If your breaking out the welder....Do the rim with the glue (Alum-Bond) too

 

Fixed the diff cooler yesterday. Not my finest work, but I haven't welded aluminum in a few years, so I've given myself a pass. It'll definitely get he job done. I'll admit that there is going to be a little fear the first time I use it as a jacking point, but at least there are two bolts holding it now.
Before any cleaning:


First pass through my garbage Harbor Freight media blast cabinet:


Decided to try the wire wheel instead. Much better and faster results:


Non-fancy welding table:


Found a use for the broken idler pulley:


This was later filed flat, or course:


globbed together:


Finally reinstalled:

 

Since the car is moving so little lately, decided to do all the things I've been putting off. Queue the big box of parts!



Two tensioners, the serpentine idler pulley, and a nre bearing for the SC pulley
Plus everything for an oil change, and full trans service (conductor plate, elec. connector, pan gasket, fluid, etc)
Taking Friday off work to get started early

 

Update:
I did get all those parts installed a while back, minus the trans service. I'm going to wait for the weather to cool off before tackling that one.
But the newest problem was an embarrassing squeal from the serpentine belt. It was gradually getting worse and worse, taking sometimes 1/2 a mile to stop.
After an inspection a couple weeks ago I found a lot of rubber dust on the alternator. But with the old belt removed, the alternator spins very nicely.
I thought I had replaced the serpentine belt already, but I guess I was mistaken. It wasn't in terrible shape, but was pretty well polished from all the slippage.
I ordered a new belt from FCP Euro and installed it on Saturday. The new belt was at least 1/2" shorter than the old one, and was consequently a royal PITA to install.
Fired it up and no squeals, and was surprised to feel the AC immediately get cold. It was taking a while to cool off and I just assumed it was from the car being heat soaked from sitting in the 100+ degree heat for days before I drive someplace. I guess the belt was slipping on the AC pulley as well.
Otherwise the car has been good, knock on wood. Still addicted to all that torque.

 

Nice when you get an unexpected fix like that

 

I replaced the trim panels around the edges of the trunk over the weekend. I bought these parts on a whim because I ordered a couple clips for something else and the shipping was ridiculous... something like $16 shipping for $5 worth of clips. So I played around with my "shopping cart" and to see what else I could fit in the box for a very small change in the shipping. So I ended up with these panels since the rubber seals were falling off.



Here are the part numbers for the trim panels:
A2116930133
A2116930233
I assume these are the same for all W211 sedans, and not specific to the E55

The first step is to remove the plastic trim panel the sits on the lower edge of the trunk opening and has the small lights on either side. I forgot to take a picture of this step, but the little square clips can be removed with a small flat head screwdriver. There is a tab on the top, near the light that need to be released from the car, simply pull towards the middle of the trunk and it should pop free. Now you can access the plug for the small trunk light. With the clips removed and the lights unplugged you can remove that trim from the car and set it aside.

2nd I removed the rubber trunk seal. It probably could have stayed in the trunk. But there was a lot of crusty debris around the top edge (base of the rear window), so I removed it completely from the car so I could clean it.
Here's a pile of parts for you to look at:



To remove the trim pieces in question I had to gain access to the back side of them. They are held on by one t25 bolt and four small push pins that are really difficult to grab from the top. So I used a 90 degree pick to reach in and push the center out of the locking pin. I had the move the trunk liner on each side out of the way to so it. That seemed to work pretty well, since I was able to reuse all the original clips. There's one pin not pictured, near the bumper.



Once I got the trim removed, my suspicions were confirmed that debris was getting underneath and hanging around, turning my car into a rolling compost bin.



It was much worse at the base of the rear window. I spent some time with an old tooth brush and some spray cleaner and got everything looking good again. I went around the entire perimeter of the trunk. I think the rubber gasket was holding onto moisture in the groove that attaches to the chassis pinch weld. It was wet and gross and I think was starting to cause rust problems near the bottom of the trunk, close to the latch. I cleaned the trunk gasket with some parts cleaner and a stiff brush. It was pretty crusty where it had been tucked under the trim panels. Luckily the whole thing was all in one piece and still flexible.
Here's the same area after the cleanup.



