What I've Done So Far , And What I've Saved

Righty,

As I am currently in a "Don't go to Merc for ANYTHING unless you NEED to" run, I thought I'd show people that doing things yourself can pay.

Hence why this site was created. As a follow on, here's a list of what I've done myself, and my estimated savings (inc labour).

• Replaced drive shaft myself : God knows how much this costs at MB, cost me the driveshaft from a dealer.
  
  
• Replaced the seals and modified them : Paid £50 for used but very good seals, nothing for the silicone used to fix them.
  
  
• Replaced the breaks and drums : Not MB claimable but I'm sure they'd charge at least an hours labour for this.
  
  
• Sealed up my rear light cluster : MB Quoted me £40 for the cluster + 1 hour labour to seal it up. Nah..
  
  
• Dried out the carpets after sealing the car up like a plastic bag : MB Quoted 2 hours labour. Nope!
  
  
• Replaced the wiper assey : Cost me £30 for a used but fairly new one off a garaged roadie and fitted by me , MB quoted £120 for a new assey + 2 hours labour . Erm, it took 30 mins to replace where did they get two hours from?
  
  
• Sealed up the bulkhead : Quoted £63 from merc for the job
  
  
• Replaced the actuator and got the clutch adjusted at an indie : £40 for the actuator, £25 for the adjustment.
  

I'm still counting : theres probably jobs I've forgot.

In total I'm guessing I've spent about £100-£150 on the above jobs (plus about £50 for bits n bobs).

Would have cost well in excess of £500 at Merc.

Bare in mind this is a spread cost over the course of 3 years of roadie ownership, but still - £150-£200 a year compared to £40-£50?

im all for doing things myself..

Cheeky... :-D

just cleaned the engine and lacquered it ready for the dump valve being fitted tomorrow..

cheers james

Here is everything i've done

SmartsRus Remap
TIK induction pipe and intercooler pipes
Changed to better engine bonding braids
K&N incution kit
EBC black disk grooved
Green stuff pads
Internal LED convertion (artical yet to be made)
Retrofitted and installed wire harness for cruise control (an atrical made) you guys want one?
fitted cruise control stalk
Installed Pioneir head unit and speakers
Fitted LSD lambo doors
Fitted Areo wiper blades


Loads more to come if you ask me.
Yetep, your display pic is more or less what mine will look like once done.

tik and ic pipes are next on my list...... thorpheus do you see much difference with the induction kit with the heat from the engine?

cheers james

My DP is the RS-Parts promo car :-) I reeeeeally like it lol. Just spent £300(ish) on car parts to help me on my way to make it look as the DP.

Woop!

Cant say I have, I did the pipwork and induction kit all at once. i would say its the same but much better sounds and performance

Thorpheus wrote:

Cant say I have, I did the pipwork and induction kit all at once. i would say its the same but much better sounds and performance

was it easy to fit as the standard box seems quite large and has wires and connections on the side

cheers james

only thing about installing the induction kit was cutting stuff away to allow the pipe from the induction to the box sit right appart from that it was easy, the tik pipe will give you some problems when installing its an pain. the intercoolers are ok tho. use some spit or pub to get them on

I've done pretty much a full A service... primarily the oil and filter change, greased the roof runners, changed the filters, replaced wipers with Trico beam blades (needed to bend the wiper arm marginally to get proper contact with the screen though) and checked the sort of things you ought to check regularly anyway.

The oil change is easy if you have a pump, once you get the knack - I bought a Pela 6000 for less than £30 online (delivered). For the engine oil... well, I work at Opie Oils, so that saved me a bit ;-)

Headlight bulb changes also easy - didn't need to take anything out - just fitted in situ.

B Service was done at Truro Motor Services - independent Mercedes specialists... very good service and they were happy to use the Mobil 1, UFI filters and brake fluid I got from work.