mchapparone

Hey guys,

So I picked up my 2005 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG last week and after getting my extended warranty squared away it is now time to get the mods started.

I will be keeping it pretty light for now: mostly exterior stuff to change the stock look and appearance.

So today I started with the Mercedes Flat Hood Emblem, Euro Impact Strips from James@ACG, as well as an OEM E63 Decklid Spoiler, and Eurotek Carbon Fiber front spoiler (also from James@ACG, thanks James and Desse for everything so far.)

Here are some pictures of the work we have done so far. All the paintwork (impact strips and spoiler) was done here at my auto body shop in San Diego and there will be more to come...

The new and the old..


Old strip out..


New one going in..


Looks so much better...


Front lip being test fitted..


Fitment is perfect..


more..






Decklid spoiler installed..





That is all for today, next up is a light smoke to the tail lights, Renntech ELM, wheels & tires, painting some pieces matte black and tint.

I'm sorry for the poor photography, once I get this first round of mods done I'll do a nice photoshoot so you can actually enjoy the pictures.

Thank you for the kind welcome so far, this board has been great.

aleksandar1099

looks good....

i love the color!

slavik

very very nice....so the euro impact strips dont have a sidemarker?

mchapparone

No sidemarker at all, get in touch with board sponsor James@ACGSD (877-4-ACG-SD Now (877-422-4736)) and he can get you a set.

Now I just need to figure out how to get the warning signals off my dash saying I have lights out!? Can I do it with any scan tool or do I have to take it to the dealer?

slavik

was just about to ask...what to do about the lights being out?

mchapparone

Hopefully someone will fill us in...I didn't want to leave the bulb just hanging in there as you never know what it could possibly do in there (burning, melting, etc....)

slavik

this is what i plan on doing... leaving it in there and wrapping with foil

andy_cyp

NOT foil for christs sake, if anthing wrap it with insulating tape til some one tells you how to disable the warning light issue.

mchapparone

Yeah mine is just wrapped with electrical tape for the time being. The bulb was removed and the plug was wrapped with standard black electrical tape.

slavik

how about wiretie?

mchapparone

Couple teasers for the day...

slavik

smoking the lights? spray or film? how hard was the euro impact strips install?

mchapparone

Smoking the lights...the only way to go. It is a mixture of black paint and clear coat that we do it here at my shop. It allows me to get the exact look I am going for without having some big strip of tint that won't fade to a weird yellow over time..

I am also going to do a light smoke over the clear sections of the tail lights as it looks like everyone I see seems to leave theirs exposed...should make for a nice different look than the average trend.

I actually had the lights smoked yesterday but they were way to dark for the Flint Grey..they would have looked perfect on almost any other color but they just did not look right on my color...so we are re-doing them today with just a light smoke. I want it to look as clean as possible..

slavik

sounds good cant wait for the results...as i plan on doing the same thing...you doing it at the same shop as your m3 was done?? i remember your m3 from 6speed and e46f i believe...

mchapparone

You are correct, that's my M3...and yes it's the same shop (Chapparone Auto Body & Painting) where all the work was done before.

Here's a pic of the M3:

slavik

yepp...thats the car... makes me miss both of my e46 m3's...

mchapparone

Okay, here are the pictures of the E55 after we smoked the side mirror turn signal lights, the third brake light, and the tail lights.

I decided to mix things up a bit with the tail lights and do a darker smoke on the clear portion and a lighter smoke on the red. I noticed a lot of guys go dark on the red and leave the clear and I decided to try something different and I am VERY impressed with the results.

Smoking tail lights on a grey car is tough...go to dark and it attracts too much attention to the the lights, too light and it just looks like OEM...

here are the pictures:











Enjoy...

James@ACG

Looks good mark!

The Godfather

lol you know Spencer? He's a good kid. Known him for a few years from the boards.

How's the blacked out grill coming out?

Code3 Performance

VERY sweet!~ One of my favorite colors.

-AS

mchapparone

Thanks James...ELM needs to go on soon (badly)!!!

Yea he's a very talented photographer...he'll be doing this car once it's ready..

Grille is coming along well. We re-primed it tonight and I'm going to paint it tomorrow..should be on by the weekend.

slavik

looks great... i really like the dark side markers

rarfinancial

HOLY CRAP SLAVIK !! What's up with the set of impact strips in your sig

mchapparone

Lol..Rick right? How have you been? I remember we all went to Pancake House then the Big SoCal Euro Meet together with James...your car is looking great, sorry to hear about that issue with the supercharger.

James@ACG

Let me know if you need a set, we offer them painted and not painted, they get painted my Mark's auto bod shop top notch work

$200 painted for the set.