My 'cheap' High Mileage W211 E55 AMG Project

[91dm]

Cars looking fab, how are your headlights fairing, I’ve just restored mine using the cerakote kit, suggested by someone here on the forum, bit of elbow grease, but great results.

Headlights are very good overall, only need a minor polish really. I think they must of either been replaced or polished previously.

Super interested in this aspect as mine as yellow as you like. I bought new glass parts from Ebay but I think it's a bit of work to fit them.. i think OP's headlights look fine though (and are different to CLS-class anyway, unlike most of the car).

Simon

Alex LSC on YouTube has a good video 'how to' using a cardboard box and heat gun as an oven. I've only split headlights once before, time consuming project but transforms an old light.

Just out of curiosity has the ATF been changed regularly to make the box last 230k ?

Nice work btw, respect

I know there's a recent receipt at around 200k for fluid and filter and I'm sure it was done early in it's life. There's no oil leak underneath, gears shift smoothly and no blips on full throttle. From what I can see, engine, gearbox and diff all original. I don't see any receipt for an alternator or starter which is surprising.

Thanks for the comments!

 

[Will]

Never heard of many issues with alternators or starters on these to be honest. I think the gearboxes are also fairly strong, only real issues were some early examples with leaky radiators which ended up contaminating the ATF and affecting the torque converter lock up clutches from what I recall.

I should think the headlights have been replaced sometime within the last ten years or polished up, look too good for the age/mileage!

 

[Smiley]

Super interested in this aspect as mine as yellow as you like. I bought new glass parts from Ebay but I think it's a bit of work to fit them.. i think OP's headlights look fine though (and are different to CLS-class anyway, unlike most of the car).

Simon

You can restore your headlights using some wet & dry sandpaper and body rubbing compound. If the lenses are really bad then start with a 600 or 800 grade paper use it wet and add a little soap to the water - you will find that the yellowy greeny contaminants will come off in the water, then use a 1200 paper also wet, then a 2000 paper again wet - then some rubbing compound such as farecla g3. Ideally then get some UV sealer on them. Careful with the surrounding bodywork.

 

[Simonty]

Superb that the gearbox has lasted that long. I destroyed mine at about 90K miles and had to have it rebuilt. One mechanic said the mileage was absolutely the typical age for this box to break (in the 55-engined cars). But some perhaps like to leave the power in reserve rather than doing WOT pulls literally every time they get in the car (ahem). Anyway, the knowledge here is wonderful and I hope this one keeps going a lot longer in every sense.

 

[Maloboi]

Good work, keep adding those miles!

 

[Sam87]

This looks beautiful and you'd never think it's done 230k miles.
The exterior looks to be in fantastic condition.
Excellent work and I'm looking forward to more updates

 

[91dm]

Good work, keep adding those miles!

This looks beautiful and you'd never think it's done 230k miles.
The exterior looks to be in fantastic condition.
Excellent work and I'm looking forward to more updates

Thanks very much!

I put it on sorn this week as it won't be used in the winter so a perfect time to carry out some more fixes! Still running well and putting a smile on my face.

 

[91dm]

End of 2023 update:

231k miles completed!

Jobs to do; drain and check the power steering fluid, I'm not sure if it's in my head but doesn't seem as free in cooler conditions. Check for a leak on the rear air bags.



Still looking good for 20 years old and 231k miles!



Thanks!

 

[91dm]

Hello all,

The E55 came out of hibernation in March. It was in and out of the garage depending on space so was due clean up and good run. The winter highlighted one of the rear air bags is definitely loosing air which needs to be looked at to save the new compressor.





I had ordered a box of parts from Mercedes for the jobs I wanted to get done this spring so plenty to keep me busy.



Misfire
The first drive didn't go well, engine light and misfire on cylinder 3. According to google 0001587303 and 0001587803 should be the same part however I found the pins on 7303 to be slightly wider and won't fit the coil connectors. With a little help from the dremel file I took these edges off and all is well again. Misfire code cleared and is back to the full 8 cylinders. I picked up five coils off eBay for £32 so this was a cheap fix with four spares for again. I checked the plugs in that cylinder, both look good and fairly fresh genuine Mercedes plugs. £6.50 for a second hand coil.



