CarHopper

My goal with this car is to just have something that is clean. So with that in mind, I'm looking to land in a relatively small group of nicely modified E AMG's.

Also, I'll use this as a picture / media thread for this car.

Let's do this.

Dealership photos showing how I got the car:










Venture 1

Going to take on a few things before tucking it away for the winter. I guess that makes this a bit of a tease but don't worry, acquiring can still happen in the winter months. Anyways, I want to get this car sitting a little better. To get there I bought springs for the fronts and links for the rear. As of now the rear measurement is 26 3/8'' from floor to fender and the fronts are 27 1/8'' from floor to fender. I am taking the car in on Friday to get those put in. Also, when lowering the wheels will get a more sunk in look which I happen to hate so I also bought the appropriate spacers to bring the wheels out flush to the fenders.

Also, the same time on Friday I am having the resonators cut out and replaced with straight pipes to hopefully get a little more volume and snapping out of the exhaust even though it already sounds great.

H&R Springs/Links/H&R Spacers/Bolts


26 3/8


27 1/8 & clear bra


After Friday, I'm going to go take care of some exterior cosmetic stuff which hopefully happens in the next few weeks. First things first, removing a pretty terrible "clear" bra. You can see a pretty distinct difference in the white of the front bumper and the white of the fender in the picture above. Furthermore, it was applied terribly and just to the edges which you can see in the picture below:

clear bra


Once that is off, and the car gets a good wash, we'll be blacking out some things. The front grill, "V8 Biturbo" fender badges, the "E63" & "SAMG" badges on the trunk, the Mercedes logo, and strip above license plate will all be painted gloss black. Also, the rear spoiler will be coming off, cleaned up, and replaced with a carbon fiber spoiler. Furthermore, I got a carbon fiber front lip to go along with the spoiler. I went with RW Carbon and so far so good. Couple PMs, easy paying, quick shipping... Already got them and they were packaged very well. You can be a judge of quality below:

Front lip "Brabus style"


Front lip weave


Spoiler packaging (same as lip)


Rear spoiler "DTM style"


Spoiler weave


Grill before and no lip




Trunk: OEM spoiler, silver strip & emblems before




What's coming next...

Of course, updated pictures after everything above gets done. However, looking into the future there will like be a few more things. I think the tint may be too dark for me. Kind of hard to see at night putting it in the garage but I feel like its 5-10%. I would swap that out for something like 35-50%. I am also looking at getting another set of wheels / tires. I already know I'll put Pilot Super Sports on I am just undecided on whether or not I want to get $10k HRE's or what. I'm waiting to see if any big black Friday sales happen and if nothing seems like that great of a deal I'll try to see what the mid winter brings. I'll come back with my ideas before pulling the trigger on a set.

Lastly, once we get a good bit of snow and I know the car wont be driven for a little while I'll be pulling the ECU and sending it off for a tune. Ideally I would like to get my car on a dyno before the tune. I'm still undecided on who to go with for a tune. Having a warranty honored is nice which has me leaning towards Renntech. But I know you can get other reliable tunes for half the price.

Please chime in if you have experience with tunes on the FL E63S.

Again, I want to just have a clean car and keep it drama free. I do, however, want to make a 10 second pass sometime next year and from what I see most people need downpipes to get there. We shall see what happens...

Fairbird

Tune , DPs, drop ins , catless and you should see 10s

CarHopper

I live in NY with strict emissions. Catless DPs aren't really an option for me because I don't want to swap downpipes annually just for an inspection. I figure if I want 10's that bad and can't get there I might run them for a year and then be done after that.

You seem to be quite accustomed to the e63. Any suggestions for tune? I figure off the shelf tunes at this point should be pretty good. I like the idea of Renntech and keeping a warranty but also open to other companies. Had Eurocharged on my c63 and liked it.

Fairbird

tune , drop ins , tcu tune instead of down pipes .
I have an opinion on all the companies since I work with all of them . PM me if you have any questions , can't answer in public .
I ran 10.9 with modes above .

thewb

Just so you know our Black Friday deals have already begun. If we as HRE's largest dealer in the world can't find a number that you like then nobody will. Give me a holler, let's pick something out together.

*Subscribed to Thread*

CarHopper

Lower: check.
Front lip: check.

More to come.

Adi-Benz

Good luck on the build,

It's already looking great

CarHopper

Couple more

noodleman

sweet! How's the ride quality after the H&Rs?

Kvn22

Looking good man, do you have a close up shot of the front? I want to get an idea of the gap. I'm thinking about doing this combination instead of the renntech lowering package.

Thanks!

CarHopper

Honestly, can't tell much of a difference, but I don't drive too hard. Still comfortable and sport-ish

There is a little rubbing in the front left though. Only when I'm fully turned real slow into a parking spot or if I hit a dip on the highway that causes enough travel. It's nothing too severe though and the tires are new so I'll let them wear down a bit.

RW Carbon

Looking good!!!

AG6

Very nice progress.

I like that front lip. Did you install yourself or required bodyshop?

CarHopper

Thanks!

I had the people who installed the springs do it. That being said, very simple and straight forward. You'll see where to apply double sided tape and then it is just a matter of lining it up.

The spoiler will take a little more love which is why I'll have my detail guys do that when everything gets blacked out. Want to get the OEM one off but clean up the trunk before putting on the other one.

That said, we just had a good bit of snow come through so it seems as though winter is near and the car wont get out much. However, when business is slow for the detail shop they'll come pick my car up, get everything squared away, and send it back.

