I wanted to start a proper build thread as some of you may have seen my previous post about acquiring a 2004 S55 AMG.

A little background from what I know, the previous owner here in PA purchased the car through Ebay from a guy down in Florida. Upon arriving to his house on a truck, he noticed a decent amount of oil coming from underneath the car. He immediately had the car towed down to a local mechanic who apparently said the issue was coming from the oil cooler/oil cooler lines. Cooler and lines were replaced, along with a Serpentine & Supercharger belt and all fluids checked and filled properly. He picked the car up and said he was "beating on it pretty good in the back roads" (which we all know is totally fine, they can take it) and he completely destroyed the oem idler pulley, snapped the belt and wrapped it around the harmonic balancer, lost all accessories and noticed smoke (from the belt). Angry, after just getting it back from the shop and spending another $3K, and to no fault of his own not knowing very much about this platform, he called the shop asking why the car is broke again after just getting it back. The shop said they have no clue and to "Bring it back down and we'll take a look". This is where there was a bit of a standstill as the previous owner thought the shop should pay for the return tow, and the shop said they weren't going to do that. The car sat for about 2 months until he decided to just cut his losses and move on.

(Enter myself) - I found the car where most all of us do these days, on FB Market place with 1 picture, listed as "FREE" and a write up briefly describing what i stated above, and mainly looking for a trade for a boat, motorcycle, etc. I reached out, looked at the car, agreed to a price, and on Saturday picked it up and trailered it home.

Issues I need to sort out that I am aware of as of now:

Serp/supercharger belt
Confirm ABC works properly and Check for leaks
Hood/Trunk Struts
Power trunk not operating
Radio has no sound
Apparently the gauge cluster goes out occasionally

I just placed an order with UPD for their 5 Piece Black anodized pulley kit and their belt wrap kit. I'll be placing an order with FCP euro for a proper ABC flush kit with fresh fluid and filter's along with the hood/trunk struts. I also placed an order with AMMO NYC for some quality detailing products for both the interior and exterior to get that cleaned up. And as luck would have it, a very generous member here "CICBarkeep" offered me his 83mm UPD fixed pulley and belt, which will be installed at a later date when i get everything sorted properly.

Now onto the good stuff...

The lone FB Picture


unloading and putting it in the Hanger















I hope to have the pulley kit on this weekend and the car running and driving so i can diagnose the other issues. This should be a very fun and rewarding journey that I'm looking forward to. From everything i hear and all of the feedback from other owners, these cars are a real pleasure and a treat to drive.



Joe

 

I had a chance to install the UPD 5 Piece Idler pulley set as well as their Belt wrap kit. Took an afternoon and put it on and I’m very happy with it. Luckily the car raised and is holding pressure just fine. I’ve only driven it roughly 50 miles in the last few days but it runs/drives/pulls great.

i’m still working out quite a few issues. For 1 I have a terrible squeaking/creaking noise coming from the front right strut area. I got the car up and it looks like the top rubber portion of the strut and the lower dust cover is ripped. Every little bump the car is making a very loud squeaking/creaking sound that is driving me nuts. Not sure how to go about it as far as buying another one off of eBay, buying a “Remanufactured” set off of eBay (my driver side strut appears to be in the same condition less the noises) or buy a new unit through FCP euro although their front right unites are currently out of stock. Advice? I would like to take this car on a long road trip in a month so I need to figure something out.

I just ordered a blower motor since I believe that is the cause of no ac/heat. Hoping that fixes that issues.

I have a decent vibration coming in around 2k rpm’s, and just slightly at idle. I believe this could be due to a transmission mount which i am going to work on replacing.

and lastly I’m waiting on a new amp to come in to hopefully fix the issue of no sound coming through the speakers. Hopefully that clears that issue up. It’s a little frustrating considering the previous owner didn’t own the car for very long, and didn’t give me a heads up on all of these other issues popping up. To no fault of his own he drove it and let it sit after his purchase. Slowly going through the car and attempting to correct all of the problems but it’s adding up quickly.

long story short it’s a beautiful car and a pleasure to drive so far. I’ll slowly work my way through it and hopefully have everything operating as it should here soon. Any advice is always appreciated 👍🏻








I also gave it a much needed wash and a quick detail for the time being.

















Yesterday I installed a set of K&N drop in filters. Much improved over stock.

 

All good work there. Do you not have an engine cover? If not, PM me.

These cars (and headlights) respond well to a color correction. Nothing like MB paint in the industry.

What are your driving impressions once the car is up and running?

Do yourself a favor, fully charge the battery.

maw

 

Thanks Maw.

Yep i have an engine cover just didn't pop it back on yet. I appreciate it!

Battery sat on a charger for a full 24 hours and then a tender once installed back into the car for another 48 hours. I made sure that was one thing i did right away.

Paint and headlights will certainly get cleaned up a bit more. I just wanted to get the grime from sitting off. I also need to find a new weather seal for the fresh air on the passenger side area. After a wash i had a decent amount of water that pooled up in the passenger footwell.

