15x23 - Mercedes Benz E55 AMG

[bunniefuu]

A true wolf in executive sheep's
clothing, a 2002 E55 AMG.

This is a weapon this come.

From the days when Mercedes slogan
the best or nothing really meant something.

Service the paint, the
bumpers, the wheels,

the interior and the
unknown wobbly rear axle.

Vibrating rear axle.

But with some anti-LC, this AMG will
soon have the punters saying OMG.

Sorry about that, bit OTT, over the top.

Now I've had a call of a car
dealer friend of mine, he's

called David, he's got a
car site in Huntington Beach.

He's quite a busy man and he often
takes in cars in trading or party exchange.

Some of these cars he can clean up and
put them back on the lot and resell them

but some of these cars have
just got too many miles and

they're just not for him and
he wants to pass them on.

Now, the car in question has just tripped
a hundred thousand miles and the person's

obviously got a little bit scared
and put it in party exchange.

I don't know what people
think, do they think when a car

gets to a hundred thousand
miles it's going to detonate?

The Mercedes Benz W210 chassis,
namely the E-Class Mercedes.

2002 is a sweet spot in terms of year
and this particular car has been given to

those geniuses, those motorsport marvels
at Mercedes AMG and they said to him,

go on chaps, go do your worst.

Just four grand, four grand gets me nearly
350 horsepower and I've seen these cars

sell for upwards of seven,
eight thousand dollars.

Now this is where David keeps
these trade-ins, these party exchanges.

This is the car he thinks I'll be interested
in because he knows how much I like

a fast Mercedes. Do you know what?
He could be right.

These are fantastic Thunderer saloons and
they are built by that amazing design team

at Mercedes Benz, this
separate house of AMG.

This is the one that
you can really go to work

with and you can put
a big powerful engine

and a big rear end because
you know it's going to handle it.

Unfortunately though,
looking on this roof, the

clear coat, the lacquer
on top of the paint.

has peeled off so that's
going to need to be done.

It looks nice and straight down the sides,
the panel gaps are good and the wheels,

they look like they could
do with a bit of refurbishing.

The front bumper, that's all faded away
and the eyes of the car would look like

they've been in a
sandstorm but that doesn't

detract from just how
good these cars are.

It's got everything, electric
memory seats, heated seats.

This car is stacked.
Oh yes, oh this is nice inside, I like it.

The seat bolster is broken on this
side so that needs some kind of attention.

There is a little problem,
the service B light is due now.

It's a 100 point check and it
costs a lot of money in a car like this

and this car, it obviously needs
doing and as it's 100,000 miles this car,

now I sort of understand why
somebody would put it in parties change.

They would do that because
they would get worried

that something's going
to go wrong with the car.

but it sounds pretty good, doesn't it?
And there it is.

Although this car is an E55,
the engine is actually a 5.4 litre.

Now, a big engine means
a lot of speed and a lot of

speed can mean a lot of
damage if it all goes wrong

so I need to check this car hasn't
been involved in any accidents.

and what I'm looking for
is any signs of bent metal

down either on the
inner legs, the inner wings

and on this they're very
good. This is the original slam

panel across the front, it's
got the original stickers on it

and the inner wing on this
side is absolutely pristine.

Yeah, this looks like a
really good car but the proof

of these cars is how they
perform out there on the road

particularly when they've got the automatic
gearbox so let's take it for a drive.

Ooh, yes. Ooh, nice. Yeah, I like that.

Almost immediately you know you're behind
the wheel of something really special.

You see, what they did
is they took the big dog

engine, that's the Mercedes
S500, that V8 engine.

then they sent it to the
boys at AMG and they threw

everything but the
kitchen sink at that engine.

and they bought it out and
stroked it to a 5.4 litre V8.

Yep, they stuffed the
engine with a forged

steel crank, weight-matched
conrods and pistons

high-attention valve Springs
and longer duration modular cams.

Now this car comes from a period when there
was an arms race between BMW and Mercedes

the direct competitor, that would
have been the BMW M5, the E39

and these days, well, this
car represents much better

value for money, the M5
is a lot more expensive

plus this is lighter than
the BMW, a little bit lighter

and it means that it's got a
little bit more performance.

When I lift off though, there's a
weird vibration and I mean this is weird

because I've never
experienced that before and

it runs behind me and
then comes under my bum.

Lift off, there it is.

Yeah, that is a weird vibration, that
will need some kind of investigating.

