Replacing my Clio 182 Cup with a C32 AMG
Discussion
I recently decided I needed a change of car, this was the perfect time to do something a little different.
For many years I have had nothing but French hot hatches, mainly RenaultSport Clios and Saxo VTS', most recently a Clio 182 Cup.
I've got into motorbike trackdays and racing over the last few years and have done fewer and fewer car trackdays enjoying them less when I do them.
With 2 young girls I decided to get something with 4 door and more usable seats as the Clio never really got used due to lack of practicality.
Having previously been a Mercedes Diagnostic Technician, working for Mercedes for 17 years, combined with the comparative lack of value of old Mercedes they were the top candidate for my next car.
After spending a long time looking at 204 C class diesels and Cls diesels, my mind started to wander to more interesting metal, almost everything I searched for that was interesting was wildly out of my budget (having pretty much only the money I got for the Clio to spend), until I remembered the largely unloved and forgotten C32 AMG.
I think in my time at Mercedes (between 2000 and 2017) I'd only worked on 2 of these and seen a handful in the workshop.
A quick look around and they seemed to be somewhere near my budget.
First one I looked at seemed like a bargain but after a quick viewing it was clearly not the car for me.
Second one I found the bloke was very upfront and honest, sending me lots of pictures and videos of the car and was completely upfront, also it wasn't Silver which was a bonus (some of the silver ones also have brown centred seats which I always thought was odd?)
A deal was done and my brother kindly gave me a lift to collect it.
|https://thumbsnap.com/pBTg4xBd[/url]
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It is a complete automatic (no paddle shift or anything) which makes driving a relaxed proposition but that was exactly what I was after, motorway speeds seem to be where it really excels.
It has a couple of little faults which I'd like to sort out, the A/C doesn't work, but it came with a condensor in the boot, so I'll fit that when I find time, the headlining is sagging slightly so I'll find a used one somewhere (as new they're £790), also both the front seat base heating elements have failed, but the element is part of the leather (£537 each), so I've been coming up with some more cost effective solutions to this (universal element fitted into seat and wired into original wiring).
Keep you posted on any updates but currently very happy with it, think a trip to the ring next year might be in order
For many years I have had nothing but French hot hatches, mainly RenaultSport Clios and Saxo VTS', most recently a Clio 182 Cup.
I've got into motorbike trackdays and racing over the last few years and have done fewer and fewer car trackdays enjoying them less when I do them.
With 2 young girls I decided to get something with 4 door and more usable seats as the Clio never really got used due to lack of practicality.
Having previously been a Mercedes Diagnostic Technician, working for Mercedes for 17 years, combined with the comparative lack of value of old Mercedes they were the top candidate for my next car.
After spending a long time looking at 204 C class diesels and Cls diesels, my mind started to wander to more interesting metal, almost everything I searched for that was interesting was wildly out of my budget (having pretty much only the money I got for the Clio to spend), until I remembered the largely unloved and forgotten C32 AMG.
I think in my time at Mercedes (between 2000 and 2017) I'd only worked on 2 of these and seen a handful in the workshop.
A quick look around and they seemed to be somewhere near my budget.
First one I looked at seemed like a bargain but after a quick viewing it was clearly not the car for me.
Second one I found the bloke was very upfront and honest, sending me lots of pictures and videos of the car and was completely upfront, also it wasn't Silver which was a bonus (some of the silver ones also have brown centred seats which I always thought was odd?)
A deal was done and my brother kindly gave me a lift to collect it.
It is a complete automatic (no paddle shift or anything) which makes driving a relaxed proposition but that was exactly what I was after, motorway speeds seem to be where it really excels.