7303 wider pins on the left and the original 7803 coil on the right.



New Filter
A very easy filter install and was well overdue a change, one 10mm bolt is all you need to remove to access this. £30 for a new 2118300418 filter element.



Auto Light Problem
I currently have an issue with the 'auto' lights function. If I leave the lights on auto, the parking lights will come on by themselves randomly. I thought I traced this to water in the rear light however it has done it once since I cleaned and dried this all out. I'm not sure if this is a common 211 issue, a sensor or SAM fault, need to investigate further and search Google.



Happy to have it back on the road, it's good fun to drive! Next up is a new header tank and wiper cowl.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Simonty]

Thank you for the update.

 

[91dm]

Today was definately one of those days you question why you bother with these cars...

Water
I've a bigger water issue that I had hoped. Car had a flat battery this morning, swapped over another battery and all was not well, fans on and relay clicking. Car would start but I quickly disconnected the battery as could tell all was not well. Went searching for where I heard the clicking and found some water/condensation in the front fuse box. Moved into the footwells and the passengers side is wet, I've yet to check the drivers side but seems dry to touch. I'm not sure if my problem is caused by the sunroof drains, windscreen/wiper scuttle seal or something else.

Thankfully the wiring and connectors all look ok so far, it doesn't appear to have gone too far. Relays and fuses in the front fuse box all seem ok, no signs of corrosion on the pins. I will hopefully get the drivers side carpet out tomorrow but from Google searching I don't think there's as much electronics that side. To be continued!













Any advice appreciated if there's another area to check while I'm in there!

Thanks

 

[Flyinspanner]

Is the cabin filter blocked, allowing water to flow into the cabin? (Wet carpet)

 

[91dm]

Is the cabin filter blocked, allowing water to flow into the cabin? (Wet carpet)

I replaced the cabin filter last week but had this problem before that. The washer bottle has also emptied itself but can't see how it would drain into the cabin. Hopefully tomorrow might give some more answers.

 

[Flyinspanner]

Check the drains below the windscreen (wiper area) net curtain plastic coated flexi wire is great for that.

 

[SL03WLY]

I'm going through the exact same problem, its currently in the body shop to do a water leak test. Have taken the passenger side wing off and found a lot of mud built up in the 3 sections of the chassis, cleared it out but water still coming. They also suspect sunroof drain so am going to test this soon. But so far the sunroof drain where it ends in the chassis looks ok but maybe further up I guess. Will update here once we do the test.

The water in the first pic would go through that gap into the 2nd part then into the 3 part of that chassis side. It does eventually come out the bottom where the arch liner meets the skirt.

Despite the clearing of the dirt, water still got into the footwell.

 

[91dm]

Thanks SL03WLY, I removed all the arch liners when I got the car and removed the dirt etc but will have to check here.

Does anyone know if the front SAM fuse/relay board is coded to the car (part number 2115454201)?

Thanks

 

[SL03WLY]

Thanks SL03WLY, I removed all the arch liners when I got the car and removed the dirt etc but will have to check here.

Does anyone know if the front SAM fuse/relay board is coded to the car (part number 2115454201)?

Thanks

So after a long time, we found the leak. It was the seam sealer that failed there. We blasted the pressure washer in that area and you could see the water coming in clear. Did need to rip up the insulation though to confirm. Have removed and re-applied seam sealer now. Will let it cure till tomorrow and re-test with pressure washer again.

I'll popup some pics later on today.

 

[BandyAndy]

Just a thought, is 24 hours long enough for the seam sealer to cure, before 'blasting it with a pressure washer' ?

 

[SL03WLY]

Just a thought, is 24 hours long enough for the seam sealer to cure, before 'blasting it with a pressure washer' ?

I asked this exact same thought so we will see tomorrow. Might not use a pressure washer and may just use a water jug instead. Depends on the body shop as they said some sealers usually cure within an hour some take a few hours but good practise to wait 24 hours minimum.

 

[SL03WLY]

Heres 3 short videos made. The last part is where we removed some of the broken seam sealer so more water was coming through

The foam was soaking a lot of it up so had to pull it back as much. But you can see a lot of dust/water mist from the pressure washer when I did pull it back

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