So, David is only asking $4,000 at
£3,000 for this car as a direct trade sale.

There is not a chance
in hell I'm turning it down.

This car is an absolute
bargain and I know that I

can turn it round and
make some money out of it.

Now David, he was right,
he knows me very well,

this is the perfect car
for us Wheeler dealers.

It does need a little bit of
fixing up, we've got to do

the headlamps, that front
bumper, clear coat on the roof

plus there's that weird vibration
when I lift off the accelerator

but if we get those things right, I
know these cars are really popular

and I should be able
to sell it between $7,000

even $8,000 and there's
a strong market for these.

So for £4,000, the deal is done,
let's go and do the paperwork.

I just hope Ant is on board
when I get it back to the workshop

but it's time for him to Polish
and sharpen his German tools.

And have a taxi.

Oh don't say that, that's cruel, but
you never know what the future holds.

So this is the car that you would be
greeted by at every airport in the world.

Yeah, but it is an E55 and I
quite like this badge, it's cheeky.

It is very cheeky, yeah, this
is an absolute barnstorming,

mile munching, autobahn
crushing Mercedes W210 AMG E55.

The clear coat has peeled off the roof of
the car, but don't worry we can paint now

but it's not the only thing
on the car that needs

a bit of paint, but this
is a weapon this car.

Really? I mean it must be a sleeper
because it doesn't look very far.

Well that's a very good
description sleeper, but

let me show you the
business end of this car.

You're going to absolutely love this.

Okay, show me the money.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's going on here?

The bumper looks like
it's starting in front of

a fireplace, even the
lenses are a bit screwed.

You take that front bumper
off, give it to me, these

lights, I can refurbish
those, I can sort all of that.

Get the wheels off as
well, they need a bit of

a refurb, I can do all
that, but look at this.

How good is that?
It's just a big piece of

black plastic covering
what is that V8 engine.

Give me the stats.

Well the stats of this car are astonishing.

This has got 350 of your finest
stallion German racehorses.

They've been fed with bratwurst and
Sauerkraut, they're ready to charge.

It's got 400 foot pounds of torque
this car, got more torque than me.

This car is absolutely
epic and it was built by one

guy who built the engine
on the production line.

He's called Hans and he
wears titanium lederhosen.

You done?

Yeah I'm done, that's how good this car is.

Right, so it's fast?

It's very fast, in fact so fast
that this car will go from 0

to 60 quicker in its day than
say a Porsche 911 or a Ferrari.

And guess what, you can carry
your mates in the back of this.

That is fast.

Right, so under here,
what are we looking at?

Right, underneath here, what we're
looking at is just a general tidy up.

You're going to be pleased that
you don't have to remove the engine.

Really the problems are
when you switch on the ignition.

So, jump inside.

Right now, put the key in the
ignition and take a deep breath.

That's a B service.

Yeah I know, it needs a B service.

That's going to throw up loads
of unknown issues but in here.

Other than the seat
bolster, I know this car

has got heated, leather,
electric, memory seats.

Watch this, even the
steering column goes in

and out and up and
down all electronically.

This car is absolutely sorted and don't
worry about the seat, I can repair that.

Let me show you down the back.

Well it's starting to pile up.

Yeah, well it's not over yet because there
is another weird problem with this car.

When you accelerate
fast and lift your foot off,

there's this weird vibration
that comes from the rear.

I thought it was a wheel bearing but
actually I think it's coming from the axle.

It is a strange vibration,
travels down the body.

Right, so we've got the
service, the paint, the bumpers,

the wheels, the interior and
the unknown wobbly rear axle.

Vibrating rear axle.
Let me explain it, it vibrates.

Yeah okay, I got it, I got it.

This car, I've got the whole
thing for just $4,000 or £3,000.

Wow, £4,000.

See, you love it now, don't you?

I do like it as well, if you
think about it, imagine

a brake horsepower
you're getting for £4,000.

It's incredible, absolutely amazing.

Massive, massive bang for buck.

Mike and I joke that this
is just another German

taxi when in reality we
both really love this car.

Like a lot of Mercedes, this falls
somewhere within the alphabet

because Mercedes has a reputation
for using letters to name their car.

In this case, the E55 AMG.

And the E comes from the German translation
of the word injection, Einspritzen.

Then of course there's
the C class, the S

class, the A, the M,
the B, the R, even the X.

Mercedes is obsessed with
using letters of the alphabet.

If cars was a game of poker,
Mercedes would have a full house.

