[0:00] Welcome to Hooie's Garage. And if you
[0:01] were wondering if you could still get a
[0:02] cool car for around $500, well, The
[0:04] Dumbest Automotive Channel has you
[0:05] covered because I scored these for
[0:07] around 500 bucks. 2008 Mercedes CLS550
[0:11] for only $550. And this 2006 Land Rover
[0:16] LR3 for only $600. Both of them run and
[0:20] drive in their current condition, but
[0:22] they need a lot of lot of work. So, yes,
[0:24] you can buy them, but is it worth it to
[0:26] own them and fix them? Well, the answer
[0:28] is no. but definitely no on one of them
[0:31] and probably not on the other. But we're
[0:33] going to try. I know many of you would
[0:34] say it wouldn't take long to figure out
[0:36] if a Land Rover is totally screwed. You
[0:37] just read Land Rover on the front, know
[0:39] it's mechanically totaled. But in the
[0:40] case of this one, you know, you're
[0:42] absolutely right. Because when you start
[0:43] this thing up, as much as I like these
[0:45] things, especially the LR3, it's sort of
[0:48] discovery 3, if you will, the trucky
[0:50] version. There is a frame on body
[0:52] construction. Listen to this startup
[0:54] noise when it's cold.
[1:05] There we go.
[1:08] So, we have a pretty nasty timing chain
[1:11] rattle on startup and then every single
[1:14] light on imaginable when you start
[1:16] driving it. For now, it's just brake,
[1:17] but you have suspension warning lights
[1:19] because it's been converted. 205,000 mi
[1:22] on the odometer, which is actually
[1:23] pretty good for one of these things. But
[1:25] then when you look at it overall, I
[1:27] mean, condition-wise, it is it is
[1:30] incredibly rough. The dash is cracked.
[1:32] These seats are ruined. They have cheap
[1:34] covers on them. And you go in the back
[1:36] seat, it's it's not any better. This
[1:38] thing is definitely a mess, but it
[1:42] could. I mean, it could be safe. Yes,
[1:44] you could do the timing chains, I guess,
[1:45] and replace those. It is a pretty
[1:47] involved job and it is sort of an old
[1:50] school V8 to where I suppose you could,
[1:52] but considering what it's worth when
[1:54] you're done, it makes it makes no sense
[1:57] to do it. That is a 4.4 L V8 that is
[2:00] trying to stall on us right now, but
[2:02] seems to be doing okay. And it's
[2:04] definitely dripping quite a bit in the
[2:07] front and in the back. And I'm wondering
[2:09] the second big issue with this thing is
[2:11] the transmission. It is slipping very
[2:13] badly on this thing. So, it's sort of a
[2:15] one-two punch. Yeah, you could drive
[2:17] with the timing chains loose until it
[2:18] lets go. Maybe it'd last a while. You
[2:20] can do it, but also the transmission
[2:21] needs to be maybe replaced where it
[2:24] could be just low on fluid. We'll find
[2:25] that out here in a little bit. But the
[2:27] body overall is holding up pretty well.
[2:28] The paint pretty nice on the lower
[2:30] parts. On the upper spot, it has sort of
[2:31] a a paint chip, a Gorbachoff spot on its
[2:34] head, if you will. And you go around and
[2:37] yeah, not bad. The suspension's been
[2:39] converted, so the air ride is no longer
[2:41] troublesome. And for 600 bucks, I can't
[2:43] complain at all. Well, Euro Asian Bob
[2:44] wants this thing for parts if I'm not
[2:46] going to fix it, which is most likely
[2:48] where this thing will end up, but maybe
[2:51] not. And like the Discoveries, it does
[2:52] have the triple roof. So, one, two,
[2:55] three pieces of glass there in the
[2:57] ceiling. And I guess if I were buying a
[2:59] Land Rover, you're putting a gun to my
[3:00] head and say you have to buy a 20-y old
[3:01] Land Rover, this would probably be the
[3:03] one that I get just because this is the
[3:05] simplest version and still full size.
[3:07] And there are some pluses to this thing.
[3:09] It still has cold air, so the air
[3:11] conditioning works, the radio works.
[3:13] It's not a complete disaster, but
[3:14] obviously if this transmission doesn't
[3:16] want to come back to life, then it is
[3:18] done. So, cross your fingers for it
[3:20] here.
[3:22] All right.
[3:26] This is a German Seal for Life
[3:28] transmission, isn't it?
[3:31] Yeah. There
[3:35] there's no dipstick. There's no way to
[3:38] fill without dropping the pan.
[3:42] And uh we're not going to do that today.
[3:44] All right. Life can be a lot to handle
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[3:52] matter where you are or what you're
[3:54] going through. Not long ago, I was
[3:56] definitely burned out. The stuff I
[3:57] usually enjoyed didn't seem fun at all.
[3:59] Even my hooptie fleet instead just felt
[4:01] like a never- ending hole of financial
[4:03] obligations that I could never dig
[4:05] myself out of. That attitude and my
[4:06] outlook at that time made what used to
[4:08] be a manageable amount of work seem
[4:10] impossible to accomplish. and my
[4:11] productivity, it went way down. Therapy
[4:13] helped me recognize what I was feeling
[4:15] was textbook burnout. I needed to figure
[4:16] out a way to regularly step back from
[4:18] work, stop constantly thinking about the
[4:19] hundreds of things that I needed to do,
[4:21] and set boundaries during downtime and
[4:23] with family. The biggest deal we made to
[4:25] myself was to put the phone down. Just
[4:27] just forget it exists.
[4:30] Basically, like that, it's a black hole
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[4:50] here with you. So, I guess we are in the
[4:54] final breaths of this thing. Come on,
[4:56] move forward. There it goes.
[4:59] Old slippy slippy. Uh, that's the thing.
