Well, I bought the wagon.

Thanks to all who weighed in on my first thread, when deciding whether or not I should buy this one. It was very helpful to hear everyone's input.

I did the PPI, got the carfax, paid extra for a scan for codes, paid extra to check solenoids for oil (per this thread: https://mbworld.org/forums/w212-amg/...sors-leak.html). Everything came back great. The tech said it actually looks like it has never been driven in winter and he guessed that it was somebody's golf day car. The only thing they noticed was that the tires needed replacing because they were still on the original OEM tires from 2015/2016.

They were right - it is like new inside and there's no rust underneath. It even has the window sticker on it with break-in instructions. it also has the blue protective film still on the rear lift handle to access the under-shelf storage in the back.

To get it safetied I got them to put on winter tires instead of summer. So I'm set for this upcoming season. They put on some cheap Nexxen tires. I would not choose that brand myself (and offered to pay the difference for better brands if there were alternatives available) but it was all they could get on short notice. They're square 255/35/19, per the manual, so I will likely swap them front to back before they're put on again next year so they wear a bit more evenly. On the upside, I feel a lot less bad about wearing $220 tires acting like a goon than I would about wearing down $440 tires.

I've been driving it a lot yesterday/today, and my first impressions are that this is an AMAZING car. In terms of driving experience, It is comfortable; fast; unique. Ride is good. Distronic is very good for someone who hits traffic frequently. Any idea of keeping this car extremely low mileage and pristine is now likely out the window. I expect to probably put 10k on it per year.

Command system is weird and pretty difficult to use relative to Audi and Mazda systems. Stereo sounds TERRIBLE.

The modded exhaust is FAR TOO LOUD. By around 30%+. I feel like I'm being an a**hole annoying everyone everywhere I go. The craziness is what attracted me to the car, but I need some method to calm it down a little and have it not be a raving axe murderer 100% of the time. I don't think I could drive this an hour home after a 14 hour day in the office.

In terms of things to do, I want to:

1. Oil spray to prevent rust from Ontario salt in winter.
2. Debadge - in part because the prior owner painted the "V" in V8 and the "E" in E63 red. They look dumb and the paint is coming off. I want to see how it looks completely debadged. I may buy new chrome or black badges as replacements if complete debadging is not good. I might put on base trim badging for giggles.
3. PPF rear bumper. German Shepard will be in and out sometimes along with camping gear, chicken feed, etc. Even if it's garage kept, the toddler or dog will hit the bumper with something (stick, toy, kid's electric car) at some point.
4. Somehow protect interior. Will likely ppf piano black trim so it doesn't scratch. Considering ceramic coating the leather; not sure if that's a scam or not.
5. Figure out some way to quiet down the exhaust. I sometimes drive into the city (Toronto) at 5am and my neighbours will probably lynch me if I cold start at 105db and grumble out of the parking lot at 96db at 5:05 am once a week.
6. Figure out what tune is on it and consider de-tuning a little for reliability if it's more than stage 1. Right now this thing is scary fast. Much, much, much faster than I need or even want. I still hypothesize it must be stage 2 or higher. I will likely make an appointment with Eurocharged in Toronto to determine what is on it. If it is stage 1 I will keep it, as I understand that's generally understood to be low-risk (in part because I'm rarely at full throttle; even when I'm doing pulls they are at around 75%).
7. Code for carplay and active high beams. Probably at MBHouse (as they are local to me).
8. After all that's done, it will probably be time for summer wheels and tires. Toronto roads are garbage and I don't want to have to deal with sidewall bubbles so I'll probably stick with 19 or even move down to 18s if it's possible to increase sidewall while maintaining the same rolling diameter. Sticking with the re-badging theme I might look for something that looks like base trim wheels but clears the brakes.
9. Likely a rear spoiler delete. Will keep it for later plans, below.
10. Remove black wrap on tops of handles. Not my thing. Interestingly, I think someone tried to copy the Vossen w212 build - same spoiler and same wrap. I actually thought it might be the same car until I read an article saying their car was a 2014 and mine is a 2016. Vossen also had sone additional body bits, coilovers, and wheels that mine doesn't have.
11. Improve stereo sound. I'm not sure if mine is damaged or if the HK stereo is very bad. The codes from the dealership did say some stereo speakers had experienced a short so I suspect some speakers are blown. On the upside, this would be a good excuse for an audiophile-grade rebuild. As it sits I cannot hear the stereo anywasy because everything is loud AF all the time.

