A while ago when I was at home in the Netherlands I got a phonecall from a californian dealer that I frequently work with/for and they offered me a 2003 E55 with 88k miles, 1 owner, no accidents, bonestock, extremely cheap.
Eventhough I was not looking for an E55 and eventhough I hate the term bonestock, the price was just too good to pass by...so I ended up buying an E55 without ever having seen it (not even on pictures).


...the original wheels were sold the very day that the car was bought...these are temporary 19inch CLS wheels that were on the car for a short time...




...halogen headlights...so disappointing at night...

The car turned out to be extremely clean (must have been owned by one of the very few amercians who knows that driving a car does not require constant drinking & eating) and the car only had 2 very small dings and barely any stonechips.
Obviously I have taken the car apart to extend the optionlist and was happily surprised to see that the car barely has been touched by dealer techs in the past at all...perfect deal for me!


...no comand, no power rear sunshade...


...no parktronic, no distronic...


...the original instrument cluster that only went up to 160mph...


...the low-budget multicontour seats..

Before even driving the car I installed the following options:
- distronic
- comand with navigation
- Ipod kit
- MHI/UHI phone with VR
- digital/analog TV tuner
- power rear sunshade
- 18inch spare wheel with relocated battery
- power folding mirrors with ECE mirrorglasses
- and some other small things


...now with distronic and power folding mirrors...

more to follow - greetingz,

 

Nice catch.

How come it does not have the V8 Kompressor badge on the side?

 

Most of the interior and some of the exterior has been removed in order to be able to add those options that are considered to be basic necessities in life.










...the trunk with the original battery location...


...that same trunk but now with the hardware for the drive dynamic seats, control units for the tire pressure monitor system & parktronic, the navigation drive & TV tuner and the power trunk closer with remote closer module...


...the relocated battery (tightened), 18inch spare wheel and the brackets for the luggage fixation kit...


...the back of the front seat with the low-budget multicontour hoses...


...that same back of the front seat but now with a drive dynamic control unit in it...


...the front bumper was taken off in order to replace the defective waterpump for the intercooler...as I figure(d) this car is fast enough as it is and that mercedes engineers with reason, I went for an original waterpump again...

more to follow & greetingz,

 

Wow, lots of work, but looks like it's paying It's nice to see your car transform in stages like that..... thanks for sharing the pics, and please keep them coming

 

After having had some time to work on the car during the last 2 US trips, I have now added pretty much most of the options that I "need". The car has gotten the following options retrofitted:

057 Ipod kit
219 distronic
220 parktronic
260 debadged rear trunklid & fenders
297 integrated rear doorshades
386 UHI phonekit
390 voice recognition UK
433 drive dynamic leftside seat (instead of 404 multicontour seat)
434 drive dynamic rightside seat (instead of 405 multicontour seat)
475 tire pressure monitor system
481 steel carter protection plate
500 power folding mirrors
540 power rear sunshade
527 euro comand with navigation (instead of 521 audio50)
600 headlight washers (everything is installed except for the washerholes in the bumper)
615 active bixenon headlights (incl. wiring and control unit - fully functioning)
669 spare folding wheel (18inch - to be changed for 19inch soon)
682 fire extinguisher
819 CD changer
863 digital TV tuner
881 power trunk closer
884 auxiliary trunklocks
882 IMS
942 easyfix package
E63 instrument cluster
AMG manufaktur nappa/alcantara new-style steering wheel with paddle shifters
AMG nappa leather new-style airbag
all-wood shifter panel
ashtray delete (1x front & 2x rear)
aluminum pedalcovers
euro bumperstrips
euro trunklid insert

The following options have been removed:
384 CP high (teleaid)
634 first aid kit deletion (so, it has an original one now - in the pass side seat)
636 warning triangle deletion (so, it has an original one in the trunklid)

I also pre-wired the car for 401 ventilated front seats, 861 center rear monitor and 872 heated rear seats which might or might not get done in the future.


...now with a new style AMG manufaktur steering wheel, leather airbag, E63 instrument cluster and so on...


...now with comand, power rear sunshade, distronic, parktronic and an all-wood shifterpanel...


