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Finally joined the team - Matt's 2002 Black / Black E55 - Dark Horse
Greetings folks,
I've bummed around here quite a bit asking questions, poking around, but I've finally joined the group with a 2000 Black on Black E55. Locally, I've been looking for almost two years, and I preferred dark exterior over full black interior. My ideal spec was Black Opal Metallic over Full Black Interior, but I'm okay with Metallic black / black.
This was a Vancouver car all of its life, and was in the collection of a gent with 30+ cars, and several E55's, E50, and an E60. This was his more daily driver out of the bunch, but he had his fleet maintained essentially by a private mechanic situation. I got the car inspected and checked out needing about $2,000 worth of parts and labour to get it to perfection. We settled on a fair price considering it's condition and 120k miles, and got the car.
Car is now at my friend's shop, and the plan is to go through the car entirely and make it, well, perfect for its age. The paint is in fair condition, but I may colour change to Black Opal sometime in the future, I'll see.
Overall, I've been captivated by @eurochargedw210 's Black Beast Project, and plan to follow in some of the upgrades that he has done, while keeping it tasteful.
The look I want to sport.
Overall plans (no particular order)
1. Upholstery repair (passenger seat has a slice in the leather, may considering redoing both front and back seats, I'll see)
1b. Steering wheel reupholster - any suggestions? I think some people had theirs done somewhere and it looked really good refreshed.
2. SL500 wheels (I like the look, as above)
3. Kleeman headers / exhaust
4. Detail / dent removal and any other cosmetic repairs
5. Any mechanical issues repaired
1991 964 Turbo, 2002 Black E55, 2002 Black E55 " The Beast"- 2014 E63s
Hi Matt,
So what wheels did it come with, SL or the Monoblock's ? With time, money and patience, anything can be brought back, looks like a good project. How's the headliner? Definitely change out all the fluids especially transmission, and also the plugs. While changing plugs, do a compression/leakdown to see the health of the engine. Don't forget to service the wheel bearings, motor and transmission mounts
You need to either polish the headlights or buy a new pair, needs changing ASAP and would make the car looks 50% better.
Again welcome to the club, these are great cars. If I ran into another one, you know I am buying it LOL
It came with Monoblocks - I want to throw some SL wheels on this, though
I haven't gotten to see the car in person since I did the initial look (since I moved cross country in the time that I saw the car vs purchased), but I'm having my shop check all of those, and thanks for the reminder on the others
I'm seeing that if I really like the car, I may see if the E60 he has (Japanese import, where E50 to E60 conversions were done if I recall correctly) is available...
Like I said, I'm really taking cues from your Black Beast, and doing the things I really like the idea of, and holding off on things that I know don't work for me. I'm really looking forward to getting some seat time and driving it!
Why does it have dual scale cluster?
Is your car a Canadian import or US import?
Euro cluster is rated 280 or (derestricted) 300 KM/H and is a lot beafier than North Amercian market cluster
Why does it have dual scale cluster?
Is your car a Canadian import or US import?
Euro cluster is rated 280 or (derestricted) 300 KM/H and is a lot beafier than North Amercian market cluster
Dual cluster, what in the world is that?
any service records
1) AFAIK, It's a Canadian car through and through, and pretty sure the Canadian cars have the dual cluster with KMH on the outside, MPH on the inside. However, I'm going to get close up pics tomorrow. Again, I'm not with the car at the moment.
2) Service records are basically what I have on the Carfax. I may go try to shake down the dealer to see what they have in the computers and if they can get it to me, but I talked to the mechanic and he said the owner was super picky about maintenance, but it was due for a few things. My mechanic has it and will be looking at it tomorrow to determine what it actually needs. It'll be brought up to 100%, spared no expense service, like my other cars.
Paint came out pretty well with the detailing, but paint thicknesses are mismatched - Carfax shows minor fender bender in 2001 for $700 in LR, but it looks like there was likely some repainting on the right door. Colours match, but now that I know the car has more unreported on the Carfax, this may push me in favour of painting, but we'll see...
Interior leather is good, except for the cut in the front passenger seat and some scuffing on the rear. Re-upholstery of both front seats is going to run a few grand from a local upholsterer - has anyone used "lseat" covers before? My upholstery guy does amazing work and does some of the resto work for Coachwerks (the guys on Vancouver Island that do all the Gullwing restorations, formerly Rudy's place), so I have no doubt it'll be perfect, but it's going to be 2.5k for the front...
Mechanical overview from my mechanic starts today. Previously seen on mechanical inspection:
-Front lower control arms are in bad cosmetic shape - either blast, powder coat, then re-install, or new arms.
-"Missing" rear cats
-Oil filter housing leaking
-Plastic engine cover cracked, missing the star
-Missing splash pan
-Missing the jack :/
-Needs front rotors / pads
-Monoblocks need refinishing
-Steering pump and reservoir leaking
-LR window not working
-Missing RR scuff plate
So, parts have all pretty much arrived, and work will begin shortly. Still haven't been able to get out and see the car in person, and will likely only get to do so in November (military life).
What exhausts do people love? I know people seem pretty keen on the Kleeman, but I must have primary cats (fortunately or unfortunately) for emissions testing (and no CEL, of course).
@C2 Turbo Your car has the Kleeman headers and cams, right? Do you know what else was done to your exhaust?
