Wheeler Dealers USA - Episode 7 - 2005 Mercedes C55 AMG

Just a small update. I got the car registered and insured last week and I am driving it to work to get to better know it and what stuff still need sot be fixed on it.

No check engine lights and the car can really hustle when it needs to. Have a message for brake pad wear, I looked but the pads look new so they probably didn't replace the wear sensors. Also the ambient air sensor is missing as the temp gauge for outside reads -40 all the time. I have one ordered and once I get that installed the A/C should be ready to charge and try out. I need to buy some fog light connectors for the new units, and the rear sunshade won't go down and needs to be looked at to figure out the issue.

There is a pretty decent vibration when it's idling in drive at stops so it may need motor mounts, allegedly they are only good for 35-40k. And lastly I need to do an oil change.

How bout some pics? Been wondering how this would go. You can probably get your money back out of this one. Someone out there is dumb... brave enough to think they can own a V8 Mercedes on the cheap.

Harvey wrote: You can probably get your money back out of this one.

As long as he doesn't hold onto it too long!

Loving this flip. Great writeup.

Harvey wrote: How bout some pics? Been wondering how this would go. You can probably get your money back out of this one. Someone out there is dumb... brave enough to think they can own a V8 Mercedes on the cheap.

Ask and ye shall receive!

For some reason I keep running into cars where people think they can seal a leak with silicone caulk.

Here's the inside of that old radiator. You can see the split in the plastic where they tried to fill it with caulk.

Here's the damage to the old A/C condenser.

It was then I looked over at the front of the engine and found this!

Here's whats left of that old A/C Compressor bearing.

Since the bearing surface wasn't ruined completely like they normally are I ordered a bearing and pulley kit.

New pulley installed.

And here you see me bugger the new pulley all up trying to get the retainer ring into place. Cheap plastic junk..

That crack wouldn't matter though as the A/C compressor had a bad shaft seal and was removed for a factory remanufactured unit.

New Gatorback belt installed after the new compressor is installed.

New Radiator and A/C condenser ready to install.

Core support back in. I took a C-Clap and used it pull the cor back into shape.

Bumper is installed and the grill is bolted to the core support.

Got some new center caps to replace the 3 worn out units and the one missing one.

Also replaced the broken shift trim so it now is clipped into the center console correctly.

I have adjusted the hood to close down a little further than in these pics. It looks like a real car again, and I've been driving it for a week now with no issues.

I did find the original window sticker in the glove box for the car. Look at those mileage figures!

Also this is the cheapest, most expensive car I have ever owned.

"For some reason I keep running into cars where people think they can seal a leak with silicone caulk."

Now, where did we put that "You know you're Grassroots when..." thread?

And welcome back to Wheeler Dealers! When I last left you all of the body work had been completed. The old crash damaged bonnet and front bumper cover tossed in favor of nicer used units now on the car. The old leaky radiator had been replaced with a new one, along with the punctured A/C condenser. After a pressure test of the A/C system the old compressor was leaking at the seal, and was replaced with a reman unit.

Which brings us up to today. I've been driving it for the last week and there are a couple items I need to take care of that are starting to annoy me. The first thing I started on, was the broken sunvisor mirror cover. I found the broken cover while vacuuming the back seats out. So no parts buying needed for this one.

I started by drilling out the broken end.

Then I took a nail and clipped it down to the proper length and super glued it in place.

All that was left was to install it in the car, which I did, and it worked out great.

The next annoyance is that rear sunshade is stuck in the UP position all the time. Now I read some posts on the Merc forums about a bearing that works it's way loose in the motor shaft so I decided to take mine apart and see if it could be repaired.

This sunshade is so stuck up..

I started by removing the the rear seat corners.

Then all the clips and stuff holding the rear package shelf in. I had ot remove the C-pillar trim to get this piece out.

Once I had the shade out, I took it to the bench for teardown.

Here you cane see the motor shaft is not centered due to the bearing being pushed out of the endbell.

I removed the motor and the bearing and retainer clip just cam falling out when I took the end off.

Here it is back in place. I used a bit of superglue here also to make sure it stayed in place.

Unfortunately as I started to put it back together I noticed that the winding gear had a few teeth sheared off it, I hoped that maybe it would still work, but that wasn't the case. As soon as the worm gear hit that spot the shade stopped working. Oh well I tried. So I just folded the shade down and unplugged the motor so it would stay in the down position.

I was getting a brake wear warning on the dash upon startup so I ordered a couple brake sensors and installed those, the front was fine but the rear was worn through. The brake pads looked brand new so I just installed the sensor and the warning went away.

The next item was the ambient front temp sensor. It had been ripped off in the accident along with the wiring. Well i found the wiring along with the wiring for the fog lamp on the passenger side. I then soldered on some wiring extensions for the fog lights and the sensor.

Loose wiring in the wheel arch.

Soldered up and heat shrinked.

The used temp sensor wasn't working so I made a makeshift resistor pack and the dash indicated 84* so I knew the wiring was good.

