Boffin486
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2021
- Messages
- 72
- Location
- Aberdeen
- Car
- W203 CL220 Sports Coupe SE, C280 Avantgarde SE & Also Audi A4 B7 Avant Quattro & 3 Calibras
Well folks, its finally on the road again! My 2005 C220CDi coupe is rolling again with a fresh MOT & the ABS problems finally solved. I had it on the road for less than 48 hours after its last MOT (August 2021) & at fairly low (around 20mph) spun it on a wet greasy roundabout into the central barrier. This caved in its passenger side rear ¾ panel with associated damage to inner wheelarch & underpinnings.
After much thinking about it (and even a half-hearted attempt myself), I finally got a mate, who is a top class bodywork & paint repairer, more used to working on (sometimes) brand new Range Rovers/Ferraris/Rolls Royce etc high end cars, to do the necessary repairs to the bodywork whilst I handled the mechanical repairs. These included the replacement of the rear knuckle/Hub assembly which was broken (may have been done by the crash or possibly its actual cause) along with new rear shocks & I also removed the inlet manifold & cleaned it out – OMG there was a lot of nastiness in there – just the dry ‘carbon’ I managed to shake out (after a bit of poking) filled a Chinese takeaway container. The final cleaning I did by submersing the manifold in a strong Caustic Soda & water solution for 24 hours. I still can’t believe how well this worked – it is now spotless inside! I also removed & cleaned/reassembled the swirl flaps (contemplated removing them but left in place). All this may well have contributed to the virtually zero emission reading on the MOT.
Now it is as good as new. In between times, I was trying all the things I could think of to cure the ABS light on the dash. It finally turned out to be the ABS valve body & electronics unit that was faulty. A replacement off another car fixed that after reprogramming the module.
A refurbishment of the wheels (Alloys Refurbed for My Coupe | Wheels, Tyres, Brakes & Suspension | MBClub UK - Bringing together Mercedes Enthusiasts) as well as sprucing up my original brake rebuild (Full Brake Rebuild & Upgrade | Wheels, Tyres, Brakes & Suspension | MBClub UK - Bringing together Mercedes Enthusiasts) make it all look nice & pretty again!
I have many pics of all these proceedings if anyone is interested, I can do a more in depth post.
Now I can finally drive & enjoy it – whilst fixing some of the other less important thing like the sun roof & dodgy wiring in the door mirrors. I managed to buy a couple of nearly mint condition front wings (even in the right colour) for it so that’ll be a next year, better weather job.
After much thinking about it (and even a half-hearted attempt myself), I finally got a mate, who is a top class bodywork & paint repairer, more used to working on (sometimes) brand new Range Rovers/Ferraris/Rolls Royce etc high end cars, to do the necessary repairs to the bodywork whilst I handled the mechanical repairs. These included the replacement of the rear knuckle/Hub assembly which was broken (may have been done by the crash or possibly its actual cause) along with new rear shocks & I also removed the inlet manifold & cleaned it out – OMG there was a lot of nastiness in there – just the dry ‘carbon’ I managed to shake out (after a bit of poking) filled a Chinese takeaway container. The final cleaning I did by submersing the manifold in a strong Caustic Soda & water solution for 24 hours. I still can’t believe how well this worked – it is now spotless inside! I also removed & cleaned/reassembled the swirl flaps (contemplated removing them but left in place). All this may well have contributed to the virtually zero emission reading on the MOT.
Now it is as good as new. In between times, I was trying all the things I could think of to cure the ABS light on the dash. It finally turned out to be the ABS valve body & electronics unit that was faulty. A replacement off another car fixed that after reprogramming the module.
A refurbishment of the wheels (Alloys Refurbed for My Coupe | Wheels, Tyres, Brakes & Suspension | MBClub UK - Bringing together Mercedes Enthusiasts) as well as sprucing up my original brake rebuild (Full Brake Rebuild & Upgrade | Wheels, Tyres, Brakes & Suspension | MBClub UK - Bringing together Mercedes Enthusiasts) make it all look nice & pretty again!
I have many pics of all these proceedings if anyone is interested, I can do a more in depth post.
Now I can finally drive & enjoy it – whilst fixing some of the other less important thing like the sun roof & dodgy wiring in the door mirrors. I managed to buy a couple of nearly mint condition front wings (even in the right colour) for it so that’ll be a next year, better weather job.