mercedes E320

my brother is happy with his new desktop toy so now it's on to my sister's 30th b-day present... she's been wanting me to build one of these for her for a while now. i finally found a kit just in time for her birthday. she wants the kit in black... first the cobra in black and now this kit in black... kinda wanted a change but oh well...

i haven't done much yet... only started sanding down the mold lines and test fitting the windows and clear parts so far. i hope this one comes out the way i envison it.

the plan is to add working headlights and tail lights on this kit per her request. we'll see how this one turns out:wink:

a.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/234903merc.jpg

Is the chrome grille on a seperate chrome parts tree? Or is it molded on the body (have to paint it chrome or use BMF?)

Sounds like a good project, and a good gift! Dont forget to post progress pics!:iceslolan

It looks like a good project I hope you have fun.

I bet this one also gonna be amazingas always Appleseed, can't wait

Can't wait to see some progress pics.

Originally posted by themodelkid
Sounds like a good project, and a good gift! Dont forget to post progress pics!:iceslolan
:iagree:

here's a pic of the car so far. i've sanded down the mold lines and glued on the bumpers.

the stock ride height looks a bit embarassing for being labed as the AMG sports version so the car was lowered about 1mm at the rear and 2mm up in front.

the headlight housings were drilled out to accomodate the LED's and plastic tubing was used for spacers/mouting brackets.

it's now ready for the primer.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/286190Untitled-5.jpg

a.

It looks good so far.

And uhh an E320 is not an amg to the best of my knowledge. The AMG version of a W-210 is the E50 or E-55. My C32AMG(car I drive) has a supercharged 320 motor in it. And even my super charged 320 motor would seem slugish in a W-210 class car.

I cant wait to see this one done, your sis is gonna have to pry this thing from your hands. :bigthumb:

Nrbumgard,

you're right that the e320 is not an amg car but the kit does come with the amg parts... the front/rear bumpers, sideskirts, wheels, as well as the e50 an amg decals for the rear badges.

i know the kit cover is misleading but according to web references, i hope i'm right:confused: thanks for pointing it out none the less. here's a reference site which i hope is accurate: http://www.rakuten.co.jp/garagecurrent/465585/487949 since my sister won't really appreciate any added details into the kit, i'm planning on building this one pretty much box stock except for the lowering of the car and the working lights. i'm sure she's bound to break the kit once she tries to pull the body apart to turn the lights on but... eh... it's her perrogative.

anyway, onto a question about the car itself... i don't know if the inner two lights on the front are only daytime running lights or if they come on with the headlights. does anyone know? i'm thinking of either putting yellow leds in there or incandescent bulbs if they do indeed light up. i've seen pictures with them off with the headlight so i'm not too sure now. can anyone help?

a.

cool who makes the kit?

Is by Fujimi.

Rtuned

Hm, looking very cool already...

Oh, I 've got a little request, if you have the time, and you want to, could you put some in detail progress pics of the light-building-in-part?

This onl of you feel like it , right!

Thanks
Olivier

just for you Olivier:wink:

using a breadboard, i devised the following circuit for the LEDs and the incandescent bulbs for the mercedes:

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/962651breadboard.jpg

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/800320layout.jpg

this time, you'll need a 12v source as the parallel incandescent bulbs would draw more current than what a GP25A (9v) battery would be able to supply. this battery is quite compact, not as small as the 9v one but it will do as this kit has quite a bit of room under the body and a long hood area for the switch and wiring. the only thing you would really need to worry about is making the battery casing which would take up most of the space. on some kits, you'll have to resort to the 9v battery as it is shorter and necessary as the kit width may not be enough to accomodate the casing and wiring.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/908899battery.jpg

here's a pic of the incandescent bulbs that i'll be using. they're the same ones i used for the clk gtr. the thread is around here somewhere so i'll leave it at that. they run at 1.5v.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/838293bulb.jpg

i drilled out the headlight housings so that the LEDs can fit in there. however, it looks really bad if you have an LED sticking out far into the headlight housing... just plain ugly so i made spacers out of styrene tubing so that just the crown of the LED sticks out into the housing. this way it just looks that much better. it may not make a difference with the clear lenses on but knowing that there is a bracket there gives me peace of mind that the LED is firmly set in place in the form of styrene reinforcement. i did this for all the lights. the body has had two coats of paint on at the time of this post so it's a bit hard to tell where the bracket ends and where the body begins.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/892355front.jpg

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/360402brackets.jpg

since i want the kit to light up without an external source with an additional constraint of hiding all wiring and hardware, the body has to be removed to turn the lights on and off. the only thing you have to worry about with this is that you're going to risk pulling the wires each time you try to turn the lights on and off. what i've done to prevent this is to use small styrene tubing as conduits on the sides of the body to guide the wires and to protect them from being caught on anything. just make sure to place the tubing in an area that has enough clearance between the interior tub and the body. otherwise you'll have an ugly gap there.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/111017conduit.jpg

all that remains is to mount the LEDs and creating the battery housing. to be honest, the hardest part about this is creating the battery housing and figuring out how to create the circuit given the available battery size/voltage combinations.

a.

insane :biggrin:

Now that is just absolutely ingenious!
I also am think about making this hapening, but as you said, you need a big car to cover this all up, especially the battery.