So, overall, I'm making it a dad bod daily driver that will be a bit more understated, for now. Except I still want the exhaust to sound crazy from time to time.

Then, in around two years, take the exterior in the complete opposite direction. Stealth xpel over white; black badging; re-add spoiler. HRE or Vossen. Lowering. Stage II. Retire from winter driving and have it be an occasional car.

Will try to get some glamour shots soon.

 

Glad you bought it, these are great vehicles and to be a wagon, icing on the cake.

 

Right on.
I smile every dang time I drive mine.
Its the perfect does-everything car.
Enjoy!!

 

Oil spray I do Krown and let them drill the rockers and doors. I know I know but I'm keeping this car forever and don't see the plugs when the door is closed and when I die or trade it in for scrap either way I won't care how I'm judged lol.

PPF great idea my top bumper is scratched up because I use the vehicle all the time. I'm shocked at what fits in it LOL

Stock exhaust IMHO is the bestest. They really nailed it. Figure out how much of the Renntech you have and hopefully it's just bridge pipes back, just change it all to stock. Throaty and not annoying loud when you get on it but satisfying enough on gear changes to grin ear to ear. I just tried aftermarket downpipes and I only lasted a month, putting it back to stock.

Carplay makes the interface not so horrible because I'm just in carplay all the time.

Whatever wheels you buy, buy 5. Then when (not if, when) you bend a rim you already have a spare and order the next spare as soon as you have to use it LOL. GTA roads suck, no way to pay attention and avoid holes when riding *** fighting traffic - you just don't see any of pavement in front of you but you sure hear and feel it!

I've been holding off on the sucky stereo too, every time I think about it starts to really add up falling into the rabbit hole. Let me know what you find out. The system is terrible and not just because of blown speakers. It just sucks. Heh.

 

What I would love is an actuator based baffle/louver that augments the stock exhaust on command from the cabin or BT. - that seems like a simple mod for a manufacturer to produce, no?

 

I cannot tell a lie...I have researched installing a BT-enabled cutout on my exhaust for those times I want to sound like tax lit leaving his hood at 5am lolol

At the dragon rally a few weekends back...I had a ton of compliments on how good my exhaust (all stock) sounded. I just wish I could hear more of it...so quiet on the inside but agree, I want something that isn't overly loud most of the time. My son is installing a cutout on his 2012 Audi A4 Avant stage 2 wagon...maybe I'll see how that goes...

 

Why not consider the ol' resonator delete? Many seem happy with that.
OR...

 

@Cifdig 's car is on another level.

 

💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼 Thx bro . This is actually a Exhuast we had built for a customer. Tru 3.5 Exhuast

 

I agree that pic is a thing of beauty. Goals , but given what I assume that costs I probably can't do anything like that for a couple years.

I have an appointment tomorrow with a local exhaust shop just to figure out what is currently on the car and what might be done to quiet it down. Have been trying to find stock exhaust parts but it seems new OEM is quite expensive. I have never had anything custom done before (all prior cars were stock exhaust), so all this is a bit new to me. At this point I'm planning to do some kind of stop-gap solution to quiet it down a bit, but I don't know if that means trying to track down some OEM parts, or if a local shop can frankenstein something that will work for me.

I also have an appointment Friday with Eurocharged Toronto to figure out what tune is on it. I assume if the car's tuned for free-flowing exhaust I don't want to just restrict it without modifying/removing the tune.

Ideally I'd return to stock tuning for reliability, and have an exhaust that is valved to be 50% louder than stock when open.

I've also reached out to my detailing/PPF people to get on with de-spoiler, de-badge, ppf and will see how that goes.

 

Check the center speaker, pull the grill and make sure the paper cones are still attached. Seems like a common failure and was the case with mine.

Speaker sucks playing satellite radio but the BT audio is decent, at least the HK system.

 

in for pics and price on the wing…

 

Thanks, good to know. Will check.

