Hi everyone, thought we would introduce our new demo car...the Focus' replacement!

Having had a VW Scirocco, Escort RS Turbo, Focus RS, Toyota Previa (still got), Vauxhall Corsa C (still got), it was time to buy something a bit more pimp and something I wouldnt mind adding miles to without worrying about depreciation...but the main thing was, it had to be more of a cruiser/pimpmobile lol!

The main criteria for this car was;

We can get 4 people in without any issue
It is a fairly rare car in comparison to most big prestigious cars - i.e. not a BMW 3 or 5 series that everyone already has or have seen heavily modified already
Had to have a big boot
Had to have that 'pimp' status
Had to be nippy for a big car
Had to have plenty of scope for some BIG plans I have in my mind!
Had to be a decent colour with decent interior

After looking at endless cars including BMW 1-3-5 series which were ruled out straight away due to them being so popular and often looked at as 'mum and dads car' especially where I live! I started looking at Mercs and instantly took a liking to them...looked at the new A class, C class, S class, CLS, etc etc the A class looks SMART on the advert, but I specc'd one up and it was totalling to over 30k with the spec I wanted! The C class took my liking instantly, but again, they are far too popular....The S class was a good contender, but the CLS seemed to have ticked all the boxes for what we wanted and had that extra 'rare' appeal as most people opt for the S class...

Dont get me wrong, its not a rare car like my Focus RS was etc, but in my local area, there are probably only a handful of these cars and I like to try to be different if I can....besides, everyone I know who has a CLS is old lol!

Finally after looking at a few CLS', I found one I really liked, 320cdi, 78k on the clock, FSH, Black, Black leather interior, Airmatic suspension, really clean inside and out, Sat Nav, Bluetooth, DVD player, and didnt have the light walnut brown dash (instead it was dark brown lol)...a deal was struck and it was snapped up!!

Some pics of the car from the advert...









We have some nice plans for the car...including...

20inch wheels
Full Rayvern Hydraulics installation with twin (or single, not decided yet) pumps
iPad mini installation
Mosconi 6to8 processor with bluetooth streaming from iPad mini or any phone
2 Ascendant Audio Havoc 18" subs custom built for infinite baffle applications
Mosconi amplifiers
8 pot (yes we had to go bigger than the Focus which was on 6 pot lol!!) AMG calipers on the front and 4pot AMG calipers on the rear
360mm disc conversion (next discs may possibly be 390-400mm) on the front and 330mm on the rear
An after market body kit or bumpers
etc etc

Welcome to the build thread!!!

teamSPB

 

Love it, look forward to watching the build Have you sold the focus now then? I might fire you a PM tomorrow if that's ok, need a bit of advice on what kit to buy!

 

For those who have not seen our other projects/cars...

































Just to name a few lol

 

love your projects, Spesh the focus and previa. cant wait to see big pimping lol

 

Nice, what are the Merc wheels on the Previa?

 

What the heck is tha whole pimp thing about

Looks nice that though, another impressive build to watch

Have you tried HTS in southall () for an airbag set up?

 

What sort of money do the amg calipers go for mate

 

Carlsson reps mate...Im thinking of changing them for this year as a friend of mine has a set of rims that are tickling my fancy

 

I know the HTS guys, but I do air ride myself its whats on my Previa and been doing it for YEARS!

The only people I would trust with air ride/hydraulics is Rayvern...their engineering skills are out of this world amazing!

The pimp thing....just the word that comes to mind when thinking of cars like this LOL!

 

You can pick them up from Ł500 (6pots) for the fronts, and around Ł200-300 for the rear 4pots...

I will be using 8pots with 4 pads per caliper this time round whereas my Focus was 6pot fronts

 

First off was to give the car a clean...the car was in good condition when I bought it....but as usual, the more you look at things, the more you pick up!









Eagle eyed of you will notice the single fin grill This was purchased off ebay VERY cheap!


First up...Magifoam snowfoam




You can see the dirt coming off on the floor






Allowed to dwell for around 10mins and then jet washed off










The wheels were covered in Wolf's chemicals de-ironizer...this is used to remove all tar and iron off the wheels and body...you can see where its working where its turning purple






Then rinsed off with the jet wash




The car was then clayed using a Megs clay bar - this was as dirty as it got


But the I did the underside of the sills


All done






This was all we done to it...I didnt detail it as it was freezing! I also am waiting for my rotary to turn up so I can give it a proper detail!

teamSPB

 

Looking good bruv. How much would you megs polish my car?

 

Cheers Kam, thats not even polished yet lol!!

But heres my wifes car






It all depends on how bad the paint is on the car etc...

 

Very nice car, and love the project cars, where are you based?

