155

I've been on MBWorld for a number of years and happy to be back having sold my my W211 E500 to my father in law early 2011. He ended up with a terrific car. On a side note, I have a set of E63 brakes on my old 500 that I may re-inherit ;-)

I've lurking for in this forum (W251) for a while, doing the regular due dilligence stuff and happy to report that I've pulled the trigger on a 2006 R350 4MATIC. It wasn't quite the car i was looking for; I really wanted the DVD package and Pano roof but at the price I paid it was a no brainer... it has had some undocumented paint work on each side but barely noticeable and acceptable to me for a 6 year old car. Otherwise, everything original.

Asking: $22,999
Sold: $18,300
Mileage: 62,000 kms
Accidents: None
Others: 3 month warranty

The car is pretty much a base model for all intents and purposes:
245 ON-BOARD COMPUTER
280 LEATHER STEERING WHEEL AND LEATHER GEAR SHIFT KNOB
414 ELECTRIC TILT/SLIDE SUNROOF IN GLASS VERSION
427 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION 7-SPEED
461 INSTRUMENT WITH MILES IND. AND ENGLISH LEGEND
494 VERSION FOR USA
519 REAR AUDIO SYSTEM
524 PAINTWORK - PRESERVATION
551 ANTI-THEFT/ANTI-BREAK-IN WARNING SYSTEM
580 AIR CONDITIONING
636 DELETION - WARNING TRIANGLE
806 AEJ 06/1/M/X
810 SOUND SYSTEM
819 CD CHANGER
840 DARK TINTED GLASS
848 ELEC. SIDE WINDOWS
904 EQUIPMENT PACKAGE BASIC
M35 DISPLACEMENT 3.5 LITER
R41 LA - 18" 10 SPOKE DESIGN

Having owned a W203 C230 Sport Sedan (6 speed!) and a W211 E500 in the past I thought you would be interested to hear my feedback of the R's driving experience. Here are my thoughts of the driving experience:

First off, R's look a million times better in person than they do in pictures. Somehow the detail of the front end, grill, fender flares, side skirts just get lost in pictures. It's a really stunning car.

It's a nice drive, feels like a true Mercedes-Benz product which can't be said with some of their product e.g. B-Class, SMART cars. From a fit/finish perspective I had my reservations it being a made-in-the-US car but I was pleasantly surprised, it feels just as solid as my W211. It's a shame I got the 040 Black as I had Obsidian Black in my W211 and loved the color - that's just splitting hairs at this point.

Despite the size of this vehicle it feels surprisingly small from the cockpit. With the short'ish nose, amazing visibility and how the dash and centre console wraps around you it feels smaller than my W211. Visibility is ridiculously good and that was a key factor in the decision process.

7 speed transmission is nice coming from their tried and true 5 speed but it's not without issues. I'm confident an upgraded valve body and TCU update will rectify the "rough" 1st to 2nd and 3rd to 2nd shifting. I do like the steering wheel shifters. I also find the general shifting much better than my E500 as it seems to meddle less at redline.

Motor wise not as quick as my E500, less torque and you feel it in a car this size. With the HP made up high it doesn't feel as linear as the V8 but revs more freely and IMO more exhilarating.

Standard coil suspension is a million times better IMO, I felt airmatic just didn't feel natural or predictable at the limit. You definitely feel the 4matic as it doesn't feel as nimble as RWD variant but that was a sacrifice I was happy to make.

Brakes are also hugely improved over the W211 which lacked feel and just felt over assisted. As mentioned, i'm hoping to fit my E63 brake set (incl. spindles) on this R350 if it fits. Can anyone chime in?

Thanks guys, looking forward to reading and contributing as much as I can on this forum

155

On to the mods!

This is what i've ordered so far:
> H&R Sport Springs
> OEM AMG 21 x 9" wheels ET48/60
> Pirrelli P-Zero tires 265/40/21
> DTM W251/W164 Flat bottom steering wheel, all leather
> OEM W251 new style carpeted floor mats
> OEM W251 all season rubber floor mats
> OEM W251 all season cargo mat
> OEM AMG W164 exhaust tips
> OEM AMG W251 front bumper skin
> OEM W251 cargo cover

I'll need to figure out the rear bumper situation at some point.

Future mods include:
> Powerchip 93 Octane tune + K&N filters
> OEM W164 aluminum pedals
> iPod + Bluetooth kits
> Sprintbooster - maybe?
> 2011 OEM W251 style mirrors
> OEM AMG W251 rear bumper
> OEM R63 wheel arch trim (when bumper installed)

xxGenericSNxx

And let the modding begin!

Where are you ordering the rims from? I have those 21s on my car but all four are ET60 and I'll need to put a 20mm spacer on the rear and 10mm spacer on the front. So if I were you, I'd get ET48 all around and then you'd only have to put 10mm spacers on the rear.

