Luxury City Cruiser, Baton Rouge, LA

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Hello VIP community! 

For the past several months I've been lurking around on these forums and have been really inspired by all of the incredible rides on here! I used to be  into "going fast", till I learned that cruising low and cruising slow is what it's all about. I decided to purchase my platform car in May, and chose a 2009 Mercedes C300 Luxury...black, with grey/black MB Tex interior. I know, I know...I got the "old man" car, it's a Euro, probably should have gone with a Lexus or Infiniti...but the C300 really was love at first sight. I decided I didn't want to do anything terribly drastic, I like to keep my car as subtle as possible...I like to catch the eye of beautiful women, not police officers! The vision of the project is a Luxury City Cruiser. I immediately laid out my build and decided to start on the [B]INTERIOR[/B] first, here's what I've got so far:

1) Tint all the way around (legal limits in LA)
2) Junction Produce Missions Neck Pads (black)
3) Custom circular fabric pillows for the back seats (black)
4) Junction Produce Medium Fusa Knot (black)
5) Bellezza Curtains, Front and Rear (black)
6) Tassels on the back sissy handles
7) Wood dash kit, burl walnut (in the mail!)

Big thanks to Freddie at AutoFashion out in SD for helping with all the Junction Produce gear!:biggthumpup: My first set of neck pads got lost in transit to Baton Rouge, I called him and he was really cool about it and promptly sent out another set. Highly recommend the guys at AF!!! (Although if he knew I was building anything other than a Lexus/Infiniti he probably would have stopped dealing with me a long time ago haha=)). Also, a shout out to PgMotoringUSA for getting me a great price on the Bellezza curtains.

My interior is pretty much complete, with the exception of a few dealer accessories (illuminated kick plates etc.)

[B]EXTERIOR
[/B]This is the area in which I need the most help. So far:

1) Dechromed the chrome strip on my doors (not a fan of too much chrome)
2) Swapped the orange/amber side markers for clear/white ones
3) Debadged trunk
4) Swapped in some Sylvania 4100K bulbs.

Future Plans: Junction Produce trunk emblem (can you tell I love JP? haha) and HID kit.

And ta da! That's my fabulous exterior. Still looking pretty stock right now. I really wanted to have my build complete (well, as close as possible) before posting here...but I figured you guys/gals could point me in the right direction for the most important things...wheels, tires and suspension!

OCKlasse has been helping me out on MBworld with wheel selections and what not. Big thanks to him for being patient with me and helping me ease into the world of Automotive Luxury.:biggthumpup:

As far as suspension goes, I've got a few options: 1) Eibach lowering springs...giving me about a 1.6 in. drop the whole way around. 2) H&R Coilovers, expensive but adjustable is pretty nice 3) Air ride...favorite of your VIP community. Not sure I want to go this route, afraid of things breaking, voiding the warranty etc....I'm not very handy with fixing things! I don't want to be too low, as this will be my daily driver, but a nice drop would really set this car off. The roads in Baton Rouge are pretty god awful, so getting as slow as some of you are is not a possibility for me.

For wheels...I'm completely lost. I don't want to go any bigger than 18s (I know, I'm a sissy) because ride quality really matters to me. The sizes for the C300 are 18x8.5 (front) 18x9.5 (rear) and, as OCKlasse and I have concluded, it can handle offsets between 40 and 50, we think (not very aggressive). I don't like "loud" wheels. Subtlety is my goal. The AME wheels are awesome, I like the Brabus wheels, and the OZ Operas are great too! Other than these I'm not really sure what to do. I'd love to get some old Mercedes AMG monoblocks but the offsets are far too aggressive I think. I'm seeking major advice in this area!

Body kit: None yet for the W204 that aren't sporty. Waiting for auto couture to come out with something (hopefully at a reasonable price!)

Sorry for the long winded 101 Build Log, but out here in Louisiana, there's no one doing the VIP/EXE/Luxo thing. And also having a different car than the usual platform, with some kooky wheel sizes/offsets makes it difficult. I get all my info from people in places like CA and FL (maybe I should consider moving?!?!) And as such there are few, if any helpful shops around for this sort of thing. Thanks for checking out my build, I'll try to post pics later. Any advice from some real VIP OGs would be much appreciated, just a new guy looking to get things going in the Luxury game!=)

Regards,
Reed[/FONT]