And all those cars have that
Mercedes assurance for quality.

It's about German engineering,
it's about performance and comfort.

But three letters take this car
from being great to really great.

And they are AMG.

Now our car was built
in the AMG glory days.

Which means our engine has 349 brake
horsepower, 391 foot pounds of torque.

It goes like a rocket.

And I did a little bit of geeky
research and I found out that our engine

was hand built by a fella called Andreas
Schwartz back at AMG in Germany.

Thank you very much Mr. Schwartz.

And Mike says that our engine's fine
and there are problems lay elsewhere.

Now this car is due service
B and that is a pretty big job.

But like all big jobs, they're just a
series of small jobs in one big queue.

So all I'm going to do
is work my way through

them, one at a time,
until they're all done.

And the majority of the B
service is actually quite simple.

In fact, I've probably
done maybe half a

dozen visual items
whilst I've been talking.

And my first chance to get my hands dirty
is this because it houses the air cleaner.

And Mercedes advise that you
service your air filter every 60,000 miles.

But depending on the environment, I
would do it sooner, every 30,000 miles.

It's part of the breathing
system of your car.

You want to help it out.

If I pull these little
filters out, you'll see if this

was to be spread out, it
would cover quite a few metres.

And it's full of dirt and grime.
In fact, look in there.

See, it's great that it's in
here, not inside your engine.

These have been doing their job.

Give this a little clean up.

The concertina design of the
filter means it has a huge surface

area, yet still fits within the
confined space of the intake box.

It's ideal to catch all the bits we
don't want entering the engine.

As well as that, this car has
two filters, one for each intake.

Now this car has two
spark plugs per cylinder.

And when they fire
together inside the cylinder,

it creates something
called a twin flame front.

That means the fuel and air
mixture inside ignites from two places.

Now these are my new spark plugs.

And there's loads of different
spark plugs available on the

market, but it all boils down to
this end bit here, the electrode.

Now these plugs come pre-gapped.

That means the space between the
electrode and the ground is already set.

But I never really trust it because they
can get knocked or displaced in transit.

And it only takes a second to
get some feeder gauges out.

And just double check it
before you drop it in the engine.

Now it should be a millimetre
or 39 thousandths of an inch.

And this one is actually spot on.

Now it's tempting to be lazy, but I would
advise torquing down your spark plugs.

You want them to be fitted just right.

I always start them off by hand.

That way you know that
they're seating correctly

and you're not going
to cross thread them.

And then on this car, torque
it down to 18 foot pounds.

Now you'll notice that these wires
are actually quite short and stubby.

That's because of the distance
from the coil packs to the cylinder.

And I'm going to swap
them out one at a time,

matching the old for the
new so I don't get mixed up.

Now each cylinder has a dedicated coil pack
with two leads, one for each spark plug.

So the earlier cars would have a
single coil to run the entire engine.

This is way better.

Oh look at that.

This little rubber gasket around
the wiper is completely gone.

Now that's not part
of the B service, but it's

always good to try and
catch these snags as you go.

Right, I'll add that to
Mike's shopping list.

Part of the B service is to check
the underside of the car as well.

So I'm going to start here
at the front, even though

I've got half an eye on
that rear end vibration.

Mike's moaning about, which in my
experience is going to be one of two

things, either something really simple
or something absolutely horrendous.

Now what I'm looking for is signs of wear.

So scratch marks, chafing, any leakage.

I'm checking all the
moving parts like the steering

joints, the bushes,
anything that's likely to fail.

And while I'm under the
engine, I'm also looking for leaks.

Now this rubber coupling
here, this is called a flex link.

It softens the connection
between the prop shaft

and the output shaft on
the end of the gearbox.

And that's a really
hard working bit of kit.

I'm looking for any
signs of cracking or

even dust up inside
the transmission tunnel.

And actually, it looks really solid.

I'm giving the prop a wiggle.

This is a two-piece prop.

There's a carrier bearing
there in the middle.

If there's play in there,
that's going to be a problem.

But again, it all feels really good.

And then there's another.

I'm looking for any signs of wear.

Oh no.

I don't like this movement.

Yeah, this diff is supposed
to be held in place really solid.

Bear in mind, that engine's
pumping out 349 brake horsepower.

If any of that goes into
this diff and it's moving,

I mean, that would
account for Mike's rattle.

Yeah, the rubbers are gone.

And lucky for me,
that's a pretty simple fix.

I just need to add the
bushes to Mike's shopping list.

