1995 C36 AMG

[Notwen]

I have finally bought a Silver C36, after a small collection hic-up it is now home.
Having admired, for many years the C36 (and C43) from a far, a couple of years ago I decided that I would have a C36 and began a search, though very much on-off search.
Being reasonably competent at wielding a spanner, I was looking at a wide spectrum from running projects to reasonable specimens.
Typically I was looking for one with nice specification and therefore pretty much ignored a nice, but apparently poverty spec C36 that popped up last year.
I seemed to keep referring back to it as a benchmark for a clean car and decided to actually make the 400 mile round trip to view and either buy it or dismiss it for good.

The option spec. or lack of, was unusual; no leather, manual A/C (with sunroof delete), cruise and drivers only electric seat.
The condition was far and away the best I had seen, it had been painted in the past and now wore the odd stone chip.

The history made for interesting reading.
Supplied by Ciceley Mercedes in Preston to the Warburtons Bakery company, it was driven by Tom Warburton who had been the co-Chairman in the 1970's & 80's.
At 5 years and 50K it was sold to its second owner who reputedly never ventured out in the rain, adding only 30K over the next 13 years.
It 3rd owner knew the car from it being serviced nearby and supplying tyres for it, kept it until a late SL caught his eye.

We were due to collect last Saturday having gotten the train from Stockport to Wiltshire, unfortunately the ignition barrel decided that was the day to play up and we went home without the car. The (private) seller had it replaced and we collected the car after meeting part way.
A drive home in M6 traffic gave little chance to stretch it's legs, but did drive faultlessly.
Plan is to use as much as possible, probably a jaunt to LeMans next year and possibly a European F1 trip too.
It is kept company by my 2013 C220 daily and a 1979 Corvette.

 

[Notwen]

Bugger, messed up the image link in my OP and can't edit.

 

[Notwen]

4 years on and time for update or two...
In my defence, I have posted the odd update in what have you done to your Merc today
Apart from routine maintenance the only other expenditures were having the engine loom replaced a year after we bought it, then the viscous hub grenading itself a couple of years ago.

Not long after buying the car, I had the chance to buy the VRM of C36 AMG, price was ok and it's novel, though often confused with a show plate.

DSCF4385 by Notwens, on Flickr

I used to circuit race. As I raced less, I wanted to stay involved, so I trained as a Clerk of the Course, so in the race season Oulton Park is my second home, usually opting to take the C36

20180407_080605 by Notwens, on Flickr

Having race experience has allowed me to do Safety Car driving, this is usually a BMW M140 or M240 supplied by the circuit (or a Jag F type SVR if it's the Race of Remembrance), but on a couple of occasions we have used the C36

C36 AMG Safety Car by Notwens, on Flickr

It has taken 4 middle aged blokes to Le Mans

C36 AMG Le Mans 2017 by Notwens, on Flickr

When I bought the car, it came with a lot of old invoices, including when it was sold at 5 years old

M87UCW K39UPL Invoice cropped by Notwens, on Flickr

Earlier this year I wrote to the PO who bought it in 2000, they kindly got in touch and sent me some pictures of when they owned it. Including the day they traded in their old 190 and collected the C36

Lodge Motors_0002 by Notwens, on Flickr

Parked outside the premises that used to be Ciceley Continental in Preston, the supplying dealer

Untitled by Notwens, on Flickr

Joined earlier this year by the C43 which has it's own thread going.

20190430_120953 by Notwens, on Flickr

 

[poormansporsche]

I'd much rather have the manual AC than the fugly early 202 auto climate

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Although the C43 seems to be more revered, having owned both models, I still prefer the C36; the IL6 engine suits the car more in my opinion.

 

[poormansporsche]

Plus the C36 looks more "Mercedesish" if there is such a thing

 

[DamoWfd]

Thats really cool mate !!