[5:03] I didn't realize obviously until I
[5:04] looked, but it makes sense because they
[5:05] unveiled this sealed for life
[5:07] transmission concept where there's no
[5:09] dipstick. There's no topping it off.
[5:10] Supposedly for the life of the car, the
[5:12] transmission fluid is supposed to last,
[5:13] which is stupid cuz of course it's not
[5:15] supposed to last. What the car is
[5:16] supposed to be dead at 100,000 mi. So
[5:18] obviously 205, I can't imagine the
[5:20] transmission fluid's never been changed
[5:22] on this thing. Uh but since it requires
[5:25] dropping the pan and doing a whole lot
[5:27] of work to to do it, obviously that's
[5:29] not going to happen today. But okay,
[5:31] it's trying. There's a big slip.
[5:35] There's a big slip. We have suspension
[5:37] fault.
[5:39] We're getting some speed now.
[5:42] There we go. So, I guess for $600,
[5:47] you could get from A to B. For how long?
[5:50] I don't know. Probably not very long.
[5:52] Between the transmission and the timing
[5:54] chain noise, which now I'm starting to
[5:55] hear at all times, we are probably in
[5:58] the last moment of this LR3's life. If
[6:00] it makes it down to Euro Asian Bobs,
[6:02] which is about 15 miles away, I'll be
[6:05] I'll be very happy. Oh, Slippy, I bought
[6:08] this just, you know, as a drive-thru. It
[6:11] barely made it through the lane of the
[6:12] Hooptie auction, and I thought, you
[6:13] know, for $600, why not? Let's see how
[6:16] much life is left. Whoa. Full full rev.
[6:20] Oh crap. Come on. Come on. Grab a gear.
[6:23] Grab a gear.
[6:24] There we go. Clearly not much left. Not
[6:29] not much. Whoever got this thing uh to
[6:32] the dealer to trade this thing in to
[6:33] where it end up at the hoopy auction,
[6:34] they they got all life out of it. But
[6:36] 205,000 mi, I mean, that's that's pretty
[6:38] respectable for one of these. So, I
[6:41] mean, you can't really knock the car all
[6:42] that much, but dang it. So, one for two,
[6:47] definitely not savable for around $500.
[6:50] The other one though, I'm going to let
[6:51] you in on a secret. I got the thing
[6:53] months ago. I got it back in February
[6:56] and it has been a process to even get
[6:59] this thing somewhat working again and
[7:01] it's basically the never- ending journey
[7:04] unfortunately. So actually let's go back
[7:06] to February when I first got the CLS
[7:10] like 5 months ago. So obviously not
[7:13] worth on that one either. But this is a
[7:15] legend right here. A Mercedes CLS 550.
[7:19] The car that started the trend of
[7:21] four-door coups. the sort of banana
[7:23] shape that sort of dominated design
[7:25] language of cars for a lot of years,
[7:27] especially European automakers. But this
[7:30] was the birth of it. It's also way past
[7:33] its birth date. It is on its last legs.
[7:35] And I thought I was going to do an
[7:36] autopsy video on a car that was near
[7:38] death to take it to the junkyard, its
[7:40] last drive, because this CLS is in
[7:42] really, really bad shape. Unfortunately
[7:45] for me though, after I bought this thing
[7:46] at the Hoopty auction, I drove it back
[7:48] to my shop and the car wants to live.
[7:51] There's just enough life left in this
[7:52] car where I feel like it can be revived
[7:54] for a reasonable amount of money, but
[7:57] it's definitely not going to be easy.
[7:59] I'll never forget seeing one of these
[8:00] for the first time. I thought it was so
[8:02] stunningly gorgeous. And it was so
[8:04] funny. It was at the Witchaw Auto Show
[8:06] and they actually put it behind velvet
[8:07] rope like it was something very fancy
[8:09] that they didn't want people getting uh
[8:11] too close to, you know, over 20 years
[8:13] ago. As you can see, it is a total
[8:15] disaster. Not only is this thing just
[8:17] totally beat, but it has a lot of weird
[8:20] stuff going on with it, including three
[8:22] different sets of wheels. So, an
[8:25] aftermarket one here that just scraped
[8:27] to hell. Audi wheels on the rear. Please
[8:30] explain that to me why someone would put
[8:31] Audi wheels on this thing. The
[8:33] suspension, of course, collapsed to the
[8:35] ground and that's why I imagine the
[8:36] bumper is missing because it kept
[8:38] hitting the bumper and eventually
[8:40] knocked it off. Probably got ripped off
[8:41] driving down the road for a prolonged
[8:43] period with no rear air ride. And then
[8:45] an Audi wheel on this side. And then the
[8:48] most destroyed AMG wheel from the wrong
[8:50] generation right here. I mean, just
[8:52] gouged to incredible destruction. And
[8:56] then on the inside, well, it gets worse.
[9:00] Yeah, this is this is trashed.
[9:05] Why am I thinking I need to fix this?
[9:06] Anyway, the pillarless coupe thing is
[9:09] definitely a trend that went a little
[9:10] too far, I feel like, where it's kind of
[9:12] stupid, especially in SUVs where you get
[9:14] rid of all the practicality of rear
[9:15] cargo room for a coupy swoopy style
[9:18] rear. But with a car in the CLS, I think
[9:21] they did a really good job. But the big
[9:23] drawback is definitely head room. So,
[9:25] when you get in the back of this thing,
[9:26] and there's my engine cover,
[9:29] this is
[9:31] this is really, really tight. This is a
[9:35] four-door sedan and a human does not fit
[9:39] in the back of this thing. So, it is
[9:40] kind of stupid being a design exercise,
[9:43] but
[9:44] it does look pretty cool when it has a
[9:47] bumper on it. Of course, now you're
[9:48] probably thinking that I am a total
[9:50] idiot for thinking this car could come
[9:51] back. But when I did pick it up from the
[9:53] hoopy auction, despite the suspension
[9:55] being totally on the ground, it drove
[9:58] really, really nice actually. Like
[10:00] surprisingly nice. especially here in in
[10:02] the front half of things, the engine and
[10:04] that kind of stuff. And that's why I
[10:06] thought, well, okay, maybe this is a
[10:09] hooptie rescue mission instead of an
[10:10] autopsy.
