Jet Life

Hey guys, i just bought a 2000 S430. I'm planning on getting the tires aligned, oil changed, and the car fully detailed. I just bought K&N Air Filters for it. I'm wondering what other slight upgrade or things i should do to it at this time? Any cheap performance upgrades? Any recommendations?

Thanks.

classyS

welcome to the forums, u can do what we call here "facelift" as far as exterior goes.

first things first, make sure your priorities set on maintenance first then upgrades!!

also too.. i know theres a reason behind why u choose a 2001 s430, as far as upgrades for my 01 s430, i did exterior.

i mean we did buy a "base model W220"

if you want upgrade, focus on maintenance/paying off car and hop into an s500/600 or 55/65 amg..

im shooting for s600/s65 for my next "upgrade"

Jet Life

Thanks! What is a "facelift"? Yes, i do agree with you about the maintenance. I have to fix a leak in the PSE pump. The passanger over head light is out. How would i got about finding which type of bulb that is and how i would take it apart to replace it?

classyS

everything is all part #'s

since u have the same model as me, im assuming u have factory xenon/hid's?? if not u can call your local mb dealership with VIN# and they can cross reference in their database to see if u have factory HID's - i dont think it matters in your case but its good to know?

2001 MERCEDES-BENZ S-class (With HID (high intensity discharge) headlamps)

Low beam headlamp
HID-D2R

High beam headlamp
H7
H7SU SilverStar Ultra: The brightest and whitest light. Up to 50% brighter, up to 40% more downroad visibility and up to 50% more sideroad visibility.
H7ST SilverStar: The brighter and whiter light. Up to 35% brighter, up to 30% more downroad visibility and up to 35% more sideroad visibility.
H7EB EcoBright - Your Environmental Choice. Save Energy - Save Money. Up to 25% brighter light. CO2 reduced 9 to 21%. Gas savings $2 to $19.
H7XV XtraVision: The brighter light for upgraded performance. Up to 30% brighter light and up to 25% more downroad visibility.
H7CB Cool Blue: The whiter light for style. Up to 25% brighter light and up to 25% more downroad visibility.

Parking light
2825
2825ST SilverStar: The brighter, whiter signal light. Up to 30% brighter light, up to 20% whiter light and up to 10% farther and wider.
2825LL SYLVANIA Long Life miniature bulbs perform twice as long as any standard miniature bulb. Designed for durability, lower maintenance and greater safety.

Front turn signal
2357A
2357ALL SYLVANIA Long Life miniature bulbs perform twice as long as any standard miniature bulb. Designed for durability, lower maintenance and greater safety.

Rear turn signal
7507
7507LL SYLVANIA Long Life miniature bulbs perform twice as long as any standard miniature bulb. Designed for durability, lower maintenance and greater safety.

Tail light
5007
5007LL SYLVANIA Long Life miniature bulbs perform twice as long as any standard miniature bulb. Designed for durability, lower maintenance and greater safety.
7225
7225LL SYLVANIA Long Life miniature bulbs perform twice as long as any standard miniature bulb. Designed for durability, lower maintenance and greater safety.

Stop light
LED

High mount stop light
Assembly

Fog/Driving light
H1
H1ST SilverStar: The brighter and whiter light. Up to 35% brighter, up to 30% more downroad visibility and up to 35% more sideroad visibility.
H1XV XtraVision: The brighter light for upgraded performance. Up to 30% brighter light and up to 25% more downroad visibility.

License plate
6418
6418LL SYLVANIA Long Life miniature bulbs perform twice as long as any standard miniature bulb. Designed for durability, lower maintenance and greater safety.

Back up light
7506
7506ST SilverStar: The brighter, whiter signal light. Up to 30% brighter light, up to 20% whiter light and up to 10% farther and wider.
7506LL SYLVANIA Long Life miniature bulbs perform twice as long as any standard miniature bulb. Designed for durability, lower maintenance and greater safety.

Front sidemarker
2825
2825ST SilverStar: The brighter, whiter signal light. Up to 30% brighter light, up to 20% whiter light and up to 10% farther and wider.
2825LL SYLVANIA Long Life miniature bulbs perform twice as long as any standard miniature bulb. Designed for durability, lower maintenance and greater safety.

Rear sidemarker
5007
5007LL SYLVANIA Long Life miniature bulbs perform twice as long as any standard miniature bulb. Designed for durability, lower maintenance and greater safety.

Glove box
6418
6418LL SYLVANIA Long Life miniature bulbs perform twice as long as any standard miniature bulb. Designed for durability, lower maintenance and greater safety.

Map light
64132

Dome light
6411
6411LL SYLVANIA Long Life miniature bulbs perform twice as long as any standard miniature bulb. Designed for durability, lower maintenance and greater safety.

Step/Courtesy light
6411
6411LL SYLVANIA Long Life miniature bulbs perform twice as long as any standard miniature bulb. Designed for durability, lower maintenance and greater safety.
6418
6418LL SYLVANIA Long Life miniature bulbs perform twice as long as any standard miniature bulb. Designed for durability, lower maintenance and greater safety.

