2007 C55 Estate, laundry list

[Petrol Pete]

It seems just about anything that can go wrong has and given how much you have spent on maintenance I'd also feel the same.
I did think the other day that I must buy a serpentine belt to keep in the car

If you are going to keep a belt in the car also keep something that is 'man' enough to cut the belt should the worse happen and it gets tangled up , you will also need the correct socket (17mm ?) and bar to take relieve the tension to put the new belt on.

 

[AltonAnt]

If you are going to keep a belt in the car also keep something that is 'man' enough to cut the belt should the worse happen and it gets tangled up , you will also need the correct socket (17mm ?) and bar to take relieve the tension to put the new belt on.

Isn't that what the wheel brace is for?

 

[BUG4LIFE]

I'm looking forward to having a good read of this thread. The amount the OP has spent over the time he's had the car is a tad scary [and unlucky I guess].

 

[Petrol Pete]

You,! Bug4life will only be allowed to join in IF you buy that C55 you have been sniffing around...Now BUG OFF !!

You know you want it.........go on ..do it..you know it's an itch you must scratch..

 

[BUG4LIFE]

You,! Bug4life will only be allowed to join in IF you buy that C55 you have been sniffing around...Now BUG OFF !!

You know you want it.........go on ..do it..you know it's an itch you must scratch..

Unfortunately, the black Jap import estate [that was on eBay] has sold. I enquired about it a few weeks ago.

I'm actually not ready to buy. I have to sell my Forester STi first [which I'm planning to do when lockdown is a bit more over] but as I'll then have to buy a replacement pretty fast, I'm keeping my eye on the market.

There is a certain E500 on here that I keep going back too

 

[Dammit]

The car is still with DDR at the moment, I hope to go and get it in the next few days. Turns out the tensioner was fine, after they pulled out a load of belt that was stuck behind it - we think that it was just an old belt, but we're swapping the idler pulley etc just to be thorough.

However, whilst they had the car in the air DDR have advised that the rear subframe is looking a bit rusty, so something to consider changing.

Still, I'm looking forward to getting the car back - for all that it costs me I do enjoy driving it.

 

[Petrol Pete]

All of the rear sub frames on UK C55's with any decent miles on them are rusty some worse than others. I am contemplating doing mine this winter, but only if I can free up room in my garage (it will be tight) , sod doing it outside like JOHNO978 is doing. He is doing a sterling job of it though.

it is also a good (bit extreme) way of replacing the rear brake pipes that WILL get you an MOT corrosion advisory at some point, if they have not done so already .

It is also impossible to change 2 of the links in the rear suspension without dropping the sub frame.

 

[Dammit]

PCS in Horndean have quoted my just under £2,500 to replace it, I'd need to check whether that included the brake line but would of course do it at the same time.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

PCS in Horndean have quoted my just under £2,500 to replace it, I'd need to check whether that included the brake line but would of course do it at the same time.

Does it need to be replaced? If it's not too far gone then could it be cleaned up and protected?

 

[AMGeed]

The OP deserves a bit of luck with this car at some point.
It's an incredible amount of money spent already just to keep it in good nick although I believe a certain garage has been overcharging for a lot of the work.
Not a good example for VFM unfortunately.

 

[AltonAnt]

Does it need to be replaced? If it's not too far gone then could it be cleaned up and protected?

That is not the sort of work garages like to take on though, is it?
Surely that subframe cannot be any worse than a lot of the other S203s driving around that are older.
I'm assuming there is no difference across the range.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

That is not the sort of work garages like to take on though, is it?
Surely that subframe cannot be any worse than a lot of the other S203s driving around that are older.
I'm assuming there is no difference across the range.

It’s difficult to know without seeing it. I had the rear subframe on my W164 cleaned up, recoated and treated with Waxoyl, to make sure some surface rust didn’t eventually become a bigger problem. That may or may not be be possible for the OP.

I had the brake lines replaced too whilst it was stripped for clean up, and the lot cost around £1000 if I remember right.

Blooming expensive but less expensive than a new subframe. I believe it’s not difficult but it is time consuming and messy and so could be done at home if handy with the spanners.

 

[Petrol Pete]

It can be done at home as JOHNO978 has shown us on here. Like I said I plan to do my own this winter. The OP has already stated he has an 'open cheque book' approach to this car and that fair enough it's his money and his car.

Is he ever going to get the money he spends on this car back ? ..No. I don't spend money on my equally rare C55 estate hoping the 'get it back' and I am spending waaay less than the OP.

Let's just drive and enjoy these things before they are taxed/banned from our roads forever.

 

[Dammit]

I don't know whether the subframe could be rescued, it's a good question. I'll see if I can make some time to drop into PCS to get their opinion on the condition of it at some point over the next few months. I got the car back this morning (£350, which was less than I expected), new belt, pulley, parking sensor+paint, and swapped back to the 18" summer wheels. Can seems very happy, and everything is working apart from the CD player which intermittently loses the magazine, and I'm going to take that to a specialist.

 

[Dammit]

Apparently the rear subframes for these are NLA, so refurb it is.

 

[Will]

Wow, that surprises me - although they’re getting on now the 203 isn’t that old to discontinue a major part like this?

Definitely NLA not just out of stock etc? I’m guessing they have checked around other dealers stock etc?

 

[Dammit]

I'm just going on a brief voicemail that the service manager left me, he said he's asked if there are any in the dealer network and will have an answer on that in the next couple of days.

 

[Will]

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Any good?

No idea about shipping something this size though!

 

[Dammit]

Would "base" mean saloon? Unsure if the saloon and the estate had different sub-frames.

A2093500008 Mercedes-Benz - Cross-Member

www.fixparts-online.com

 

[Will]

You’d need to double check with the part number but I reckon there’s a good chance it will be the same part