[10:13] So, when you start this Hoopty up,
[10:15] you're not greeted with a bunch of
[10:17] warning messages, believe it or not. So,
[10:19] no airbag light, no check engine light,
[10:21] tire pressure warning, of course, a few
[10:24] parking lamps and lights and things. But
[10:25] then one red light comes on and that is
[10:30] stop vehicle too low.
[10:32] And you can hear it rubbing there in the
[10:34] back. So, the rear suspension completely
[10:37] shot. This whole car is riding on four
[10:39] airbags and uh clearly the back is not
[10:43] working.
[10:46] But what is working is the engine. This
[10:50] thing pulls strong. It drives great.
[10:53] Obviously, very bouncy, but the
[10:55] drivetrain feels wonderful. And that's
[10:59] why I saw the potential in this thing.
[11:01] So, I got this car cheap. And my goal is
[11:03] to be under $2,000 all into a
[11:05] presentable, nice CLS. And I've already
[11:08] spent well a lot of that money
[11:10] unfortunately because the bumper I
[11:13] couldn't find in silver, but I found one
[11:15] cheap for $300, but I'll have to have
[11:17] that painted. And then I had to find a
[11:19] set of wheels. That was another $400. So
[11:21] now we're at $700 there with the
[11:24] painting, with the cleanup, with the
[11:26] labor, with the seats, which speaking
[11:28] of, I turned on the heated seats. Ouch.
[11:31] And it's it's direct metal heating
[11:33] elements cooking my butt. So, I got to
[11:37] fix that as well. Um, this is going to
[11:39] be a pretty tall order for all in under
[11:41] two grand, but it is possible because
[11:44] I'm not taking it to the Mercedes
[11:46] dealer. I guess the ABS lights on, too.
[11:47] I have no traction control, but jeez,
[11:50] this car is fast. If I were doing that,
[11:52] I would be uh spending $3,000 just on
[11:55] the suspension. The airbags, they charge
[11:57] $1,000 each. But there are aftermarket
[11:59] companies out there where I got the
[12:00] airbags for 200 bucks. Very easy to
[12:03] replace and keep going. I did get a
[12:05] wheel speed sensor and that was like 40
[12:07] bucks. So, there are some really cheap
[12:09] parts on these things aftermarket to
[12:11] keep them going. And that's the nice
[12:12] part about this era of Mercedes is
[12:14] there's a lot of DIY how-to videos to
[12:16] get things done on this era and it's not
[12:19] too complicated electronically uh to
[12:21] make everything work. It's just in the
[12:23] right spot where yeah, it's not the most
[12:25] reliable, but it's definitely fixable.
[12:27] This is still a serviceable vehicle. And
[12:30] I do plan on helping out a little bit,
[12:32] but I brought in a Mercedes expert here
[12:34] inhouse in the garage to help me fix
[12:36] this thing up and to assist me in this
[12:38] really stupid task of trying to save the
[12:40] CLS. Magic Mike,
[12:42] >> if you're calling me to fix your
[12:44] Mercedes, this really is the dumbest
[12:45] automotive channel in YouTube.
[12:47] >> Oh no, you've been working on Mercedes
[12:49] forever. Forever. I mean, you quit
[12:51] Wizards what, about three years ago now?
[12:53] >> About three years ago. Yeah, I left
[12:54] Wizard.
[12:54] >> He just couldn't work a normal 9 toive
[12:56] for somebody because it cramped his
[12:57] dating life so much. He's just so busy
[12:59] with that that he had to go out on his
[13:00] own.
[13:01] >> Such a socialite. That's exactly what
[13:02] people know me for.
[13:03] >> So, first step is to fix my lovely SLR
[13:08] uh Roadster. Yes.
[13:10] >> I saw it before you took it on your car
[13:12] Trek episode and I didn't see the
[13:14] episode, but I saw it before and after.
[13:16] >> Yeah.
[13:16] >> What did you do?
[13:18] >> Well, we made it into the 722 Sterling
[13:20] Moss winning $100 million car.
[13:22] >> Ah, that's what it was.
[13:24] >> Yes. Oh, I should have been able to tell
[13:25] by the uh by the vents on the side. That
[13:28] should have been the dead giveaway,
[13:29] >> right? But it did start life of a $700
[13:31] SLK. And my sidepipe exhaust, I'm
[13:34] noticing, is a little Oh, no.
[13:38] >> Yeah, I'm guessing you guys were driving
[13:39] pretty hard. A little bit of spirited
[13:41] driving.
[13:41] >> It was Yeah, a little bit of fire. Yeah,
[13:43] this
[13:44] >> Oh, yeah.
[13:44] >> It's It's a touch restrictive now, this
[13:47] exhaust but
[13:48] >> yeah,
[13:49] >> you know,
[13:50] >> it's definitely been through the ringer.
[13:51] So, it started just dumping transmission
[13:54] fluid and it was up on the lift and it
[13:55] just dumped it on the car beneath it.
[13:57] >> Yeah,
[13:58] >> Freddy went in here and did the
[13:59] conductor plate for me. And surely he
[14:02] took his time and, you know, did a good
[14:04] job. And
[14:05] >> I'm, you know, I've seen Tvar do some
[14:07] incredible work, but, you know, he
[14:09] everybody misses a couple of O-rings
[14:10] every once in a while. There's supposed
[14:11] to be a second O-ring here. There's
[14:13] actually supposed to be an O-ring around
[14:16] this right there. I'm not blaming him
[14:18] for it. They could have been missing
[14:19] before he touched it, but yeah. So,
[14:22] that's it. We'll just get you a couple
[14:23] of seals and a new connector and you
[14:25] should be good to go.
