Evening all - a W208 back from the grave..

[kernowmcrae]

Good evening guys and girls!

I'm writing to say hello, and introduce myself and my other half - we're both car mad, and up until a week or two ago, were a three Alfa Romeo family, with a 155 V6, GTV V6 and a Brera V6 keeping us busy!

The Brera was stunning as a car, but eye watering to live with - so we sold up, and needed a stopgap- enter this rather elderly W208 CLK 230 Kompressor!

Bear in mind, with 133,000 miles, patchy (ish) history and a February MOT (Not to mention the spectre of 90s Mercedes Rust problems!) this car was never intended to be a keeper, although having washed it, checked the tyre pressures and given her a test run, she passed muster, and since, the old girl has worked her way into our affections, and deservedly so.

Rachel and myself have an unfortunate habit of rescuing older cars, and nursing them back to health - this Mercedes came my way with the previous owner wanting to scrap her, owing in part to needing tyres, and having a mysterious power loss issue, which I only found having handed over the cash! How could we resist!

Without the help of the forums, and what can only be described as a treasure trove of information on here, we wouldn't be embarking on this Journey!

Here's the Job List so far:

• Investigate Power Loss (DONE isn)
• Investigate persistent bulb warning lights (DONE!)
• Replace blown dash bulbs (DONE)
• Replace door speakers (DONE)
• Repair Ignition barrel (DONE)
• Ramp and inspect for MOT (DONE)
• Grease and inspect wiper assembly (DONE)
• Restore Headlights (DONE)
• Replace all Oils, filters
• Replace cabin Filter (DONE)
• Unclog lower breathers and clean air inlets/MAF
• Replace Spark Plugs (DONE)
• Replace tyres back to OE Spec and size
• Tidy up cosmetically
• Flush Transmission of 133,000 mile old oil!
• Fix strobing Brake pad warning light (DONE - although only by washing the car!)

I'm looking forward to sharing our progress with you all, and of course any assistance/encouragement we get along the way. Now for some pics!

First sight...

Time for a wash methinks

mud hiding a horribly rusty keyhole

Looks far less sticky than real life in this photo!

Dirty but dry - hopefully no nasties lurking

Time for a scrubbing

Pressure washing years of door shut chutney

Feeling much better!

Surprisingly dent and rot free

Blinking in the sun

Time for the Mercedes to meet the family!

much cleaner engine bay - Supercharger air inlet flap needing replacement though

Wheel centres repainted

Utterly beastly cabin well overdue some love

Dash bulbs replaced

 

[kernowmcrae]

Now once we''d lived with the car, the first job was to sort the appalling headlights - they were suffering from the usual yellowing and crazing of the lenses, so rather than replace them, we thought we'd give polishing them a go:

Cleaned lenses masked up and ready for sanding with 600 grit:

Having worked through to 2500 grit, out came the aggressive cutting compound at low speed:

quite a difference in clarity

Time for a finer compound:

Now for a matching set:

getting there

finished results:

new bulbs - these are highly recommended for anyone without Xenons - Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited..

 

[kernowmcrae]

It now looks like Christmas has come early in our house - here's my living room this evening!
New MO Spec Michelin Primacy HPs (Correct widths front and rear)

New oil/Filters/Speakers

 

[Spin_bowler]

Welcome. Great first posts, enjoy the CLK. I love the W208.

 

[HB]

Very nice and welcome. We ran a W208 320 for 13 years, great merc.

 

[merc85]

Good save, lovely looking fleet of cars, and Welcome

 

[John Jones Jr]

Welcome.

 

[kernowmcrae]

Thanks gents - we've been an active part of the AlfaOwner community for years, so i'm keen to get stuck in here too! Some of the information i've found regarding fault finding the supercharger etc has been invaluable.

There's something a bit special about the W208, and in all honesty, I don't think this'll be our last Mercedes - mechanically things seem to be done inherently 'right' which is more than can be said for the rest of the fleet!

Rachel has been working on the interior this week, so i'll be posting some photos of the interior before and after soon - she's a rather experienced valetor/detailer, and has a speciality in restoring and repairing leather, so we're keen to get the wear reversed.

