my w202 bucket list

[ypkx]

i've recently been piled up with a lot of money. and ive decided to spend the money on the car wisely; meaning no cosmetic changes to the car, much rather repair and upgrade existing parts.

Now, I don't quite know what is commonly or uncommonly repaired or upgraded in Mercedes. Quite frankly, a lot of my money on my old car was spent on cosmetics, which meant not a lot of TLC for car maintenence. I'm learning from my mistakes.

what sort of upgrades, or repairs could I do bit by bit? that you would recommend? Im looking to increase the cars life span and improve its drive.

I mean, anything!

I've dabbed on things like -

- Brake upgrades; calipers, rotors and pads?
- Change brake hoses to braided brake hoses
- re-bleeding brake hoses
- Full service including oil change, oil filter, air filter, fuel filters?
- My ABS light is on, so I will need a diagnostics check + fix/repair on this (or is there another reason such as brakes maybe wearing for this?)
- ball joints?
- struts?
- suspension upgrade; currently in desperate need of new coilovers.

Would appreciate any help I can get!

Thanks,

JC

[190si]

ABS will be a sensor more than likely, it could be brake light switch. The ball joints are utter cream there like £8 each and take 5 mins to fit per side.
sevicing is cheap and easy. why do u need bigger brakes bit of a waste of money. Coilovers are expensive shocks and springs would be cheaper.
A brak fluid change takes a few mins. And brads hoses aint really worth it i hadone burst once. unless its a race car that kind of stuff is pointless. for cheapness replace anti roll bar bushes and steering box parts nice new discs and pads and some nice tyres and a good service. be good as new

[strictlyspeakin]

I'll counterpoint 190si and say that I do like the stainless steel braided hose lines. I've put them on 2 cars now. I've never had one break on my though so take it for what it's worth.

There is a coolness factor to bigger brakes and sure, you probably will achieve better stopping power. But from an ongoing maintenance standpoint you're always going to have to remember oh yeah I can't get standard replacement pads/rotors for a 202, I've got to order the XXX part instead. I agree it's an expensive upgrade for marginal reward.

I'd take a mechanically reliable car over a marginal car even if the marginal one looks cooler.

[190si]

They do work braided hoses they dont swell and some nice brake fluid that doesnt boil. but you can get nice discs and some performance pads that will do the same job rather than spend a fortune on like 4 pot calipers. I get loads of 55 amgs in work they have huge brakes £1000 for brakes lol. could a nice set off v8 amg brakes fit they would look nice. Unless you have loads of power you dont need massive brakes and there hidden anyway. My old 190e had solid front discs and would fade after 2 hard stamps going into roundabouts from about 100mph the c230 k does about 4 lol i think unless there carbon ceramic you will always get fade. Do you guys have many rounabouts?
I think the 202 looks cool on its arse with nice wheels and thats about it.

[Sulaco]

What car do you have? How many miles?

Without knowing that, I'd still say start with suspension upkeep. Look at tie rod ends, use some lower control arm bushings from the w203, ball joints, shocks, etc. Of course every filter on the car. Especially fuel filter. Replace the oil in the rear diff with Mobil 1 or royal purple. A good trannie flush can be rewarding in longevity and responsive from a cleaner gearbox. It gets gunked up over time. Ditto on a brake upgrade. It already has a fine brake system. The upgrades are just overkill. My c43 stops better than some ferraris. That's nice, but my rotors are $275 each. The brakes on my 1994 c280 are all original with a quarter million miles and still good enough to put my face in the windshield.

More info on the car would be helpful. Old MB engines like in the 202 are classic bulletproof mercs. But don't neglect it. The internals are fantastically tough. Changed my oil once a year at 15-20k mile intervals for 12 years and still tip top. But pay attention to the accessories. Water pump, alternator, etc. They aren't as permanent.

Would help if we knew how much you're looking to spend, too.

[ypkx]

im looking to spend as much as i need, more importantly, what can be prioritised for a repair/upgrade. I just want to make sure the car can do another year or two before i give it up.

Its a P reg 1996 C 180. Its done almost 160k miles.

I thought these mercs run the same oil in the engine as the gearboxes?

[ypkx]

ABS will be a sensor more than likely, it could be brake light switch. The ball joints are utter cream there like £8 each and take 5 mins to fit per side.
sevicing is cheap and easy. why do u need bigger brakes bit of a waste of money. Coilovers are expensive shocks and springs would be cheaper.
A brak fluid change takes a few mins. And brads hoses aint really worth it i hadone burst once. unless its a race car that kind of stuff is pointless. for cheapness replace anti roll bar bushes and steering box parts nice new discs and pads and some nice tyres and a good service. be good as new

where is the sensor locates? and brake light switch?