Chappy

Subscribed

Wickdwagon

Did you contemplate the Renntech lowering packages? What did you see as the upside to just the springs?

MTV10

Sick !!!
Love these types of build threads. Nice drop... H&R Sports?

CarHopper

I did, and still do. I was in the process of buying an e63s and a member here listed some links / springs FS so I jumped on it just to see.

Car is going in for a fair bit of cosmetic work / detailing so will be down for some time. I'm considering going with the renntech tune at this time and also sitting on whether or not I'll give their lowering setup a shot.

I'll keep this thread updated if I do or not. I am rubbing on my current setup which is kind of a letdown. It's not terrible, but if I forget and hit a dip in a highway bridge or something at 70-80mph there is a pretty loud screech/rub that can bring a puzzled look to a passengers face.

I have a few ideas in mind moving forward, and seeing as there is a decent snow base where I live I have some time to do it. But here are my thoughts:

1 - Smaller spacer. However, I'm not sure this will actually solve all of my problems. I think that it is low enough in the front to the point the suspension travel alone ends with the center of the tire rubbing on the fender liner well within the wheel well. Sinking the wheel further in wont help that.

2 - If the spacer is no help, and it is indeed too low, well then I'm not sure. But I guess the decision at this point is whether or not to get a set of aftermarket wheels or go with Renntech's lowering package.

Admittedly, I really like the OEM wheels and have barely found a substitute that stops me in my tracks as a suitable replacement. However, being an "enthusiast" it is hard to ignore some type of crowd pleasing aspect that goes along with a nicely lowered AMG on a set of $10k HRE's. However, there are so many options when it comes to wheels and I just want it done right. Do I do 19's? Do I do 20's? 19 F with a 20 R? How aggressive of an offset? Do I stretch a tire or aim for OEM spec?

One thing is for sure, though. Mon. Oh. Block. I've done the 3 piece dance and it's not something I want to do again.

3. If I stick with OEM wheels, and smaller spacers don't work, It's either back up to stock height or go with a 245 tire in the front.

4. Custom. Either air, do coilovers, or take a trip down memory lane and just make a spring stop that is solid and will prevent my suspension from traveling to a point that it rubs.


Any way you look at it, there will come a time where I don't rub. Ideally I am still lowered on a 255/285+ F/R tire setup, potentially new wheels, flush, low, rub free. I don't really have to abide by a budget, especially since I gave up the idea of running a new turbo setup with all the turbo tack and minimal feedback of positive gains to this point, so I can kind of go a little crazy here if I want.

Even sitting on the idea of 2-3 sets of wheels and just swapping around as my tastes change. But, I am also aware of how long I hang on to cars and how much less your top of the line HRE (or similar) type of wheel sells for in the used market.

Edit - I didn't mention the "upside" you asked about. For me, it was just timing of the parts FS at a price I couldn't ignore. I mean I got everything, to me, and installed, for about $600. Who knew out of all the cars I lowered the cheapest would be a $100k+ E-class AMG. Then again, end links also make life easy.

Yeah, H&R springs in the front and endlinks in the rear.

CarHopper

Also - If anyone could point me in the direction of factory black window trim that would be fantastic. I think I've asked before, memory fails me, but if I could get help there...

I'm just looking for a PN to bring to MB or even a link where I can buy them. Just the window surrounds needed because the front grill, fender badges, etc. are all being painted black soon.

Thanks gents!

thewb

Your choices should all boil down to what you want your AMG to be. Do you want to focus in on it being the best performer it can be or are you looking to be a show stopper? 19's are the better choice for grippy tire options. 20's look better visually but are also heavier.

A more aggressive offset is always a plus in both the look and performance department. A wide track ultimately leads to better turning so this one is a no brainer.

Choosing the proper tires also plays an important role in both performance and looks. Tire sizing should be the last thing you tackler after you figure out your wheel width and offset choice.

Wickdwagon

Thanks for the thoughtful response. We are headed in sometime next week to get the weistec exhaust installed and was thinking about doing the renntech package at the same times. But I am not a big fan of change multiple variables at once! But I do agree that the wagon would look pretty wild with just the tiniest drop. The roads here in NJ are horrid and I do not want to destroy what is nearly a perfect car, and it seems that dropping a car to far might look nice but heck they are meant to driven not looked at in the parking lot!

CarHopper

Threw it on the dyno today for baseline. My only concern was that my car was too low but I was okay.

Drama free, pulled in, strapped down, 1 pull just to see, and that was it.

Mustang dyno'd in at 464awhp/465awtq. I'm happy, especially on this dyno known to break hearts. They even double checked with me that it was stock afterwards because you could just tell by the look on their faces they knew it was a strong car which it is.

Now, if I were smart, I'd get a 1/4 mile pass in there too and see what that number is. But I'm not that smart and really would like to get the tune on. We will see what happens there.

Next update will be third-ish week in Feb. Car goes in second week for a good wash and then having it ceramic coated. Also will be blacking out all the silver from front bumper to rear.

...Which reminds me, I still have to find a 2016 w/ the night package so I can get the VIN for the black window trim. Still scratching my head on that one, MB.

allenjdmb

But can you tell us where you got your front lip? Good fitment?

CarHopper

RWCarbon and it is drama free. I'd recommend it

Amg63-

My car stock on dyno jet dynoed at 484/525 so for a mustang dyno it seems just about right. Don't sweat it!

i think mine is a little weak actually...