Charlie's Official Update Thread

[Dr_Snooz]

What's your issue?

[charliekuney]

No issues currently, I'm just looking for parts and such I think. I got an oil change at this new Euro shop by my house and they are very nice and honest workers - they even fixed a couple of things for free as they were "as easy as the turn of a bolt" or similar.

I'm looking to get facelifted head lights and a replacement pre-facelift hood at some point because the car does have minor damage. I'm also just looking for advice and recommendations as far as what can and should be done to the car.

[2ndGenGuy]

You should have brought it to the meet and threw it up on the dyno!

[Dr_Snooz]

Get a factory manual and read it. If you can't get a factory manual, buy a Bentley Publishers manual. You'll probably find that there isn't a lot of routine maintenance and what maintenance there is is super easy. No sense paying a shop to do any of it. Pelican Parts is the best place for parts. Stay up on the maintenance and make sure to use only OE parts. Don't skimp out or you'll have expensive problems. Always use the OE fluids specified by the factory. Yes, you can use cheap fluids from Autozone, but you'll regret it when the steering box blows up to the tune of $4,000 or the transmission starts slipping to the tune of $10k. If you do those few things, the car will run forever and cause you very little expensive trouble.

Beyond that, you'll discover all the over-engineered problems in the car. On my BMW, the windows would spontaneously stop working. The cables that move the seats all broke and needed fixing. The intake manifold gaskets liked to develop vacuum leaks that affected performance. The sealed, "lifetime fill" transmission had all sorts of fun problems. If you take this stuff to the dealer, they'll spend lots of money for you. If you find a good discussion board, you'll probably find that most of the issues can be fixed very cheaply if you know what you're doing and DIY. Spend lots of time reading about the car you have. It will develop very bizarre symptoms and do it's best to make you think it needs massive infusions of money. Just keep reading on blogs, boards and enthusiast websites to learn what's really going on. Learn about the problems you can expect and how to deal with them. You don't want to be on a date when the climate control suddenly decides to turn the heater on full blast when it's 90* outside and you can't turn it off. Be prepared for the stuff that will go wrong.

[charliekuney]

You should have brought it to the meet and threw it up on the dyno!

Awe, I wouldn't want to embarrass you guys.

[long post]

Thanks for the words of the wise! I am lucky as to how good of condition this car is in, physically and mechanically, as well as having proof to the major work done. There are only a couple of electrical gremlins the car already has, I'll list them last. Damn, all I can say is this car is a beast and a sleeper...most people don't realize there's a V8 stuffed under the hood (first year of a V8 in the E-Class). I love cars of the 80's and I think I couldn't have picked a more perfect car.

#electricalgremlins
- "passenger reading light" does not work 100%...will work on and off, especially if I tap the housing (similar to the JDM Accord map light setup)
- passenger door lock seems to stick, guys at shop said it was most likely a vacuum leak
- truck lock struggles
- weird experiences with check lights on gauge cluster

Other than that, all lights and electronics work. Climate control functions 100%, as do both front power seats, both rear head rests, all exterior lights, the sunroof, all windows and auto functions, "turn-the-key-in-the-lock-to-roll-up-windows-and-close-sunroof" feature, et cetera.

[Dr_Snooz]

V8's are nice, especially when you have somebody in front of you who wants to drive like an idiot. It was always hilarious when they would try to teach me a lesson by racing to cut me off. There was never any race. Only humiliation. You'll really love your car at speeds above 100.

If you were driving a Honda, I'd tell you to dig in and see what's up. For a Benz, I'll tell you to do some online research first. Make sure that you know how to take the stuff apart and that there aren't any hidden gotchas. Things can be put together in weird ways and it isn't always clear how to take them apart by looking. You don't want to gouge up an expensive panel by learning. Also, you can have issues that look exactly like one thing, but are actually some completely unrelated part. Doing research first can save you a lot of time and money.

