My W202 C200 Classic Selection

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Below (hopefully) are some recent images of my W202 C200 Classic Selection Tip Auto.

Brilliant Silver with black cloth and 15in alloys.
Date of Reg: 28.4.00
Mileage: 103K
Driven by me since new. Company car for first 3 years (70K motorway miles), owned for last 4 years+.

Having broken the 100K mile barrier and with a bonnet full of rusting chips, I decided it was time to give the appearance some TLC with a programme of restoration, OEM replacements and straightforward mods. Most of which were inspired by the MB Club.

2007 history:

• All bodywork (except roof and side skirts) repainted, then clay-barred, Zymol, then Teflon coating. Repainting of wings covered under MB corrosion warranty, remainder financed privately.
• OEM replacements - bonnet star, boot star, front indicators and side repeaters
• OEM mods - chrome door pins, driver's door lock cover, boot lock cover, 'MB Club' pedals, valve caps
• Non-OEM mods - K&N air filter, chrome bulbs for indicators and side repeaters, retro fit aero wiper blade, 3-pointed star tax disc holder and the Avantgarde grille!

It looks pretty good now. Probably spent almost as much on it as it is worth , but I now have a car that looks like new again . Just need to sort out the BAS/ESP warning light and the squeaky steering wheel.....

For anyone interested, Classic Selection was a special edition of the C180, C200 and C220 CDI issued towards the end of life of the W202. It included a range of features at no extra cost, including metallic paint, 6-hole alloys with locking bolts, unique wing badges, split-folding rear seats with armrest, tailored floor mats, leather steering wheel and gearshift with unique badging and a Stage 1 audio system upgrade. All models had air conditioning as standard and (apart from the C180) automatic transmission was standard.

Bit of a mystery to me why the resale value has always been shown as less than a standard Classic.

 

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First photo, others to follow:

Link back to Flickr:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/15178616@N02/1732811297/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2111/1732811297_0dbf77c597_o.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="0_Nearside" /></a>

 

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[salesac1]

Wheels refurbished & new centre caps fitted

Have had all 4 wheels refurbished courtesy of Elite Wheels & Tyres in Reading - very pleased with results ....

Replaced the original centre caps (plain with 3 raised star points) with the black laurel wreath ones....

...in keeping with the 'silver or black' theme I have developed for the car (see other photos in my signature link) - even this is black :

Shame about the yellow.

 

[salesac1]

About time I posted my modding updates from the last few months....I think I was up to 11 mods before, so continuing in the style of KillerHertz:

Mod 12. Fitted stainless steel MB OEM door sills (purchased new from starpartz.co.uk):

 

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Mod 13: Colour-coded door handles. 8 parts required (2 per door) - 1 factory-painted handle courtesy of KillerHertz, the other 3 factory-painted handles + 2 matching end pieces for rear doors purchased from partsspecialist and the 2 IR sensor parts for the front door painted by local bodyshop:

Mod 13a - mod of a mod: painted the black OEM lock cover myself with touch up paint and lacquer. Might have gone OTT with the paint!

 

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Mod 14: Auto-dimming RVM. Thanks to andy27168 for advice and to BlackC55 for supply and fit at a bargain price :

 

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Mod 15: Replaced door 'ornamental covers' (exterior vertical trims between doors). The original plain 'Classic' trims lost their sheen long ago, it was time for a change. Fitted used 'Sport' carbon-fibre trims in VGC (apparently ex-C36 so I assume older than my original trims), courtesy of mercman:

Mod 16? I can hardly call it a Classic Selection now, so maybe the wing badges will have to go ?