R129 SL500 - AMG accessory rear box fitted

[R2D2]

Glad you got it sorted. Much better looking now. Well done!

 

[Will]

Finally all sorted.

C43AMG (Peter) mentioned a very helpful bodyshop at the last GTG, and kindly put me in touch. I left the car with them for a week while I was away on holiday, and picked it up today. As well as modifying the tailpipes they sorted out a few paintwork problems for me, including a respray of the front valance/spoiler which was looking a bit tatty. Very happy indeed with the results and the standard of work in general.

Bill, this wasn't Vanleigh by any chance was it - I've just been there today myself!

Had the 190E 2.5-16 MOT'd today and finally found out where they were, so I popped down to get a quote for a couple of jobs.

Looks much better now too

Will

 

[BTB 500]

Bill, this wasn't Vanleigh by any chance was it - I've just been there today myself!

Certainly was, and C43AMG was there earlier today too!

My parents live just down the road (Walton on Thames).

 

[sym]

Looks the business now - really good Took a couple of attempts with my equivalent item for the 202 to get it sitting right ... some creative welding was needed !

S.

 

[BTB 500]

Just got to decide now whether to have the centre box removed!

I've already declared a 'modified exhaust' to the insurers, so no implications there. Listened to a couple of V8s with no centre box at the last GTG and the sound was pretty good - not too loud. So we'll see ...

 

[Will]

Certainly was, and C43AMG was there earlier today too!

My parents live just down the road (Walton on Thames).

Small world! Seemed like a nice place, plenty of decent cars there - C43 estate, 190E 2.5-16, lots of old classics undergoing restoration etc.

Glad you are happy with the work, with Peter's and your recommendation it puts your mind at rest when letting someone work on your car

Thanks for the heads-up guys

Will

 

[C43AMG]

Small world! Seemed like a nice place, plenty of decent cars there - C43 estate, 190E 2.5-16, lots of old classics undergoing restoration etc.

Glad you are happy with the work, with Peter's and your recommendation it puts your mind at rest when letting someone work on your car

Thanks for the heads-up guys

Will

Yes the C43 estate belongs to Lee the son, i have used Ron and Lee for a number of years, also next door is TM Motors, i have also used them for a long time highly recommended, Tony the owner and his men very knowledgeable.

 

[BTB 500]

So ... today I had the centre muffler removed and replaced with straight pipes from the cats, into a Y piece before the rear box.

After a 35 mile drive home with the hood down, the results seem excellent. Still a smooth exhaust note, no rasp or harshness. A little louder, certainly no louder than the stock exhaust system on many modern cars though (and definitely not into TVR territory ). As the revs rise you can actually hear some V8 'yowl' now, which was completely absent before. At low throttle (e.g. cruising) the engine still seems almost silent.

Cost (Longlife, Carshalton) was £129, and it took about 90 minutes. The only problem I noticed when I got home was the one of the rear box support rubbers wasn't hooked on. Bit fiddly to get it back on but I managed in the end, quicker than taking it back!

The Longlife guys reckon M-B centre boxes are quite restrictive, so performance should be up a bit (although this wasn't an objective).

Anyway, I would definitely recommend the mod. if you find your M-B V8 too quiet

 

[Will]

Sounds great - did you get to keep the original silencer, or was it a single piece that needed cutting off?

Look forward to hearing it at a GTG

Will

 

[BTB 500]

I let them keep the centre silencer, the exhaust system from the cats back is one-piece on my car (earlier ones had a separate rear box) so it had to be cut out.