 

[flango]

Top job mate, well done its nice to see an old girl brought back to glory, mine was in a very similar condition when I bought it and the same year having been at the back of a car lot for months, taken in part ex with a supercharger fault, she now looks like this.

I too have a habit of rescuing things had my W208 nearly 7 years now and I;ve loved every minute, its not my daily driver but gets a fair bit of use.

I have to say though you have done far better than I ever did as I could never get my Missus to get stuck in like that fair play to her

I'd be interested in your comments on the Alfa's I was looking at the Brera and GT as a possible daily driver, everyone goes on about reliability but be actually nice to hear from someone that has lived with them.

Hope you enjoy the W208

 

[John Jones Jr]

I'm liking Rachel every much...

 

[danch]

It now looks like Christmas has come early in our house - here's my living room this evening!
New MO Spec Michelin Primacy HPs (Correct widths front and rear)

New oil/Filters/Speakers

Nice write up on the car but more to my attention I notice the RC heli in the background, is it a Trex 450/500 ?

Sorry to deviate off track but as an avid RC Heli flyer myself it caught my eye.

 

[kernowmcrae]

Hope you enjoy the W208

Haha - I can't claim to have anything to do with Rachel getting involved - she's always loved cars, she had a Skyline when I first met her!

The Brera really is special, but the Alfa Romeo paranoia about build quality in the late 2000s meant the car is rather nicely finished, but weighs a ton. Ours was a 3.2 Q4 meaning four wheel drive and 260bhp - although it never felt like it!

The 230k does seem to pull well, especially now i've fixed the supercharger 'fault' - she seemed to be losing a lot of boost due to a faulty Supercharger air flap! I love your wheels - are they Brabus Monoblocks?

 

[Giantvanman]

Excellent post and nice work by Rachel. I see she is wearing the trousers and doing the mans share which must mean that you are wearing……….

I jest, of course. Very informative; keep it up!

 

[kernowmcrae]

Nice write up on the car but more to my attention I notice the RC heli in the background, is it a Trex 450/500 ?

Sorry to deviate off track but as an avid RC Heli flyer myself it caught my eye.

It is indeed - a 450 SE V2 - another one of my hobbies! I've got a Trex 600 Nitro Super Pro, and a Hirobo Sceadu 50 along with some multirotors and a Trex 250 too!

 

[flango]

I love your wheels - are they Brabus Monoblocks?

Brabus Monoblock VI, but I'll hold my hand up they are reps, slightly heavier than the real thing and a 10th of the price but still wearing well after all this time

 

[danch]

It is indeed - a 450 SE V2 - another one of my hobbies! I've got a Trex 600 Nitro Super Pro, and a Hirobo Sceadu 50 along with some multirotors and a Trex 250 too!

Very nice indeed, just thinned my fleet down, had :

Trex 150, Blade 130X, Warp 360, Goblin 700 & Raptor E700

but now only have the E700 & Blade 130X although I will have a 180cfx on Christmas day as well

 

[kernowmcrae]

Excellent post and nice work by Rachel. I see she is wearing the trousers and doing the mans share which must mean that you are wearing……….

I jest, of course. Very informative; keep it up!

lol - thanks Giantvanman! I do all the technical stuff, Rachels rather excellent on the cosmetic bits though.. I can't wait to see the Azurite Blue having been machine polished...

 

[d w124]

Hi and welcome to the forum

 

[John Jones Jr]

The 230k does seem to pull well, especially now i've fixed the supercharger 'fault' - she seemed to be losing a lot of boost due to a faulty Supercharger air flap!

Are you sure it's the flap?

 

[kernowmcrae]

Are you sure it's the flap?

I've been fiddling with the systems to try and fix her - the initial symptoms were a distinct lack of power on kickdown and an inability to push past 3000 rpm at more than gentle throttle. I checked the supercharger clutch, which engaged at idle around 1500-1800 rpm.

I then stripped the air inlet flap assembly, and checked it would shut, which it didn't - so ordered a replacement for a mighty £20! This one shuts with engine revs, so the car's now seeing boost and responding well. The car seemed to run significantly better, although this evening Rachel did report a lack of power at 4000 rpm instead. My money currently is on an oil contaminated MAF owing to the amount of oil in the airbox - so once i've sorted it, and cleaned the breathers and the MAF itself, i'll report back!

Any ideas for other things to check?