[14:26] >> Oh, so that'll be really easy. And then
[14:28] it can go up and be in it shrine for
[14:31] what it is. I mean, this windshieldless
[14:33] ridiculous thing.
[14:34] >> Are you putting it up on the top rack on
[14:36] your racks over there? Does that where
[14:37] it belongs?
[14:38] >> Probably. Yes. Yes. The hoopty rack.
[14:41] Well, the CLS is going to be I mean, we
[14:43] looked at it before. I did get a little
[14:45] sneak peek before the video
[14:47] >> and you do agree with me.
[14:48] >> I think the CLS is worth saving.
[14:52] >> Did the suspension collapse and then the
[14:54] bumper got ripped off?
[14:55] >> I think so. I think that's what happened
[14:57] is it just being bottomed out. The
[14:58] bumper got ripped off. So, I have since
[15:00] got some parts in. So, over there should
[15:02] be the air suspension, some other bits.
[15:04] >> Okay.
[15:04] >> I got a different set of wheels since it
[15:06] has like three different set of wheels
[15:07] and Audi wheels and everything else. And
[15:09] I did get a bumper so it can look like a
[15:13] car again.
[15:13] >> Okay. Yeah, I did see the Audi center
[15:15] caps on there. I wasn't sure if that was
[15:16] blasphemy or if it was like illegal for
[15:18] me to touch the car.
[15:18] >> They're literally Audi wheels. Some
[15:20] someone just decided. Anyway, it it's
[15:23] it's a mess.
[15:24] >> Yeah, we'll go through it. We'll get it
[15:25] sorted out.
[15:26] >> Oh, magic Mike. What am I doing?
[15:28] >> I don't know.
[15:29] >> You obviously you wanted the work, so
[15:31] you were going to say, "Yeah, let's fix
[15:32] it." But
[15:33] >> well, yeah, why not? It's excuse to come
[15:36] over and hang out with you.
[15:38] >> Magic Mike pointed this out. It looks
[15:40] like one side has tried to pop up.
[15:43] It's trying.
[15:44] >> Yeah,
[15:45] >> that's a good sign. At least we know
[15:46] your vacuum pump's working. She's
[15:48] leaking.
[15:49] >> It's hissing. That's because of your
[15:51] jack right?
[15:52] >> Yeah. Well, the bags are toast,
[15:55] >> right?
[15:56] >> But because we adjusted it, it shifted
[15:58] the position and it started leaking
[16:00] again.
[16:00] >> Yeah. Relieving pressure or whatever.
[16:02] Yeah.
[16:02] >> Relieving itself. Oh, yeah.
[16:04] >> Does it look the same?
[16:06] >> Yeah, I think we're looking the same.
[16:09] The only thing that's a little weird,
[16:11] and it may just be because of our
[16:13] suspension link, but that tire rubs on
[16:16] the body.
[16:18] What? See how far forward it sits?
[16:24] It may just be an alignment adjustment,
[16:26] but you can see how much more room we
[16:28] have here,
[16:30] >> I guess. So, it's also the wrong size
[16:32] wheels.
[16:33] >> Oh, yeah. That could be it, too. with
[16:35] the Audi stuff.
[16:36] >> I always forget you've got four
[16:37] different wheels on here.
[16:39] >> Exactly. You would never imagine
[16:40] somebody would do that. But so these are
[16:42] the airbags and they have a little dust
[16:44] cover that's exploded. But then inside
[16:46] that one is thoroughly just
[16:49] >> imploded inside. That should be a nice
[16:51] little balloon.
[16:52] >> Yeah. And it's probably the same story.
[16:54] Oh no. This one decided to air up today.
[16:56] >> So that one came back. But
[16:58] >> this one came back to life.
[16:59] >> Not a bad idea to do them as a pair,
[17:01] right?
[17:01] >> Yeah. Yeah, I definitely recommend doing
[17:03] them as a pair, especially seeing how
[17:04] low it collapses. I'd recommend doing
[17:07] them both.
[17:08] >> And then overall everything else,
[17:10] >> looking up front, yeah,
[17:12] >> I mean, a little bit of an oil leak, but
[17:15] nothing major.
[17:16] >> Nothing crazy.
[17:18] >> Nothing major.
[17:18] >> So, that's when we decided, okay, well,
[17:22] let's see if we can bring this back. But
[17:24] that oil leak's gotten a little bigger
[17:26] since the last time it was
[17:27] >> just a little bit. We can pop those
[17:28] covers off and double check.
[17:30] >> Maybe we take a peek of what's going on.
[17:31] But yeah, the front airbags, they look
[17:33] pretty nice. Like maybe they've been
[17:35] replaced at one point.
[17:36] >> Yeah, I was trying to see if those were
[17:37] our nose. No, these are the Conte.
[17:40] So, they have been replaced.
[17:41] >> They have been replaced.
[17:42] >> So, what's the first order of business
[17:44] then?
[17:44] >> I think we knock all four wheels off to
[17:46] get started.
[17:46] >> Okay.
[17:47] >> Uh then we can look at doing So, we've
[17:48] got a wheel speed sensor. Uh because
[17:50] this wheel is rubbing, we need to
[17:52] replace that wheel speed sensor.
[17:54] >> Yeah.
[17:54] >> So, we'll do that first. Once we've got
[17:56] that done, then we'll go and start
[17:57] knocking off our airbags.
[17:59] >> Sweet. get those replaced and we'll go
[18:01] from there.
[18:01] >> Okay. Gord some AMG wheels for 400
[18:04] bucks. Isn't Ain't this nice here?
[18:07] >> Oh man,
[18:09] I bet that holds air like a champ.
