Phase 1 - AMG Overhaul

The first order of business after registration and inspection is to get everything in the car fully up to my standards. This means, no shoddy bushings, no sketchy hoses or wires, fluids all in a known state and basic creature comforts. I dropped the car off with Lee at Hybrid Motors and he took care of my top priority issues.

There was noticeable vibration in the cabin at idle and I knew right away those were symptoms of old motor mounts. Pretty expected given the age of the car and it's just one of those things that I think owners don't take care of because "it doesn't have that many miles yet". Ok bud, it's 21 year old liquid filled rubber, how long do you think they last. I replaced them with beefier OE mounts from the CLK Black Series which are not only better but also don't add any noticeable NVH to the cabin along with a new transmission mount. 

Most of the fluids in the car had already been replaced at some point based on the records but I always like to start with fresh engine oil for sure that I know is both new and the brand and viscosity I want to run. In this case, it's Liquimoly 5W-40. The valve cover gaskets had some leaks in them so had them both replaced. Pretty common for this engine so glad to take care of that. Also brake fluid was flushed. 

I have no record for when the battery was last replaced and I'll be damned if I get stranded somewhere because of an old battery so a new AGM battery was installed. 

CLK Xenon headlights

For the convenience side of things, being able to see the road is a must so the OE halogen headlights needed to go. These came with a xenon option so I picked up fully refurbished CLK 55 xenon headlights that are a direct bolt though they needed to be coded in to the computer. They're not working perfectly yet, some wire need repining for high beams to work and these are adaptive lights so that also needs wiring and coding in. I also paired it with Hella yellow fog light bulbs.

Lastly, being able to navigate easily and listen to music is a must and I can't stand suction cup window mounts. I wanted a head unit with CarPlay but didn't look out of place in the interior. The Dynavin D9 is perfect. It has buttons and knobs that mimic the OE radio look except it has modern guts and perfectly handles CarPlay. 

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 78,849 miles

- 8L Liquimoly 5W-40 engine oil
- New Mann Filter
- Brake fluid flush
- New valve cover gaskets
- New CLK Black series engine mounts
- New Lemforder transmission mount
- New AGM battery
- New Hella 9006 Yellow fog light bulbs
- Refurbished CLK xenon headlight assemblies
- Dynavin D9 headunit