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I haz all the dad cars - R63 AMG, 2022 GLB 250, and a 2018 E63 Wagon.
Portland, OR R63 Restoration Thread
Hi, my name is Rich and I’m a long time lurker, first time poster here.
I just took delivery of this fetching beast today and thought I’d start a thread about the restoration.
As you may have seen, I won this on Bring a Trailer last month. You can find a bunch more pictures there, but its rainy right now and the car is filthy so no new pictures at the moment.
Much like xxGenericSNxx in Seattle, this car has many non pampered miles under the belt. It currently has almost 143,000 miles on the odometer and has shuffled around 3 prior owners. I myself have been quite pampered the last ten years as my wife and I each lease a new Mercedes every year through her special work discount (she works for Daimler Trucks). It’s a tremendous deal but doesn’t afford us access to AMG’s. I also must admit I had forgotten what a 13 year old family car looks and smells like....The previous owner seemed like a heck of a nice guy and car collector, but also liked to haul his dogs everywhere.....which is sadly obvious.
The car was originally Alabaster white but resprayed last year in a what I was told is Magno Alanite Grey. The paint job is pretty good, though the glass was left in and there is a lot of overspray that will need to be dealt with. On the positive side I believe the car has every available option including:
P03 Premium 3- Distronic, Keyless Go 289 Wood Leather Steering Wheel 319 Lighting Package- Cornering fog lamps, Bi-Xenon Active Headlights, Headlamp Washers 864 Rear Seat Entertainment- 2 Screens on back of front seats, DVD player with two inputs, Second row center console 872 Heated Rear Seats 396 Linguatronic Voice Recognition
Known Issues:
Mismatched key fobs
Keyless go is not functioning
Leather On the front seats and door pulls needs to be stripped and recolored
Plastic trim is cracked in several places
Plastic trim is discolored
Many of the door seals are in poor condition
Paint overspray is evident under hood and on some of the interior trim
Smells like dog and needs a very thorough detailing
I’m also not sure if the head bolts have been replaced and will be scheduling that work shortly. The previous owner had done a bunch of service in the year prior to the sale including replacement of the water pump and A/C compressor as well as brake pads all around. I’m hoping that we will be set for a while after the initial set of work, but I’m under no disillusions that a high-strung and high-mileage beast like this will be trouble free. I just hope the repair bills don’t offset the smile quotient anytime soon...
I'm looking forward to updates on your R63. I love mine. I'm especially interested in hearing about your experience when you replace the head bolts, as mine probably needs to have that done as well.
I haz all the dad cars - R63 AMG, 2022 GLB 250, and a 2018 E63 Wagon.
Originally Posted by 1955W196S
I'm looking forward to updates on your R63. I love mine. I'm especially interested in hearing about your experience when you replace the head bolts, as mine probably needs to have that done as well.
As luck would have it my local dealer, Mercedes of Portland, did another R63 two years ago for what looks to be less than $1,000. I know this because that owner posted the invoice in his BaT auction.
I followed that auction! That build makes me weak in the knees, but would make my bank and spouse both leave me. There is a reason I bought the least expensive R63 available! With that said, that cold start video was glorious! Do we think it's possible to imitate that exhaust note on the cheap? What's the most reasonable long-tube header option with high-flow cats?
Otherwise my build goals are more modest. I'm hoping to spend the next few months bringing it as close to showroom fresh as I can on a limited budget. If nothing else, that dog scent has to go!
I haz all the dad cars - R63 AMG, 2022 GLB 250, and a 2018 E63 Wagon.
Originally Posted by Joseph~
If you have never read or seen the posting /thread titled ; "R63 AMG The Unicorn of my Destruction"
You should do a Google search for it and review.
Also review the following video, it is about the same R63 from that posting / thread.
Regards
Joseph~
Thanks Joseph! I was well aware of that and even had my wife read about it before I bought mine. There was no other way to convince her I was going to spend new car money on a 13 year old Mercedes wagon AND THEN spend a few grand on preventative maintenance.
I followed that auction! That build makes me weak in the knees, but would make my bank and spouse both leave me. There is a reason I bought the least expensive R63 available! With that said, that cold start video was glorious! Do we think it's possible to imitate that exhaust note on the cheap? What's the most reasonable long-tube header option with high-flow cats?