Trunk/Cargo area
6411
6411LL SYLVANIA Long Life miniature bulbs perform twice as long as any standard miniature bulb. Designed for durability, lower maintenance and greater safety.

Jet Life

I actually do not have HIDs. I checked earlier today when i was digging around under the hood. What does the "facelift" consist of?

classyS

now with these part #'s

u can get these lights cheap on ebay or so, as far as upgrades ive done:

03+ headlights, brand depo with 8000k bulbs
03+ taillights, brand depo
led mirror turn signals 03+
5% tint
20" brabus monoblock 6 wheels
and also upgraded my son from pampers size 3 to 4 - these are expensive

let me know if anything else, im always on here

classyS

if u noticed on 2003+

as far as noticeable exterior without going too in depth:

headlights, taillights, mirror signals, bigger grill, bigger bumper/air intake ducts (sport package)

theres tons more!! thats only exterior

classyS

before:





after:

classyS

ok sorry for viagra sized pictures!!

Jet Life

lol. it's cool. i definitely want to change the headlights and those little lights under the headlights.

MBNiko

Facelift is just updating the front end of your car. In 2003 they changed some things on the S class and one of them is a more updated beautified front end.

Check out Powerchip or Jerry with Eurocharged. They can tune the S430 for around 500 and get about 30hp and 30 torque. A free-er flowing exhaust might unlock some ponies as well, but the exhaust sound is something that will obviously be altered.

classyS

theres a comparison in the sport package bumper

Jet Life

yea, i definitely need to get those headlights? how much am i looking at for those headlights? how would one alter the stock exhaust? would it sound good?

tusabes

Look on eBay for the lights $300-500 usually.

It makes little financial sense to get a cheap s430 then spend $2-3k on all the upgrades mentioned (amg body kit, exhaust, lights, chip /tune etc). Should have just got a s500 with amg appearance package

Jet Life

Thanks. Well i plan on keeping this car for a while. I'm not going to do anything too major to it now. For now it shall be to have the car run then best as it can for it's age. Later i will add the lights and tints etc etc.

classyS

oh 1 major thing about this car...

Drains.

dont let them get clogged, ecspecially the one under the hood that could flood the inside cabin if clogged, really easy to drain also

Jet Life

How would I go about emptying them. The one under the hood (the only one I know of) has a plastic net over it. How would I be able to remove that? Where are the other drains located?

tusabes

Yes it's the big one with the plastic waffle style net over it. If you stick a flashlight in there you will see a drain hole in the corner bottom. Use a long chopstick or screwdriver and poke in the hole and move it all around to clean it . It gets clogged up.

I just break my waffle netting off and stuck my finger in the hole to unplug it.

Jet Life

Drain under the hood=squeaky clean.

classyS

lol i just checked mine, if u do a search.. there are horror stories about the drain clogged, flooding the inside thru firewall; soaking the inside cabin carpet TOTALLY f**king up the electronics!!! underneath your carpet.. lies thousands of wires and its the #1 thing to keep this top priority to check drains every other thunderstorms!!!

SFBIGBODY415

Hey ClassyS When you instaleed the new headlights did you have to have any spiacal adapters or have dealer program them. I am asking becuase I just got some 04 headlights xenon of cource. I want to know how to instal them properly. My stock ones are also xenon.

classyS

no programing, if u have xenon then it will plug right up, are you DIY installation? what u should do is take pictures of all connectors on new xenons and post them, tomorrow i will dig up some photos i took of the connectors on the original xenon that came with my car, then we can compare apples to apples and make sure, of course with electrical connectors.. if the female/male connectors on original headlight are/look the same, then most likely the female/male connectors on car will plug right in, i'll get back to u with pictures tomorrow.

SFBIGBODY415

Thanks! I am going to try to do the install tomorrow with my friend at his shop. I have read in some forums the the plugs are different because the new lights are bi xenon and mine are only xenon. I have read that these are the things I need

2 bixenon lights (various part #'s, but mine were A220 820 27 61 and A220 820 28 61)
2 5mm x .8 x 30mm bolts
2 5mm washers
2 high beam plugs (5-pin) A220 545 46 28
2 wires for high beam plugs A000 540 39 05
2 16 gauge U-blade wire ends for high beam wires
2 auto level plugs (4-pin) A000 153 08 42
8 wires for autolevel plugs A000 540 38 05
8 18 gauge splice couplers

classyS

ahh yeah u have bi-xenons according to the part numbers, it will take some splicing but thats it, everything is plug in play once youve connected the 4 and 5-pin female plugs, everything sounds about right as far as the kit u mention above, hope all goes well and of course post pictures once all is installed and finished!!

SFBIGBODY415

I ordered all the parts from the dealer so I have to wait till they come in. I'll post pics when I am done.