With this resistor setup in place and the temp reading 84* I was able to charge the A/C up. Before I did though, I installed the missing bolt I had to get from the dealership for the rear compressor bolt hole. I added 4 ounces of PAG-46 oil per the manual then charged it with 15 ounces of r134, next a can of stop-leak went in, as I wanted to make sure with the old system I didn't get any leaks, then another 15oz of r134 was added. Checked the temp at the dash and thank the maker it was blowing ice cold! It says to run the system for 15 minutes on the Stopleak so I took it for a spin around the block and down to the local Advance Auto to get some oil and a filter, but they didn't have any 0w40 on sale and I wasn't about to buy 9 quarts at 10 dollars a quart. So I just came home.

The A/C was really the last thing preventing me from selling the car, so with it now fixed I can get her cleaned up, and ready for its next owner.

I did pop onto Amazon to order the last bit of parts for it, some fog light connectors, a new ambient temp sensor, along with the oil and filter.

So it's time to total up what I've spent from the the kitty on it and how much it owes me.

I paid.

• $3400 - Car.
• $1900 - Front Bumper Cover, grill, grill inserts, and hood.
• $311 - Headlight assemblies, Left and Right.
• $162 - Radiator.
• $235 - A/C Compressor.
• $139 - A/C Compressor Pulley (Ended up not using but couldn't return).
• $58 - A/C Condenser.
• $58 - Inner fender liners, lower.
• $17 - Wheel Center Caps.
• $60 - Console Shift Bezel
• $13 - Ambient temp sensor connector and wiring.
• $12 - Serpentine Accessory Belt
• $260 - 2 new rear tires, mounted and balanced.
• $7 - Fog Light connectors.
• $15 - Ambient temp sensor
• $64 - Oil and Filter
• $14 - Brake wear sensors
• $5 - Compressor Bolt
• $93 - Engine and Trans Mounts.

So when we total it all up, this ride owes me just a tad over $6800. So I've gone over budget about $1600 but I'm pretty confident I can get around $9000 for it so I'm not sweating it too much. Stay tuned for the finale when i clean it up and see if I can get it sold.

Well gents this one's almost in the bag. I'm still waiting on those few remaining parts to show up to be truly done. I washed the car yesterday and buffed out the scratches on the hood, it cleaned up real nice I must say. The interior wasn't the worst, but a good scrubbing really brought it back. I took pictures today and I'll get it advertised once the last little things are resolved.

I will say, this car is a blast to drive. Faster than my GTO was and is one of the better looking Mercedes designs I think. I don't get the compliments, questions or just nods that I did in the GTO though, this one is definitely a sleeper.

I wish you luck!

Someone will want that. How much mileage on it again?

Harvey wrote: Someone will want that. How much mileage on it again?

A little high. 156k but you'd never know it by looking at it. Comes out to about 15k a year. What price does the GRM herd think I should shoot for?

I dunno, probably comp it against nearby cars.

t25torx wrote:

Harvey wrote: Someone will want that. How much mileage on it again?

A little high. 156k but you'd never know it by looking at it. Comes out to about 15k a year. What price does the GRM herd think I should shoot for?

Should be just about broken in then.

You've done a great job on this one!

Honestly I have no idea. My mustang is still for sale 4 months later...

Also I always feel like a merc is only worth half what you paid for it...

I.e. first owner pays 120k, next 60, next 30. nevermind miles. could have 15k miles on it by the forth owner...

ask 10 take 9 seems fair

Yeah 9 to 9,5 is pretty much what I was thinking. So anyone want to buy a C55?

It was about that time that I realized. It wasn't flight service at all, it was a 50 foot crustacean from the paliozoic era!

Damn that interior looks like a nice place to be. Great job cleaning it up though your affinity for cars that are held together with caulk worries me a bit.

Too bad there isn't a cheap/easy way to fix up the steering wheel, it's kinda mucking up what is otherwise an interior that is in pretty decent shape.

Harvey wrote: Too bad there isn't a cheap/easy way to fix up the steering wheel, it's kinda mucking up what is otherwise an interior that is in pretty decent shape.

It looks worse in the pictures. But yeah I wish there was a cheap fix for it. I wonder if I could take some satin clear polyurethan and clear the whole wheel with it.... May be worth trying. Can't really look worse than it does now.

I'm assuming you've tried various sources for a nicer wheel? Often they can be found without the airbag and other controls and you just swap everything over.

At least that's what we used to do with MINI's.

In reply to Ian F:

Unfortunately being an AMG it has the paddle shifters on the back and and finding a replacement that isn't outrageously expensive is not going well. I did find a later model wheel that would look awesome in there but I would have to get the airbag also and that is an expensive proposal.

In reply to t25torx:

What about something like these guys: http://www.leatherrescueinc.com/ or similar?

Or, you could have the leather replaced by someplace like these guys: http://www.craftcustoms.com/. I had them quote me to redo the leather on my '87 MR2 wheel and it was about $200. Looks like they have done a similar MB wheel in the past too:

I have no affiliation with either of these companies, just trying to offer possible solutions. The rest of the interior looks great.

I'd also probably find a 3 pointy star to fill that hole in the engine cover too.

Overall fantastic job, but how much will you have left in the kitty after all this?