[190si]

brake light switch is behind the brake pedal. and there is a wheel speed sensor (abs) on both front hubs cant miss them. on the rear may just be one in the diff thats how it was on the 201.
Good way of looking after your waterpump. make sure your coolant is protecting enough ,you want the long life pink stuff like vw have. doesnt just stop you freezing up in winter and boiling over in summer it has rust inhibitors in it and lubricates.
old hondas took 10/40 engine oil in the manual gearboxes but everyone changed that to proper 75/90 box oil cos they blew all the time, and the old mini a series all ran engine oil through the box hence the noise lol.
I wouldnt bother with massive brakes on a c180 just go to the scrap yard and get some calipers off a c230k or c280 and get the discs and pads new there only 122bhp.
If you have lights on your dash take it somewhere who has star station which is mercs dionostics ...

[ypkx]

thanks, so how do i know its the brake light switch? what does the wheel speed sensor look like, (will probably google as soon as ive finished writing this).

[hvmercy]

I've replaced both on my 97 C230 and the ABS light is still on.

Go to autohausaz.com to search for both parts.

[190si]

the diognostic will tell you. theres a choice of 2 switchs the most expensive being £16. the sensor is a wire and round the hub is what looks like a cog and thats how it reads what its doing, you cant get them out without breaking them and there like a £100 plus.
Theres relays and the abs unit its self can go faulty it can be a can of worms, dont know what the laws like over there but here now a abs light is a mot fail, can write a 202 off like mine was £900 you could spend hundreds on fixing it is it worth it , i mean no offence to mexico the build quality aint what it was on the 201. but the 202 is a lot better drive than the 201 and are fantastic value i wouldnt swap mine for anything well maybe this s65 amg on autotrader 2004 was a £145,000 new and now £24,000 i mean come on 612bhp standard ive seen them with over 700bhp with just a remap.

[ypkx]

thanks very much 190si. i dont think it would be a write off but it would definitely be an mot failure. i'll get an indy on it before my mot turns up.

im in the midst of fixing my suspension, may i ask... did mercedes ever make a different length shock for any of the 202s? like did the amg's have sports edition shocks that may have been stiffer, or shorter in length or were the the same as a standard sport/avantgarde/classic 202?

basically, im after sportier oem shocks, rather than aftermarket because i like the ride comfort much more and im pretty sure my girlfriend would complain if she had to feel every bump in the road with aftermarkets.
the only problem i find with my current oem shocks is that they bounce so much that i scrape everything. need something with abit of stiff so it wont top out/bottom out.
Im talking about the rear shocks by the way, as im replacing the front end with bilsteins to stop the bounce.

[190si]

the c36 is like a inch lower and the sports have stiffer shocks. my old 190 was a sportline and that was 23 mm lower than standard and had billies on itfrom factory. All the springs have couloured dots on them which relate to the weight of your cAr, i.e what have u got from factory like air con electric seats and the shocks have numbers on them, buying genuine will be mega money, try euro car parts there good.
sounds like your shocks are knackard if there doing that..

[ypkx]

they are knackered man, ive got gmax lowering springs in there too, planning on going mega lower than what it is now so replacing rear with something comfier and then get stiffer up front. i wonder how easy it is to get c36 shocks?

[190si]

u dont need them some nice billsteins or koni shocks will be a better upgrade and some polly bushes

[ypkx]

hm, its definitely just the front that bounces, the back end is pretty stable. So im going to get some standard replacements for the back until i can afford some bilsteins for the back. Koni are on my a list, i see more people gunning for koni than bilsteins...

[190si]

if i was going to lower mine i would just stick cheap shocks and springs on if its just for looks

[ypkx]

found a set of PI shortened shocks. never heard of PI, but at a price of £55 each corner, its probably the best bet i have?

[ypkx]

so, i got screwed over with the wheels, so theyre currently being re painted black to match the car, it was metallic grey before. Shocks have been ordered and should be with me anytime this week and they should be on the car by friday, with all 4 springs chopped to a desirable height.

Coolant has been changed, washer topped up. Desperately need a fuel filter next!

[190si]

cut springs? that will give you dog shit handling very bumpy lowering springs coils are closer together, for what the cost id get them.

[190si]

fuel filter is easy just under the back probably be all rusty lol

[ypkx]

stance > function as some say. As bad as this sounds, I'm not too bothered about the handling as I don't race the car. :P
Yeah, that is one thing I fear the most is that it would be rusted on!

Just got an email through from europerformance and told me its out of stock and will need 2-3weeks, guess i'll be issuing a refund and buy from somewhere else! ugh, another couple of days wasted!!!!

[190si]

might be a bit bouncy but to be fair its a chap mod

[ypkx]

would cut springs generally be bouncier because of the coil rate etc?
Plus, also a question that is probably very simple; Would the car be any lower on these new shortened springs compared to my OEM broken ones? for example; My car now is sat at say 80mm drop with the standard shocks in, if i install the new shocks, am i expecting a lower drop because they're shortened or does that not really matter?

[190si]

just a bit pikey lol springs are mad how they are for a reason so cutting them makes them bouncy. if they have snapped it can be low or if there cracked it stays the same height. proper shocks and springs will be a nice low not a tired low like worn out stuff looks like.
ive seen some broken springs it happens at night on the driveway most of the time and ive seen them go through tyres hence some cars have modded parts to stop that happening. i had a broken spring on my 190 e for 2 years 80 quid from merc the spring was lol but cos it was a sportline i got a genuine one cos they were 23mm lower