Another obvious consumable
item on a car are the tires.

And these tire grooves look pretty good.

Next up are the brakes.

And the surface here is all Ripley.

That's where the pad makes contact.

I'm just going to put some new
discs on and some new pads.

It's even got a nice new shock exorber.

Let's check these rear brakes out.

Just like the fronts, the
disc is also worn away.

I can really feel that lip.

Now strangely, someone's
put new front shock exorbers on,

but these ones, they
look like the original item.

And if that's the case,
17 years is long enough.

So I'm going to swap them out.

Power is nothing without
control, as the saying goes.

And of course, we have
massive AMG power up front.

And of course, the car
needs really good brakes.

And it has.
It's fitted with these vented discs.

Now, to get the disc off, I
have to first remove the caliper.

Ah, all that revving.

Uno! How's the Alfred Nancher Gratius mat?

What?

AMG, that's what it stands for.

Oh, is that what it stands for?
I thought you were sneezing.

No, that's what it stands for.

I have been shopping for parts.

I've got discs over there. They are heavy.

There's the brake pads.

I've got that rubber thing that
you needed for around a window.

And look at this.

I managed to track down one of these.

This is a replacement
for the air conditioning unit.

Nice, clean LCD screen.

That wasn't on the list.

I know it wasn't on the list,
but it was something I noticed

when I bought the car, but I
managed to track that down.

It's like swapping a car stereo.
Really easy.

Well, the car itself is
absolutely fantastic. I love it.

Thank you very much.

See, I do know how to buy a good car,
particularly before they nip off to auction.

I'm glad I got in there.

Yeah, you sat outside the steeler ship.

I like that.

Very good.

Steeler ship. I like that. That's good.

Yeah, it does feel a little bit like
for the price we paid, I stole the car.

Maybe it's to do with
the fact that it's got

that nasty vibration
coming from the rear.

That could be a big problem.

Oh, right. Well, it turned
out it wasn't a big problem.

In fact, if I fish through the box of bits.

Yeah, this is it.

You see these little rubbers here?

Fit that and it's going to
hold the diff nice and secure

and the car's going
to drive so much better.

Do you know what?
I wonder what these were on the parts list

and you know what,
sometimes the biggest

problems are solved
with the simplest of items.

Right, now, why I'm
here, I need to take some

stuff away so I could
do with the driver's seat.

Okay, it'll take me a couple of minutes.

Okay, I could also do with
the wheels coming off the car,

which they are off, but I could
do with them being loaded up.

I'll take away the front
bumper and the headlamps.

Well, hang on a second,
because we need to get

this off to the body shop,
sort out that top coat.

We might as well leave them
on and get them done in one go.

Yeah, but I can get a
jump start on the bumper.

It's going to need a little
bit more than top coat.

Plus, the headlamps have got to come
out because I'm going to repair those.

Mike, I'm in the middle of the brakes.

I tell you what, why don't we just nip
it off because it won't take that long.

I'll help.
Let me get the Mercedes tools out.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

You focus on the kettle.

You want a cup of tea?

Yeah.

That's close.

Our E55 AMG is a car of luxury and quality

and as a car dealer, when
I'm selling the car, I want to

open that driver's door and I
want it to be the welcome mat.

Now, unfortunately, the welcome
mat on our Mercedes Benz

has been let down by the driver's seat.

The bolster on the seat, over the years,

people getting in and
out of the car, it's worn

it out and it's made it
look very secondhand.

Now, most people would just throw it
away and go and find a replacement seat

but I don't need to do that
because I can save the seat

thanks to my friend
behind me who's called Dan.

He can save anything
that's ripped, torn or broken.

Let's see if he can work on my Merc seat.

So then, Dan.

Hey, Mike.

What do you make of it then, huh?

Look at it.

I mean, the bolster's just completely gone.

It's lost its shape.

I can throw it away, get a replacement
one, but they're too expensive.

You get in here.

Oh, wow.

Yes.

All right, these are porn
noodles and I think, yeah,

they've shoved them in
the seat to try and save it.

Here we go.

We've got another little problem here.

We've got an air hose.

The front of this seat is an air bladder.

It goes all the way around
and on a button you can push it

and it pumps up the bolster on the
front to give you a bit more support

and Dan's noticed, look,
the hose is snapped in half.

so we're going to have
to repair that as well.

We're going to have to do what we can.

We'll put some suspension
in here, cover it up,

put some jute padding over, some firm foam

and we'll get that tall rigid
edge back up on the side.