[18:11] >> That is a weld. Oh man. But it's the
[18:15] right wheels. That's the thing.
[18:17] >> They're a little stuck together here.
[18:19] >> These are the correct CLS AMG wheels.
[18:22] >> Oh yeah. with a bit I mean a bit of
[18:24] >> they've definitely seen uh seen their
[18:27] share of use but
[18:28] >> but instead of four different wheels we
[18:30] have only four different brands of tires
[18:32] and and tread wear which is is an
[18:35] improvement right
[18:36] >> I think so slow progress is better than
[18:39] no progress
[18:39] >> we're working on a budget
[18:43] >> oh yeah those aren't bad how did the
[18:44] other two look you haven't opened them
[18:45] yet
[18:45] >> I'm I'm scared to do it honestly
[18:49] this is the worst Christmas ever I'm
[18:51] excited
[18:52] >> oh Oh my god. This one too.
[18:54] >> I wonder what they hit.
[18:56] >> Oh,
[18:57] >> that's pretty impressive.
[18:59] >> Cuz they're staggered, I think. So when
[19:01] one side of the car, they're stuck
[19:03] together. Hang on.
[19:05] >> Oh, there's
[19:09] There we go. That's wonderful.
[19:14] Okay, so only two different. So we have
[19:15] Max Trek on the front and Michelin's on
[19:19] the back.
[19:20] >> That's not bad. Yeah, it's a chicken or
[19:23] the egg here. Did the suspension
[19:24] collapse because the airbags failed or
[19:26] because the wiring was getting chewed up
[19:28] by the tires that didn't fit. H that's
[19:30] going to be hard to tell. We'll get some
[19:32] correct size wheels on here and get the
[19:34] airbags sitting where they need to. But
[19:37] yeah, we're going to need to repair some
[19:38] of those wires cuz one of those is a
[19:40] wheel speed sensor. I need to double
[19:42] check and see what the other two are
[19:43] for. But yeah, we'll need to repair
[19:45] those.
[19:47] >> And me doing burnouts right before
[19:49] definitely didn't help, right? You know,
[19:50] I just expect it. Whenever you bring me
[19:52] a car, I assume you're going to do
[19:53] donuts and burnouts in the parking lot.
[19:55] >> Sorry. So, then the fender well liners
[19:57] are completely gone, too. But that's a
[19:59] >> Yeah,
[20:00] >> that's a fight for another day.
[20:01] >> Yeah. Your charcoal canister, it's just
[20:03] going to suck up all that rubber. No
[20:05] problems.
[20:05] >> Yeah. And doing burnouts with class
[20:06] suspension when your fuel lines right
[20:09] there. Or Okay.
[20:11] >> Yeah, it is. Yeah. That's your fuel
[20:12] filler neck.
[20:17] >> This is not good. That's
[20:19] >> So, we got some popcorn going.
[20:23] The suspension's going into the body
[20:26] itself.
[20:27] >> It's been pushed forward.
[20:30] Oh,
[20:31] >> it's been pushed forward. But the
[20:33] subframe,
[20:35] did they repair the subframe? Cuz I
[20:36] would expect to see like I was expecting
[20:39] this lobe to be pushed forward or these
[20:42] mounts to be out of alignment.
[20:45] >> So, what happened?
[20:50] Holy cow. Was it in an accident and then
[20:53] repaired with an whole new subframe?
[20:57] Cuz that's
[20:59] it's hard to imagine spray foam the hole
[21:02] and then replace the subframe.
[21:04] >> Nobody would go to that much trouble.
[21:06] >> Yeah.
[21:08] But yeah, that's definitely smacked,
[21:12] which is part of the reason why our
[21:14] wheel doesn't line up.
[21:15] >> Okay. because the new wheel is much
[21:21] >> shorter, but it's it's wider.
[21:24] >> And plenty of tread left, too, on this
[21:26] on this tire.
[21:26] >> Oh, yeah. You're good for another 10,000
[21:28] mi on that tire.
[21:29] >> But this one this one touches, too.
[21:32] >> This one touches, too.
[21:33] >> So, what can we do?
[21:35] >> Mhm.
[21:38] That's what I'm trying to figure out.
[21:41] Because if it's just a matter of
[21:43] replacing a couple of these arms to
[21:45] bring it back into position, we could
[21:47] definitely do that.
[21:49] >> Like you said, there's nothing looking
[21:52] all tweaked and weird.
[21:54] >> Yeah. I mean, sway bar link looks just
[21:56] as curvy as the other side.
[21:59] I expected to see, you know, one of
[22:01] these arms just totally bent forward.
[22:04] And
[22:04] >> Matt Armstrong would have it fixed in 5
[22:06] minutes.
[22:07] >> Matt Armstrong is very talented. I do
[22:09] not have his resources, though. We
[22:11] finally see one obvious difference with
[22:12] this control arm here where I can put my
[22:15] hand in and then around to the other
[22:17] side.
[22:19] It is much closer to the airbag as you
[22:22] can see. Just Yeah. You can't even stick
[22:24] your fingers through there. So bent bent
[22:29] bent. You like like it's twisted. You
[22:31] think?
[22:31] >> I It's almost like it was kind of the
[22:34] whole assembly was twisted and rotated
[22:36] up and under. But I don't know what
[22:38] would do that.
[22:40] Okay, the subframe is not tweaked. It's
[22:44] just the control arms are all
[22:45] >> the control arms are pushing everything
[22:47] forward.
[22:49] >> That's definitely repairable, but we
[22:51] probably need to check and see what
[22:52] these control arms cost cuz I don't know
[22:54] off the top of my head.
[22:56] So, doing a little bit of digging, these
[22:58] are all 230 part numbers,
[23:00] >> which is the SL chassis number.
[23:02] >> So, it looks like this shares several
[23:04] same similar components.