It has a couple of little faults which I'd like to sort out, the A/C doesn't work, but it came with a condensor in the boot, so I'll fit that when I find time, the headlining is sagging slightly so I'll find a used one somewhere (as new they're £790), also both the front seat base heating elements have failed, but the element is part of the leather (£537 each), so I've been coming up with some more cost effective solutions to this (universal element fitted into seat and wired into original wiring).
Keep you posted on any updates but currently very happy with it, think a trip to the ring next year might be in order
Edited by Moopig on Wednesday 3rd February 08:40
Interesting!
I’ve always been intrigued by the C32. It had a lot in common with the CLK55 when that was first released. The CLK55 was revised quite a bit over the course of its life and the final version was quite similar to the C55.
What’s it like for rust and do you have any plans to wind up the boost? My understanding was that you can get them to 400bhp-ish (note I may have made that figure up)...
I’ve always been intrigued by the C32. It had a lot in common with the CLK55 when that was first released. The CLK55 was revised quite a bit over the course of its life and the final version was quite similar to the C55.
What’s it like for rust and do you have any plans to wind up the boost? My understanding was that you can get them to 400bhp-ish (note I may have made that figure up)...
Thanks
Yeah the 209 CLK and 203 C class share most of their architecture, funnily enough if you check out the post facelift 203 C55, they actually use a 209 CLK front end with the grill being part of the bumper rather than part of bonnet, presumably to make room for the V8.
Corrosion wise its in really good condition, I believe the front end has been repainted to a very high standard in the past and one rear arch has had some paintwork done too, so maybe the corrosion was caught early and dealt with? Fingers crossed
Tuning wise, I have no plans for making it faster. Its quick enough (and bad enough on fuel) at the moment, so will just enjoy bowling round in it fixing the little gripes I have with it.
Yeah the 209 CLK and 203 C class share most of their architecture, funnily enough if you check out the post facelift 203 C55, they actually use a 209 CLK front end with the grill being part of the bumper rather than part of bonnet, presumably to make room for the V8.
Corrosion wise its in really good condition, I believe the front end has been repainted to a very high standard in the past and one rear arch has had some paintwork done too, so maybe the corrosion was caught early and dealt with? Fingers crossed
Tuning wise, I have no plans for making it faster. Its quick enough (and bad enough on fuel) at the moment, so will just enjoy bowling round in it fixing the little gripes I have with it.
Wow, cool! You don't see many of these around, and that's a great colour (much more interesting than the silver of my C55).
As you say the C32 seems like a noticeable bargain, especially IF it's one in good structural condition. Sounds like your MB expertise has found you a good one - the 'Rear subframe freshly undersealed' note on the MOT record also sounds like exactly what you want to see. (The previous owner of my car spent £3.5k on de-rusting and re-conditioning this area).
How are you finding the handling so far?
350hp, rear-drive, seats five - a real bargain at the prices these are going for, surely can't last?
Back again!
Only a small amount of progress at the moment. I’ve had loads of parts arrive recently to sort out little faults here and there that are bugging me, but unfortunately the main family car has been having a couple of issues and is now due an mot, so I don’t want to pull my car apart too much until the family car mot is passed in case the Amg gets drafted.
Some of the eagle eyed among you may have noticed that the star badge was missing from the engine cover.
This badge is not available separately so would cost £120 for a new engine cover.
Purchased some mesh as close to what should be there off eBay
|https://thumbsnap.com/BshaukZU[/url][url]
Then got some cheap wheel centres
|https://thumbsnap.com/gSRq2BuJ[/url][url]
Removed the star from the wheel centre
|https://thumbsnap.com/PULLAsDP[/url][url]
Cut the mesh to match the star
|https://thumbsnap.com/aYqrb2mJ[/url][url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/wReQsCTY[/url][url]
I then realised that the indent in the engine cover was not completely round!! Which was odd, so I opened the indent out to fit the new badge (not the best job I have to admit)
