BLUE-BLOODED AND EFFICIENT - Mercedes-Benz C200 BlueEffiency 2011 (S204)
Julkaistu
Mercs are pretty much always considered premium cars, and when you drop some AMG into the Mercedes-Benz gene pool, we're talking about noble beasts. This individual built by Joni Virkkala is at least a second cousin in this famed family, even if it wasn't born into the main AMG family tree.
Joni spent more than a month searching for a car that was supposed to be easy to find. The main criteria were that the car would have to be quite new, reliable, and representative. Mercedes-Benz was a pretty logical choice then, and finally one was found pretty close by. This C200 W204 didn't have flashy accessories, but it had all the necessary ones: Bluetooth, navigator, etc. It was also a facelift model and had a low mileage, so the deal was sealed with a kiss bank transfer.
Like always, the plan never was to drive this car in stock form. The project began with smaller things, like removing the rear wiper, upgrading the interior lights to led bulbs and tinting the tail lights. Soon, however, Joni found himself looking for genuine AMG parts, and now the bumpers and skirts are genuine AMG stuff. The stock exhaust would've looked pretty silly with its one outlet, as the new diffuser had a place for two exhaust outlets. Joni then cut the original exhaust at the middle of the car, and made a DIY twin exhaust, finishing the outlets with oval shaped AMG exhaust tips.
Air suspension was the only available option for Joni, se he ordered K-Sport bags and struts right after buying the car. He also ordered the tank, compressor, controller, hoses and other needful things from Lowtoys. He installed everything neatly in the trunk, while still maintaining a lot of the functionality of the trunk. The compressor controls the room, with valves surrounding it on both sides. The pipes left visible are bent from a chromed copper pipe. Some of the visible parts have been painted with BBS' Gold paint, to break the cold feeling of all that chrome. All the electrical parts and pressure sensors are neatly hidden under the tank.
Joni had some BBS AMG Aero 2 -wheels lying around in the garage. They were pretty modest and narrow, even though they were 18”s and two-pieces, and practically got lost in the arches. Joni had some crazy visions, however, and contacted his machinist cousin Roni about modifying these rims. The wheels were then modified to three-pieces, in a true do-it-yourself fashion, starting with grinding the lip off the center, and ordering a totally custom front lip from Germany. The amount of assembly bolts was doubled to maximise durability, but the golden 40 bolt configuration also looks pretty awesome. After some bead blasting and painting Joni now had a totally custom and unique set of wheels.
The genuine AMG front bumper was salvaged from a scrap yard. It wasn't a direct plug and play fit, and all the small connecting pieces had to be searched for far and wide. The front of the car was also spiced with a new Avantgarde front grille and some Depo xenon-look headlights, which was more than enough to give this car some character. The headlights needed some new wiring, of course, but look awesome and are now also retrofitted with DRLs. All the parts have been picked with quality in mind, in a true AMG fashion. This is why no replica parts were used when choosing body parts, even if it meant going through some extra labor finding the necessary items.
The interior seen in these pictures has since seen some upgrades in the form of new half-leather seats and leathery doorcards. All the interior lights are swapped to LEDs, which always gives a nice, fresh look. The center console has a mount for the air suspension controller, and the necessary gauges for the suspension can also be found sitting on the console. With all these mods the car really looks up to par with its AMG-blooded siblings, and also gathers attention on the road like a genuine AMG. Perhaps even more, since you rarely see a Merc this low and sleek around these areas.
SPECS:
CAR:
Mercedes-Benz C200 BlueEffiency 2011 (S204)
ENGINE:
Stock 2.1 turbodiesel
POWERTRAIN:
Stock
SUSPENSION:
Air suspension: K-Sport bags and struts, SMC 3/8 valves, five gallon RST tank, ViAir 444C compressor, 2x Racetech Digital Airpress gauges, AVS7 controller
WHEELS:
Custom made BBS AMG Aero 2 9.1x18” and 9.6x18”
TIRES:
Nankang NS-2 205/35-18 and 215/35-18
EXTERIOR:
AMG Styling front bumper, AMG Styling rear bumper, AMG styling side skirts, Sport diffusor and twin exhausts, Depo xenon-look front lights, tinted tail lights, removed rear window wiper, DRL lights, AvantGarde front grille, tinted windows
INTERIOR:
AMG half leather seats, leather door cards with extended interior lighting package, brushed aluminium interior panels, air suspension gauges mounted in the center console, full dampening with STP Gold dampeners, air suspension components can be seen in the trunk
AUDIO:
Mercedes Command DVD APS (Navigator & Bluetooth)
NUMBERS:
136hp and 330Nm
PREVIOUS PROJECTS:
One Merc previously
THANK YOU:
Girlfriend Hilla, family, the guys at JVS Crew, Roni (metal work), and others involved in the project