 

[Notwen]

Not had much to do on the C36, other than use it last year. That said it didn't do many miles.
Something I have been trying to find for a while, is someone who could do replica period Mercedes plates.
Been down more than my fair share of dead ends of show plate makers.
Last week, I got pointed in the direction of Donegal Signs. Sent them a (rather rubbish, but the best I had) image of the mid 90's Ciceley Continental plate.
Peter knocked up a mock in not time and yesterday my fresh number plates arrived.
Great price and service. Just need an easing so we can use our cars properly again.

 

[Supracat]

Nice car!

 

[stealth.]

Nice

 

[Notwen]

Off on a tangent, but I will reel this in;
I have a soft spot for W202's, in particular the early pre Sept 95 with the square buttons (W201/W124/W126 etc). While not looking to add to the stable, I have them as a watched item on Ebait.
Earlier this year an early C220D Sport, appeared, looked clean at first glance. Then nearly fell out of my geek seat when I saw it had perhaps the rarest of W202 options... Sport Rear Seat


This was only available on the Sport models (and therefore the C36), not an expensive option at only a couple of hundred of British pounds, even more interesting (to me anyway) it was in the same early "Magnum" Sport cloth as my C36.
While I tried to justify the man maths, it was purchased by a fellow MB enthusiast who needed a daily runner for a while. Pleased that I was not going to have to have a difficult conversation with Mrs N, I could not shake the idea of having this option. I asked for first refusal and a few months later I got the call.
The down side is, initially it was £1500 which the man maths didn't quite stack up, a few months later with a new set of decent tyres, some new suspension joints, new clutch slave and master cylinders, it was now (justifiably) £2k.
Plan was buy it, whip out the interior and fit black leather seats and door cards, which there is no shortage of for sale. Selling the idea to Mrs N was easier that I thought, I usually work on the "Easier to seek forgiveness than permission", but as I would need a 2 hour ride to collect, I thought I better to be upfront.

Back home with my very expensive back seat (and free car if I'm being cynical), I wasted no time in installing the seat in the C36



This is where the plan took a little curve; while there are no shortage of black leather interiors available, they all seemed to have power windows. My new acquisition has manual rear windows, with the hole in a different place.
I was reluctant to fit the C36 back seat as, one day if I decide to sell, there may another W202 geek like me, who wants it totally original, so I would keep my back seat.
eBay.DE came up trumps with a cloth back seat, though with the shipping it was not far off what a leather interior would have cost.




The car itself is really clean and original (except now, the back seat), having had no welding done since it left Germany. It was retained by the supplying dealer Mertrux of Derby, so likely an ex-demonstrator.







Long term I will likely move it on. As clean as it is, I am fortunate to own to W202 AMG's which are the keys you would grab if you were going anywhere.

 

[noogieman]

I like Cujo.
Such a lovely K-9

 

[Notwen]

Thanks, he is 50kg of grumpy Labrador these days, usually being tormented by this young upstart

 

[noogieman]

Lovely dog

 

[Notwen]

Whilst idly googling registrations of cars gone by, I ended up down a rabbit warren when googling the 190e that had been traded in against the C36 back in 2000.
VJB33/K39 UPL, while not being on the road for 5 years, is sat in a guys workshop awaiting a bit of love and attention.


I have a strange urge to want to buy it, and I really can’t explain why, let alone try and explain it to Jayne. Perhaps once I have sold the early W202 C220D Sport I may revisit the idea…

 

[Grovesy]

Whilst idly googling registrations of cars gone by, I ended up down a rabbit warren when googling the 190e that had been traded in against the C36 back in 2000.
VJB33/K39 UPL, while not being on the road for 5 years, is sat in a guys workshop awaiting a bit of love and attention.
View attachment 110990

I have a strange urge to want to buy it, and I really can’t explain why, let alone try and explain it to Jayne. Perhaps once I have sold the early W202 C220D Sport I may revisit the idea…

I love that colour! Spoke to mechanic the other day who had one like that, he’d done a rolling restoration on it about 10 years ago. Bought it for £400 and sold it on and still regrets it. Showed me pictures and that red gleams with a bit of TLC!

