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OWNER mrindiafromuk (Euro 500E)

mrindiafromuk

E500E Enthusiast
Member
Finally got me a 500E and a euro car from Germany. Bought from Canada just waiting for transportation company to pick it up and bring it home to California.
 

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maw
This is the car I bought
 
Ooooo! Do tell!

:jono:
Well… when it arrives around Oct 22nd I need to wait about 4 weeks for customs papers to arrive. My first thing to get done is to pass California smog. If it fails then I am going to first do a full exhaust system swap. Not sure yet which. Thats not the big one. I am planning to send it to Renntech to get the gearbox and 6.0 upgrade . I am still researching with Renntech if I should do this. My inclination is to do it and get myself a hammer tribute .
 
Cool! I didn’t know Renntech still offers 6L conversions. Thought Blue Ridge were the only ones in the U.S. doing this. How much does Renntech charge for such a conversion?
 
Well… when it arrives around Oct 22nd I need to wait about 4 weeks for customs papers to arrive. My first thing to get done is to pass California smog. If it fails then I am going to first do a full exhaust system swap. Not sure yet which.
Passing CA emissions shouldn't be a problem, assuming the factory catalysts are good (they are a relatively rare failure). Make sure the cats are fully heated by driving at 3000-4000rpm for 5-10 mins prior to arriving at the test station (low speeds in a lower gear works fine for this). That said, emissions are rarely the problem in CA... how do you plan to get it registered? Another forum member bought a Euro-spec 500E and as of a few months ago, he was still having trouble getting through DMV / CARB, click here and here.


Thats not the big one. I am planning to send it to Renntech to get the gearbox and 6.0 upgrade . I am still researching with Renntech if I should do this. My inclination is to do it and get myself a hammer tribute .
Oooooo. A 6L conversion would be spectacular! Please keep us posted on what RENNtech is currently offering for 6L build options. Back in the day, they had a "Stage 1/2/3" setup with optional different camshafts, optional CNC head porting, and optional tubular headers which were breathtakingly expensive for some bendy pieces of pipe. Make sure to upgrade to a limited-slip differential along with the 6L, either WaveTrac or Quaife make them, or OS Giken if you want really esoteric stuff at 3x the price.


:wahoo:
 
Passing CA emissions shouldn't be a problem, assuming the factory catalysts are good (they are a relatively rare failure). Make sure the cats are fully heated by driving at 3000-4000rpm for 5-10 mins prior to arriving at the test station (low speeds in a lower gear works fine for this). That said, emissions are rarely the problem in CA... how do you plan to get it registered? Another forum member bought a Euro-spec 500E and as of a few months ago, he was still having trouble getting through DMV / CARB, click here and here.



Oooooo. A 6L conversion would be spectacular! Please keep us posted on what RENNtech is currently offering for 6L build options. Back in the day, they had a "Stage 1/2/3" setup with optional different camshafts, optional CNC head porting, and optional tubular headers which were breathtakingly expensive for some bendy pieces of pipe. Make sure to upgrade to a limited-slip differential along with the 6L, either WaveTrac or Quaife make them, or OS Giken if you want really esoteric stuff at 3x the price.


:wahoo:
Thanks
 
I on registering the car, I hope that since it was imported in to Canada in 2007 and owned and registered there until now, it may help my case. I read the post you sent me, it will be interesting to see if I get the same problem. I know getting a car fax and lien report was challenging since the vin was not being picked up. Cardax did a manual pull on the vin and it was found. Hoping that it was registered in Alberta it may be ok.
 
Finally got me a 500E and a euro car from Germany. Bought from Canada just waiting for transportation company to pick it up and bring it home to California.

I on registering the car, I hope that since it was imported in to Canada in 2007 and owned and registered there until now, it may help my case.
Your choices on registering this car IN California are unfortunately near zero unless you pay $$$$$$$$ for CARB certification / lab testing / emissions modifications. 😬

You could register it in a different state and drive it in California, which of course is non-kosher and your insurance company may not be pleased with and the local gendarmes may not look kindly upon .... all depends personal calculation of risk vs. reward.

If you still plan to go to a California DMV office and try and register it ..... don't talk to the DMV about your car until you have formulated and executed (past tense) on your plan to procure the appropriate documentation for the DMV to show that your car complies with CARB rules.