Otherwise my build goals are more modest. I'm hoping to spend the next few months bringing it as close to showroom fresh as I can on a limited budget. If nothing else, that dog scent has to go!
A lot of folks followed that auction, including a lot of R63 owners. I stand in awe of what the owner of that car did. His R63 is fantastic. But long term, either the R63 will continue to depreciate like every other minivan, or as some of us think/hope/pray, this unique and rare world's fastest production minivan will become a niche collector car and prices will rise. If that happens, then I would expect that the R63's collector value would be based on the same criteria as other collectable cars: original is always better. The owner who built the Weistec R63 kept all the original parts so that the car could be brought back to original spec for just that eventuality. But what would that cost (on top of what he spent on making the changes)? While there is something in me that would love to experience the feeling of putting my foot down on a 700 hp R63, to be honest, a 500 hp R63 is pretty impressive, and I feel plenty privileged to have a "normal" R63 because a "normal" R63 is an extraordinary car!
Personally, I can't get enough R63 info. I've watched the Doug DeMuro video, the original Legit Street Cars video and his more recent video of Noah's "Unicorn" R63, several other videos, and read all 120+ pages of "The Unicorn of my Destruction" post. I even started my own post on Grassroots motorsports entitled "Another Mercedes R63 AMG Adventure". And now you are starting your own R63 adventure. May your adventure (and mine) be much less "exciting" than the "Unicorn" adventure. With performance car ownership comes good exciting and bad exciting. I hope that your build will go smoothly. I'm really looking forward to following your progress.
I followed that auction! That build makes me weak in the knees, but would make my bank and spouse both leave me. There is a reason I bought the least expensive R63 available! With that said, that cold start video was glorious! Do we think it's possible to imitate that exhaust note on the cheap? What's the most reasonable long-tube header option with high-flow cats?
Otherwise my build goals are more modest. I'm hoping to spend the next few months bringing it as close to showroom fresh as I can on a limited budget. If nothing else, that dog scent has to go!
The Supercharged R63 on BAT had Weistec headers/high flow cats. I found that it was too loud. When I had my first R63 about 10 years ago, I always wanted the stock exhaust to sound a bit louder.
With the second R63 that I purchased recently, I had the resonators deleted. It is much louder than stock, but quieter than the Supercharged R63 with headers/cats. For me, the resonator delete is acceptable.
If you do the delete, makes sure you find someone who is experienced with stainless steel tig welding so there are no issues in the future.
I haz all the dad cars - R63 AMG, 2022 GLB 250, and a 2018 E63 Wagon.
Originally Posted by rbtmak
The Supercharged R63 on BAT had Weistec headers/high flow cats. I found that it was too loud. When I had my first R63 about 10 years ago, I always wanted the stock exhaust to sound a bit louder.
With the second R63 that I purchased recently, I had the resonators deleted. It is much louder than stock, but quieter than the Supercharged R63 with headers/cats. For me, the resonator delete is acceptable.
If you do the delete, makes sure you find someone who is experienced with stainless steel tig welding so there are no issues in the future.
Beautiful work, would you mind saying what it cost you?
How is it on startup? I’d like to be able to pull out of the driveway without waking up the entire city, but it would be nice to hear more when I step on it. Does anyone have audio of similar setups?
Last edited by focalxplosion; 03-28-2020 at 06:58 PM.
I haz all the dad cars - R63 AMG, 2022 GLB 250, and a 2018 E63 Wagon.
Quick update and questions for the group. First, I've spent about 6 hours detailing this thing so far. Every surface has been cleaned, scrubbed, and vacuumed. The floor mats finally came clean, but not before attacking them with my pressure washer. The dirt washed out in a soapy river of 3,000 psi spray. The leather restoration is currently underway and I will post before and after pictures on Monday once it's finished. Lastly, I've been slowly detailing the engine compartment and peeling back deep layers of oil mixed dirt and road grime. I'm not sure this area had ever been cleaned before.
Now the questions:
1) Are the main carpets easily removed? I'd like to pressure wash those as well but obviously can't do that inside the car. Does anyone have suggestions or steps about how to proceed?
2) What's the best source for body seals? Every single body seal around the doors have worn through in spots.