Driving impressions so far are very impressive. Both with power and comfort. It really does haul and the seats are some of the most comfortable I've ever sat in. Mercedes makes the best seats in the automotive industry in my opinion.

I have no heat/ac in the seats right now and i'm not sure why. Power functions all work as they should.

Having this squeaking noise coming from the front is really deterring me from driving it much more. Nothing worse then driving around in a $100K car making louder noises then 200k mile Ford expedition.

 

Looks great! Dig the grey interior. Leatherique Leather Cleaner and Conditioner does wonders.
Leak: Check the drain located in the grid covered well on passenger side at the base of the windshield. Known to clog and overflow ends up right where you described.
Front End: Sounds really familiar. HUGE difference in ride quality once sorted.

 

What's the front end noise about? Some bushings?

maw

 

The squeaking is most likely ball joints but what he's found strut-wise sounds similar to what was found on mine. I ended up having upper and lower control arms installed along with both front struts. In for a dime, in for a dollar kind of thing. For whatever reason the right front strut is a tough find, but the Indie I used over in Cleveland (MAG Motors) managed to dig one up within a couple of weeks. Obviously made a huge difference in the ride.

I'm really interested in the results of the new tranny mount. Have a similar vibration, although not at idle. Starts at about 2,200 rpm while under acceleration, disappears at about 2,600 and not noticeable when tooling along at about 80 mph and about 2,200 rpm. Guy at MAG Motors discovered and replaced a bad ignition coil while he had it and thought that might be the cause. Not so lucky I guess.

 

Definitely do the trans mounts, though I've head of flex discs and guibos on these. So far no one has wanted to change my flex discs but I'm a half second away from commanding it be done just because (1) car is old and (2) that's what I think it is. I have a similar vibration around 2100 rpm that's not any other mount or accumulator (because they've all been done within the last 4 years and 20k miles) and only when the car is cold (which is odd because I only drive it in summer). But 5 minutes into driving it's gone, so I've been trying to be patient.

maw

 

Front and rear flex discs, tranny mount, engine mounts and transmission ground strap were replaced about 28,000 miles ago. Probably why my Indie figured the coil might have been the cause. The discs and mounts came from MB but I've read the mounts don't have much of a life-span. (Nice having the records I do)

 

Transmission mount is ordered and on the way.

My mechanic (and close friend) pays for a subscription to a "Mechanic index" website/forum where all mechanics across the country submit information into a database to diagnose different issues. He punched in the year, make and model and "vibration at 2k rpm's" and a litany of posts popped up about the transmission mount. One post i specifically read said "customer came in with a vibration from 1500-2200 RPM's, replaced the transmission mount and vibration went away." Is this 100% the answer to both mine and your vibration issues? I'm not certain, but i figured it's worth a shot and a very cheap fix. It probably needs to be done regardless and an easy job on top of it all.

I was told the squeaking could be a ball joint as well but i don't know why i have it in my head that its the strut being compressed. It creaks/squeaks as the car is being raised and lowered with the ABC button as well. I'll try and get a video of it and I'll see if i can upload it. It's obnoxiously loud and has been keeping me from driving the car until its sorted.

Hopefully my blower motor gets here in the next day or so and I can install that, its been low 90's upper 80's here for weeks

 

And they go quickly, so it's probably time for another one on mine. The reason I've been told this car is hell on mounts is because the motor twists so much under load. Watch the engine from the front while someone stabs on the pedal and see how it jumps to the left. That passenger side engine mount gives way quickly. Same for the transmission mount. Every time the engine jumps like that (which is pretty much 100% of the time the way I drive mine), the engine and trans mounts eat that driveline slack, the transmission mount all by itself. I'd think about some poly mount if I wasn't absolutely sure it would add unwanted NVH.

By the way Joe, looking at all you're doing you probably got this one for cheap.

maw

 

Did a Google search for HiPo Tranny mounts and came across this:
S55 03-06 (W220) Archives - Creative Steel (creative-steel.com)
You'll find engine mounts there too. Some ridiculously expensive.

 

I didn't notice it using the ABC but every little bump squeak, squeak, squeak. Embarrassing actually.

 

Yeah... NVH fears mean I may just replace things more often. I know there are factory Black Series engine mounts that fit these, but I forget whether there are transmission mounts as well. FCP Euro has them IIRC.

maw

 

VRP has 2 black series tranny mounts available that'll fit an S55. $449.00 each. I'll pass.

