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What's up everyone, I wanted to share my excitement with you guys.
After owning numerous Benzes over the years, I've learned that as much as certain looks appeal to me, there are just certain models I don't want to own out of warranty. The warranty on my 04 SL55 w/27k miles was up..as minty as the car was.. I didn't want to wait to find out what was lurking around the corner..
..and besides, I'm on my old school kick.. I wanted classic styling, low maintenance, and most of all, I wanted FAST... So I called my boy Rolston at Merc Werks (Pompano Beach, FL.) and said.. I think I want to buy another CLK Cab.. I like the looks.. the low maintenance aspect.. but..after getting accustomed to 2 cars with the 55k engine, and a CLK430 HPS s/c'd.. I knew I'd need power.. So I excitedly said "hey bro, how's about I buy a CLK55 Cab, and we drop the Twin Turbo V12 in there!!!?".. That's the kind of excitement I have when I'm speaking to someone who I KNOW can make ***** happen. He calmed me down, and said it could be done, however so much would have to happen to fit it in the engine bay.. So I said..eh.. OK! How about the M113 sc'd version, that should be easy, right!? and he said Yeah, people have done it to the W202 chassis, and W208 is substantially similar, so I don't see why not. .. So begins the hunt..
I had been stalking a low-mileage 02' CLK55 White/Black cab, coincidentally in FL. on ebay.. that was the only color combo I was after, and as rare as it was, it was for sale right then, I checked it out, and bought it on the spot, looked & ran minty..minor gasket leak, but the engine was coming out anyway..
I hit up all the parts search engines.. and I found it! 06' S55 with 77k No accident car.. there was my engine!
Truck the car to Merc Werks, Ship the engine from NY to FL...and so it began..Rolston said I think I'd like 3 weeks with the car, we knew we had to send out the TCU for reprogramming, another computer had to be programmed, Rolston worked his magic in STAR to adjust all sorts of parameters, we added cooling, modified the front sway bar, umm.. I'm not too mechanically savvy so I'm really simplifying it, but long & short of it is: last week I got my car trucked back to me, I wanted him to give the car a thorough once over before giving it back.. he did..he was pretty impressed.. but was awaiting my feedback..
Ok, I've only spent about 30 minutes on the highway, and about the same on the streets..FAST... I know that's not quantified with #'s yet.. but having had this engine in heavier cars.. I can say it "feels" faster.. Imagine if you will a Roach with a rocket pack..he's in your kitchen at night, and you turn on the lights! and this little dude just JETS!!! that's how the car moves..I don't get the V12 head slam on the head rest, imagine jet getting launched off a carrier by that cable, I believe I was spinning the tires the other day from 2nd to 3rd gear..dropped it down 2nd & mashed it..and we took off straight with a hint of the the right.
Anyway, all I can say is I'm very pleased with the outcome. I don't have ESP/BAS/ETC enabled...we would have needed either a ton of money to give europe for that or he was going to try to get a certain module out of a certain car, and recode something or other.. but at that point I was very excited to get my car back, so I decided to leave that for another time..
Maybe after a while, I'll do a smaller pulley, belt wrap kit, and ecu tune like I did to the SL55... but for now I'm more than pleased to have a good looking, low maintenance sleeper like this... Any technical questions, work inquiries, etc feel free to reach out to the man himself.. any non-technical questions or related to parts I purchased, etc, don't hesitate to ask. *Full size pics in my album.
Thanks for the love gents. No credit is due to me I didn't want my post to sound like an ad, but truly my mechanic is a magical genius, w/o his ability this would have just been a dream (own a good looking, fast & reliable car) that another shop would have charged two arms & a leg for, not to mention if they'd never done the swap..I don't know what kind of comfort level I'd have had with them.. The shop owner built the ***** out of his C36, silly fast, was a former shop foreman at MB, gets SLS's trucked to his shop, etc...so I knew I'd be in good hands.. Look forward to years of trouble free driving...Wait.. Years of trouble free FAST (where safe to do so) driving
It seems like the programming part of these swaps is the hard part. It would be cool if your mechanic could do just the module part and sell it to others. I hope he can crack the esp/bas part.
