Last Saturday I have the new Bosch ignition coils (total three, one for two cylinders) fitted. It was an easy job and the part cost was low. Now the engine purred smoothly while it pulled like a train. I had not fitted the TM spark plugs yet since the Bosch spark plugs in the engine were relatively new.
Somehow for whatever reason unknown to me the handling of the C36 has been improving while it approached my first 1000km. It feels more direct and the chassis is more responsive. I could not feel that car was front heavy at all. Only in tight corners I could feel that it was indeed a heavy car. It was not bad and I was surprised. Still the shocks were not responsive enough following the dips and crests of the pavement. Sometime I found the wheels out-of-sync and pounding the road surface. This was apparent in the hard driving, serious affecting roadholding and stability in rough pavement.
I checked my favorite Mercedes parts supplier at Mongkok - Valiant. They got me a quote of C36 original factory suspension (a set of four shock absorbers) which were in stock. But they would set me back around $10K HKD. Wow! I hesitate but decided that this was a safety issue worth spending. However since Easter Break is around the corner and decided to purchase the factory shocks shortly after the Easter holiday
And my good friend Simon found me today a set of fresh used C32 AMG wheels for a fairly reasonable cost. I would consider only if I could prove that it is significantly lighter than the AMG Monobloc.
I have driven the C36 for the whole week. My second fuel stop yesterday showed that the fuel consumption has dropped to HK$1.65 per km (or HK$785 for 485km traveled). Not bad at all. Considering a good mix of city, highway, 15 min of full throttle blasting with Evos.
