OWNER Mrs. GSXR (Mach 5)

[gsxr]

Note: Click here to see GSXR's E500.

1992 Mercedes-Benz 500E
Smoke Silver (702) with cream-beige leather (275) interior
Build date: August 19, 1991
#11 of the 1505 total E500E's imported to USA


Restoration work (mostly within past 30kmi):
• New upper engine wiring harness, ETA rebuilt by BBA Reman
• New timing chain, guide rails, water pump, belt
• New head gaskets, cylinder head rebuild, engine mounts
• New steering components: drag link, tie rods, idler arm kit
• New front suspension components: LCA's, struts, mounts, buffers, boots, hardware
• New rear suspension: complete subframe rebuild, all new mounts/links/bushings
• New dealer-installed AC compressor, drier, expansion valve, blows ice cold
• New HVAC vacuum pods (dash removed, all replaced & working)
• New coolant hoses, coolant tank, sensors, windshield washer bottle
• New fuel pumps & hoses, fuel pressure regulator (FPR), oxygen (O2) sensor
• New Genuine Mercedes door mirror boots
• New power steering hoses, re-sealed steering box
• New ignition coils, caps, rotors, insulators, F8DC4 plugs, Beru/Kingsborne wire set
• New air intake ZoomTubes™
• New NSS (neutral safety switch, now NLA)
• New fog lights with Lamin-X film
• New 500E trunk badge (Genuine Mercedes, now NLA)
• OE Sachs fan clutch recalibrated & working correctly


Interior & Body Modifications:
•Factory pedal covers from newer Mercedes AMG models
•S600 style grille (aftermarket, stock grille available)
•Becker Traffic Pro head unit, Boston Acoustics rear speakers
•Alpine PDX-5 power amplifier
•150A Mercedes/Bosch alternator
•Dynamat Xtreme in doors, trunk, and under rear seat


Chassis & Powertrain Modifications:
•Brake upgrade front & rear (stock brakes available)
•Quaife ATB limited-slip differential with 2.65 gears (stock diff available)
•Deerfield Precision stainless braided brake hoses (formerly known as WRXtra)
•RDM TEK rear camber correction kit
•OE tie rod eccentrics for rear toe correction
•Modified EPROM to increase rev limit & eliminate top speed governor
•JetHot coated exhaust manifolds
•ASR (traction control) defeat switch
•AMG 18" staggered 5-spoke wheels (also have Maxilite Evo replicas available)


Planned / Future Modifications:
•New front seat leather covers?
•Jehnert front door panels?



Sample photos below.

For those wondering, Mach5 is a reference to Speed Racer, in reference to her lead foot. And we opted for the Idaho Sacajawea vanity plate since she is part Native American. The Porsche plate frame is to confuse people who don't know what the 500E is, with a side benefit of increasing Gerry's blood pressure.

 

[gsxr]

Since this is my wife's race car, it visits the track regularly. [Edit: The car was relegated to backup duty as of 2016, when we put her in a RENNtech 6.0 instead... she liked going faster.] Photos are attached below showing what I think is about a full year's worth of rubber buildup. It's a pain to clean it off, and it doesn't hurt the paint, so I only clean it about once per year. Although many people think the rubber is from our tires, the majority is from the rubber on the surface of the track in front of the burnout box. We can usually get about 3-4 years of racing from a set of tires, after that they can start to lose a bit of grip due to age and heat cycles, although still having adequate tread left for street use.

I had to post these pics since Gerry mentioned here that he had a whopping quarter inch of rubber buildup from his track exploits. I think my wife has him beat.

 

[szvook]

Ah, the beast makes an appearance, sick ride. Does this mean Mrs. GSXR will join in?

 

[Glen]

Very nice, Dave. This was Ramil's and then Austin's before you bought it, right? I haven't seen it in person for many, many years...it still looks great

 

[gsxr]

Thanks, guys!

Yes, this was the car previously owned by Ramil and Omegabenz. It took a couple of years to work out a number of the cosmetic issues, like the painted mirror boots and door handles, and other stuff like the H&R springs (which I removed and sold). It's been "photo ready" for about a year but I just hadn't had time to clean it up and take pictures.

The paint has multiple problems, but it doesn't show in the pics. Clearcoat is failing in a few places, and the recently-painted bumper has a few small chips... you can see that in the photos. The shop that painted the front bumper must have used the new environmentally-friendly paints, probably not Glasurit or Sikkens.

BTW, this car has almost entirely new suspension front to rear, courtesy of the previous owner (Omegabenz) circa 150kmi. It drives like new.

 

[Roma_500E]

I like those buttons on the center console , very nice additional features that look great .

By the way, that was my first set of wheels I guess those are A170**** , looks nice on 500E.

Nice car with tasty updates and options

 

[gsxr]

Correct! Wheels are part # 170-401-14-02. I updated the original post to include this info.

 

[Roma_500E]

What is the valentine-1 ?

Why don't you upgraded to both power side mirrors ? You have so many buttons and custom options so you should have power mirrors ..

 

[gsxr]

Valentine-1... click here. It's one of the most effective countermeasures on the market.

Upgrading the left mirror to electric is waaaaay more work than you might think. I extracted the complete wiring harness from a late W124 so I could do this someday, maybe, if I got really really bored. The ROI is seriously poor on that particular upgrade.