^^ He sent the ECU to someone (I'll have to ask who) and for about $400 they worked their magic, I forgot to mention Eurocharged! sorry guys, they reprogrammed the TCU to more fluidly make things happen, I didn't get to drive it before the TCU was reprogrammed, but I understand that helped out as well; not "necessary" the car was very drivable before, but they raised the shift points and removed the torque limiters (?) ...
Yeah, it would be nice if we could get the rest coded.. but really it's not an issue for me so far, the car drives great; I just won't push it too hard in the wet weather. I'll ask him again what car he needed the ???ecu? out of.. he explained it to me before.. but I forgot
^^ He sent the ECU to someone (I'll have to ask who) and for about $400 they worked their magic, I forgot to mention Eurocharged! sorry guys, they reprogrammed the TCU to more fluidly make things happen, I didn't get to drive it before the TCU was reprogrammed, but I understand that helped out as well; not "necessary" the car was very drivable before, but they raised the shift points and removed the torque limiters (?) ...
Yeah, it would be nice if we could get the rest coded.. but really it's not an issue for me so far, the car drives great; I just won't push it too hard in the wet weather. I'll ask him again what car he needed the ???ecu? out of.. he explained it to me before.. but I forgot
Does Beckmann Technologies ring a bell for where he sent the ecu? Sent my 55 ecu there for a flash tune. They're great and with shipping it would put the price right around $400.
Could you please ask your mechanic which oil pump he used to replace the one that came in the supercharged engine? I believe the the S/C 5.4 uses the same pump (or similar) that the 2003 N/A 5.4 I am swapping in has. Since our cars are w208s, the oil pan has to be swapped from the 430 engine and the oil pump must be changed as a result. Trouble is I don't know which pump to use so if you could ask which part # he went with on yours that would be GREATLY appreciated!
^ Just Is, I think I PM'd you previously ? I Think, best bet, since I don't know the answer, just give his shop a call, he's a great guy, and I'm sure he could give you that answer & more.
UPDATE: I took a very crappy vid, uphill, 2 people in car, 0-60 seemed to be mid 4's.. gotta re-shoot it, and maybe manually shift starting in 1st this time instead of 2nd..?..
Will post a clean vid once it's made.
good work bro! im just starting my conversion of a clk320 to a clk500 haha, wouldnt mind twin turboing it somebody but thats $$ i havnt got at the moment haha
Hi, yeah I'm still loving it. I have the list put away, but about + $10k (in engine/computer/customization/etc ) parts & labor-- not including other mods like lowering, camber, etc, etc)
I'm actually (working to) leaving the country in the next 12-18 months..
and where I'm going I need a 4x4... that said the car is for sale (complete ad in the classifieds).. and at this time, I'm willing to let it go for the most reasonable offer I hear.. just fyi.
It's almost 2yrs later so I'm sure the engine price has gone down.. but I was only willing to buy one from a car that was not wrecked, and that had low mileage..
Hi, yeah I'm still loving it. I have the list put away, but about + $10k (in engine/computer/customization/etc ) parts & labor-- not including other mods like lowering, camber, etc, etc)
I'm actually (working to) leaving the country in the next 12-18 months..
and where I'm going I need a 4x4... that said the car is for sale (complete ad in the classifieds).. and at this time, I'm willing to let it go for the most reasonable offer I hear.. just fyi.
It's almost 2yrs later so I'm sure the engine price has gone down.. but I was only willing to buy one from a car that was not wrecked, and that had low mileage..
Good luck.
Looking to Upgrade my w209 55, its best to just buy the 55k kompressor engine or add on kompressor from the 55k engime ?? Curious what do u think ?
hi, i gave a frend that want details about this, have 2005 CLK and donor car with ecu, ignition and whatever they need from that 2003 S55 , so what about headers? orginal CLK 55 have 1 oil tap off, the compressor has 2 taps. so what need be done engine bay before drop in ?
03-03-2015, 08:06 PM
*Full size pics in my album.
I didn't want my post to sound like an ad, but truly my mechanic is a magical genius, w/o his ability this would have just been a dream (own a good looking, fast & reliable car) that another shop would have charged two arms & a leg for, not to mention if they'd never done the swap..I don't know what kind of comfort level I'd have had with them.. The shop owner built the ***** out of his C36, silly fast, was a former shop foreman at MB, gets SLS's trucked to his shop, etc...so I knew I'd be in good hands.. Look forward to years of trouble free driving...Wait.. Years of trouble free FAST (where safe to do so) driving 