Please share more details on the steering wheel.

If you go with an AMG front bumper might as well do the rear as well, especially if you're doing quad tips.

Also please remove that ridiculous dealer badge on the trunk!

In regards to the brakes- yeah good luck on finding information on that swap. Like anyone's done an AMG brake swap on what is pretty much a soccer mom's car (no offense- especially since I have a soccer mom's car as well). Like most of the stuff I did with my car, it's a matter of just playing with it and winging it to see if you can get it to work.


TBH, instead of doing an AMG bumper swap which IMO is kind of boring- perhaps look into a Lorinser, Brabus, or Carlsson add on kit that will work with your stock bumpers. Or if you're game look at doing a Wald Black Bison front and rear treatment with their quad tips.

Also recommend painting the orange reflectors black.


Anyways enjoy the car in good health. Can't wait to see some progress pics!

155

These are the AMG rims, the standard ones off the GL550. You're right that I could've opted for different offsets but figured to play it safe and pick up spacers as needed. I've done the stanceworks thing and haven gotten extreme in the past, namely with my E36 M3 but this is primarly my wife's ride so......




What i've yet to figure out is the TPMS and if i need new sensors or if they can be pulled off my stock rims.

I really don't have a lot of information on the steering wheel as I picked it up off eBay, bit of a roll of the dice. I had an all leather DTM flat bottom steering wheel from DCT Motorsports but I didn't like the variants they have for the W164, the FabricArt one looks x10 better IMO, hopefully the fit/finish and quality of the leather is just as good:



Funny you mentioned the dealer badge, I had them remove it before i took delivery lol!

The front bumper was a dilema for me. I dropped 10k on my E63 body kit back in the day and with a big reno at our house just completing i've been trying to keep the costs down. Ideally I would go Wald front/rear, hands down, and very likely I'll probably do it in the future when cash is flowing a little more freely. Wald looks OEM, fit/finish good etc. IMO the black bison is what the R63 should've looked like from the factory!

I bought my used AMG bumper for $160 and was thinking of adding the new E-Class quad fogs - as inspired by RodneyC77



I was going to ask you, what are your reasons for sticking with stock suspension? Any concern of your Wald scraping if you lowered it? I would've preferred to stay stock ride height but really feel lowered suspension and a fairly aggressive alignment would work wonders on these cars... it doesn't feel all that nimble then again as i've never owned a 4matic vehicle.

And thanks for your build thread, it's been inspirational

xxGenericSNxx

My steering wheel is being done by DCTMS and it's not going to be like anything on their website for our cars. I also had my own ideas thrown into the mix so it'll be a little different while also looking similar to yours.

Those rims are ML rims and offset is ET48 for all four from that OEMwheelsLLC on eBay. The ones I got area form the same seller but for the R Class and ET60 all around- even though factory spec is ET60 front and ET48 rear. The labels the seller has on the wheels are incorrect. Like I said your image is found on the ML and the other AMG 21" rims are for the R. They all work with the three Alabama cars- just trying to clarify.

I used the stock TPMS from the old rims. However, don't know if there's some complication as I occasionally get a "correct tire pressure" message only when I turn the car off- and only sometimes. And the tire pressure is correct. So go figure.

Stock height for the AMG with Wald front is very low. I have to raise the air suspension when parking for fear of scraping. I also raise it when entering some driveways just to be safe. It's possible the AMG suspension is slightly lower than the non AMG variants- even though the brochure says all cars are the same height. I think the wheel gap stance for the front is nice, just need to lower the rear a little. Your example may be different.

Yes, Wald front is how it should've been from the factory. The back Wald is just okay for me- I prefer the sculpted side lines on the AMG.

Eh- don't think suspension would make that big of a difference for you. It's a very heavy car running a V6. Even I don't feel that my car is "fast" like a sports car. It's more "quick" and can get you up to speed without a fuss- but it's not throw you into the back of your seat fast. I mean it's a van, so you can't expect handling from a C63 which is much shorter and lighter.

As for the stupid dealer badge- I made sure mine didn't put it on when I got the car. (all other cars on their lot had it but the owner was driving this one so I guess he didn't want that stupid ugly thing)
Thanks man can't wait to see what others do!

155

Yeah, going custom with the steering wheel is a great call. To what degree can you influence the design? strictly materials? shape? Its always a bit tough when you can't touch/feel it...

I'll definitely post detailed pictures and feedback when i get it in my hands.

Hey that's great news on the rims, thanks for clarifying. I like stance so would be happy to have the ET48 all around. It's funny though, the ad on eBay and supporting pictures all showed ET48/60 and his general feedback was good so... Regardless it worked out better for me.