|https://thumbsnap.com/BFzP4GKg[/url][url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/yynnrikF[/url][url]
Then glued in my newly constructed star
|https://thumbsnap.com/kNjqnzP8[/url][url]
Quite happy with the results.
Next up was the park brake, it wasn’t releasing on occasions and it wasn’t making the ratchet sound when pressing the park brake pedal.
First thing was a new park brake detent to get the noise back
|https://thumbsnap.com/CDtjdXSy[/url][url]
Next up came the back seat (easier on this than normal as it has 60/40 split folder rear seat) to grease the linkage. I found the linkage was over adjusted as well as dry of grease. So I adjusted it off and freed it off with some lube
|https://thumbsnap.com/1ZXgTu9j[/url][url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/wCzN7GN5[/url]
With the linkage adjusted off the pedal now had waaaay too much travel, so it was rear wheels off to adjust the park brake on the rear drum.
|https://thumbsnap.com/EHWbBaHn[/url][url]
All the way on and 6 clicks off and we have a lovely park brake pedal
The headlight washers weren’t working so I thought while I had the jack and stands out I’d bang a new headlight washer pump in
|https://thumbsnap.com/MfNRXD6T[/url][url]
Fitted fairly easy. The headlight washers now work, N/S isn’t brilliant (probably needs a new jet which I’ll probably look at when I fit the a/c condenser), also I think being a cheap pump it must be missing a one way valve or something as it takes 2 presses to get the water volume up to get them to spray, but they sort of work for now
|https://thumbsnap.com/9m1wYasK[/url][url]
Finally there are a few interior issues I wanted to address, the blind in the centre console was missing and the cubby hole under the radio was in poor condition as I suspect it’s had an after market radio at some point in the past so they were replaced
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Thanks for looking
Only a small amount of progress at the moment. I’ve had loads of parts arrive recently to sort out little faults here and there that are bugging me, but unfortunately the main family car has been having a couple of issues and is now due an mot, so I don’t want to pull my car apart too much until the family car mot is passed in case the Amg gets drafted.
Some of the eagle eyed among you may have noticed that the star badge was missing from the engine cover.
This badge is not available separately so would cost £120 for a new engine cover.
Purchased some mesh as close to what should be there off eBay
Then got some cheap wheel centres
Removed the star from the wheel centre
Cut the mesh to match the star
I then realised that the indent in the engine cover was not completely round!! Which was odd, so I opened the indent out to fit the new badge (not the best job I have to admit)
Then glued in my newly constructed star
Quite happy with the results.
Next up was the park brake, it wasn’t releasing on occasions and it wasn’t making the ratchet sound when pressing the park brake pedal.
First thing was a new park brake detent to get the noise back
Next up came the back seat (easier on this than normal as it has 60/40 split folder rear seat) to grease the linkage. I found the linkage was over adjusted as well as dry of grease. So I adjusted it off and freed it off with some lube
With the linkage adjusted off the pedal now had waaaay too much travel, so it was rear wheels off to adjust the park brake on the rear drum.
All the way on and 6 clicks off and we have a lovely park brake pedal
The headlight washers weren’t working so I thought while I had the jack and stands out I’d bang a new headlight washer pump in
Fitted fairly easy. The headlight washers now work, N/S isn’t brilliant (probably needs a new jet which I’ll probably look at when I fit the a/c condenser), also I think being a cheap pump it must be missing a one way valve or something as it takes 2 presses to get the water volume up to get them to spray, but they sort of work for now
Finally there are a few interior issues I wanted to address, the blind in the centre console was missing and the cubby hole under the radio was in poor condition as I suspect it’s had an after market radio at some point in the past so they were replaced
Thanks for looking
Edited by Moopig on Wednesday 3rd February 08:50
I had a 2002 C32 Estate a few years ago.
Loved it, my other half loved it.
Sadly a house move resulted in us having to cut expenditure on things like fuel that we could reduce by getting a more economical car.