Good Luck 🙏

 
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Your choices on registering this car IN California are unfortunately near zero unless you pay $$$$$$$$ for CARB certification / lab testing / emissions modifications. 😬

You could register it in a different state and drive it in California, which of course is non-kosher and your insurance company may not be pleased with and the local gendarmes may not look kindly upon .... all depends personal calculation of risk vs. reward.

If you still plan to go to a California DMV office and try and register it ..... don't talk to the DMV about your car until you have formulated and executed (past tense) on your plan to procure the appropriate documentation to the DMV that your car complies with CARB rules.

Good Luck 🙏
Solution= move the F out of California. Like many others have done and are in the process of doing.
 
Solution= move the F out of California. Like many others have done and are in the process of doing.
That’s certainly one option, but sadly not one I can take right now. I will do what it takes to register it in CA. It will then be one of the few if not only German Euro car officially registered in CA. I am thinking that in itself has intrinsic value. But hey let’s see how this journey pans out. Makes for a good YouTube series on my channel which would help anyone else trying to import a car and registering it in CA. All part of the ownership journey.
 
I actually don’t know . How do I find out
You can measure the sizes of the rotors that are on the car now! If you do a search you can find a bazillion threads on brake sizing, but here is a thread to get you started.


Note that Silver Arrrow brakes and SL600 brakes are the same size —except that SA brakes are cross drilled.
 
You can measure the sizes of the rotors that are on the car now! If you do a search you can find a bazillion threads on brake sizing, but here is a thread to get you started.


Note that Silver Arrrow brakes and SL600 brakes are the same size —except that SA brakes are cross drilled.
Thanks
 
Per the photos on the BaT listing, the silver Canada car has the small 300x28 front brakes, original Brembo calipers, and probably the original 278x24 Ate rear brakes. These are fine for legal speeds in USA.

If the car gets the 6L upgrade, the full "Silver Arrow" brake upgrade front+rear would be highly recommended. The small brakes were inadequate with 322hp, they'll be even less adequate with 422hp.

:spend:
 
Not to muddy the waters too much, but here in BC they scrapped the "Air Care" program a long time ago. It was just another government cash grab to be honest. So not sure what they have in AB but those guys have in general a much more cavalier attitude towards the environment so I doubt this 500e was subjected to any form of emissions testing whilst in AB though happy to be corrected of course.
 
Not to muddy the waters too much, but here in BC they scrapped the "Air Care" program a long time ago. It was just another government cash grab to be honest. So not sure what they have in AB but those guys have in general a much more cavalier attitude towards the environment so I doubt this 500e was subjected to any form of emissions testing whilst in AB though happy to be corrected of course.
That’s good to know. I will research what state my car is in when it arrives
 
This will be super helpful when other non-USA-spec cars are listed for sale, and people keep asking what is needed to register in CA. Would be great to just post a link to your vlog.

:jono:
 
Thanks for the update! :thumbsup2:

FYI... there are no "AMG heads" for the E60 or M119 AMG 6.0L engines. The stock heads were modified slightly per the AMG documentation posted elsewhere on this forum. Now, the AMG camshafts are NLA but RENNtech never used AMG cams for their 6L builds anyway, they sourced custom camshaft sets from an unknown supplier. The 6L bottom end stuff (crank, pistons) could be reproduced if needed, the cams might be the most difficult item to source, if RENtech can't just order up another batch of the cams they had produced in the 1990's.

:v8:
 
FYI... there are no "AMG heads" for the E60 or M119 AMG 6.0L engines. The stock heads were modified slightly per the AMG documentation posted elsewhere on this forum. Now, the AMG camshafts are NLA but RENNtech never used AMG cams for their 6L builds anyway, they sourced custom camshaft sets from an unknown supplier. The 6L bottom end stuff (crank, pistons) could be reproduced if needed, the cams might be the most difficult item to source, if RENtech can't just order up another batch of the cams they had produced in the 1990's.
That's interesting information i appreciate it for my next conversation with RENNtech . Currently I am sending the car in to get the transmission rebuilt next week so that when it goes to EPA mods the dyno testing doe not break anything. BTW the gear changes are not super smooth.
 
Gear changes not super smooth could be a number of simple things, from old fluid to a disconnected vacuum line. But, if you have the funds a fresh transmission is always nice.

Are you getting a dealer/factory reman, or Sun Valley reman? Please say it isn't Schmid (aka MZF-Bayer).
 
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