MB_Fahrer

I just bought a steering wheel for my '99 500 off of ebay, it cost $2000... That is ridiculous. But I really wanted the tan and maple (?) wood steering wheel for my car to boost the interior's charm. Also, just bought a set of AMG Monoblocks (fully re-finished) for $1900 which seemed like a good deal to me (crossing my finger's they are actually real AMG wheels this time. I'll throw up some pix when I install all this on the car. Also, I will be selling the car in the next few months after I do a bit more work on it, so let me know if you want details/pix/etc.

Jimmy Chen Shib

We all hear you loud and clear ! w/ smiles Jimmy

SLCL

Way overpaid! on both, especially the steering wheel. Why did you buy all these and then sell the car?

I got my steering wheel (new) for $400 about 8 years ago.
I got my monoblocks with tires (90%) for $1400 about 6 years ago.

Good deals won't come everyday but you've got to be patient. Anyway, it's a done deal. Enjoy your car.

i_am_amused

+1

$2K for a steering wheel? must be the model that makes sure you have a happy ending to your trip when you reach your destination.

MB_Fahrer

I agree, overpaid, but I did not want to sit around looking for another 2 months. I want to throw the parts on, repaint the front bumper, and get this car out of my hair. SLCL: that is the same steering wheel I bought, just different color for my car.

SLCL

You can buy the steering wheel NOW for $799 at performanceproducts dot com

I thought I saw a cheaper prices few days ago on eBay as well. Even the very rare wood/leather steering wheel for my 2005 CL55 (with shift buttons) costs only $1,399

MB_Fahrer

Hey thanks for the website it looks great!! Does your CL55 have the two way button shifters or are they more "paddle" like?

SLCL

This website acted up and lost all my reply. Hate typing it again.

Basically there is a button (more like a light switch) on the left for down shift and one on the right for up shift. Paddles are more fancy but basically the same with "paddles" pressing against those buttons

It's standard on all 2003-2006 S/CL/SL 55s and 65s AMG so check them out.

i_am_amused

My stock 2004 S55 has buttons, not rockers like a "light switch" Note that this is not the wood steering wheel, so perhaps that one is different.

SLCL

I should have made it clearer in my post (I did in the original post but the site wiped it out)

2003-2006 AMGs use "buttons"
2007+ AMGs (and optional on non-AMG for later models as "manual shift") use "paddles"

Actually S/CL steerings are interchangable (at least for 2003-2006 AMGs)

MB_Fahrer

I am familiar with the buttons. How do you like them? I ask because I am back to looking for a 2003+ S600 for my daily driver (assuming the S600 has the buttons, which I do not remember at the moment. Already sent HRE about an email on their carbon fiber rim-ed wheels, and Wald as well about their new Black Bison kit for the W220.

SLCL

S600s don't have "M" shift as far as I know, only the AMGs do.

MB_Fahrer

Ahh okay, do you think it would be a lot of work to wire in paddle shifters? Not that I have to have them, but I do want to do some track days with it. And I think both for drag and course/autox racing the paddles would come in handy?

SLCL

Note that we went to the moon over 40 years ago so nothing is impossible however, I've never heard anyone able to wire paddle shifter for (S600, is it?). It would involve in changing/modifying lots of stuff on your transmission as well. Granted that my knowledge about cars is limited, I still don't see how this could be done easily. Why not get the S55 or S65?

MB_Fahrer

I've thought about going to work on an S65, but it is already fast from the factory. I am more looking to take a car and tune it. I'm even emailing a few engine builders about custom ECU tuning, displacement enhancement (6.5-7.0L), pistons, cams, etc etc. I would love to build the car up (once I actually purchase it LOL) so it would do a 9 second run in the quarter. That would be the ultimate goal I suppose. Yet I still want the car to be my DD, so this will all take a lot of time, research, and money (to say the least).

SLCL

It's next to impossible to run 9 seconds on a DD S600 (even with S65). With the weight and all, you would need more than 1,100 hps to run high 9 seconds.

Good luck!

MB_Fahrer

Oh I know! But hey people are getting 800+hp from the 65 engines so… Just see how it all goes I guess

i_am_amused

the buttons work just fine. they don't look "cool" but you can't see them while driving so who gives a crap?

Edmunds lists both the 2003 and 2004 S600 as having an available "5-Speed Shiftable Automatic Transmission" so it is probably trivial () to add steering wheel shifting since the software and hardware are already in place. I'm sure MBenzNL can do it, and most likely has already done it or something similar. Please note that I said "trivial" and not "cheap" or "easy"

MB_Fahrer

Well... I went out and got a 1992 600sel coming... Sorry gang! Guess I'll save the S600 project for another time. The 1992 I got only has 36k miles since new, and I couldn't pass it up.

i_am_amused

nice find. enjoy!

MB_Fahrer

Thanks! Now need I mention I plan on going AMG crazy with this car too? If I wind up keeping it I was throwing around the idea of turning it into a knock-off S73 AMG… Koenig Specials (Koenig-specials.com) still offers the 7.2L V-12 that I could just have bored out to 7.3L and tuned up to the Brabus S73 specs of 600hp and torque…