Anyone know anything about C36's?

[Stanley Rockafella]

After seeing a different post about someone with a C43? on this site, got me looking at some older AMG's and i found this one

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/bnc/cto/3576210326.html

The mileage seems good but I'm not sure about the reliability given some of the C class MB's has been very poor/

thanks in advance

[Fusion]

The engine is bulletproof. 100Kkm is nothing, if true.
Trans is a regular "updated" 5 speed auto and the rear seats are not rare, that is a regular C36 interior. The car has obviously been lowered.
Other than that, if the mileage and service history is true, you have a very solid car right there. Look for rust in the trunk under the battery tray (caused by spills) and rust in the wheel wells, fenders, rocker panels, underside of doors.
One thing that can go wrong is the biodegradable engine bay harness wiring. A new harness costs over a grand iirc, but any good electrician can fix it up or rewire. There are DIY for the task. MAFs are also known to die at about 200Kkm.
Otherwise the engines are very similar to M50s, no Vanos or anything known to go wrong. Check for oil leaks on the front corner, exhaust side of the engine between the head/block or cam cover.

[Ratbastage]

202 on general is pretty solid. The C36 was a early AMG car for "mainstreaming" Great engine with a few quirks.

Harness rot.
Oil leaks from the blind oil pressure port under the front of the head and the return at the rear.
Waterpumps are a Rube Goldberg design but, pretty dependable.
Old school "blue label" coils fail.
The same wire was used in the throttle harness.


As far as the body I'm out of the rust belt and have not seen any issues.

Common things for the early .6 are 9 roller freewheels which miss on the 2-1 downshift coasting down to a stop, then the front one grabs with a bang.

Center support is a bronze bushing and wears, this allows the speed sensors in the conductor plate to no longer see the openings for turbine or output shaft speeds.

Of course the speed sensors themselves will fail as well. All of that was updated starting in late 98 production and the bearing center support came in about the same time.

Overall, solid cars, one of the last vacuum operated climate control systems so you can expect to have to yank the dash as replace them at one point.

The C43 has a little better suspension setup, brakes are pretty much the same and most of the 43's had the updated trans and no harness issues.

The M104 though sounds cooler at 7 grand.

edit: We used a 3.6 engine as the base for a hot rod 124 wagon build that included a T3 and a 75 wet shot. 9 psi on gas, 410 @ the wheels but, the dyno was questionable. I do know it would KILL a W211 E55 from a roll. Last I heard the build had 80 put on it without issue.

[FLYNAVY]

I had a C43 for a number of years and loved every minute of it. Test drove a C36 in the process of shopping, and really wasn't that impressed to be honest. Everything Ratbastage posted is solid info, and covers the important stuff.

I'd say the debate comes down to 1) the preference of high strung I6 to very under-tuned V8 power, and 2) pedigree. The pedigree comparison is much like that of the euro market E36 M3 and the NA market M3. The C36 had a no kidding AMG motor in it, while the '43 had just a mildly tuned NA market m113 from other favorites such as the CLK430/etc. The C43 is going to win hands down wrt drivetrain reliability, but it is kinda sorta not really an "AMG"......at least in the historical sense. It was the first somewhat mass produced AMG, and the first IIRC produced following MB's absorption of AMG. Prior to that, AMG was just a tuner like Brabus, Carlsson, or Kleemann are today, and they took typically economy base model versions of the various classes off the production line, and completely overhauled them prior to sale (the C36 was built using C280's off the line). Starting with the C43, those cars were built from the outset as an AMG. There are goods and others associated with this differentiation, but I would say that quality of product and reliability went up with the merger. If you look at a Hammer (the true w124 6.0L "Hammer"), you will find that in many cases, they were beautiful cars that were chop jobs underneath courtesy of AMG NA. The kits provided back in those days left things to be desired, and the fit and finish was anything but factory quality. The C36 was much much better than this, and it was a fantastic engine and car, but I still always felt like the C43 was a better all around driving car. Just my .02.