AMG C36 Advice

[Chevy Chase]

Hello folks

I'm after some advice if poss please.

I may be looking at a 1997 C36 tomorrow.

Is there anything i should pay particular attention to whilst looking over the car ?

I have read that exhausts can be expensive, are after market ones available ?

Is there anything that will tell me it's a genuine one, and not a copy, perhaps chassis numbers etc ?

Did the 5 speed auto box replace the 4 speed in 1996 ?

Many thanks in advance.

CC

 

[bigasotonuk]

Hi,
Regarding a C36, look for the common 202 faults, and rust around the wheel arches, doors and rear boot lid.
If its a genuine C36 the chassis number should start with 202028 but this isn,t conclusive as the 280 had this chassis number too, this was because all the C36's started life as a C280 and were shipped to/finished off by AMG (separate company at the time of the C36 manufacture), spec levels varied greatly too.
Pay particular attention to the condition of the brake discs as these were one of the items that AMG fitted and they can be extremely expensive to replace, my C43 ones are approx £180 each!!! and i would,nt bother with after market replacements either as the AMG items are the best quality.
Ensure all the warning lights work as they should and the car pulls hard and smooth through the gear changes and the changes should be hardly noticable, it should idle smoothly too with no hint of a misfire as these engines did suffer from wiring loom issues but being a 97 it may have the modified loom from new already fitted.
If its a late C36 it should be a 5 speed i believe.
If you buy it, budget for a gearbox oil and filter change if its a 5 speed and it has no records of it ever being done, as MB said that these boxes were sealed for life, which they later changed the newer ones to a 38k service period.
There are a lot of C36's out there and depending on spec can vary greatly in value my advice is buy as higher spec as possible, ie electric heated leather, climate control etc.
Exhausts wise they can be expensive about £500 a section plus CAT's, but if you need to replace it which i doubt i would spend some money on a custom stainless steel system, as far as i,m aware you might be able to get the CAT's aftermarket but the system won,t be available, if the exhausts go it is normally at the pipes entering the boxes and can normally be repaired.
Main dealer history would be good but don,t be overly concerned if it has,nt as long as it has some good reputable indy stamps.
Hope this has helped, post back and let us know how you got on, if the one your looking at is not up to scratch i maybe able to put you in touch with someone who has a fully loaded one, let me know, good luck!

 

[Chevy Chase]

Many thanks for your reply.

Looked at a black one first, well gunmetal grey in the flesh.

Lots of car park dings, lumpy tick over and copious amounts of oil down the left hand side of the engine, and a nice puddle on the sump guard. I believe there was an advisory in the service history advising of an oil leak from the timing chain cover ?

Then looked at a red one that again looked much better in the pictures. Oil in exactly the same place, this one even had a rag left on top of the sump guard to try and soak up the puddle. Some bright spark had even painted parts of the engine in gold hamerite, good grief.

To be honest it has put me off a wee bit, and i can see i'm going to have to budget a wee bit more for a nice one.

Popped into a garage on the way home , just on the off chance and they had a minty mint 1995 e36 m3 cab up for only £500.00 more than the red C36 which has got me thinking

Thank you again for your advice, was very much appreciated.

CD

 

[bigasotonuk]

Good luck in your hunting