...now with ashtray delete and power rear sunshade...


...now with distronic, parktronic, an all-wood shifterpanel and drive dynamic pass side seat...


...drive dynamic seat and fire extinguisher...


...with integrated rear doorshades...


...with rear ashtray delete and the switch for the soon-to-be heated rear seats...


...with rear power sunshade and parktronic...


...with interior motion sensor (and its switch) and without the tele-aid switch...


with auxiliary trunklocks and luggage fixation kit...


...with auxiliary trunklocks, emergency triangle, power trunkcloser...

more to follow & greetingz,

 

Is that steering wheel what comes on the 08 and 09 P30 package? It looks different than the one I have....

 

Currently the car is on 18inch styling Vs as the tires on the 19inch CLS rims were worn out...the car will get some 2009 style 19inch styling IVs from the SL63 [030] soon (I already have the rims & tires) in combination with a set of SL65/SL63 [030] brakes as the current E55 brakes have proven themselves to be underpowered.


...with the temporary styling Vs...


...with active bixenons, parktronic, distronic and euro bumperstrips...


...the result of 13 minutes of fun on a mountain pass ...


...my actual wheels with tires...


...and last but not least: MBenzNL...

All in all, I must say that I like the car - a LOT - and the thing I miss the most when I get into my dutch E220CDI is the parameter powersteering (and NOT the engine power)...I don't like the seat adjustment in the E55 as I have gotten used to the lower CLS seats in my dutch E220CDI but that is a minor issue.

NO performance modifications and NO weird CF add-ons for me either...the car is fast enough as it is (0 to 190mph in 60 seconds) and already has grip-issues enough when having fun on mountain passes...I rather upgrade the performance of the underpowered brakes.

greetingz,

 

MBenzNL - any problems rubbing with CLS wheels? what size tires are you running?

Just when i think I learned ALL of the factory options for the W211 I realize i'm not even close!!

 

Nice work man! That is incredible!!

 

Very impressive work on all the mods.

If you need better brakes, don't bother with the overweight AMG bits; just get the Brembo GT kits and be done with it. Will 405mm discs in front and 380mm discs in the rear work for you?

 

sell me ur 19in cls55 rims

 

Nice work Steve! .....as usual

 

I removed all of them...I don't like cleaning cars and don't like cleaning in between of badges and don't like badges to begin with

no...this steering wheel is for the pre 2005 R230 SL55 and is from AMG Manufaktur (different then the performance ones)

not on mine (I only had these rims on for 2 weeks - approx 3600 miles) but it did have rubbing issues on the E500 that they came from

no, thank you....I don't want aftermarket stuff...and I have a set of 65 brakes somewhere in between of the stock of brakes that I have...390mm fronts and 360mm rears will do...and that will still be silver and say AMG and be OEM.

greetingz,

 

Very nice job the car looks great for 90k!!! Cant believe all the factory options you put in this car must have been an arm and a leg! Atleast you installed it all yourself. Goodluck and enjoy the best car for the money today 03 E55s!

Justin

 

Wow...can you say FULLY LOADED!

What is that motion sensor for?


Are they plug and play for the 03-05 W211s? The function buttons.

 

how much are you into the car now?

 

Great work !!! car looks really good !!!

 

Very nice transformation but this must have been the world's most un-optioned E55 as judging by your list of additions, it really had NOTHING.

I wonder what idiot ordered this car originally?

 

looks great, Steve!

but why no lowering via Star yet?

 

+1...love that steering wheel. Please PM me with what that setup would cost.

Thanks.

 

That is impressive work indeed. I admire anyone who can just throw caution to the wind and take a freakin' car apart! Granted, it looks like you know what you are doing, but I wouldn't be able to take my car apart without some serious anxiety!

Are you going to be able to install keyless go?

Man, what do people make fun of the Dutch for? I can't think of anything.

 

Yeah steering wheel is unreal! Great job once again love it.

 

I bow to no one. However, I must this once. Awesome mods, updates, etc.

 

Steve, you're out of control! I love the fact that you completely gutted the thing before you even put 1 mile on her. Wild.

 

You forgot to mention the remote trunk option!

The Wife Loves it Thanks Steve