 

That's awesome! My car, well lets just say there's more spider webs etc than a spiders living room

 

Cool project.Cant wait to see how it turns out.

 

That's awesome! My car, well lets just say there's more spider webs etc than a spiders living room

 

Next up was to spray the grill black...I wasnt overly keen on the silver grill so I bought some plastidip

This is a great spray which allows you to paint over any surface (no keying etc needed), and if you change your mind and want to remove it or change colour etc, it simply peels off like it was never there!

I painted the whole grill black but im not sure if I will peel back the logo itself just to add some colour to the front...I will decide on that later

 

Usually hate this sort of thing, but I love that bus

 

that's cheating that is, you've just taken pics of an empty garage

 

Shortly after this, I decided to change some parts on the engine...not for power or anything, just the troublesome seals that go onto the intake pipe for the turbo. There are 2 orange seals on this that are prone to leak over time, I knew about these well before buying the car and always used to check their condition when I used to look at CLS's. As a precautionary measure, I decided to change the seals...which was a bit of a blessing in disguise I guess!

I dont the seal change, but noticed the plastic intake pipe had a crack in it...someone previously had over tightened this jubilee clip and cracked it! I thought to myself if it tights and doesnt get any worse then happy days as the car didnt have any issues before. So I went to tighten it, and CRACK! The plastic pipe cracked all the way through and in such a way, that you could see the turbine when looking at the pipe! NOT GOOD!

I tried to repair it by plastic welding it and glueing it for extra strength, but as my luck would have it...it crack again!

On the phone to Mercedes...Found out that part isnt available on its own and comes with 2 brand new MAF sensors at the lovely sum of Ł292+VAT!!! Oh the joys of owning a Merc!! Luckily I bought it at trade but still cost big money! But the car now runs new MAF's and intake pipe!











Next up, came some interior mods! Well not mods so to speak...but interior tidy up!

 

Absolutely hated the original interior bulbs! The yellow light is horrid IMO!


New Interior bulbs ready to go




Missions getting the interior lights down


Fitted!









At this point, the floor lights and under door lights still havent been changed hence the yellow light under the dash

I was bored one night so I ordered this...


I wasnt overly keen on the centre console on the car for some reason...it had worn down a little and I really didnt like the matt brown finish on the panels! Perfect excuse to replace with a fresh one! Luckily I found one out of a 2009/2010 CLS which fit the bill perfectly! Unfortunately it had even worse brown coloured finishing lol!

Stripped down the new rear console




I then sprayed all the panels black






For those interested...this was the original colour of the trim panels in the car (look past the LEDs lol)

 

Nice progress! So when are you importing yourself a set of these wheels then mate?

 

I love the rims on the Merc

 

20 inch rotiforms would look mad on this , love the look of these cars

 

Adv wheels are lovely,

I wanted a set for the e60 but way out of budget!

Nice ride dude, look forward to many updates

 

Im glad I was sitting down when I got my quote for the ADV wheels - Ł5800!!!

What im getting is well different to the ADV's...single piece but in 9.5 and 10.5 x 20's They are being shipped over as we speak along with my 8pot AMG's and 4pot AMG rears!

 

and you thought rs tax was expensive

 

Where are you sourcing the AMG calipers? Car looks great

 

Looks smart that Richie.

 

Is proper love one if those motors!

Nice work.

 

you certainly don't muck about with brakes,

i look forward to seeing them on!

 

Kept up with your progress thread on CCUK, then happened to see your name on the new posts list and knew it'd be worth a look.

Loving what you've already done to it, can't wait to see this project ongoing

 

I got mine from the states...they are 8pot AMG's for the front, and 4pot AMG's for the rears...for now, the discs will be 360mm x 34mm on the front, and 330mm x 28 or 30mm on the rear...Later, if things go well, I may swap out to 390mm discs on the front depending how the 360's look on the front behind the 20s

Are you after a set for your Focus? I can help you if you want...VERY cheap conversion for AWESOME stopping power!!

 

Next up was a centre console swap...there wasnt anything fundamentally wrong with the original one in the car, it just had too much 'sheen' on it and was a bit dirty...yes I could have cleaned it and been job done, but I dont do things by halves!...A new console was on the cards to be put in alongside my freshly painted black panels - slide covers, dash panels, gear surround etc etc



You can already see the dirt










Old vs New...you can see the difference














Cup holder installed




See a Porsche GT3 lurking in the background which was in for some work

 

Top work as usual mate, price of those ADV's

 

Stripping the dash down to paint trim panels piano black

 

Brilliant work mate

 

I'd like a set of the Amg 6 pots for my golf mate if you can sort me a price

 

I will post pictures of the dash complete soon...

But moving on, it was time to address the front end some more...I wasnt keen on the silver headlights...they had to change!