Owning these cars is a head game. You're basically driving around in a money bomb. If it goes off, it will take out your retirement account. You can't outspend it. You can only outsmart it. That comes with research. These cars have really enthusiastic owners who aren't made of money. They put a lot of time into keeping them running without going poor. Learn from them and you'll be alright.

[charliekuney]

V8's are nice, especially when you have somebody in front of you who wants to drive like an idiot. It was always hilarious when they would try to teach me a lesson by racing to cut me off. There was never any race. Only humiliation. You'll really love your car at speeds above 100.

This.

If you were driving a Honda, I'd tell you to dig in and see what's up. For a Benz, I'll tell you to do some online research first. Make sure that you know how to take the stuff apart and that there aren't any hidden gotchas. Things can be put together in weird ways and it isn't always clear how to take them apart by looking. You don't want to gouge up an expensive panel by learning. Also, you can have issues that look exactly like one thing, but are actually some completely unrelated part. Doing research first can save you a lot of time and money.

I realized this very quickly. One of the two things that I have already broken on the interior is the driver's side air vent. Don't even see where to start disassembling the dash to get to it. Research is my best friend.

Owning these cars is a head game. You're basically driving around in a money bomb. If it goes off, it will take out your retirement account. You can't outspend it. You can only outsmart it. That comes with research. These cars have really enthusiastic owners who aren't made of money. They put a lot of time into keeping them running without going poor. Learn from them and you'll be alright.

The enthusiasts are what I'm trying to find. Not having a Facebook makes it somewhat more difficult, but I want to join some MB car clubs and definitely some other forums.

-----

As for the Honda, I still have it. Not sure what to do with it at this point. It needs a lot of work, and I know it's easy, but I just don't have the time or money or motivation to do anything with it anymore.

[charliekuney]

Is it just me or is this forum fucking dead?

[MessyHonda]

Is it just me or is this forum fucking dead?

yes. i agree

[Civic Accord Honda]

Beyond dead lolol


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[Tdurr]

it makes me sad. I just lurk because there isn't too much happening that's exciting imo.

[charliekuney]

All I do anymore is lurk and copy-and-paste answers from repeated questions.

[charliekuney]

Something weird: I parked my coupe in direct sunlight for about thirty minutes today in eighty degree heat with the hazard lights flashing, and when I returned...the turn signal "clicks" are extremely quiet...?

[HON-DUH]

.

[Dr_Snooz]

Something weird: I parked my coupe in direct sunlight for about thirty minutes today in eighty degree heat with the hazard lights flashing, and when I returned...the turn signal "clicks" are extremely quiet...?

It begins...

[charliekuney]

lol, a day later it's still quiet as hell. Everything on this car is so cheesy compared to the Benz.

[Tdurr]

idk, if it still works its cool.

[charliekuney]

Washed both of the cars today. Went inside to grab the camera, dead. Pictures another shiny day. I almost traded the Honda for a 1995 540iA that needed some mechanical work (no body or interior work, though) but every email he sent me he seemed to add another problem to the list, so I turned it down. The next car I plan on acquiring is a white-on-black E34 manual, anything but a 525i.

[charliekuney]

Well, things are happening differently than planned. I ended up giving my father the coupe and I will sell the sedan instead. (He likes the two-door manual better.) I no longer deliver at work so I just drive the Benz to and from, only two miles a day. More updates later.

[charliekuney]

Daily driven.
:3

[Rendon LX-i]

Long time no see Charlie . Was about to give my two cents but you then said yipou have your car to your dad. So there for I have nothing to say lol.

[2ndGenGuy]

Fuckin' classy!

[charliekuney]

Hey, anyone know of a forum called 3geez.com? I was looking for it here, now all I find is a graveyard...

[HON-DUH]

.

[charliekuney]

Well, my dad is still driving the beige coupe. Probably well over 215k miles now. I can't believe we've owned that thing since 160k. The Benz sits nicely at 170k.

How is everyone?