I've still got this other little problem
of that little weenie hole on the top.

I mean, some people will get
away with that but I don't want to.

I want to make sure that
it really is a nice flat repair.

Well, I have Anita who can come
out and she does leather repair,

she does the pinpoint
holes to make it match up.

She's fantastic.

You'll love what she does.

Perfect.

I've got some connectors here

and they should just slide right on.

Nice.

There's one side and
I'll let you do that side.

There you go.

That's below the surface
and we'll be in good shape.

Oh yeah, look at that.

There you go.

So Dan's laid in this piece of
carpet and then he's attached

a piece of carpet with these
really heavy duty hog rings.

They are there to hold this carpet in
and then when we lay anything on top,

it stops it falling through.

Now, we have to build this
up and I think what we're

going to do is we're
going to replace this piece.

You can see the chair just
being built up in front of your eyes

and there's the bit that
was missing and it's been

put back in and there's the
other bit that was missing

and that's going to be put on top of that.

There you go.

This is the secret.

Nice and firm.

You can feel it.

Nice and firm, yeah.

It feels just like the whole
sound that was underneath

and you built the seat back up.

Absolutely perfect.

So now it's time to put
something over the top.

Now that's just a rough fit.

Yeah, look at that.

The pieces are then sanded smooth.

And then the fabric is glued
down to hold the pieces in place.

Okay.

The harder it goes on, the better it is.

There we go.

Look at that.

Fantastic.

It's got that Ridge
we're looking for as well.

It's a good time to bring
in Anita to do her repair.

Anita, what are we doing here?

You're going to put some
kind of patch, are you?

Yes, I'm going to put
just a piece of vinyl here.

That way the patch that I put in
the front is going to hold it to this one.

Gotcha.

Right, okay.

But what about the fact that
you're putting the white side in

and not the black side in?

Yes, because this is a fabric.

It's going to stick much
better with this surface.

Gotcha.

I'm going to wait for the glue to dry.

Yeah.

And now I let you undone
to finish with the seat.

Now a lot of people don't know
how to put seat covers on correctly.

A lot of people just take it and pull.

Yeah.

The trick is you put your hand
underneath, you hold that seam,

you pull it out as far as you
can, take the stress off that seam,

and you just drop it over.

Gotcha.

So that goes down there, but you actually
have to fold it under to get it down there.

What I'll do is I'll just take a needle

and I'll throw a couple of quick hand
stitches in here following the same holes,

just to lock that fabric
to keep it in place.

It's really nice, isn't it?

It's perfect.

Just a couple of quick stitches
just to hold this thing together.

Who would have thought there's
such a thing as liquidized leather?

That's what that is.

It's a leather filler.

So what Anita's doing is just
opening the holes back up again.

This is just a primary
color and I need to see if

the repair is okay or I
need to put more material.

I know you haven't finished,

but I wouldn't know that
there was a repair there.

That's it.

Blend it a little bit.

Wow.

I mean, seriously.

Around an hour ago,
I arrived here with my

Mercedes-Benz seat that
looked really secondhand,

a bolster that collapsed
and it had a hole in it.

And a short hour later,

thanks to the craftspeople behind me,

our seat is now saved and
ready to go back in the car.

But more importantly for me,

when that car door opens and I
present the interior to somebody,

I know that they're not going to know
that that seat had had a hard life before

and it's going to be a beautiful
welcome bat for the new owner.

I can see why these rear shocks got left.

They are a major pain to get to.

I've had to remove all of this out of
the boot just to access the top nut.

It's a lot of prep for just one nut.

Shock absorbers are only fitted by two
bolts, one at the top, one at the bottom,

and the bottom one is
protected by this plastic shield.

I'm going to retire
this with a bit of dignity

and replace it with these
aftermarket performance shocks.

This will complement the fronts.

Now, with the brakes out of the way,
I can get onto the differential bush.

You see, Mike was complaining that there
was a vibration at the rear end of this car,

especially under deceleration.

Now, the diff needs to be held
firm but not completely solid.

It needs to have the ability to vibrate.

Now, it's taking all that
power from the engine

and if it's not allowed to move ever so
slightly, it's going to shake itself to bits.

And of course, rubber is perfect
at absorbing all of that aggression.

Now, the new bush is really simple
and it works like a kind of sandwich.

There's a metal plate, a rubber,

space here for the diff carrier,

another rubber and another metal plate

held together by this bolt.

