2009 W204 C220 - Midlife Upgrade - What would you do?

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matthew-s

New Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2013
Messages
9
Location
Cheshire, UK
Car
Mercedes C220
Hi All,

Thanks for the fantastic forum. A wealth of information, great to be a part of it.

I have a 2009 C220 Estate and I would like to give it a "makeover". I love the car, am not likely to change it for at least a couple of years (and even then may keep it) and I just feel I'd like to judiciously spend some money on it to give it a mid-life upgrade and new lease of life.

Alas, I am neither a Mercedes, nor in fact a car-in-general, expert. As such, I hoped I could foster your advice, thoughts and feedback, should you be kind enough to share them.

What I hope to achieve is:
- Avoid any upcoming mechanical problems and ensure the car is in "tip top" condition
- Perhaps slightly improve the performance and/or handling, without turning it into a Max-power style street racer, damaging the car in the long term, impairing ride quality or invalidating insurance
- Restore the exterior/interior to "closer to showroom than it is now" condition, although the car is in decent nick.

My car has just less than 80k on the clock, is due a b-service about now, is a 2009 220 Sport Cdi, 2148CC Diesel, 5DR, Auto estate and has UMI, Nav 20, leather and 17" AMG alloys as options. I use it for motorway, country lane and town driving - mostly country lane.

My thoughts on potential "fettles" are listed below, in order I had thought of importance (top = most important). I would appreciate your thoughts on any or all of them, or if there's anything else you think I should/could do, instead of, or as well as.

- 4 new tires: Obv and done. Just put 4 Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 2 R17s on.
- Service: Is there a "deep" service I should be thinking about? Or is the normal B service fine. Any thoughts on Merc main dealer vs other options? Anything I should specifically be asking to replace/check?
- Uprated headlight bulbs: e.g. Osram Lightbreakers. One of my few gripes in the car is the headlights and I drive home down dark, windy country roads every night
- Deep valet/detailing: Probably including a leather clean and maybe a "detailing" on the paintwork. Possibly also have any chips/scratches in alloys repaired.
- Suspension: I was wondering if fitting better/newer shock absorbers would improve handling, for instance Bilstein B6. I would like to improve/optimise handling quality of car, not overly affect ride quality, but I certainly do not want to lower the car or create a "max-power" style setup. I drive to and from work on country lanes every day however, so improving handling would be a boon. Should anything else in the suspension be looked at/replaced/upgraded, at the same time e.g. bushes, springs?
- Engine upgrade: economy/performance chip. Was thinking perhaps Chip Express?
- Brakes: having read a little about this, the consensus seems to be, don't bother too much as most upgrades wont affect braking distance. Certainly I wont be putting £5k + worth of Brembo calipers on! Is it worth looking at any brake upgrades? Better than usual pads or disks for instance?
- Anything else that you would consider?

Appreciate your thoughts, suggestions and comments and hope none of my newb questions/ideas are too dopey! Any advice gratefully received.

Warm regards, Matthew
 
Last edited:
Hi All,

Thanks for the fantastic forum. A wealth of information, great to be a part of it.

I have a 2009 C220 Estate and I would like to give it a "makeover". I love the car, am not likely to change it for at least a couple of years (and even then may keep it) and I just feel I'd like to judiciously spend some money on it to give it a mid-life upgrade and new lease of life.

Alas, I am neither a Mercedes, nor in fact a car-in-general, expert. As such, I hoped I could foster your advice, thoughts and feedback, should you be kind enough to share them.

What I hope to achieve is:
- Avoid any upcoming mechanical problems and ensure the car is in "tip top" condition
- Perhaps slightly improve the performance and/or handling, without turning it into a Max-power style street racer, damaging the car in the long term, impairing ride quality or invalidating insurance
- Restore the exterior/interior to "closer to showroom than it is now" condition, although the car is in decent nick.

My car has just less than 80k on the clock, is due a b-service about now, is a 2009 220 Sport Cdi, 2148CC Diesel, 5DR, Auto estate and has UMI, Nav 20, leather and 17" AMG alloys as options. I use it for motorway, country lane and town driving - mostly country lane.

My thoughts on potential "fettles" are listed below, in order I had thought of importance (top = most important). I would appreciate your thoughts on any or all of them, or if there's anything else you think I should/could do, instead of, or as well as.

