500E Indy Shop in the San Francisco Bay Area

[Russell R Coe]

Hello All. The time has come for the engine and Transmission to come out of my 1992 500E

With 255,000 miles on the clock, and quite a few small leaks from various location, and just today the belt tensioner has given up the ghost, along with the transmisson delay of at least 3 seconds into reverse, and the occasional slip while going for 2nd into 3rd gear I have decided to bite the bullit and have it out.

I'm looking for any recommendations for compedtent shop who can do this work, along with the transmission rebuild.

I have had one recomendation of MZF-Bayer in Burlingame, but have never used them before.
Thanks in Advance
Russell

 

[Jlaa]

Hello All. The time has come for the engine and Transmission to come out of my 1992 500E

With 255,000 miles on the clock, and quite a few small leaks from various location, and just today the belt tensioner has given up the ghost, along with the transmisson delay of at least 3 seconds into reverse, and the occasional slip while going for 2nd into 3rd gear I have decided to bite the bullit and have it out.

I'm looking for any recommendations for compedtent shop who can do this work, along with the transmission rebuild.

I have had one recomendation of MZF-Bayer in Burlingame, but have never used them before.
Thanks in Advance
Russell

Hi Russell, have you considered having your preferred Indy drop the trans, then sourcing a rebuilt trans from Sun Valley or getting your trans shipped to Sun Valley and back .... and then having your indy reinstall?

To me it seems that transmission rebuilding is a specialized subset of automotive repair, maybe it is worth having a specialist do it ---- as they say, with practice comes perfection....

For what it is worth, I have used these guys since 2013 and I am a fan of their work. www.porschedes.com When the time comes to rebuild my 500E trans, that is the approach I will take. Also, I had my sport-beetle's transmission rebuilt in 2015 and I followed this same approach (although the specialist trans builder was Bill Rader Motorsports out of Las Vegas, NV, instead of Sun Valley in CA)

 

[gerryvz]

MZF-Bayer is the same company as Peter Schmid in South San Francisco. I would stay away from them as a transmission repair shop. You will have better luck with Sun Valley in SoCal. If you search for Peter Schmid here on the forum you will find some info. I have personal knowledge of negative stories about their work, and they have gotten worse over the past 15 years.

I also have personal experience with a Sun Valley rebuild, and have visited their shop in person, and can vouch for them with a positive rating.

I'd talk to the @Jlaa and @RicardoD about who they would recommend - I think Jlaa already made a reco, but may have others. The Keggerator may also have a reco for the NorCal/Sacto area. @luckymike also lives on the Peninsula and knows the repair shop scene there.

Some other threads attached.

 

[RicardoD]

I used Circle Star Motors out of Santa Cruz who removed my engine, did the timing chain work, fixed a few other items, and put it back in. Max the owner cut his teeth on these cars during his dealer days. Circle Star Motors

 

[smilecenterlab]

stay away from Peter Schmid.

 

[gsxr]

Schmid changed ownership at some point but I forget when. I bought a car with one of their rebuilds, only 2kmi on it, and had numerous issues... several due to them leaving old parts in place, instead of replacing with new (O/L switch and vac modulator). I was not impressed. Sun Valley would probably get my business assuming Blue Ridge is still booked out until like 2023...

 

[Russell R Coe]

Thank you all for your input.

I will be contacting Circle Satr Motors per Ricardo's recommendation.

I will keep you all posted on my progress.

 

[RicardoD]

Russel, you can mention the Ricardo David referral where they pulled the engine out of my car. I am sure Max and Nick will remember although it was a few years ago.

And be sure to give Max & Nick a heads up if you plan to bring any of your own parts. Just work with them ahead of time to map out a plan. They even called me to have me come take a look while the engine was out of the car. take pictures!!

 

[Russell R Coe]

Just sent the 500E on a flatbed down to Max at Circle Star Motors in Santa Cruz.
After talking with Max on the phone, I decided just by his demeanor, and his excitment from when he worked on Ricardo's car, that his was the best place to send my car.
I sent a long list in the car of all the items I know that need looking at, and after Max has accessed the car on arrival we will come up with a plan to do all the work.
I will keep you posted on the progress.

 

[dionphaneuf]

@Russell R Coe haven't seen you around in a while - what mileage are you at these days? Maybe this extended layoff will give me a chance to catch and beat you!

 

[Russell R Coe]

@Russell R Coe haven't seen you around in a while - what mileage are you at these days? Maybe this extended layoff will give me a chance to catch and beat you!

It left here on the flat bed with 255414 miles showing on the clock. so get driving a;ot to catch up

 

[RicardoD]

Russel, if you go to Circle Star to look at your car, let me know, I would love to join you for an engine out review of the work done to date.