And swapping it out is easy,
but first of all, I'm going to

remove this plastic plate
just so I can get better access.

I can really see how much
movement's in that diff.

Way too much.

Yeah, that's in a bad way.

In fact, it's gone through the
rubber and it's down to the metal.

Perfect.

Solid as a rock.

Now, next up, I'm going
to tackle the O2 sensors.

Now, the O2 sensors aren't
part of the B surface, but because

they're essential to the
perfect running of our engine,

I'm going to do them anyway.

Now, the O2 sensor itself
isn't a serviceable item.

I can't just take it out,
clean it and put it back in,

so what I've done is
invest in four new ones.

O2 sensors are vital to getting
decent efficiency from your car.

The clue to what they do is in the name.

They constantly sniff for oxygen.

If any oxygen is getting
through the engine and into

the exhaust, that indicates
things are running lean.

There's not enough fuel coming
through to use up all the oxygen molecules.

The O2 sensor realises this

and informs the engine management
system, which adds more fuel.

The sensor works by
measuring a small amount of

electricity across a
zirconium dioxide element.

If the voltage is too high,
the engine's running rich.

If it's too low, the engine is lean.

The first two are easy.

The second two, I've got to drop
the exhaust down to get to them.

Now, something else to check at this stage
is if there's any cracks in the manifold.

The problem with cracks
is they let in oxygen

and it gives a false
reading at the O2 sensor.

And if that's the case, our
car's going to add more fuel

but not be able to resolve this oxygen
issue and it will eventually throw a code.

Now, keeping on top of these things

means you get the most
power for the fuel you burn.

Now, it's really important
that you handle these carefully.

On the end there, that's a sensor.

If I touch it, and especially I've
got grubby hands, I'll contaminate it.

If I put it in the exhaust,
it's contaminated.

It's going to show a false
reading and throw a code.

Also, Mike's kit comes
with this, anti-seize.

It's really important that I
only get it on the threads.

And again, careful not to get
it anywhere near that sensor.

There's one thing left to do.

Mercedes designed an oil system

that was easy for owners to
stay on top of their oil changes.

And under this cap here,
there's the filter cartridge itself.

Instead of using a sealed canister,

this Mercedes uses this filter
element on this permanent housing.

Now, I'm going to replace a couple
of O-rings and then a nice new filter.

Simple, clever.

Now, something I noticed earlier was
this window wiper rubber grommet here.

And to get to it, I need
to remove some bits.

Now, this system relies
on this big rubber grommet

from preventing water from
getting inside the bulkhead.

And it might not seem like a big deal,

but will absolutely help
this car later on in life.

If water gets in there, it's going
to cause corrosion problems.

And frankly, for any potential
buyer, this just looks terrible.

Now, I've noticed that the original one

has started to go a kind
of gummy and gooey mess.

So this was manufactured in the
days where people wanted to go green.

So it actually only had
a few years lifespan.

Now, if I take the wiper unit itself off,

you can see the mechanism,
and it's absolutely genius.

As it sweeps, it actually reaches
into the corners of the windscreen.

It's brilliant, but I do
need to take it apart.

And once it's in pieces, it's a
simple case of sliding on the new one.

Now, this new one's made
of more modern materials.

It's going to last way longer
than the old manky one.

And then, of course,
another part of the B-service,

a new wiper blade.

No excuses.

Now, this air conditioning unit
here has this broken LCD screen.

You can either get a factory original part

or you can get a cheaper
second-hand alternative.

Guess which route we took?

Now, the cool thing about
this air conditioning interface

is it acts as a kind of code reader
for the air conditioning system as well.

The idea being it tells you on
the screen if there's any problems

or the fact that we can't
read it isn't going to help.

And Mike's new one simply
slots in a bit like a car stereo.

Simply re-plug it back in.

Perfect!

Now, another B-service
item is the cabin filters inside.

I mean, when was the last
time you changed yours?

Now, this is called a carbon filter,

and that's because carbon is particularly
good at neutralizing nasty odors.

So any kind of whiffy or sniffy smell,

whether it's inside
the car or outside the

car, gets to this point
and it's dealt with.

Now, it lives in this little piece up here.

Grab this tab.

And then it literally just
pulls straight out as one.

And the new ones slide back in
exactly where the old ones came from.

One.

Two.

Now, these are known as
high-efficiency particular air filters,

or HEPA for short, and
they're basically like tiny mesh.

The idea being is that
they trap anything like dust

in the filter to stop it
coming inside the car.

