, 330ci, Porsche Boxster 987 and Boxster S 981... so yea, a definite fetish for driving with the roof down for many years now
Never really had the opportunity to climb into my own supercar though. finally found a way to change that though with this GTC! Came across it at a dealer close to where I live in Dubai around a year ago. Car was flood damaged in the states, repaired (badly) and bought over to DXB as an import to be sold.
Dealer had it up for AED240K (around $65K). Too rich for my liking given its condition and history, however last month i was next door to the dealer getting tyres on the porsche and wandered back in there noticing it was still in the corner I made a cheeky offer of 190K AED ($51'750) knowing they had sat on it for a long time and that i would need to spend a decent amount of money on it... back and forth and eventually settled on the equivalent of $54K and this very pretty little car with only 21'000KM (vin history checked!) now belongs to me.
Given the flood repaired background, the repair to get it back on the road cutting corners, plus the car being a US import into the UAE, I paired up with a reputable local merc specialist called Digitec Performance and we have already got to work.
The car didnt have any history docs (or even the document wallet and service book for that matter!) so first port of call was to list out everything i both needed and wanted before working out a plan of action...and its long!
Peace of Mind Work and maintenance:
Major Service (no idea when it was last done. could have been 500km ago, could have never been done. better safe than sorry!)
Gearbox/diff oil service (I have heard the horror stories about the Getrag 7DCL750. again... better safe than sorry!)
V belts, tensioners, pulleys and guides for alternator and waterpump
Fixes:
Screenwash pump replacement (not working at all)
Interior passenger door handle not working
Boot/trunk lid misaligned
Auto stop/start not working
Interior parktronic warning lights broken/not fixed in place
boot/trunk interior side panel cover for sue box missing completely
both rear light moldings inside the trunk missing
engine under cover/protection panel missing
gearbox/substructure under cover/protection missing
Cosmetic paint work: MATT GREY (existing body colour)
Chrome Door handles
Front bumper (There is a small ding that will be repaired first)
Front bumper middle lower insert that is in plain non-painted plastic
Rear trunk lid
rear wings/fenders - (blending only)
Rear bumper (after removing american spec bumperettes and fill holes)
Lower plastic below rear bumper that is currently in non-painted plastic
BLACK (Satin gloss, to match the black part near side mirrors)
Full front grill
Mercedes badge on front grill - (only the outer ring, will leave the centre/tri-star as is with no change.)
Front bumper bottom lower insert that is currently in plain non-painted plastic
Chrome trims contained in front bumper
Chrome Side sills
Chrome parts of Side vents in front wings
Chrome exhaust tips
Chrome trim on rear bumper lower area
Rear bumper air guide insert
Electronics:
factory reset the vehicle
Replace factory head unit with DMP Screen kit
code steering wheel to match buttons (car has the later spec NTG 5.5 wheel but coding is still to previous 5.0 and buttons dont all function correctly)
Stage 1 tune (i researched all the majors, renntech, eurocharged etc, but given Digitec are the UAE authorised tuner for GAD and some of the monsters that GAD produce, i decided to go with GAD )
so far, service, gearbox/diff oil change, roof and DMP kit are done. car went back into garage yesterday for all the cosmetic work, the stage 1 and some of the fixes as well. working with a budget of around AED50k / $13K usd to get it sorted which it turns out has been just about doable for all the above (the UAE distributor Gargash wanted half that amount just to register the car with them before they would even consider any work on it because its a grey import so third party specialists for the win!)
Future plans include facelift euro-spec headlights and an interior retrim (another AED35K or so) but for now, once i have the car back next week on friday after the main big list above, i plan to just enjoy it for a while. maybe a drive to Oman and back for the hell of it at some point! If anyone has any other recomendations of works and/or preventative maintenance, im all ears
couple of poor quality pics below, but will get some proper ones once i have it back in my hands after its pamper session. looking forward to learning a bit more about these lovely beasts!
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