 

[bing]

Did you cut the holes yourself, dave, on this console or was this factory pre-cut? Is that a Trunk release button I see ? And what's now in place of your recirculate button, I see you moved it where the lock/unlock button should be.

 

[gsxr]

Did you cut the holes yourself, dave, on this console or was this factory pre-cut? Is that a Trunk release button I see ? And what's now in place of your recirculate button, I see you moved it where the lock/unlock button should be.

That is the factory Limo wood. Cheaper and easier than having original wood re-finished with extra holes cut, although the grain won't match, but that doesn't bother me.

Only some of the extra switches are functional. The "extra" recirc switch in place of the factory fader is a remote Valentine-1 on/off, the fanfare switch is for the aftermarket stereo on/off which allows the stereo to work with the key off, and the extra rear window kiddie switch is for the FGS mode selection (standard vs sport). The remaining two (trunk lid release and central lock) are just filling the extra holes, neither is functional. I may wire up the central lock switch someday. I'm not sure how I'd make the trunk release work only when the car is in 'park', assuming I could find an actuator to make it work at all.

 

[Roma_500E]

Valentine-1... click here. It's one of the most effective countermeasures on the market.

Upgrading the left mirror to electric is waaaaay more work than you might think. I extracted the complete wiring harness from a late W124 so I could do this someday, maybe, if I got really really bored. The ROI is seriously poor on that particular upgrade.

Oh I see now what it is .

I understand what you mean with the mirror , ROI is low but this one side button would annoy me.

I have the same feeling about power antenna button. I got the button and wires but I still had no chance to install it and yeah when i will be really bored I may install it otherwise ROI is pretty much close to zero here too.



However another functional button will look nice on the center console .

 

[omegabenz]

Don't forget the fluids =)
ATE BLUE/ATE 200 gold
Jet Hot Ceramic coating on exhaust manafolds, all motor heat shields.

It looks great, now that you took it to the finish, wanna sell it back ;-)

Seriously, I'm glad it went to the right person. Glad that she is enjoying it so much!

 

[Roma_500E]

Don't forget the fluids =)
ATE BLUE/ATE 200 gold
Jet Hot Ceramic coating on exhaust manafolds, all motor heat shields.


It looks great, now that you took it to the finish, wanna sell it back ;-)

Thats actually cool , usually women do not like 036 neither young nor adults. It is an old boxy vehicle for them .

 

[gsxr]

Don't forget the fluids =)
ATE BLUE/ATE 200 gold
Jet Hot Ceramic coating on exhaust manafolds, all motor heat shields.

It looks great, now that you took it to the finish, wanna sell it back ;-)

Seriously, I'm glad it went to the right person. Glad that she is enjoying it so much!

Thanks, Austin! I knew I forgot a couple items. I've updated the original post.

 

[linjam]

1992 Mercedes-Benz 500E
Smoke Silver (702) with cream-beige leather (275) interior
Build date: August 19, 1991
#11 of the 1505 total E500E's imported to USA

Dave, what benefit have you noticed from ceramic coating the exhaust manifolds?

J

 

[nocfn]

I'll Jump in - my headers in my C126 are ceramic jet coated, and they cool very fast to the touch. They are not as hot as the cast iron, so the temp in the bay IS cooler. However, they do get hot but take a longer time to get there, and cool off within minutes of engine shutoff. That being said, the engine bay is much wider, deeper and has more open space for ventilation. I have a spare set of manifolds for coating when the time comes, but for me the cosmetic value would be the true benefit over the cast iron look. Heat improvement would be a secondary benefit, albeit incremental in my view. Interested to hear what Mr GSXR has to say...

 

[gerryvz]

Dave, what benefit have you noticed from ceramic coating the exhaust manifolds?

J

I did this back in 2010 on my 560SEC. Never noticed a bit of difference. It took about 50,000 miles for the coating to start to blemish and the typical exhaust rust start to show through, but overall they still look decent. But I have never really seen any reduced temps or positive effect in the engine compartment from the coating on the manifolds. They looked super nice for quite a while, though !!

 

[nocfn]

AHH I should mention that my headers were Stainless Steel to begin with, not cast iron. I think that's the diff GVZ

 

[gsxr]

Dave, what benefit have you noticed from ceramic coating the exhaust manifolds?

It looks great, and keeps parts from corroding or discoloring, but I didn't notice any change in temperatures of anything.

BTW, this car may be for sale, drop me a line if interested.

 

[Dunnik]

So what is Mach 5's best time in the quarter mile?

 

[gsxr]

So what is Mach 5's best time in the quarter mile?

I'd have to dig up the old records, but IIRC it ran 14.0's at sea level, at Mission Raceway in Canada, eh. And that was with taller 2.65 gears. With stock 2.82 gears it would be a few tenths quicker, around 13.6-13.7 at a bit over 100mph, given similar conditions at sea level. I plan to swap the stock 2.82 diff back in before selling.

UPDATE: It was 14.08 @ 99.63 at Mission, with the 2.65 gears. Stock wheels/brakes would have made it a bit quicker & faster also due to reduced rotating mass.

 

[Dunnik]

Not bad for a quarter-century old luxury sedan!