These are really important.

If you think about it, if
these filters weren't in place,

you'd basically be breathing
in all this dust and particulates.

Now, look at the difference.

These are nice, clean
ones, never been fitted in

a car before, and they
slide straight back in.

One goes to the right.

Now, this is going to give our owners
real peace of mind and clean air.

Now, the only thing left to do
is get this car to the body shop,

deal with this clear coat,

and then I need to get some wheels.

I've nipped over to my
mate's detailing shop

with a plan to take years
off our E55's appearance.

Now, I've looked into replacing
the lenses on our E55 AMG.

I had to sit down because
they are rather expensive.

These are the original
items that came with the car.

The problem is, over the years,
you can see the lens has fogged up.

These are made of polycarbonate,
oil, grease, road debris, sand, dirt.

All gets embedded into the
lens and it disrupts the pattern

and it makes it look really faded.

And it spoils the look
at the front of the car.

Now, what I'm going to do to start with is

I've got myself a nice
little handheld rotary tool.

I've got an interface pad.

That's to give it some give
and a little bit of sponge to it.

And this is a 500 grit sandpaper.

Right, now, what's happened here is
when you start attacking the headlamp,

remember it's polycarbonate
and it's got a film on it,

the film starts clogging up the
little grit on the sandpaper here.

And if you leave that behind, it's
going to start to scratch the lens.

So there's a little trick to clean it off.

Just run the machine again in your hand.

Take your rag, just pop your rag onto it.

You will see the sandpaper is nice
and clean and it's ready to go again.

Next, wet finer grit sandpaper.

Remember, so far all we've
used is paper and water.

Right, now I'm going
to move on to polishing.

I need to remove the
sandpaper and the interface

pad and I need to
go to a polishing pad.

And you just put that straight on and
then using a heavy polishing compound,

just a few little dots of this
stuff, and that will be enough.

I'm going to switch the machine on,

go straight for the lens,
add some pressure to it,

and now we are polishing.

Oh, baby.

This time I'm going to
go for a polishing pad.

and I'm going to use
some really fine Polish.

This is going to make them
sparkle and go for it straight away.

Oh, look at that.

It seems to me like I
may have just polished.

thousands of dollars worth into these.

There's one last step,

just adding on this little bit of sealant.

I'm just going to leave this on there for
about 30 seconds and once this is set,

I'll just give it a fine little buff off.

Now, when I bolt these
to the front of the car,

it's going to transform
the look of our Mercedes.

So let me get the other one
done and get back on the car.

A 2002 E55 AMG.

You know you're behind the
wheel of something really special.

A beast of a car masquerading
as a respectable member of society.

I should be able to sell it
between $7,000 or even $8,000.

And it was in such great condition,

Antoni had a couple
of niggles to deal with.

The service, the paint,
the bumpers, the wheels,

the interior, and the
unknown wobbly rear axle.

Add some Brewer beautification
and we're off to the races.

Look at that.

We got the car for $4,000.

The B service, $340.

Differential bushing, $115.

Rear shocks, $170.

Brake kit, $695.

O2 sensors, $190.

The wiper grommet, $64.

Headlight polishing materials, just $24.

Used climate control panel, $50.

Seat pulse repair at $160.

Wheel refinishing at $400.

And front bumper roof paint at $700.

Which gives us a grand total of
$6,908, or around 5,300 pounds.

And all done in 21 man hours.

Mercedes Benz, 855 AMG.

A car that can drive in straight lines.

When the need arises, it
can drive curvy lines as well.

New discs.

Stop time itself.

And to Mike, over.

Mike here.

I mean, Mike here.

Are you joining me or not?

Yeah, I'm on my way.

I gotta go and see a man.

About a Mercedes.

You could have waited for me.

I couldn't wait for you.

I'll tell you, that was fantastic.

What a car!

I mean, it looks absolutely
fantastic out here.

Yeah, I mean, it's 17
years old, and look at it.

The AMG Fire is still burning brightly.

And I gotta tell you, this
car is absolutely epic.

And thank God you've
done all those little

reassuring fixes that
can plague a car with age.

Yeah, you see, for me, it was all about
the B service, that 100-point checklist,

because now we can hand
this car over to a new buyer

with confidence, and it can
wear the AMG badge with pride.

Pride, spelled backwards, is e-derp.

I wonder what that means.

The brakes on this
car, well, they're brilliant.

They could stop a train, you know.

Yeah, it smells like you
got your money's worth.