 

[Notwen]

Well overdue for an update, though not a lot has been going on.
When I bought the C220d Sport it had a generic modern(ish) stereo in it, wanting to fit something more period, I chose to remove the Blaupunkt Pasadena from the C36 and fit a period Mercedes Becker unit to the C36 instead, which took me down a new rabbit hole of minor changes to the period “Classic”, “Special” and “Exquisit” offerings. Ending up with a Mercedes “Special” (BE1350) which was an £800 option back in 1995.




The C36 gear shifter, has a grey leather covering over an embossed C36. Problem is, they get marked/damaged. My original one had some scratches on and I spoke with some leather repairers and they weren’t interested. Out of interest I looked up the OE number and Mercedes still had some in Germany, so I treated it to a new one. (mine must have been one of the last available ones, as a fellow C36 owner tried a few weeks after and was told NLA)






Early in 2021 we sold the C43/55 and Jayne’s SLK350 and purchased a very nice CLK55, conscious not to ignore the C36, it has been used regularly for my visits to Oulton Park, racking up a heady 646 miles in 2021






I had noticed the pads were giving off a bit more brake dust that previous, there was a reasonable amount of life left in them, looking back on the invoices Mercedes fitted new pads and discs 25,000 miles ago, but that was 2003! Discs were fine, so just fitted a set of Brembo branded pads, with a little help/hinderance from my Beagley friends. I also fitted a new steering damper, not an expensive part and the old one was 20 years old.







The 3 Merc-migos






Pleased to say the C36 sailed through its MOT. Talking to the tester afterwards, if there was anything, while not an advisory this year, he thought may be one next year “if I’m really picky, the front springs have a little corrosion starting where the powder coating is lifting”, fair enough.






Once again my mind starts over thinking it, “well the suspension is over 25 years old, it’s could do with a refresh” next thing I am shopping for Shocks, springs and full suspension rebuild kits, to be done this winter.








One thing I try and do, is keep any modification reversible (the back seat change for example), and/or only use period options. One thing that does annoy me on the early W202 is the lack of tie down points in the boot. The inside of the back panel is easy, as it has the recess for the tie down points. But deeper into the boot, there is no captive nuts for the loops. I chose to fit rivi-nuts to the metal back seat panel, rather than the boot floor and purchased one of the cargo nets for the W204/W205 C-Class.





My big plan over winter had been to refresh the suspension, drop the subframe for strip and paint, replace all the rear link bars and freshen up under the arches. There was nothing wrong as such, but 27 year old suspension was likely passed its best.
Best laid plans and all that… Now having a bigger day job work area to cover meant a bit more working away and less playing in the garage.
As I bumbled into Spring, I was determined to make a start.
Deciding to do the front end arms and ARB bushes, along with all 4 shocks and springs.
While the Bilstein B8 were a no brainer, when it came to spring choice I finally went with Eibach, to give me a similar ride height and not overly harsh ride.
On the subject of ride height, the C36 has always had a slight rear down stance.





Squared it up with string and poles for now, will get it 4 wheel aligned soon.



I still had a slight rear down stance (by 5mm), the original spring pads were 2 pips, changed to 3 pips and sits well. Last Sunday a quick squirt down the motorway, to check it was all good. The run over the tops to Ripon on the Bank Holiday Monday was great.
Now sitting level

 

[poormansporsche]

Still lovely.

I know it's not OEM but silver w202s just look so much better with 210 colour coded door handles. A reversible (and cheap) mod !!!! Was always the first thing I did with all my 202s

 

[noogieman]

Both your dogs will give you high five paws up if you did a good job with the suspension job.

 

[RogerSausage]

It'll be interesting to learn your feedback on the B8s as you get some more miles under your belt @Notwen. It's an upgrade on my to do list as well.

Your car is such a beautiful example, the C36 is such a "hidden gem" in the world of performance saloons