[23:06] >> Is it $69? We've got a kit here and
[23:08] they're used, but $69.
[23:11] I mean, we'll double check these
[23:12] bushings, but if the rubber's intact for
[23:15] 69 bucks, I think we're in pretty good
[23:16] shape.
[23:17] >> Just because it's $69, we got to try and
[23:19] do it. But obviously, the labor of this
[23:21] is
[23:22] >> a little
[23:24] >> spicy. I wouldn't think it's too bad.
[23:26] I'd think half an hour for each arm. I
[23:28] mean, they've already cut a hole in the
[23:29] subframe for me to get this one out, so
[23:31] they've done most of the hard work. Give
[23:32] me a head start. All right.
[23:34] >> Yeah. I would think three hours of labor
[23:36] we could get all those arms replaced.
[23:39] >> And the mounts themselves, they don't
[23:41] look
[23:41] >> they don't look like they've shifted.
[23:43] >> No,
[23:44] >> I was expecting to see them twisted,
[23:46] mangled.
[23:47] >> Okay.
[23:48] All right. Well, delay of game, I
[23:51] suppose, on this one.
[23:52] >> Bit of a delay, but we'll come back to
[23:53] it.
[23:54] >> Okay.
[23:55] >> I still think it's worth
[23:56] >> strike one. Strike. We'll see what
[23:58] strike two and strike three are by the
[24:00] time we're done. And I have $50,000 in
[24:01] this CLS 550.
[24:04] I appreciate the work.
[24:06] >> One week later, we have parts. $69 worth
[24:09] here of control arms or whatever. And
[24:12] they don't look crooked. There's not a
[24:14] big difference. Yeah. I mean, after they
[24:17] after we've got them all out, they look
[24:18] fairly straight. The lengths appear to
[24:20] be correct. They haven't been smashed or
[24:22] mangled. But one thing we can tell the
[24:25] difference on, so this is the airbag
[24:27] that came out of the driver's side, and
[24:28] this is the airbag that came out of the
[24:30] passenger side. So, one of the things
[24:32] that's happening is whenever it was hit,
[24:35] this airbag, whenever it tries to
[24:36] inflate, it's inflating at an angle.
[24:38] Now, this one still inflates straight,
[24:40] but this one's inflating at an angle,
[24:41] and that's part of what's pushing our
[24:44] whole assembly forward.
[24:45] >> So, it's bending at all.
[24:46] >> Mhm.
[24:47] >> And we have the new ones in. Speaking of
[24:49] cheap prices, like back in the day when
[24:51] you were working at Mercedes, it would
[24:53] have been $1,000 a strut, $1,000 to
[24:55] install on each side. So, we're looking
[24:56] at like a $4,000 repair from Mercedes.
[25:00] >> Yeah. more than likely. But nowadays
[25:02] >> nowadays it's it's 150 bucks for the
[25:04] pair.
[25:05] >> Yeah, we got two struts and they even
[25:07] look to be a little higher quality than
[25:08] what came from bins. I mean, these are
[25:10] these are very nice.
[25:12] >> I'm going to knock on wood there cuz
[25:14] famous last words. I mean, aftermarket
[25:16] from, you know, but yeah, we'll see.
[25:18] Suncor Industries makes these. They make
[25:20] conversions, but it makes sense when
[25:21] it's so cheap now just to go back
[25:23] airride.
[25:25] >> Yeah, I agree. I think the air raid on
[25:26] these cars is great. I don't think it's
[25:28] worth deleting, but I'm impressed. Yeah,
[25:31] these are these are very nice. I think
[25:33] we're going to be in good shape.
[25:34] >> You haven't put them in yet, so he could
[25:36] be cursing it here in a minute. We'll
[25:37] see. Now, the moment of truth. This is
[25:39] everything uh Michael's reputation
[25:41] stands on right here. All these parts,
[25:44] the $69, the air struts. If this thing
[25:46] doesn't fit
[25:47] >> Oh,
[25:48] >> and it's mechanically totaled.
[25:50] >> Well, we're off to a good start. Before,
[25:52] only that smaller wheel would fit on
[25:53] here.
[25:54] >> So, this is the big fat rear. This is
[25:56] the big fat rear tire.
[25:57] >> And it was rubbing on the front. Hence
[25:59] why the wiring was destroyed.
[26:01] >> Yeah.
[26:01] >> Okay.
[26:02] >> So, after getting all of our arms
[26:03] replaced
[26:05] >> and the bag
[26:07] >> and the bag. So, we're still a little
[26:08] loose. I don't have everything connected
[26:09] on the bag.
[26:10] >> But we're not rubbing.
[26:12] >> But we're not rubbing.
[26:13] >> Not even close.
[26:14] >> Yeah.
[26:15] >> So, what do you think? Cuz those arms
[26:17] look straight. What was it?
[26:20] >> There must have been enough twist in all
[26:22] those arms. That's the only thing I can
[26:23] think of is all of them were out just
[26:25] enough to push it forward.
[26:27] >> Wow. Well, nice work.
[26:30] >> Thank you.
[26:31] >> You were probably puckered a little bit.
[26:32] Like if you were wrong, it would have
[26:33] been
[26:34] >> Yeah. I mean, we've been at this a few
[26:36] weeks now.
[26:39] >> The video is going to be like 10
[26:40] minutes. This has been like 3 weeks.
[26:42] Yeah exactly.
[26:43] >> Between getting wrong parts and getting
[26:44] the correct stuff.
[26:46] >> I see some spray foam is on the floor.
[26:48] >> Oh, yeah. So, we had to utilize
[26:52] that pre-existing hole that they had
[26:54] chopped or cut into the interior.
[26:57] >> It's always nice to utilize a
[26:58] pre-existing hole. So, without it, you
[27:01] would have had to do a lot more work to
[27:03] get those arms off.
