The timeless W211
The 2008 Mercedes-Benz E350 SE is part of the W211 series, which was produced from 2002 to 2009 featuring a variety of different engines ranging from a 2.2L diesel inline 4cyl to a 6.2L naturally aspirated V8, all placed on the same iconic and timeless chassis. The E350 SE is a mid-range trim of the E-Class, designed to balance luxury, performance and comfort.
The Stance
Luke’s Mercedes-Benz takes heavy inspiration from the Japanese VIP luxury style but with a European twist. The lowered stance and cambered wheels of the Japanese culture is showcased along side the European body style of the infamous W211.
His Mercedes-Benz sits on BC-Racing coil-overs with custom 40K spring rate Swift springs. He has also modified his front coil-overs to allow him to sit lower than they were designed for. With his car being so low he was forced to raise his exhaust system by fabricating custom exhaust hangers, and had to tuck his fuel lines higher up. His car is also fitted with a set of polished 19 inch A90 Supra wheels, that Luke paint striped and polished himself.
“NOT AMG”
Luke knew when he started modifying this car that he would often get the question “why not just save for the AMG version instead of modifying a base model”. But he knew that the E350 would be more reliable and easier to stance, because it wasn’t optioned with the notoriously unreliable Mercedes ABC air suspension that comes on the AMG version. He also knew that this car would be his daily driver, so fuel economy and comfort were of higher importance to him than horsepower and performance.
However he decided to enhance the front end of his car by replace his boring facelift bumper with the more aggressive and sleek AMG bumper, but he made sure to make it clear he is not posing as an AMG by mounting a custom license plate with the characters “NOT AMG”.
What is unique about Lukes build.
Luke overcame many distinct challenges while building his Mercedes, the first of which being that there is very little aftermarket support for the W211 chassis. Another challenge he faced was having to deal with all of the die-hard Mercedes-Benz purists who believe it is distasteful to modify a Mercedes the way Luke has built his. But even with these challenges Luke was determined to build his car to stand out from the other cookie cutter stance builds and be unique.With there being very few stance W211 builds, and the majority of them being bagged, Luke found that building a static W211 would make his car stand out among the other cars in the stance community.
The shoot.
This shoot takes place near one of the biggest manufacturing facilities of the F-16 fighter jets, Lockheed Martin in Greenville SC. The location is an empty hanger and was just the vibe we needed. I thought the glass wall would play well with the chrome tint of the car. The weather was overcast, the runway in the background along with the moody atmosphere of the forgotten hanger of days gone by seemed to highlight this one of a kind vehicle that Luke has created.