(Pics from when I sold it)
I bought it from Mercedes Direct and thankfully it came with a nice warranty. Not long after purchase the charge cooler failed putting coolant into the engine (albeit by small amounts), and also the charge cooler pump failed causing a lack of power with it failing to a degraded power mode.
These were thankfully caught and replaced early on in my ownership and never re-occurred. I think I owed it about 3 or 4 years.
Brilliant for Le Mans trips, brilliant for us with a toddler at the time, ticked all the boxes, but sadly something had to give, and it was my C32.
Loved it, my other half loved it.
Sadly a house move resulted in us having to cut expenditure on things like fuel that we could reduce by getting a more economical car.
(Pics from when I sold it)
I bought it from Mercedes Direct and thankfully it came with a nice warranty. Not long after purchase the charge cooler failed putting coolant into the engine (albeit by small amounts), and also the charge cooler pump failed causing a lack of power with it failing to a degraded power mode.
These were thankfully caught and replaced early on in my ownership and never re-occurred. I think I owed it about 3 or 4 years.
Brilliant for Le Mans trips, brilliant for us with a toddler at the time, ticked all the boxes, but sadly something had to give, and it was my C32.
Edited by blackscooby on Monday 18th January 13:19
Samoht:
The C32 does seem like a bit of a bargain at the moment, but they're not widely known, don't think they were desired when they were new and they certainly aren't the best built Mercedes so I'd be very surprised if they gain any money at all
Handling wise, I really haven't been pushing it at all as that's not what I bought it for, also the weather has been terrible pretty much the entire time I've owned it lol. My mates have been asking if I'll track it when we're able and I'd be tempted to do an evening to see what its capable of but I suspect I'll leave disappointed, with some costly consumables and an expensive fuel bill so probably won't bother
If your park brake is sticking on your 55 (lovely car by the way, would have loved to get one, don't see many of those either especially in estate form!!. I actually think I prefer your silver to my blue) I'd definitely pull the back seat up and give the linkage a grease, it seemed quite common that the seize up a little from my time working on them.
Balcscooby:
Thats just beautiful, LOVE estates! Would have loved one but they were either way too much money for my budget or a wreck and also a bit too much money lol.
I've replaced a few charge cooler circulation pumps for going into limp home mode so I'm aware of that fault. The charge cooler splitting doesn't sound ideal!
Good to hear you enjoyed the car.
Just noticed your headlights are the clear projector types and mine are the normal style which seems odd? My car does have factory fitted xenon headlights, I thought the projector headlights were only fitted to later cars, but from the reg plate yours is the same age? Were there different options of headlight spec do you know?
The C32 does seem like a bit of a bargain at the moment, but they're not widely known, don't think they were desired when they were new and they certainly aren't the best built Mercedes so I'd be very surprised if they gain any money at all
Handling wise, I really haven't been pushing it at all as that's not what I bought it for, also the weather has been terrible pretty much the entire time I've owned it lol. My mates have been asking if I'll track it when we're able and I'd be tempted to do an evening to see what its capable of but I suspect I'll leave disappointed, with some costly consumables and an expensive fuel bill so probably won't bother
If your park brake is sticking on your 55 (lovely car by the way, would have loved to get one, don't see many of those either especially in estate form!!. I actually think I prefer your silver to my blue) I'd definitely pull the back seat up and give the linkage a grease, it seemed quite common that the seize up a little from my time working on them.
Balcscooby:
Thats just beautiful, LOVE estates! Would have loved one but they were either way too much money for my budget or a wreck and also a bit too much money lol.
I've replaced a few charge cooler circulation pumps for going into limp home mode so I'm aware of that fault. The charge cooler splitting doesn't sound ideal!
Good to hear you enjoyed the car.
Just noticed your headlights are the clear projector types and mine are the normal style which seems odd? My car does have factory fitted xenon headlights, I thought the projector headlights were only fitted to later cars, but from the reg plate yours is the same age? Were there different options of headlight spec do you know?
Liking the look of the car OP. A friend of mine is in the process of selling a C32 so I must admit I do have a bit of a soft spot for them.
Much like you (minus the bikes) I was a pretty devout hot hatch type, having owned a number of RenaultSports over the years. About 5 years ago I ventured into the realms of Mercedes ownership as managed to find a very low mileage CLS63 which I still have.
It's a real left field choice the C32 but it seems that's where the bargains lie. Look foward to seeing more on this one.
Much like you (minus the bikes) I was a pretty devout hot hatch type, having owned a number of RenaultSports over the years. About 5 years ago I ventured into the realms of Mercedes ownership as managed to find a very low mileage CLS63 which I still have.
It's a real left field choice the C32 but it seems that's where the bargains lie. Look foward to seeing more on this one.

