Chris' (in) practical dailies

[chris r]

After picking up @Raizer new au and falling for the power and lush air suspension I wanted something similar.

Criteria was German v8 wagon because wagons are awesome. 

Had a nosey around and saw this E 500 on trademe. Went and had a look and a deal was done. 

M113 v8 and 7 speed auto so goes hard for what it is 

Had some tints installed 

Previous owner just had a $6k service done. Engine mounts and rocker cover gaskets, rear tyres and a alignment. It's come with a stack of receipts and barry notes from a past owner 

 

[chris r]

Spark plugs are not often changed on these and there are 16 of them so they don't often get changed and cause issues. 

I found a couple of write ups saying they are a mission but they weren't too bad, if engine was hot it'd suck as your arm needs to go along the manifold. It turns out a previous owner had changed them which is good to know 

Rock auto ftw 

Broke a couple of coil plugs but new genuine are cheaper than a aftermarket pigtail so I've orderd a replacement set. 

Yes the air suspension is going to fail at some point. Rock auto have struts for a small fortune and it's easy enough to change. 

[440bbm]

heaps of fun and yes very nice cars but the costs to keep on the road make not so fun knowing at some point its gunna bite. 

lets see it smoking them new bags!  also, the tindows were the right call, just needs some low now

 

[chris r]

@Raizer is going look at making some links for his au so if they work out I'll get him to make me a set. 

Will wait until the tyres are more worn before they get sacrificed as I'm a tight arse 

I'm aware it'll potientally be expensive for now the comfort is worth it/ it'll be future me problem and when it breaks down I'll have a nice leather seat to nap in 

I felt a bit bad loading this lot into it but wagons are for hauling stuff at the end of the day 

 

[Raizer]

Still tossing up between making/buying lowering links or just adjusting the height parameters once we get Xentry sorted out.

[Alfashark]

The weapon of choice for many heavily tattooed Scandinavian women in their late 20s/early 30s.

They're a load-hauling lounge suite, but they sound so good and drive so well - Enjoy!

[chris r]

12 hours ago, Alfashark said:

The weapon of choice for many heavily tattooed Scandinavian women in their late 20s/early 30s.

They're a load-hauling lounge suite, but they sound so good and drive so well - Enjoy!

Mine didn't come with the Scandinavian option so I'm a bit disappointed there. 

It is a really nice place to be and quite nice to drive (even in Auckland traffic) had it a hour out of town and it's so comfortable for touring 

Secondary de cat and possibly center resonator delete and replace with a x pipe is on the cards. Seems like I've got the quiet taxi spec mufflers as can't even hear it. I don't want it super loud but no point in having a v8 and not being able to hear the exhaust note 

[Nominal]

1 hour ago, chris r said:

Mine didn't come with the Scandinavian option so I'm a bit disappointed there. 

 

Fairly sure you get that option installed any time you can afford it.

[Raizer]

1 hour ago, chris r said:

Long tube headers and a pair of side exit boom tubes is on the cards. Seems like I've got the quiet taxi spec mufflers as can't even hear it. I want it super loud as there's no point in having a v8 and not being able to hear the exhaust note from the next suburb 

 

[igor]

1 hour ago, chris r said:

Seems like I've got the quiet taxi spec mufflers as can't even hear it.

Reminds me of when my GP bought a new Monaro back in '02. The boys at church were all "cut the mufflers off so we can hear it" but he wouldn't cos he reckoned it would void the factory warranty.

[chris r]

Orderd a couple of bits from alix and the courier must have had the waste gate welded shut. 

I ordered a couple of usb charger boards, cup holder and a Bluetooth to 3.5mm aux jack adaptor. The wagon has a factory aux in jack in the glove box and I wanted a clean looking installation. 

Soldered on some wire to the jacks

Covered the lot in heat shrink. Fished the wire through to the cigarette lighter. Tapped into that and hid the whole lot behind the glove box light 

And put everything back into the glove box. Yes that's a hardback 4B1 notebook as it'd be rude not to continue with the barry notes and stack of receipts 

 

 

[chris r]

The car came with a phone kit from factory but that's long since redundant. 

I carefully disassembled the center console lid and removed the old phone mount thing 

Carefully trimmed the mount so the usb charger would fit 

Same deal, soldered wires on and screwed it back together 

Clipped back into the base 

Fished the cable through and connected to the cigarette lighter feed 

And all reassembled 

Factory cap even fits over the top 

 

[chris r]

New genuine coil plugs (same as cam sensor plugs on other vehicles) and some trim clips to stop the trim falling off every time I open the doors. The barry in me was hoping for Mercedes branded bags similar to the Honda stuff 

@Raizer found me a nos boot tie down anchor kit on up garage for mega cheap. (freight was killer though) 

Had a nice box waiting for me on the doorstep yesterday 

 

[chris r]

crunchy plugs were crunchy. I tried being nice and de-pinning the coil plugs but it ended up being easier to snip them apart with my flush cutters

I'm glad I got 8 replacement plugs as they were all pretty brittle. 

Put it all back together and no misfires (not that it had any before) so that is a win

[chris r]

Just been doing daily stuff and wafting along in semi luxury. Failed a wof so as a Mercedes owner means time to buy another car right? 

It's s had a small clunk for a while, I've had a arm in stock but didn't check the ball joint so have ordered it and will do both. Tyres I know, been keeping a eye for a set of 19" wheels that fit slightly better 

 

 

 

 

[chris r]

Can't be driving a vehicle with no wof so time for another shit box. 

5 cylinder 4wd turbo sounded like a good idea as a daily 

[chris r]

Semi kept it in the mercedes family

Seller is leaving the country so met in a park, looked at the oil, took it for a drive around the block and made a offer. I should take possession after dropping them to the airport 

[tortron]

[chris r]

Behold 

It's less ugly than I was expecting. I don't actually hate it, and you can't see most of it from inside so it doesn't matter 

Mm plastic fake wood

Sideways extra seat for max carsick 

Doesn't go hard for what it is. Well it's got 1/3 the power of the wagon so it's probably where it should be tbh. Ac doesn't blow cold so I'll look into that when the egr falls off 

 

[chris r]

Thought maybe exhaust was blocked so I unbolted it

Still slow. 

Spotted a fuel hose that had been replaced with a vacuum hose that had gone to shit as its not diesel rated 

So I replaced it with another vacuum hose and it'll be future Chris problem 

I thought possibly some air was getting in through the shit hose and causing the lack of power. 

Nope still slow 

Repco $7 clearance air filter was wrong and the other listings were much more than I wanted to spend 

Turbo and intercooler had a decent coating of pcv schmutz so I'll find my alix catch can and plumb that in at some point 

Had a moment of excitement after changing the fuel hose 

Thought it was going to run away, pulled the feed line to the injection pump and it turned off thankfully. 

Turns out it had a split vacuum tee to the pump so jammed it back in and it turned off