Not only are they fantastic
and reassuring on the racetrack,

but they're gonna be really
good for the new owner as well.

Yeah, agreed. Another nice
touch is the fact that you can see

the fault codes on the
air-conditioning interface.

It's really reassuring.

To be reassured is to be confident.

Confident ends with
dent, yet I don't see any.

What?

What?

What?

There's no dent on this car.

The bodywork's amazing.

Yeah, including the
headlamps that I've fixed up.

They look great, don't they?

Yeah, do you know what
that little headlamp fix

sorted out the front bumper, the front
end of this Mercedes looks incredible.

We've given it a new lease of life.

Yeah, and speaking of
not getting any younger,

it's a Mercedes, it's an AMG, and we're
at a racetrack, so come on, let's drive it.

Oh yeah, we're gonna drive it.

Now, when I got this car, one of
the bigger issues that I thought,

well, this is why this car was
so cheap, and why that dealer

wanted to offload it, was
that nasty rear-end vibration.

The way that worked is
when I put my foot down,

I lift my foot off,

there was a nasty vibration that
come from the back of the car.

It was all about that
little rubber grommet that

held that bush, that
held the diff in place.

2002, this is 17 years old, this car.

Do you know what, in 2002,

other cars out there wrote,

couldn't hold a candle to this.

Talk about, say, a Mustang GT, 0-60 time.

I'm gonna go for the
late five, six seconds.

Six seconds for a Mustang GT.

Now let's talk about this car.

Okay.

Right, this is the Mercedes
E55 AMG four-door saloon car.

Taxi.

Taxi. 0-60. Ready?

4.8 seconds.

In 2002.

So faster than a Porsche.

Yeah, faster than a Chevy Camaro.

Faster than a Mustang GT by over a second.

I know, that's how good this car is.

This car is bloody phenomenal.

And it feels like a b*llet.

You put your foot down, look.

It's gone.

It's gone.

It's just gone.

We're off down the road, we're doing over
100 miles an hour, immediately in this car,

350 brake horsepower.

Turn into this corner and get
your face absolutely torn off.

And then it keeps getting tighter
and then all of a sudden it does this.

Oh, there you go.

So use the track and you go to the outside.

Right.

Trust me, son.

I'll get this sold easy.

Yesterday then, I took a series of
beautiful pictures of our AMG Mercedes.

I sat on a keyboard
and I wrote some really

nice poetic ad verbiage,
just about how good.

an AMG is.

I even come out here

and give it a final Polish.

And when I press enter on the
keyboard and the advert was posted,

guess what?

The phone started to ring immediately.

And this chap behind me, Greg,

I think he's keen because
he's driven 400 miles.

It's taken him six hours all
the way from San Francisco.

He's been for a drive,
likes the way it drives.

But is he willing to pay me every
penny of the $7,500 I want for it?

So then, Greg.

Yes.

Come on.

You've had another look round it.

What do you think?

Yes, yes, yes.

I love it.

I love it.

You do?

What do you like about these cars?

The engine.

Legendary.

The gorilla engine.

It is a gorilla.

It's an angry gorilla,

this engine.

It really is.

It's like somebody slapped
the gorilla around the

face and if you run away,
it's going to chase you.

So I advertised it
out there for $7,500.

The bad news for you is
as soon as I advertised it,

the phone started to ring
and I've had lots of calls.

This car is very, very popular.

Yeah.

But you're first here,

but I do need 7.5 for it.

Will you take $7,000?

I've got a funny feeling.

You just said to me,
would you take $7,000?

I do.

Do you know what?

It's a very kind offer and
usually I would take that,

but the truth is,

I can sell this car like
that and I'm going to

sell it this afternoon if
you don't want to buy it.

So it's $7,500, unfortunately.

What do you say?

I'll still take it.

Yes, top man.

You just bought yourself a cracking AMG.

Well done.

Now you have to remember
where I found this car.

It was at the back of a
dealer's lot and it was

on its way to auction,
but after grabbing this car

and doing the little fixes to it,

well, we couldn't be any happier.

We repaired that vibration
coming from the rear axle.

and done the full major B service.

We've clear coated the
car and we've now given it a

bright sparkly face thanks
to the headlamps I did.

And guess what?

We've made a little dealer profit
and we can't say fairer than that.

If you want to see
more iconic cars like an

AMG Mercedes being
turned around by me and Ant,

join us again soon
on Wheel Of Dealers.

Ta-la.