V_Langs_3.2TL

Hey guys!

Long time TL owner here (or actually hand me down from my sister haha) Just created an account here to learn more and do some nice mods. so far loving it!

anyways, so I'm a broke post-law school kid (got loans you know?) and I got this puppy and it's pretty messed up, did what I could to spruce it up a bit. Really it needs new bumpers, and a dents removed and new paint (sis was not kind to it, and dumped it like a bad cold for a '10 C300 Sport).

Just wondering if you have any cheap mods that'll help. I smoked the tailights and I like that. I want to project this car because I just bought a new X5 with the advance I got from the law firm before I start working in the Fall, but I do have to pay off that car too!

Here's some pics:
The front end, notice the messed up bumper haha


The Backside: my attempts at smoking the headlights for the "murdered" look, I like it. looking for rims and FF1s next.


Teaser of what I keep in the garage :-)


Hope you guys enjoy!

(sorry for the huge pics, I've tried resizing like 10 times to no avail )

Srb

First thing would be to make sure the maintenance is in order - spark plugs, timing belt, water pump, fluids, probably a valve adjustment. Seafoam the engine and/or take out the intake manifold and clean out the build up by hand. Headlights look like they need some wetsanding and might need some new HIDs if it still has the originals. There's always other things too but that would be priority for me. You have a nice collection of cars to start out with.

V_Langs_3.2TL

hey man, it just had its service and it'd been regularly maintained its entire life (191k now). and yes one of the HID bulbs is starting to burn out, but i'm not ready to shell out the 100 for a new set because it isn't terribly bad yet and still fairly bright. they aren't originals sadly, i've already had to replace them once (about 5 years ago).

My sister (under my father's goodwill) got the car maintained at regular intervals and (by forcing me) got the oil changed regularly too (I've used synthetic on all the cars in our house (the TL, my X5, pops merc and moms audi) since I was trusted enough to do such menial tasks. I never thought it'd take so long for me to get the TL (figured by the time i was 16/17 not a month from 21!) hence I always took a little extra care of that one. So i know the engine is in tip-top shape. and they tranny was replaced and rebuilt so right now it is shifting well, just had an engine mount replaced as well so that's nice. It needs new rotors (shakes under hard braking) which is priority number 1 because I DD this car (much better gas mileage than the supercharged inline 6 in the X)

I ordered some rims, nothing too fancy just a pair of multispoke enkei (sp) 18in and pirelli pzero neros (love that tire) to go with them.

When I get the body all sorted out (the bumpers are badly damaged) I'll put the lip kit (looking for them at present, because I know how hard they are to find) and drop it too, but not too low because upstate NY is a pain with potholes and shit.

hopefully it all works out nicely, I'd love the saber grill! it looks fantastic, don't know if I'll JDM badge it, but I'd love the grill at least

djescobar973

Quick cheap mod, debadge.... Get some Goo Gone to remove the adhesive and some floss to remove the letters.

mobybasher

get your interior lights( map , dome , side door) changed to LED'z

the car fresh plus its cheap, so within your budget

Rockstar21

iTrader: (1)

murdered out? isnt your car MBP? (Monterey Blue Pearl)

i think the stock tail light look is a much better contrast on the darker cars.

good luck with the mods though.

and welcome.

Srb

If you want a little more sound out of the engine you can take out the intake resonator. If you need HIDs later on one of the vendors here, HidExtra, sells pretty good kits for around $50 with acurazine discounts.

Vman159

welcome

actually i bought 6k for my 00 tl from hid extra and got 2 bulbs shipped for $31 (minus ten percent discount)

yoyoball

hey did you use spraypaint to tint your tail lights?

V_Langs_3.2TL

No the car is NBP

V_Langs_3.2TL

I did it the other day as per the DIY, and i got the 3.2.TL badge off but there was a real big wad of (tape?) gunk left on the car. No matter how much goo gone I used it would not come off and I didn't want to pick at it so I decided to just put the badge back on

V_Langs_3.2TL

I saw those! but I was really worried about how well they worked, are they good? I was planning on just getting those but I got Kaixen bulbs from excellerate instead

V_Langs_3.2TL

Yeah I did, I went to autozone for motor oil (they had a sale) and I saw it and said why the hell not it was only 10 bucks and I used two coats. First I washed and cleaned it with a dry cloth and then I used a prep pad (100grit sand i think) and sanded it down a bit so that the reflective coating was a bit rough. Taped off the rest of the car and then applied a coat.

I was actually quite happy with the one coat, but I had to wipe a bit off because it streaked a little so I then decided to sand it down to even it and added a second coat. I like the way it looks.

If I had to add anything to them, I'd get that clear translucent paint so that the headlights reflect when someone is passing by so that people can see it parked in the night...but eh, I live in a pretty suburban area I should be fine