[27:04] >> Without it, we would have had to lower
[27:05] the entire subframe.
[27:06] >> Oh, that's insane. Okay.
[27:08] >> Yeah.
[27:08] >> So, a hole makes sense.
[27:10] >> Yeah. So, they
[27:14] Well, they were in here. I pulled up our
[27:17] bench seat.
[27:19] Yeah, there it is.
[27:20] >> They may they took a couple of attempts
[27:22] at it, it looks like.
[27:23] >> Oh,
[27:25] okay.
[27:27] >> Now, would you have done that if it were
[27:29] your car?
[27:30] >> No, I would have lowered the subframe
[27:32] and probably done it correctly,
[27:34] >> but on a $600 car,
[27:36] >> I would have done the same thing.
[27:37] >> I think it was $600. It's been so long
[27:39] now, I don't remember what I paid for
[27:40] it.
[27:42] >> I don't honestly don't know. But
[27:45] airbags are in. You've got some wiring
[27:47] to fix. The bumper goes on and then the
[27:50] thing should move.
[27:51] >> It should be up and moving on all four
[27:53] wheels and ready to do more burnouts.
[27:56] >> Believe it or not, it's starting to look
[27:57] like a car. But we're having to get a
[27:59] little creative here. So, Magic Mike has
[28:02] fitted the black bumper and starting to
[28:07] fit things on. But we have a problem
[28:08] with the exhaust. Huh.
[28:10] >> Yeah. So, it's spread a little too far
[28:12] apart. You can see we're rubbing on
[28:15] these edges here. And it's going to be
[28:17] tough to make the bumper fit correctly
[28:19] with it, but I need to bring them
[28:21] together. There's a point of adjustment
[28:23] right here. And that was my first try
[28:26] was squeezing them together and locking
[28:27] that down, but they're still not close
[28:29] together enough.
[28:30] >> So, you need to squeeze this car's legs
[28:32] together.
[28:33] >> We need to squeeze.
[28:34] >> That's just not happening. So, this is
[28:35] where a ratchet strap comes in.
[28:37] >> Yeah. We're going to try to tie her down
[28:39] and see if we can uh
[28:41] >> So, like loop it there and there. and
[28:43] then just ratchet pull it together.
[28:45] >> That's kind of what I'm thinking.
[28:47] >> Okay.
[28:49] Interesting.
[28:49] >> That's what I'm thinking.
[28:50] >> I don't think that's in the Mercedes
[28:51] shop manual.
[28:52] >> No, it's definitely not. And if they saw
[28:55] me doing this in the dealer, they would
[28:56] probably kick me out.
[28:57] >> Hoopty problems require hooptie
[28:59] solutions here.
[29:01] Well, one's okay. That they're both
[29:04] moving.
[29:05] >> They are moving. It's working. Rise.
[29:11] Rise.
[29:16] Come on.
[29:16] >> It's trying.
[29:19] >> Come on.
[29:23] That does a little left, a little right.
[29:25] Little left, a little.
[29:26] >> Uh-huh.
[29:27] Slow and steady.
[29:31] Look at that.
[29:33] She's looking good. Now we can go for a
[29:35] ride.
[29:37] >> Yeah,
[29:37] >> it's
[29:38] >> Oh, is it locked?
[29:39] >> It locks itself. Good thing the window
[29:40] is down.
[29:45] Okay, we have the ABS light cuz it still
[29:48] needs to be reset.
[29:50] And then
[29:51] >> airbag. Nobody's worried about the
[29:53] airbag though.
[29:55] >> That's a lot of
[29:56] >> a lot of bulbs.
[29:56] >> A lot of bulbs. And we're out of gas.
[30:00] >> Okay.
[30:03] I was going to say it may still throw
[30:05] wheel speed sensor fault codes because
[30:06] of the different size wheel on the back.
[30:08] >> Oh, that would make sense. All
[30:11] right, first time out as a car that
[30:15] works. It's so nice to not have a
[30:17] bouncing flat rear suspension. Okay,
[30:20] here we go.
[30:22] Straight to the gas station.
[30:24] >> Straight to the gas station.
[30:25] >> Feels great.
[30:26] >> All right.
[30:28] >> See why I wanted to save it?
[30:29] >> I do see why you wanted to save it.
[30:32] >> It's actually a really nice car. Got the
[30:33] windows rolled away, so it's nice,
[30:35] quiet, and smooth.
[30:36] >> It's pretty good. I was going to say
[30:38] steering feel nice and tight. We're not
[30:40] like
[30:41] >> It's fine.
[30:42] >> All right.
[30:42] >> For still having three different sets of
[30:44] tires on it,
[30:45] >> has no business feeling this good.
[30:47] >> Oh, yeah.
[30:48] >> Things are coming alive.
[30:49] >> Radio works.
[30:51] Let's see here. Do we have good AC or
[30:55] not? I'll be surprised if this AC is
[30:56] charged.
[30:57] >> Why?
[30:58] >> Uh, it's been sitting forever. I'm sure
[31:00] it all leaked out. So, a few little odds
[31:02] and ends to take care of lights wise,
[31:06] bulbwise, error lights wise. But
[31:09] >> she's a cruiser.
[31:11] >> She's a cruiser. I'm pleasantly
[31:12] surprised for 600 bucks plus a little
[31:15] bit of time and labor.
[31:17] >> Yeah. Well, we'll see what the cosmetics
[31:19] come out to be cuz Yeah,
[31:21] >> she needs a little bit.
[31:22] >> There's Look at all this this whatever
[31:25] fungus is growing here. That's just
[31:28] That's just people's, you know, like
[31:30] belly button cheese that they pick out
[31:31] and put in there. It's Oh, jeez. All
[31:34] right. Well, thank you, Magic Mike.
[31:36] >> Happy to help.
[31:37] >> You brought her back.
[31:38] >> We can bring more of them back, too.