 

Always debadge.... or better, downbadge.




I don't own a track suit, nor do I wear gold chains, so the AMG badging seems excessive. Plus, when you pull on C8s, ZL1 Camaros, Hellcats, and they see the E350 badge... they will be thoroughly confused.

 

I like this. I may do it.

 

So, I had the car in to ECC Toronto (formerly known as eurocharged canada).

They were saying they didn't expect much. They seemed to think I was being paranoid and said that it was probably barely tuned. He said he expected 490 on the dyno.




They said it wasn't their tune, and it's running more boost than they would recommend. These numbers (and high boost) scare me about engine longevity so I have an appointment with the dealer to get flashed back to stock on Tuesday. I've been told not to beat on it until we dial back the boost.

Browsing some other threads the overall shape and numbers seem most similar to a Renntech R2 package, https://mbworld.org/forums/w212-amg/...t-install.html, but without the air intakes. Maybe that's what the prior tuner was trying to emulate. So god knows what they're doing here.

Fortunately it doesn't sound like any damage has been done at this point so if I return to stock I should be OK and not risking bent rods, etc.

Also, they confirmed that for the exhaust the secondary cats are deleted and resonators are deleted, and that the mufflers are renntech. Hence all the volume. They suggested re-adding resonators if I'm looking for a 20% reduction in volume.

I'm hoping tuning to stock doesn't mess with the sound of the car much. Crazy loud downshifts and cracks on upshifts (which I assume may be impacted by amount of boost) were part of why I bought the car.

 

Also, if there are mods in this thread, I realized today that there's a forum member named Brutus_tx. I had named the thread based on the brutality of acceleration and noise, but the name may be confusing. Can someone change it to "Tax Lit Dadbod Build - (Considering Tuned E63s Wagon - Part II)" so I'm not stepping on any toes?

 

Have an appointment booked with Crown, but the earliest I could get was late november. :/

 

MB Kitchener Waterloo flashed back to stock yesterday, did two ECU recall updates.

While I was there I had them do a fresh oil change and alignment, to ensure the right oil was in it and that I'm not wearing down my winters unnecessarily.

Stock tune is definitely tamer than what was being run before, but is still sufficient for me. The car still feels very fast. There's definitely a difference between feeling you had unlimited power with the tune when you go 80% throttle and feeling like you have excellent (but not unlimited) power with the stock tune when you go full throttle.

This weekend it goes into the detailing shop for badge and wing removal, interior ppf on black center console trim and carbon fiber door panel trim, and ceramic leather protection. I ordered full weathertech mats, too, but apparently they may take 4 weeks to arrive. So by Christmas the whole thing should be in full dad-bod mode (toned down outside; protected from toddler inside).

I'm coming around to the current exhaust setup. Learning how to control the throttle more gently to control the sound. I may wind up keeping the exhaust as it is. I'm getting a fair number of cool little burbles when letting off the accelerator at 3k ish rpms, and I don't want to lose those if I add a resonator.

I'm also coming around to possibly leaving the current paint instead of going stealth eventually. The designo diamond white is really growing on me.

 

Any updates?

 

sorry for the very delayed reply.

I’m still loving the car. Bought at 18k and have driven it another 13k so far. Partially ‘cause my 4 yo son likes it and always asks to take “Ghost Car” when we go out as a family. If you ask him what noise it makes he goes “VRAAAAAAAAAA VROOOOOOOOO!!!!”

Did preventative plugs and injectors at ECC since the car was previously tuned.

added CarPlay via vlad. Big improvement. want to add wireless dongle if there’s a good one that works consistently.

Temporarily considered trading it in towards a carrerraT in hopes of possibly getting a step closer to a spyder rs allocation but then decided that didn’t make any sense with a 4yo. Was tempted to trade towards a blue 2021 e63s wagon but then decided there’s no way it’s worth all the added cost.

Decided to keep it and drive it forever. In the process of buying another e92 m3 as a fun car.

I still find it hilarious that it sounds so evil. Makes driving into the city fun, and the automatic cruise handles rush hour well when I get stuck in it. I’m glad everyone convinced me it was a good buy. There’s really no good substitute under $130k cdn, I don’t think.