I would like to thank you a whole lot for the clear and in-depth information , thus making it easier to do this ourselves without risking to injure our braincells by thinking too much.

:tongue:

only thing I don't really get in your circuit layout (mind you, I don't know about the lighting in the real car), is the reason why you made three pairs of lights... assuming the two front leds and the incandescent bulbs ligth up at the same time (which by defintion they do when hitting the switch) , won't the white leds be obsolete ?


Anyway, I will print this how-to out and keep in my projects folder!
Thanks Appleseed !


Olivier

:bigthumb:

"Always good to see a Benz being build!"

Olivier:

what the incandescent bulbs actually do is pull more current through the circuit. with the white and red LEDs, the more current going through them, the brighter they get. in this circuit, i don't think the incandescent bulbs actually get the rated voltage that they should get... which means that they are much much dimmer than if they were just hooked up to a 1.5v source by themselves. this circuit actually lights up the front white LEDs very bright with a brownish/yellow light being emitted by the incandescent blubs. kinda mimics the 1/1 car quite closely. i'll post up a few pics when i finally do mount the lighting elements so you can judge for yourself.

a.

Wow so far the car looks awsome. Your lighting plan is amazing.

In that set of amg 50 pics the only thing that i see that looks odd is the seats. I think those are aftermarket seats.

And I drive a C32 amg and I have no clue what head lights come on when. I keep my car set to automatic lights and I think for just driving in the day that your center headlights are on but I really I have no clue I will have to look at that.

Ok on the lights from the best I can tell from looking at my car today it seems like the center set of lights has your daytime driving lights, and like your normal lights for night driving. Theri are 2 bulbs in the center sets of lights. ON the out side set of lights it seems to be your highbeams and your turn signals. And of course on the bottom in the lower grill area you have your fog lamps.

thanks Nrbumgard! just so that i am clear, the center lights do not come on with the headlights? call me dense but i had a bit of trouble determining that from you last post. if so, i'll need to modify the circuit. thanks!

here's a pic of the body polished and after a quick rinse.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/115601shine.jpg

a.

Im sorry I think i was a bit unclear.

Well the center lights are whats on. In the center set their are 2 light bulbs 1 for daytime 1 for night.

The outside set has the high beams. And turnsignals.

I don't 100% agree.
First, in Belgium (and in Germany) we don't drive with lights on during the day.
As I don't know the english words, I'll tell this :
you have 3 intensities of head lights, that I'll call (from lower to higher intensity)
1. position lights (they are also left on when the car is parked in a dark street)
2. Normal lights (these you ride with during the night)
3. High beam lights (you have to switch them off when anyone is coming in front of you).

AFAIR (I will check at home tonight) :
- the inner set (small one) has the position lights
- the outer set has the normal and the high beam + the turn signals.

When you light the normal lights on, automatically you also have the position lights on also.

I"m just not sure about the position of the high beams but for the rest, I'm pretty sure.
Look at that pic (it has the fog lights on also (in the bottom)) :
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/566158E320b.jpg
You clearly see that position lights (inner) are on at the same time as normal lights.
Hope this helps.

You know I have looked at my car a few times about the lights thing and I'm still not sure what comes on when. I think the lights control them selfs for the most part no matter where I have the switch for the lights placed. And when I pulled it in to the garrage after looking at them out side a diffrent set of lights was on than was on when I had it out side. Darn automatic lights.

Gotta love that shine! :cool:

reveller

Originally posted by fredo
AFAIR (I will check at home tonight) :
- the inner set (small one) has the position lights
- the outer set has the normal and the high beam + the turn signals.

When you light the normal lights on, automatically you also have the position lights on also.

I"m just not sure about the position of the high beams but for the rest, I'm pretty sure.

I checked and the high beams are in the inner set (with position lights). For the rest, I was right.

not satisfied with the results of the lights so far. as it turns out, the battery does not provide enough current to power the center bulbs. they turn on but dim over time. very disappointed with the results so far. i'm not about to go back and pull everything out and rewire everything as i already cut the leads for the LEDs. i should've left the lights on longer while i tested the circuit to see if the battery would be able to take it or not. oh well... live and learn eh?

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/905849light01.jpg

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/567367light04.jpg

a.

ps. thanks for the info on the lights guys!:bigthumb:

Still, it looks great like that , albeit that the center ights are not working properly, it seems very realistic.

And the paintjob! flawless!

Oh, and did you change anything on the grille, because it looks so shiny (was thinking about BFM? )


Olivier:bigthumb:

wow! that is gorgeous! i love it. :thumbsup:

I love it like this.
And the fact that the inner set of lights is darker is very prototypical : the inner set of lights is actually the position lights !

Great work !

Hi guys,

the W210 Mercedes-Benz E-class has:

- parking lights in the inner housing
- low beam in the outer housing
- high beam in the inner housing
- fog lights in the bumper
IF the vehicle is equipped with bi-xenon headlights it is basically th esame as above, but with high beams in the outer housing (xenon) + high beams in the inner housing (halogen).

oh...BTW, nice build and beautyful shine!

Any updates?