[31:40] Hopefully.
[31:40] >> So, here we are 5 months later, and a
[31:42] lot of YouTube channels will now take a
[31:43] victory lap, see their completed car,
[31:45] brag about how amazing it is, how fixed
[31:48] it is for so cheap. And I am definitely
[31:51] not going to do that because this thing
[31:52] is a total mess. Along with most cheap
[31:55] YouTube project cars, they're never
[31:56] really across the finish line. Yeah,
[31:58] there's an end point where they're
[31:59] running and driving down the road and
[32:00] doing well, and that is a major
[32:01] improvement on this car, but it still
[32:02] has some serious issues. So, let's go
[32:05] over the good. Now, I have all the
[32:07] wheels on. Unfortunately, I had to buy
[32:08] two tires new because the existing tires
[32:11] on the $400 set I got were no good. So,
[32:13] that was another $500 there. So, I'm
[32:16] $900 just in wheels and $550 into the
[32:19] car. So, you can imagine 1,500 bucks,
[32:21] $200 into the struts as well. And you
[32:24] get into Michael's labor and I am right
[32:25] at or a little bit above $2,000 into
[32:28] this thing. That is why the rear bumper
[32:30] did not get painted because we hit max
[32:32] budget for this car. In addition, I
[32:35] forgot the interior. Huge improvement. I
[32:37] spent $300 on a new seat bottom here and
[32:41] it completely dresses up the interior.
[32:42] also had a cheap detail done for a
[32:45] little over $100 and it is very, very
[32:48] nice inside. Looking much like it did
[32:51] when it was brand new. So, for a little
[32:53] over two grand, this thing looks totally
[32:55] amazing. And there is definitely some
[32:57] potential here. It looks like a
[32:59] completely different car with a bumper
[33:00] on it, the right wheels, the interior
[33:01] cleaned up, the headlights polished. It
[33:03] does look like the $50,000 plus car of
[33:06] when it was new. It is close in that
[33:09] sense, but very far away when it comes
[33:11] to issues. So, number one, electrical.
[33:13] Still have issues with the ABS. An ABS
[33:15] light is illuminated on the dash along
[33:17] with a bunch of bulb failures. I'm not
[33:18] sure if they're the bulbs. It's like six
[33:20] different bulbs that have failed on this
[33:21] thing. So, it might be an electrical
[33:22] issue. In addition, the rear quarter,
[33:24] it's still tweaked on this thing. I
[33:26] suppose when you paint the bumper, you
[33:27] could sort of tweak this quarter and
[33:28] make it look a lot better, but obviously
[33:30] the fitment is not perfect. Also, this
[33:33] wheel, the suspension, it's still not
[33:35] perfect. So, on the back side, I had to
[33:38] buy a new tire, which is quite a bit
[33:39] meteor uh than the older one. And it
[33:42] does touch when it's in the air. On the
[33:44] ground, it doesn't touch, but definitely
[33:47] still a bit forward. And you can see it
[33:49] as well just looking at it that it does
[33:51] sit probably, I don't know,/ an inch,
[33:53] 3/4 of an inch too far forward. So, you
[33:55] could size down on tires, or you really
[33:57] could dig into the suspension and figure
[33:59] out what is going on. But, it's totally
[34:01] usable as is. It's a hooptie. So, the
[34:04] big issue now is I decided to take it to
[34:06] the car wash to get it all cleaned up.
[34:08] Even though I've been detailed, it had
[34:09] rained a couple times since then. The
[34:10] cats had walked on it. So, I thought,
[34:11] well, why not go wash it again so it
[34:13] looks all pretty for the finished
[34:14] product so I can brag about my amazing
[34:16] CLS transformation for around $2,000 all
[34:19] in. And uh well, the battery is
[34:22] currently disconnected and that is for a
[34:24] reason. So, brace yourselves here.
[34:32] During the car wash,
[34:34] I think the sand module got wet.
[34:39] Yeah.
[34:42] So, it quits honking at you when you
[34:46] start it up.
[34:50] And as you can see, a lot of warning
[34:53] lights still illuminated. The air
[34:55] conditioning also doesn't work on this
[34:57] thing. So, that is something to figure
[34:58] out. And the stereo, it boots up. All we
[35:01] get is the Mercedes crest and then it
[35:02] completely flakes out. So yeah,
[35:04] something still needs to be done there.
[35:05] A lot of electrical issues to sort out,
[35:07] but now we have a new one.
[35:09] Unfortunately, yeah, I can go drive it
[35:11] right now. Everything's working. I can
[35:13] drive across country right now, but then
[35:15] when I want to go turn it off, let me uh
[35:17] take out the key. Here we go. The key is
[35:20] out. Everything is dead as far as inside
[35:23] the car, the tachometer. But listen to
[35:25] this.
[35:28] Not only that, but with the key out, the
[35:30] steering wheel is still unlocked. It
[35:32] still goes into gear. It still moves.
[35:35] And it's not the keyless go system.
[35:36] That's completely dead. So, this thing,
[35:40] well, it's it's it's ghost running right
[35:42] now. It's it's literally ghost running.
[35:46] And that's what I get for taking it to
[35:48] the car wash to show you how cool and
[35:50] done this car is. because now, well,
[35:52] it'll just run forever, unfortunately,
[35:55] unless I pull what I believe is the fuel
[35:58] pump relay right here.
[36:01] There we go. And then we just give it,
[36:04] you know, 10 to 30 seconds. It'll start
[36:07] starving.
[36:11] Come on.
[36:14] Come on.
[36:17] There we go. Disconnect the battery. And
[36:19] now it's off. That is how I turn off my
[36:21] CLS 550 now after spending all that
[36:24] money and five months to get a video to
[36:26] you guys talking about how you can save
[36:27] a $500 car.
[36:31] Typical, right? Thank you so much for
[36:33] watching.