Yuille36

Not investing, that would imply that I will see a return on my investment in the future. I can tell you that, I will never get back the money I've sunk into this car.

UncleBenz55

You invest into the car and your returns are measured in smiles

nd-photo.nl

Smiles per gallon to be exact

Yuille36

The reality is this, the car is paid for so why not keep it running with lots of preventative maintenance. As it's cheaper to keep her

sexyxe

Gave the toys a wash today. Poor 55 is living outside while I rebuild an old Falcon.

CQHall

Finished up the coilover installation on all 4 corners. I still have to install the updated center console buttons that use blanks where the ride height and damping control buttons are. Should be 5 mins. I also have to find someone to code-out the air suspension using STAR.

I'm a slow mechanic so it took me over 20hrs between the installation and re-installations to tweak the ride height. I was working on the ground with the car on jack stands. I imagine that a shop could do the work in half the time or faster. Especially if they are familiar with the job. Half a day if they have multiple mechanics on it.

Was it worth it? Absolutely. The car feels much, much more responsive. The handling now matches the power output.

I'm conflicted on whether I should have paid a shop to do it or did it myself. Had I known it would have taken this many hours over this many weeks, I probably would have just bitten the bullet and paid an indy to do it. The upside is that I did save a lot of money and I learned a lot about the car.

I'll post pics when I wash the car.

CQHall

Yeah, especially now with car prices being so high. A lot of consumers that would normally trade-in/sell a car that needed some work (and let the reselling dealership fix it during reconditioning) are fixing them. Every dealership and indy that I've called for work is booked out for weeks. I know 3 that aren't taking any more work for a while. The only way I've had service done is with an independent shop where I'm good friends with the owner.

Yuille36

And that is the relationship that, I have with Benz Elite Automotive in Fairfax, VA. I was having some popping noises coming from up front on my X5M, I thought that it was a suspension component.
So, I took it over to the shop, Emile (Owner) hopped in it, took it for a test drive, and told me that he heard the noise when turning sharply. He then drove it into the shop and put it on the lift.
He checked all the front suspension components, bushings, ball joints, etc. using a wrench to check tightness, and a pry bar. He couldn't find anything, then he checks the aluminum stiffening plate that is bolted underneath the front sub-frame.
He re-torqued those six bolts, took the car for another test drive, and told me problems fixed. I didn't pay anything for the diagnostic time, that is the type of relationship you dream about with an Indy Shop.
A shop that cares enough about your vehicle as much as you do, and about retaining an outstanding relationship with the customer.

nd-photo.nl

Amen! Cherish those shops

Yuille36

And there have been times, when I went in for an oil change. They performed the oil change but Emile never charged me for it.
He said that I've generated a lot of business for him over the years, as a MBWorld member, and that he appreciates that.
And also said that when a new customer walks in, and says that he heard about his shop on MBWorld, he knows it was me.

tlambert

You forgot…..fixed it for you. Hahahahaha.

SICAMG

Put on an 85 mm throttle body that is bolted directly to the snout...no adapter.
I ported..big time,the intake plenums because I did not want the VRP plenums with the rubber elbows, cut the elbows off, hogged them out,removed the bolt stand that was right in the middle of the inlet part of the plenum, welded them back together and then had them thermal barrier coated to reject heat. I broke through in a few areas so had to add weld in those spots. Was supposed to be a winter project but got a little crazy early. LOL

Next will be a major porting of the supercharger,cutting out the major restriction in the snout inlet, and then thermal barrier coating the entire inter cooler assembly.
My goal is to block as much heat as possible for next years race's.

bbirdwell

Well, today, actually nothing. I dropped the belly pans to pull a service C at 220,000 miles and discovered the driver side front of the engine and the belly pans covered in oil. So, I stopped right there and scheduled an appointment to take it into my indie for them to find and repair the oil leak which I am hoping is just the o-ring underneath the oil filter housing. While it is there I will have them do all of the work I was intending to do. Valve cover gaskets, oil vapor chambers, spark plugs, spark plug wires plus the oil change. I am thinking this oil leak is a possible cause of the increased oil consumption I've noticed over the last 10,000 mi. <sigh>

nd-photo.nl

Tip: also replace the oil filler neck, or at least the round rubber gasket which is in the neck.

SICAMG

I hate oil leaks !!

UncleBenz55

My pulley bearing was groaning. It's a super fun job, if you do it without a lift, have an extra intercooler in the front cooling package! I loosened the fan and stuck a torque wrench in there to unbolt the pulley. Car is running again now and the noise is gone

nd-photo.nl

Hahaha I also used that method. Lift the fan a little bit and then stick my power tool in between

UncleBenz55

My arms are all scratched up now

machild

Battle scars.

Yuille36

You've just earned your Medal of Honor

nd-photo.nl

Met up with a friend who does car reviews and he brought his Dragy. Was very happy with the result for the 100-200km/h measurement for my stock car. It had about a 75% filled fuel tank with RON95 and the 2 of us in the car when we measured on the German autobahn.



Also took some pictures, more in my thread: https://mbworld.org/forums/c219/8443...ld-thread.html



[edit]
Also put on a SL65 type grill on there, looks way better! Full post: https://mbworld.org/forums/c219/8443...ml#post8642282

bbirdwell

Yep, it was the large seal between the oil filter housing and engine block that was allowing oil to blow past and cover the engine.

So...
-all new gaskets on/under/around the oil filter housing
-new valve cover gaskets and resealed oil vapor separation chambers
-new spark plugs and wires
-replaced the supercharger idler pulley with a new assembly
-replaced both serpentine belts
-replaced both shifter bushings
-replaced passenger side front door lock assembly (to eliminate the "woodpecker" effect)
-fresh oil and filter

220,000 miles (354.000 km) on the car and it takes a bit of tender loving care (plus money) to keep it in top condition. FWIW, I spent more on this one service than I have for 13 years worth of parts and labor on my Mazda3.

I still intend to keep this E55 for awhile...

nd-photo.nl

Did you use a OE serpentine belt? I noticed there is quite a big difference in the OE Gates belt and an aftermarket belt. More info: https://mbworld.org/forums/c219/8443...ml#post8645077

bbirdwell

Yes. The Indie I use will only use OEM parts.

nd-photo.nl

Went out filming and shot a picture (because why not )



Took a screengrab from one of the videos, love the autumn vibe