Some rusty bolts somewhere in the brake area needed cutting/encouragement, and there's no stock of those bolts in Canada. $3 bolts - 4 week wait from Germany, or $100 shipping from the States and it'll be here in 3 days. Oy. So, we're trying to see if we can make the shipping worth it.
However, work is progressing...mechanical is coming first, then cosmetic.
Just looking for an engine cover, and a kick plate for one of the doors.
So, looks like our bolt problem was solved without waiting or spending $100 on shipping.
Oil pan is getting resealed, dumping the trans fluid and checking it to see how it looks. So far, so good on both fronts.
Car was sitting on all original suspension, and one of the springs let go when they were trying to put it back into the car. I wanted to do all new suspension anyway. I don't need the adjust-ability of coilovers, so we're just doing a Bilstein replacement. I don't think we're going that much lower than stock.
Apparently there was a manufacturing defect in the lower control arms, so we had to return them and we're getting a new set on Tuesday.
Mechanically, everything should be back together by the end of this week, and then they'll work on the rear window after that. Then, it's buying replacement engine cover, Benz star, and then rear kickplate.
I'll get to finally see the car in mid-November after I'm back from deployment, and then I'll see how it looks currently. The paint is apparently fine, but due to the fender benders, isn't consistent across the car, and the roof is especially thin. I have a guy who will hook me up on the colour change or respray, so I'll see what makes sense, if anything...I do love me some Black Opal Metallic...
Overall, just need to get my R230 SL500 wheels, and actually get to get behind the wheel!
I wanted to do new springs and shocks, so we planned Bilstein upgrade - however, stock seems to be an issue, so we're just sorting out details to see if we're going with another brand, or waiting until Feb 2023.
H&R front swaybar is on.
SL500 wheels landed, but we haven't put them on the car.
Basically, every fluid was changed, dropped everything and resealed oil pan and trans pan. All new belts, hoses, etc. New lower control arms should be in by now. My shop reports that the rear window is working, but I'll talk
So, finally got to see the car last week, and was amazed at how awesome it was. I really enjoyed the power and the refinement - it was hard to believe I was driving a 22 year old car with 120k miles on it...
To answer some of your previous questions:
1) Canadian car, has dual speedo: big numbers are KMH, small numbers on the inside are MPH. Can't remember what it went up to, forgot to check that. Originally Canadian car sold in Canada.
2) Temp is in Centigrade, Fuel is just in fractions. It drinks 93 Octane, btw
3) Interior is in nice shape, but needs love in a few places. Back seats have a teeny bit of damage, and the door cards have some scratches - maybe kids were back there, or a dog. But, no major damage. Front seats are showing their age and mileage, passenger front has a tear. Steering wheel has a rub through of the perforated leather right at 12 o' clock. I'll get the car reupholstered in the future.
4) Driver's headrest doesn't go up and down - I'll address this when we're reupholstering.
5) RR window needs a motor, it'll be getting that shortly.
6) Still waiting on ordering kickplates and front engine cover.
7) Unfortunately, there's a tiny spot of surface corrosion at the bottom of the driver's door. I'll be addressing this with the body shop to ensure it doesn't go further. My dad, a Benz tech of 25 years and previous German for 15 more, said this was still a really good shape E55 for being in a wet climate.
8) Lots of small dents on the roof, hood, and trunk. We don't have hail in our area, but what we do have are pine cones - so I suspect this car lived either on the street for some of its life before the current owner, or in a ritzy neighbourhood with big trees and got bonked a few times. Again, I'll get the body shop to get those out.
9) I may respray in the same colour just to even out the paintwork. There's an accident on file, but the repair was really good, however, the roof paint is thin and I may just freshen the car up since I have a well priced paint guy who does fantastic work.
10) Car is confirmed Obsidian Black Metallic, not just Gloss Black, so I'm quite pleased. That metallic REALLY comes out in the sun, so I don't change the colour.
Overall, I'm very pleased with the car, how comfortable it is, and how quick it is. I really can't say enough. I'm just surprised more people don't want to run this car as a daily!
1991 964 Turbo, 2002 Black E55, 2002 Black E55 " The Beast"- 2014 E63s
Found out my second E55 was in a hail storm in TX few years back and was kinda written off ( PDR estimate was significantly more than the value of the car). The next owner , Mercedes/BMW master tech bought the car, had all hail taken care of , spent thousands of dollars replacing the suspension parts, upgrading to bigger brakes and wheels/tires, new upgraded transmission to name few and the dang thing looks great now.
After the hail repair, paint readings on all the panels are within the factory specs 4.5-5.5 range. Texas has special title provision where the car doesn't get a salvage title with hail damage i and can be re-registered normally with usual comprehensive insurance without any issues
So you can get the hail taken care of but rust could be an issue and needs serious attention.
The work your car requires is all small but tedious and needs to be done soon and should be taken down to bare metal if you plan on keeping the car for a longer haul.
These are great cars and need to be preserved.
Glad you like the car
On a side note- did you see Leno driving a silver 2002 E55 coming home from the hospital, of all the cars he has.
That's the plan, take all the areas with surface corrosion down to bare metal, seal/prime and respray. I may just respray the whole car, since it's not a colour change, cost isn't TOO crazy...
I truly do love the car! Again, super surprised it took me this long to tick this one off my list, but I'm glad I did!
08-28-2022, 03:41 PM