Back with a bit more progress today.
One of the things that bothered me about the car is that neither of the front heated seat bases worked. Unfortunately I know that the seat heaters are part of the leather on 203 C classes which seems like a poor design as it makes repairing them prohibitively expensive (parts alone would have cost over £1000). So I decided I'd have a go at them myself to see what I could do.
First thing to do was the remove the seat base (thought I'd start with the drivers side as it hasn't got the child seat recognition pad to get in the way)


This only took 8 minutes which was nice!
Next up just do some basic electrical tests to confirm the problem
Seat backrest heating element resistance

Seat base heating element resistance

So the element seems to be the problem
Next thing to do was remove the leather

There are 4x elements in each seat base, front, left, right and middle, so I checked the resistance of each one


The fault was traced to the middle heating element being open circuit.
Once I'd got the the connections for the middle element there was some signs of overheating

As I said, the heating elements aren't available separately from Mercedes so I bought a pair of eBay specials from... eBay
They aren't as higher wattage as the originals so the resistance of the element is a bit higher, but it was all I could find for now.
These element came out pretty much the perfect size

Hole carefully cut in the middle to let the standard wiring through without hitting the heating element

Element carefully soldered into wiring, insulated then hot glued into place to prevent it getting damaged or poking through anything


Seat base built back up and resistance checked to make sure I hadn't damaged anything

(once again the wattage of the new element is much lower than the Mercedes ones, thus the higher resistance that the backrest.
Was going to refit the base tonight but I went to cycle to work this morning only to find I had a puncture on my bicycle, so I hurriedly refitted the seat base and gave it a test this morning!
|https://thumbsnap.com/13Cgj97G[/url]
IT WORKED!!!
Now is just a case of doing the passenger seat, then see how long my eBay special heating elements last.
For now just call me 'toasty buns'
Thanks for looking
One of the things that bothered me about the car is that neither of the front heated seat bases worked. Unfortunately I know that the seat heaters are part of the leather on 203 C classes which seems like a poor design as it makes repairing them prohibitively expensive (parts alone would have cost over £1000). So I decided I'd have a go at them myself to see what I could do.
First thing to do was the remove the seat base (thought I'd start with the drivers side as it hasn't got the child seat recognition pad to get in the way)
This only took 8 minutes which was nice!
Next up just do some basic electrical tests to confirm the problem
Seat backrest heating element resistance
Seat base heating element resistance
So the element seems to be the problem
Next thing to do was remove the leather
There are 4x elements in each seat base, front, left, right and middle, so I checked the resistance of each one
The fault was traced to the middle heating element being open circuit.
Once I'd got the the connections for the middle element there was some signs of overheating
As I said, the heating elements aren't available separately from Mercedes so I bought a pair of eBay specials from... eBay
They aren't as higher wattage as the originals so the resistance of the element is a bit higher, but it was all I could find for now.
These element came out pretty much the perfect size
Hole carefully cut in the middle to let the standard wiring through without hitting the heating element
Element carefully soldered into wiring, insulated then hot glued into place to prevent it getting damaged or poking through anything
Seat base built back up and resistance checked to make sure I hadn't damaged anything
(once again the wattage of the new element is much lower than the Mercedes ones, thus the higher resistance that the backrest.
Was going to refit the base tonight but I went to cycle to work this morning only to find I had a puncture on my bicycle, so I hurriedly refitted the seat base and gave it a test this morning!
IT WORKED!!!
Now is just a case of doing the passenger seat, then see how long my eBay special heating elements last.
For now just call me 'toasty buns'
Thanks for looking
Interesting choice. When you say bad on fuel, how bad is it?
For reference my old 04 E55 would do 25 mpg on a constant 60 mph cruise (absolute best), 14 mpg around town, 10 mpg when on it and around 17 mpg around the houses.
I can't imagine tuning would affect the mpg much if done properly.
Enjoy!
For reference my old 04 E55 would do 25 mpg on a constant 60 mph cruise (absolute best), 14 mpg around town, 10 mpg when on it and around 17 mpg around the houses.
I can't imagine tuning would affect the mpg much if done properly.
Enjoy!
To be honest, it isn't THAT bad on fuel. I'm just not used to having a large engine, high power car, spending most my car history in French hot hatches
I reset my trip computer when I bought the car