3) There seems to be a pretty bad hesitation at WOT, I'm curious if there are common problems that would cause this? I'm going to take her in to have the head bolts replaced in a few weeks so I'll have them check it out. I'm just hoping the collective intelligence of MBWorld might have a hunch.
Lastly, it's a pretty boring name, but we've taken to calling her the Thunder Wagon. I think it will stick for now. Also thinking about getting vanity plates for the first time in my life. Perhaps 503 R63, what do you think? 503 is our local area code and I've also read conflicting reports that 503 is the factory BHP rating. Is it 503 or 507? Mine is probably more like 420 right now ;-)
I haz all the dad cars - R63 AMG, 2022 GLB 250, and a 2018 E63 Wagon.
@rbtmak - I just noticed your signature block is like my dream car garage. I've been on the hunt for a C4 S6 Avant. Where are you located that you have access to a RS6?
I haz all the dad cars - R63 AMG, 2022 GLB 250, and a 2018 E63 Wagon.
Thanks 1955W196S.
WOT = Wide Open Throttle. Sorry, there was a time when I was an automotive engineer.
The carpets are pretty bad and have 13 years of ground in filth. I’m either going to pull these out and pressure wash them or have someone get in there with an extractor.
@rbtmak - I just noticed your signature block is like my dream car garage. I've been on the hunt for a C4 S6 Avant. Where are you located that you have access to a RS6?
Here in Canada, we can import cars from Japan after they turn 15 years old. So I was able to get one from Japan 2 years ago. I actually had an RS6 Sedan way back in 2003, but have always wanted the Avant.
This was a lower mileage (70,000km) that my friend found for me. After having it shipped into Canada, I did all the maintenance, and upgraded a full Supersprint Exhaust (secondary cat bypass, resonator delete and mufflers). Car already came lowered with B10 suspension, forged wheels and a tune. Honestly, it sounded really good, but the 5 speed automatic transmission really neutered the car. It was no faster than a B8 tuned 6M Supercharged S4 (compared it with my friends).
@focalxplosion Thank you for the translation. I have a lot to learn.
@rbtmac I considered the RS6 Avant (there are quite a few for sale here in Europe) when I was looking for an R63, but decided to go with the R63 because of the extra seat, extra room and AMG. I wasn't in a position to get both. Congratulations. So you found a left hand drive in Japan?
@focalxplosion Thank you for the translation. I have a lot to learn.
@rbtmac I considered the RS6 Avant (there are quite a few for sale here in Europe) when I was looking for an R63, but decided to go with the R63 because of the extra seat, extra room and AMG. I wasn't in a position to get both. Congratulations. So you found a left hand drive in Japan?
Back when they were sold new in Japan, the C5 RS6 were official “grey imports” as well so only LHD made it there.
I haz all the dad cars - R63 AMG, 2022 GLB 250, and a 2018 E63 Wagon.
So my full leather restoration is complete. It wasn’t cheap but worth it. Every leather surface in the entire car was stripped, recolored, and sealed. It honestly looks factory new in most of the car.
Before the restoration:
Before: note the fading and wear along the edges
Before: note the filthy and deeply cracked leather. This is even after the seats had been cleaned with off the shelf leather cleaner
More before
Now after full leather restoration: After After After After After
The pictures really don’t do this justice. The leather is now soft and supple. The hand feel is just so much better. Even after previous cleanings the leather still felt grimy on the steering wheel and door pulls. It’s just amazing what the professionals can do here.
My leather expert here in Portland is Matt Tegman from Interior Works NW. If you call tell him I sent you. He’s a car enthusiast himself and very careful with my cars. He was also super conscientious about the Corona virus and was careful to keep his distance. The car will now set for two weeks to allow for the new finish to fully cure (and allow any potential viruses to die).
Last edited by focalxplosion; 04-07-2020 at 02:25 PM.
I haz all the dad cars - R63 AMG, 2022 GLB 250, and a 2018 E63 Wagon.
Originally Posted by rbtmak
Wow, that’s a night and day difference. Well done!!!
How much does a job like that cost if you don’t
mind sharing?
$1,995 for the entire car. Like I said, it wasn't cheap but the car is starting to feel like new again. The remainder of the detailing I will do myself, but I leave deep leather restoration to the professionals.
03-25-2020, 09:37 PM