- 4 new tires: Obv and done. Just put 4 Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 2 R17s on.

Good choice of tyre. They're good enough for the DTM racing so should be fine for the likes of us. :)

- Service: Is there a "deep" service I should be thinking about? Or is the normal B service fine. Any thoughts on Merc main dealer vs other options? Anything I should specifically be asking to replace/check?

Just keep with the book servicing. If it wants a B then give it a B. I don't know whereabouts in Cheshire you are, but MB Tech at Warrington come highly recommended. I would be considering a gearbox service (oil and filter) if it's not already been done.

- Uprated headlight bulbs: e.g. Osram Lightbreakers. One of my few gripes in the car is the headlights and I drive home down dark, windy country roads every night
- Deep valet/detailing: Probably including a leather clean and maybe a "detailing" on the paintwork. Possibly also have any chips/scratches in alloys repaired.

Can't help here, though I know a few on here have done similar mods.


- Suspension: I was wondering if fitting better/newer shock absorbers would improve handling, for instance Bilstein B6. I would like to improve/optimise handling quality of car, not overly affect ride quality, but I certainly do not want to lower the car or create a "max-power" style setup. I drive to and from work on country lanes every day however, so improving handling would be a boon. Should anything else in the suspension be looked at/replaced/upgraded, at the same time e.g. bushes, springs?

Have a look at THIS MOD which Lee did to his C63. Adjustable to three different positions to get the best of all worlds. It won't be cheap though... :)

- Engine upgrade: economy/performance chip. Was thinking perhaps Chip Express?

I'd personally be running down to MSL and get them to remap the car for you. They've done several of them and can put it on the rolling road before and after to tweak and confirm gains. Chip Express sounds like a fast food outlet...

- Brakes: having read a little about this, the consensus seems to be, don't bother too much as most upgrades wont affect braking distance. Certainly I wont be putting £5k + worth of Brembo calipers on! Is it worth looking at any brake upgrades? Better than usual pads or disks for instance?

You could go for EBC Red or Green Stuff. I've no experience though know that there seems to be an equal amount of love and hate for them. Personally I think standard brakes are fine, though not familiar with your model.

- Anything else that you would consider?

Appreciate your thoughts, suggestions and comments and hope none of my newb questions/ideas are too dopey! Any advice gratefully received.

Warm regards, Matthew

I've left the "anything else" section as I think I've spent enough of your money this morning. :) The most important thing to me would be to just enjoy the car, and do little bits as and when required. For example, if there's nothing wrong with the suspension I'd leave it until there is, then think about upgrading. When something breaks then that would be the time to look at upgrading.

HTH :D
 
+1 what daveenty says.

If you wanted to belt and braces, you may consider giving the car to a trusted independent, asking for inspection and report. For an hour or so labour charge, he will give you an indication of status and condition based on lots of experience.

There is nothing stopping you changing oil and filter in between services either. There are different opinions on the benefit of this.
 
If it were me I'd get the engine remapped and the paintwork detailed and then see if I wanted to carry on any further. Try to bear in mind that you won't get any money back that you spend on mods unless you remove them before resale.
I always find new alloys or changing the colour of your existing ones noticeably alters the look of the car so that's worth considering.
That's my 2p :)
 
How about a complete headlight upgrade - and maybe new alloys for a different look (although this might have been more of an option before buying tyres). I've just changed the alloys on my 9 year old ML - the old ones needed a refurb anyway - and the car looks completely different.

Add laminate tints for a privacy glass upgrade - if you don't already have it.
 
Thanks for the advice all - esp to daveenty for such a detailed answer.

Sounds like in general, no-one thinks uprating the shocks or other non-major suspension tweaks are a good idea/worth it?

But that detailing/paint enhancement is?

Also, daveenty, if I may ask sir - you mention MB Tech who look great and are not too far from me, but what is it that you'd be recommending them for over my local Merc dealship? Are they cheaper? Just better? Or some specialist service they offer?
 
I mentioned MB Tech as they are an independent Mercedes specialist. They will treat your car with respect, do any service work as per schedules though charge a lot less than a main dealer would as they don't have the overheads.

As you mentioned that your car is a 2009 model than you don't need to worry about warranty, though even if you have it, having it serviced by an Indie won't affect it.

You'll also have the peace of mind knowing that a skilled man will be working on it and not an apprentice which all too often happens at dealerships. :)
 

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