Don't go too crazy at the corners of the rear window. You see that little rubber oval. That's the gasket/wire for the rear defroster. Certainly don't want to break that.
The last step is to transfer over the small square access panel that's at the top edge of the trim. I assume this is to access the defroster wire without having to remove this entire trim piece. Once you have the old trim piece off, it's easy to see how these pop in/out. I cleaned them up the same way.
Reinstallation was the opposite of removal. Getting the old push pins to go pack into the hole in the chassis was a little tricky. If you didn't line it up exactly they would catch on the lip and try to deform, making the next attempt even more difficult. I would order new clips if I had to do this again. Don't ask me why I didn't order them. I have no good reason.
Mercedes calls these an upper trim rivet. Part number:A0009916940

All back together and looking sharp



The final step I did after reinstalling the rubber trunk seal, is to tuck the edge of the rubber UNDER this trim panel. I think I did this in the wrong order, because it was pretty tricky. I had to use a couple different plastic trim tools to shove it under, and it took some time.
I think the easier way would be to install the push pin "trim rivet" but NOT push the center lock pin into place, so the trim panel could still shift a little bit. Then it would be easier to get the rubber trunk seal underneath. Once the trunk seal is in place, THEN lock the pins down.
Start to finish I think this took 2 hours. But I was making it up as I went. Hopefully if any of you try to tackle this job it would go faster with the info I've shared.
Hope this is helpful to someone

 

I did this to mine also. Same problem with the rubber loose and missing/torn. Also dirt under the panels like yours.

The only thing I would suggest is to replace the clips for sealing purposes or add some clear sealer to the hole before installing the clip to stop water from getting into the trunk and into electrical components. Also seal up that small rubber plug for the defroster wire at the glass. I did this to mine for the peace of mind.

Love the write up very well done. We need more like this.

 

Around the end of June I started getting a "display error" related to the ride height. It turns out it says this when the Airmatic brain, or some component, has taken a dump. And this warning should not simply be cleared and ignored, like I was doing.
So one day I'm heading to work and learn the hard way that the front suspension is slowly collapsing.



The sound of the tire rubbing against the fender and fender liner is QUITE unpleasant.



Call a tow truck, wait a couple hours, miss a couple meetings, etc. Good times



I tried diagnosing the system, and replacing the electrical component I THOUGHT had failed, but it never came back to life.
So... coil over conversion here I come!



I went with the standard BC Racing conversion. And replaced the front lower control arm at the same time, since I know the bushings were going bad.






I like the kit. It went in pretty well.
The only hiccup was when I learned that the inner bolt for the rear lower control arm was NOT, in fact, a torx bit, but a "triple square".
Oh, and you don't have to take apart the front brakes to do any of this.




It took me 3 days (off and on), but I'm glad to have a less failure prone system in there.
I'll give it a few miles to settle, before making any changes to the ride height. They got it very close IMO right out of the box.
Then an alignment of course.

Next project might be rear fender liners since they were crumbling in my hands as I removed and replaced them.

 

Great work. A few questions?

• Did you follow a guide for this job? Or did you just wing it?
• Initial thoughts on the difference in ride?

 

I watched a few videos on YouTube, some by individuals and at least 1 from the FCP Euro guys. I also scrolled through a couple of install threads, but didn't look to any one specifically as a step-by-step guide.
"Wing it" is generally my method.
The ride is pretty close to stock. The dampers come set right in the middle of their adjustment range. Now that I've put a few miles on it I'll start playing with the settings, and report back.

 

Cool. Thanks!

You mentioned,

Do you recall the size of that bit so that I can make sure that I have it on hand when I try my install? I plan on doing this myself.

What did you do about coding? Are there any other tips you might offer someone about to try this?

Thanks!

 

The super special bolt is an M12 triple square.
Luckily the auto parts store down the street had this in stock

I haven't addressed the coding yet. I plan to call a couple indy shops and see who has the software to do it.