Thanks for the note on the TPMS!

Are you planning to get the angel eyes working on your fogs? Do all the new Merc's with quad fogs light up at the same time like yours?

Also, have you seen the ugly bumper lights in other colors besides amber e.g. smoked, clear etc.?

Interesting feedback on the 63 power. I suppose its all relative... my daily is a leased '10 Civic SI so anything with more than 200hp feels fast LOL

xxGenericSNxx

MB with OEM quad fogs- I believe- don't ever light up all at the same time. I think one light does fog duties and the other does daytime running light duties. I don't recall ever seeing all four on at once.

Having the shop and tech work on a fix for the angel eyes. I'll get it working eventually.

In regards to the steering wheel, anything's possible with the right amount of money. Pretty much it's up to your imagination. The list of standard options from DCTMS seems near endless, you can choose shape, leather material and color, trim material and color, optional airbag in leather, AMG stamp, paddleshifter fitting, etc. I did request a custom idea into my wheel that I'll share with you guys once I have it installed in my car just to make my wheel even more unique and bespoke. One thing they couldn't do, though, is a custom heated steering wheel since the heating element is built into the leather. So once they strip off the leather, they ruin the heater. It's a slight negative but nothing I can really do about it. (My car doesn't have the heated wheel to begin with, but thought it'd be cool to retrofit if I can get it customized to my specs).

If you're confused about the rims just contact the seller and ask him. Hist name's AJ. I've spoken with him on the phone and he's real honest and informative. From my memory those rims are ET48 all around but I may be mistaken. BTW I was debating between my rims and yours- can't wait to see how it looks on your car. Which tires are you getting, the ContiContact 2? All 2 or 3 tires in the 265/40/21 are summer. So you'll keep the stocks for the winter?

155

When do you get the new steering wheel? What was the lead time?

It was interesting, i walked by a GL550 the other day, with the 21's i'm getting and it's amazing how A) how frigg'n big they are and B) how gorgeous they look. My brakes will look like the size of tea dishes. I read that your wheel style is a factory option in EU i believe, very cool.

Yeah not a lot of variety in that tire size. I went with a set of Pirelli PZero's... Should be a nice tire I ran them before in my C230K SS and liked them.

On a side note i've decided to go with Kleemann's K1 tune. If I can at least get better throttle response i'll be a happy man. It's straight up terrible out-of-the-box for the M272, or maybe its specifically for the R, I don't know. They claim 300hp which seems a tad bullish, we'll see, I do have to get my ecu shipped this week.

Really looking forward to getting these parts installed, namely the suspension and rims. I'll def get pics up at my earliest opportunity.

xxGenericSNxx

Can't wait to see how it goes!

Might need to do a BBK on yours. I know the non AMGs have 13" rotors front and rear compared to the AMG's 15.4 and 14.X front and rear.

DCTMS just got my donor wheel last week and they're working on the paddle shift retrofit as we speak. Then it gets sent off to do CF and leather work which I suspect will take 4 weeks or possibly longer (my interior trim took about 3.5 weeks). So I think in 5-8 weeks I should get it (I threw the 8 week figure out there as car stuff always takes longer than expected to get done).

155

Not a lot to report on but definitely a worthy milestone - tossed in pedals, mats and rims. I have all of my parts shipped to a post office just across the border so just getting parts in my hands is an ordeal.

The R's going in Monday for Service D and hopefully resolve the jerky transmission issue as well as a few other odds and ends.

Steering wheel and lowering hopefully next week depending how long the R's out of commission.

More to come

xxGenericSNxx

Love the rims!

taranch

Lovin the rims! What kind, how much and from where? If you don't mind me asking.

xxGenericSNxx

They're Euro AMG 21" ML rims. From eBay for around $2,000 shipped, new in box. (got my 21" AMG R rims from the same place).


BTW 155, how do you think the ET48 looks all around? Mine are ET60 all around and I'm thinking about doing a 20mm spacer in the rear and 10mm in front.

Is your front wheel pretty flush with the fender?

155

ET48 looks really nice on these cars - very much like factory and a look 99% of the people out there would be happy with. If you wanted the "perfect' stance then moving to your proposed ET40 front, ET50 rear would be ideal.

Your research indicates The rear wheels are inset slightly, the fronts are a bit more aggressive. I can confirm that's exactly the case.

Based on your wheel spacer selection you should have it nailed perfectly. I may consider a 5mm spacer out rear but it'll depend how it looks once lowered. On a side note I picked up rear links on the weekend from adjustableairride.com which I decided to do over STAR.

BTW, car is booked for suspension+alignment next Monday! ,, oh ya, front is flush.

xxGenericSNxx

Can't wait to hear your updates on lowering it. I'll go via STAR since I've already got my tech lined up and he knows exactly what to do.