So over the 1000ish miles I've done in it, I've averaged 25mpg

Drive to work today was about 19mpg, so not terrible.
Luckily, I usually cycle to work so I don't need to use the car very often.
As for tuning, I wouldn't say my car is my priority financially, so I don't want to spent too much unnecessarily on it, plus I really like things to be standard, but we'll see
I reset my trip computer when I bought the car
So over the 1000ish miles I've done in it, I've averaged 25mpg
Drive to work today was about 19mpg, so not terrible.
Luckily, I usually cycle to work so I don't need to use the car very often.
As for tuning, I wouldn't say my car is my priority financially, so I don't want to spent too much unnecessarily on it, plus I really like things to be standard, but we'll see
Can I check some basic understanding of the seat heater elements?
Are the base and back wired in series or parallel? I thought parallel, so you really needed the resistances to be broadly similar (and characteristics under heat similar too) in order to work.
Is that right? How does it work in practice? Do the back and base heat up anyway?
My car has both bases requiring replacement. I thought getting the cheaper mesh elements (which, by the way I think are a better design than the originals) would require replacing everything.
Are the base and back wired in series or parallel? I thought parallel, so you really needed the resistances to be broadly similar (and characteristics under heat similar too) in order to work.
Is that right? How does it work in practice? Do the back and base heat up anyway?
My car has both bases requiring replacement. I thought getting the cheaper mesh elements (which, by the way I think are a better design than the originals) would require replacing everything.
Yeah, I think I may have jumped the gun a bit here. I'm not 100% sure the seat base heaters are working
It does feel like they do heat up, but they are they are rather weak, especially compared to the backrest which is frustrating.
The backrests have always worked
The backrest and base are wired in parallel to one another, but the separate elements in the base and backrest are wired in series to one another if you know what I mean.
Am now currently trying to find something like a 70W (2 Ohm resistance) seat heating element but am having no luck finding such a thing
If anyone finds one at a reasonable price please let me know
It does feel like they do heat up, but they are they are rather weak, especially compared to the backrest which is frustrating.
The backrests have always worked
The backrest and base are wired in parallel to one another, but the separate elements in the base and backrest are wired in series to one another if you know what I mean.
Am now currently trying to find something like a 70W (2 Ohm resistance) seat heating element but am having no luck finding such a thing
If anyone finds one at a reasonable price please let me know
Moopig said:
Yeah, I think I may have jumped the gun a bit here. I'm not 100% sure the seat base heaters are working
It does feel like they do heat up, but they are they are rather weak, especially compared to the backrest which is frustrating.
The backrests have always worked
The backrest and base are wired in parallel to one another, but the separate elements in the base and backrest are wired in series to one another if you know what I mean.
Am now currently trying to find something like a 70W (2 Ohm resistance) seat heating element but am having no luck finding such a thing
If anyone finds one at a reasonable price please let me know
I think the sensible answer for most people is to do the base and back with the new element type in one go. The mesh ones are much less likely to fail. So you will probably need to remove and strip the whole seat. From memory the genuine base heater is very expensive and there is no point fitting used.It does feel like they do heat up, but they are they are rather weak, especially compared to the backrest which is frustrating.
The backrests have always worked
The backrest and base are wired in parallel to one another, but the separate elements in the base and backrest are wired in series to one another if you know what I mean.
Am now currently trying to find something like a 70W (2 Ohm resistance) seat heating element but am having no luck finding such a thing
If anyone finds one at a reasonable price please let me know
There are people that will come to your door and strip both seats and fit replacement elements everywhere. No idea on the cost.
To be fair, leaving with just the back working isn’t a bad idea. I disconnected my bases because one had a nasty short that was creating a heat point and the other just didn’t work.
Edited by Tommie38 on Wednesday 10th February 22:06
You can facelift the entire dash to the later (better quality switchgear), I have done it to a number of CLKs (essentiallythe same car):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbIYTTPLf5A&t=...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbIYTTPLf5A&t=...
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