Upgrading W202

[johnm9128]

Hi. My name is John. New to this club.
I was thinking of changing my car recently but couldn't find anything I liked better in my price range so decided to keep my W202 and spend some money on it to try and make it more modern looking. You can see it by using this link.

http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/6304328

Not sure how to get photos uploaded to this site. Sorry.

Upgrade included :
New 18" Alloys
Lowering springs
Projector Headlights
Aventgarde grill
Wind deflectors
New number plates
And will be having some of the body resprayed this week including both bumpers.

Just wondering what other members would think of it. I think it looks great but I imagine there are alot of members who would thing 'original' is best

 

[ae1whia]

nice!
how much have you spent?

 

[whitenemesis]

Nice looking car, always something special when you mould a car to the way you want it. Well done!

BTW car park looks vaguely familiar, MK?

 

[johnm9128]

nice!
how much have you spent?

Hi. Thanks.

So Far including the paintwork being done this week it amounts to about £1500..........abit more than i wanted to spend really but it's been worth it I think.

 

[johnm9128]

Nice looking car, always something special when you mould a car to the way you want it. Well done!

BTW car park looks vaguely familiar, MK?

Hi. Yes it is MK, well spotted.
It is nice to put your own mark on a car. I was getting abit bored with it as it was but still liked it alot. I've had it for about 15 monthes and was tinkering with the idea of changing it but glad now that I didn't.

 

[ae1whia]

well worth it, our w202 is the same colour so i know what it looked like before
want those headlights......

 

[whitenemesis]

Hi. Yes it is MK, well spotted.
It is nice to put your own mark on a car. I was getting abit bored with it as it was but still liked it alot. I've had it for about 15 monthes and was tinkering with the idea of changing it but glad now that I didn't.

MK - Shenley Wood?

How about the inside? Any plans there? What engine?

 

[johnm9128]

MK - Shenley Wood?

How about the inside? Any plans there? What engine?

Unfortunately it's only a standard classic with the non turbo 2.0 , I did contact 'superchips but they said that because there is no turbo they couldn't do anything with it.

Shenley Wood is about right.............How did you recognise it?

 

[whitenemesis]

A good strong engine..

There's plenty of scope to mod the cabin, leather? Comand?

I lived in MK (well what became MK) for 40yrs! Still go back regularly, Shenley Wood nice quiet place between appointments

 

[johnm9128]

well worth it, our w202 is the same colour so i know what it looked like before
want those headlights......

The lights do look nice don't they. You can actally buy them at the moment on ebay..........no not from Asia but from an English company and they are RHD too. Cost I think £159.00 + £12.00 p&p. I paid £135.00 for mine second hand and mine are actually LHD but adjusted very well and so far I've not been flashed by anyone. But I'm still debating on buying another set of RHD.

 

[whitenemesis]

Projector lights, are they standard bulbs? i.e. not xenon

I am thinking of upgrading my lights to bi-xenons, damn sight more expensive than £160

 

[johnm9128]

A good strong engine..

There's plenty of scope to mod the cabin, leather? Comand?

I lived in MK (well what became MK) for 40yrs! Still go back regularly, Shenley Wood nice quiet place between appointments

Leather I would like! Not sure about comand, don't know alot about it.
I would have originally gone for a c class with leather but didn't have a choice. I was desperate to part exchange a Rover 75 that had given me loads of problems and the only car the garage had that appealed to me was the merc....it was a little bit like fate that I got it I think to make up for the mistake of buying the Rover.

I've lived in MK for about 11 years now. Still don't really like it.

 

[johnm9128]

Projector lights, are they standard bulbs? i.e. not xenon

I am thinking of upgrading my lights to bi-xenons, damn sight more expensive than £160

No they're not xenon and although the bulbs are different than the normal ones (can't tell you off hand what they are ) they wouldn't be as good as xenon, probably no where near as good.

 

[whitenemesis]

Leather I would like! Not sure about comand, don't know alot about it.
I would have originally gone for a c class with leather but didn't have a choice. I was desperate to part exchange a Rover 75 that had given me loads of problems and the only car the garage had that appealed to me was the merc....it was a little bit like fate that I got it I think to make up for the mistake of buying the Rover.