I'll need to find some time and order the darned spacers.

155

Not much progress with the mods - unfortunately I had to reschedule lowering due to delays with warranty work. On a positive note my aftermarket warranty covered my rough shifting issue! A whopping $3,200 to replace valve body and updated flashes to the computers. Wow, dodged a major bullet there. Anyone else go thru this recently? Makes me wonder about all the 06/07 7g owners out of warranty...

Service D done at $650. Transmission flush was $500 (wtf??).

update: looks like I may have my transmission replaced another 2 weeks

rodneyc77

Yes, you're right. I originally installed the glass fogs (inner) and plastic daytime (outers) and installed HIDs on both with a rewire of course. Within 3 minutes the HID bulbs melted the outers completely.

As seen.



I then installed the glass fogs in the outer position (with a little manipulation of course).



I have lowered my R extensively. Not sure exactly how much. But the measurement from the centerline of the wheel/hub to edge of fender is 15 inches... I made custom rear air springs because the factory rear air springs were too deflated (40 psi) at my drive height and was too bouncy.

xxGenericSNxx

Cool! Do you have more pictures?

rodneyc77

I don't have many...

xxGenericSNxx

You should take your car out and do a proper shoot.
Hah, just realized we both have quad fogs although mine are bright white bulbs. Didn't want to deal with the hassle of xenons.

155

Update: I got my steering wheel and suspension installed... Also picked up an AMG rear bumper. The front AMG bumper I bought was crap so had to chuck it unfortunately

Anyone know how to adjust picture orientation on this web site? Its not all that iPhone friendly.

The steering wheel is pretty sick, fit and finish is great, my only complaint is the quality of materials used for the price tag. I looked closely at a Brabus wheel the other day and it's got the opposite problem, nice materials, ugly stock shape.





Suspension is sitting a hair too low out back so will get it dialed up. I have an appointment later today... to refresh everyone's memory I'm running H&R springs front and links rear. I'm also going to pick up some rear spacers... think i'll go with 15mm.

rodneyc77

Looks good... Keep up the good work.

xxGenericSNxx

Sweet! The steering wheel is very aggressive, mine will be a similar shape. By crappy materials do you mean the quality of the leather?

Let me know how your spacer search goes. Right now it's sort of a hassle to figure out the bolt lengths needed and other small details.

Your car is sitting nice and lower than mine. I did STAR to try and lower the rear but it won't go as low as wanted. Doesn't your car have air suspension in the back? I thought it's standard that they all have self leveling in the rear. Any issues with camber and alignment when lowering the car?

Do you still have interest in my AMG front bumper?

When I upload my photos I always download them to the computer first. Then I can make the orientation adjustment if needed. I then upload it to Photobucket and do a direct [IMG] link back to this site.

pacoman

155, you had mentioned changing out the original pedals and replacing them with AMG pedals. Two questions: 1. How are they with daily use? For example, are they grippy enough with just the rubber studs? Does the metal in between the studs get dirty easily? Would you recommend the change now that you've done it? 2. Isn't it true that the AMG pedals only replace the gas and brake pedals but not the emergency brake pedal?

155

Awesome, look forward to you getting yours installed. How far out now? Although super expensive and hard to justify at the time once installed it really adds to the driving experience. I like stuff you can feel and in that respect its good value, you're always touching it!

You know i was super happy with it until i came across a used R/ML/GL Brabus wheel that was sitting at the shop. They use really nice leather. The shape doesn't appeal to me but you know how it is, "once you see something nicer...." with that said i'm happy with how my mine turned out. Really aggressive, something that would look at home on a CLK BS. As for the materials once i've used it a bit more it's beginning to soften up and feel nicer.

The longer bolt thing should be relatively easy to sort out. Take out a stock one, add Xmm to the length. In my case, 15mm. But sure there are a few other technicalities to sort out...

Yes, all R's including mine have the air suspension out rear. With the adjustable links you can lower it to your hearts content. I ended up sticking with the ride height in the pics as i'm confident the front springs will lower a bit once settled.

I'm honestly amazed how much better this thing handles with the new wheels and suspension. No more body roll, more confidence in corner entry apex and exit. Goodbye lofty cadillac pogo stick bounce. The pedals and steering wheel are the cherry on top.

For sure man i'm interested in your bumper. Finding a skin without Parktronic is near impossible on these cars. I will need to check with my body man first on filling the holes as I don't want to negate any savings with the additional prep work.

... thanks for the suggestion on the picture orientation but i've already tried that with no success. It's a bit strange I won't lie!

What was the verdict on the rear diffuser? Were you able to get it going? I wish I was able to get on board but $ is tight.