 

There's only one trans mount. That sounds like engine mounts. But I'm like you, and just went with OE. I might replace them more often but I'll take OE SClass over aftermarket pretty much 💯% of the time. Blame the .036 for teaching me that lesson.

maw

EDIT... this is what I had in mind ... https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/mercedes-black-series-engine-mount-kit-genuine-mercedes-538475

 

Update: I ordered a factory transmission mount through FCP Euro, $20, and it completely resolved my horrible vibration issue! I’m shocked because when I pulled the old mount out, it honestly didn’t look that bad. I installed the new mount, tightened everything down and I could immediately feel a difference just from the way the car felt starting it and at idle. Vibration from idle, and throughout the rpm range to about 3200rpms I would say is completely gone.

incredibly easy DIY, 10 bolts in total (16mm &14mm) and a Jack with some wood is all you need. Very pleased.

the car is going in to my mechanic on Wednesday for a full inspection specifically here in PA, but also to just give the car a once over to make sure I’m not missing anything and to also address the horrible squeaking sound coming from the front right side (which I’m praying is a ball joint or blown out bushing)

pictures aren’t the best as they were screen grabbed from video but here’s what I have

Bracket That bolts to frame and into bottom of Trans mount. These are the 16mm and 14mm Bolts. Trans mount bolts are 16mm as well (10 total)



Old Mount


And Wash #2 after job complete



A few pictures with my W208 CLK55 AMG. Such special cars, i'm really enjoying both

 

That's GREAT! Thanks so much for the update. Considering the relative ease of installation and my driving habits, sticking with stock seems a no-brainer. Thanks again. Please keep me posted on further developments and I'll do the same.
A little something for your listening pleasure:

 

Intoxicating sound!

 

This is why I don't mind the fact that the car eats transmission mounts. It's a very quick "while you're in there" sort of thing. They don't last 5 years, so it's almost a bi-annual service with brake fluid and coolant flush. Maybe every 3/30k like ABC fluid. Glad you got a good result. It almost seems like they designed the part after the car was built and they noticed the issue. I wonder if it's the same part as the nonKompressor cars.

maw

EDIT… here’s one I recorded back at Finali Mondiali 2016… don’t ask me how I got corner 1 access…

 

Quick update: I shredded my supercharger belt yesterday after about 100 miles of driving. Came out from dinner and noticed a ticking noise, turned the car off, popped the hood and it was ripped to shreds. I reached out to UPD and they gave me a few tips on what I may have done wrong when installing the belt wrap kit. Said to check the triangle bracket and make sure its sitting flush, the orientation of the snap ring facing out towards the rad (which i'm 99.9% sure i did) and used all of the spacers correctly. I did notice that when i was tightening everything down, the belt wrap bracket that goes from pulley to pulley did seem slightly off and not flush, so maybe i just installed something backwards. Lastly, there seems to be a shortage of the Gates HD belts but i got lucky and found one on amazon. I'll take a peek at some point this week. These next few weeks are going to be crazy busy as work is about to pick up and we are planning two trips, one for labor day weekend and then heading to Florida for 2 weeks mid sept. I'm hoping to have this thing completed sorted by then.

I also noticed i started getting an "ESP & Pre-safe Inactive" message in the cluster, so it appears i'm due for some new wheel speed sensors. I'll have them ordered and installed here shortly.

On a good note,I did just have a major score. I was watching a video on youtube of a guy installing a killer chiller in his CL about 10 years ago. Got to snooping around and found a brand new "Gen 5 Drag/Race kit" on eBay a guy was selling. sent him an offer of $600 and he accepted! pretty excited about that. My plan is to have that installed possibly sometime when i get back from vacation. Temps will continue to drop around here now so won't be a necessary immediate mod, but i sure am looking forward to installing this kit for hot summer days. I think i have a good plan in my head on where to mount it so that it will look completely factory and out of the way, in where the cabin air filter access is. Everyone knows what Mike Tyson says about a plan, so we'll have to take a look. This is their larger kit at 13 inches long, and it appears to be just small enough to stuff in that area. I would like to avoid mounting it up front if I can, but we will see.

Joe

 

Ran into this myself and it was associated with a 10-year-old battery. Installed a new AGM battery and performed a reset. Car running in Park. Turn wheel lock to lock a couple times. Message hasn't returned since. Good Luck.
BTW. Installed a battery tender as well and use it if the car is going to be sitting for more than a couple of days.

 

You'll get that message every time you unplug the battery. @cicbarkeep has the proper procedure -- wheel lock to wheel lock with the car running. It doesn't need to be in Park. Neutral or Drive is fine.

No comment on the Killer Chiller. The upgraded intercooler pump seems to keep IAT low enough for supercharger engagement even in the warmest weather conditions. So unless you're going to the AZ drag strip in your S Class...

maw

 

Yep. First time I saw it was after disconnecting the battery to replace the Xenon headlight bulbs. (Which by the way can be done without removing the bumper cover) Long story short, did the reset, message disappeared. Next morning message reappeared, and car wouldn't start. Thought I'd screwed something up when replacing the bulbs, but as the fates would have it the old battery picked that time to reach the point when it wouldn't hold or take a charge. New battery solved the issue and haven't seen it since.

Regards the chiller, I've read the larger engine bay in the S Class vs the E Class helps keep temps down. On the other hand, I've never pushed mine all that hard, so I have no personal experience.

 

Yes, the S and SL have literally double the cooling capacity of the E -- 2 heat exchangers vs 1. So that's why the S and SL don't need the rest of that stuff you see the E crowd fussing over. One less science project.

maw