I've lived in MK for about 11 years now. Still don't really like it.

I would move back to MK this second given the chance... gr8 place

COMAND... sat nav, bril audio, looks gr8!

If you can I would def recomend it

 

[johnm9128]

I would move back to MK this second given the chance... gr8 place

COMAND... sat nav, bril audio, looks gr8!

If you can I would def recomend it

The sat nav etc would look nice. Something for me to think about for the future.

Alot of people do like MK, It seems like the worlds moving here at the moment with all the building that's going on around this area. Everyone's in a hurry here.........but perhaps it's the same everywhere now-a-days.

 

[verytalldave]

Looks really well done. The overall effect is classy without the cheap'n'nasty bling look which is what a Merc deserves.
The only thing I would have done different would be to have 5 spoke alloys instead of multis. Those multis are a real nightmare to keep clean. 5 spokes are literally a 5 minute job to keep clean and dust free. Just my opinion.

Leather trim and COMAND are both expensive, but worthwhile additions, but IF you do ever think about getting a COMAND unit fitted, dont do it on the cheap. You MUST have a multi-CD stacker fitted as well. Its an extra few hundred pounds, but having to to take out the navigation CD every time you want to play a music CD is a real pain and then of course you lose satnav capabilities too.
The only other thing I would do would be to fit a newer design of rear lamp cluster. More like the later W203 ones. I dont know if those will fit your car, but if they do, then that certainly be on my list.
Do all that and then, if you have not already done so, get it fitted with a top quality alarm and/or tracker. Modified cars attract the light fingered brigade much more than a standard car. You dont want it to go walkabout after doing all that work. That would be tragic. :idea: :idea: :idea:

 

[noops]

I have the same alloys and yes they are a bugger to clean but they do look impressive when they are clean, I do plan to change them for a set of 18" AMG Style II which my brother has on his W210.

 

[johnm9128]

Looks really well done. The overall effect is classy without the cheap'n'nasty bling look which is what a Merc deserves.
The only thing I would have done different would be to have 5 spoke alloys instead of multis. Those multis are a real nightmare to keep clean. 5 spokes are literally a 5 minute job to keep clean and dust free. Just my opinion.

Leather trim and COMAND are both expensive, but worthwhile additions, but IF you do ever think about getting a COMAND unit fitted, dont do it on the cheap. You MUST have a multi-CD stacker fitted as well. Its an extra few hundred pounds, but having to to take out the navigation CD every time you want to play a music CD is a real pain and then of course you lose satnav capabilities too.
The only other thing I would do would be to fit a newer design of rear lamp cluster. More like the later W203 ones. I dont know if those will fit your car, but if they do, then that certainly be on my list.
Do all that and then, if you have not already done so, get it fitted with a top quality alarm and/or tracker. Modified cars attract the light fingered brigade much more than a standard car. You dont want it to go walkabout after doing all that work. That would be tragic. :idea: :idea: :idea:

Hi thanks for your coments. Iwill be putting leather in when I can find a
suitible set. I've only come across pre 97 sets so far and mostly not very good condition. As for the comand, I'm not sure yet. Have to give it more thought. Thanks frthe tip about the alarm, I actually hadn't givenit much though but your dead right and I will get that sorted. Will also check out the rear light cluster.

 

[johnm9128]

I have the same alloys and yes they are a bugger to clean but they do look impressive when they are clean, I do plan to change them for a set of 18" AMG Style II which my brother has on his W210.

I do like the wheels to and I don't mind cleaning them but would also like the amg set. Maybe another time.

 

[bigasotonuk]

Hi thanks for your coments. Iwill be putting leather in when I can find a
suitible set. I've only come across pre 97 sets so far and mostly not very good condition. As for the comand, I'm not sure yet. Have to give it more thought. Thanks frthe tip about the alarm, I actually hadn't givenit much though but your dead right and I will get that sorted. Will also check out the rear light cluster.

Did,nt the facelift (09/97 on) car come with a standard alarm?
The pre-facelift car did. I thought this was one of the changes between the facelift and pre-facelift cars.