 

[Russell R Coe]

Ricardo, most certianly would like to do that. I will let you know when I'm heading down there.
I had a great discussion with Nick down there yesterday, and have given them the go head to start all the work.
Max and Nick will be doing all the work on the car. Max supplied me with a detailed list of what they have observed so far, and a qoute for the engine and transmission removal, and replacement of all that they can see needs replaced.
They have refused my attempts at giving them a up front payment of what is going to be a substantial amount of money, which i will disclose once all the work is complete. So I'm well and truely commited now, but feel very comfortable that I have chosen the right place to have the car retruned to its former glory.

 

[RicardoD]

Russell, I just helped my wife drop off her car (2014 MB E350) to Circle Star last night. Nick just called my wife and he mentioned your engine is coming out in a few days. Here is the photo of my car waiting for my wife to arrive.

 

[maw1124]

I followed the Trusted Indy + Sun Valley + “while the trans is out” approach with my car as well, and have been extremely pleased with the results. The flex discs, etc., made a huge improvement in the drivetrain to me. After that, ditching the RENNTech Heim links and returning to stock links was another huge driveline improvement, as was new hydro legs. Those three and new engine mounts are the services that I remember being worth every dime.

Best of luck @Russell R Coe.

maw

 

[Russell R Coe]

Hello all.
The engine and tranny are out as you can see in the photo's. As Max said "now the fun part happens".
All OEM parts have been ordered and are at the shop, only thing that they are waiting for is the serpintine belt for this early car. Hoping to get down to see the progress next week.
Max and Nick are working on the car and seem to be really enjoying the job. Can not tell you how great it has been comminicating with them on the progress.
Progress is being documented in photos all along the way, and will be given to me as a thumb drive for my records. Very exciting.

 

[Jlaa]

Those exhaust manifolds are in great cosmetic condition!

 

[Russell R Coe]

Russell, I just helped my wife drop off her car (2014 MB E350) to Circle Star last night. Nick just called my wife and he mentioned your engine is coming out in a few days. Here is the photo of my car waiting for my wife to arrive.

View attachment 139846

Ricardo, thats a great photo of your car in that lighting. How is your week looking next week? Im going to try and get over to see my car one day to see the progress.

 

[RicardoD]

PM sent Russel

 

[RicardoD]

I give to you Russell's engine. It is down to the block. Bits of timing chain guide plastic everywhere. Thank goodness the engine was torn down in time.

 

[gsxr]

Nice! Next time you are there, can you snap a photo of how the engine is attached to the stand? Normally the stand bolts to the lower oil pan, but with the pan removed, there's no other place to connect...

 

[Russell R Coe]

Nice! Next time you are there, can you snap a photo of how the engine is attached to the stand? Normally the stand bolts to the lower oil pan, but with the pan removed, there's no other place to connect...

View attachment 140357 View attachment 140358

Will be getting a photo of that posted up for you Dave.
Max and Nick at the shop think it was one or two starts from a major Catastophy. One chain was streched 7mm and the other 15mm. I will be posting up some more pictures tommorrow. To say I dodged a bullit would be an understatement.

 

[gsxr]

Yikes! I assume they measured that over the full chain length? I wonder what the stretch would have been in degrees at the cams, which is how you check with the engine still intact.

IMO, the broken chain rails were more of a concern than the stretch... chains very rarely break. But the rails can cause bad things to happen when they're disintegrating.

 

[gerryvz]

What do you mean that one chain was stretched by Xmm, and the "other" chain was stretched by Ymm? Are you talking about the timing chain, and the oil pump chain? Those are the only two chains I can think of.

 

[Jlaa]

@Russell R Coe --- How's your car running now! It looked mighty impressive when I saw Max and Nick had torn down and built back the motor!

 

[Russell R Coe]

Jlaa, It is completed, but for various reason, one being exposed to a possible case of covid, I have not been able to go and pick it up. According to Max and Nick it is running excellent and they have done quite a few test drives.
I will post up a more detailed post with more photos and a video of them firing it up for the first time very soon.

 

[nocfn]

Just a comment on the above. we are 3 shots each in our home. My wife had covid symptoms and tested positive. Me and my daughter were negative. Since symptoms began on the 17th, test was the 20th she was well enough (energy) to go on a 3 mile walk today, two miles yesterday. Our son who works with me, got it from his wife 3 days ago, both are vaccinated and have different symptoms but just mostly like the flu and sinusitis. At least that is our experience. Sorry to hijack the thread, it just popped into my mind Russell when I read it and wanted to encourage you (or others). Looking forward to your car.....