MBWorld Exclusive: World’s First Remote-Turbo V12 Mercedes CL600
We’ve seen some wild modifications, but this remote turbo is just about the wildest thing we’ve ever come across.
We often get soft hearts for project cars here at MBWorld, but rarely have we seen such dedication as that made by Mike, the owner of this CL600. Some people are a bit masochistic when it comes to buying a car. If you’ve seen our Project 190 E articles, then you know exactly what we mean. Mike’s story is a completely different sort of dedication altogether.
Winter car shopping can be troublesome for anyone, but for Mike, it was an adventure.
“I saw the V12 Emblem peering out from the snow pile. I asked the salesperson what was under there and he replied, ‘A piece-of-junk Mercedes.’ I said I wanted to test drive it, and after two hours of cleaning snow off of it and out of it, I got my wish and limped it around on its test drive. I knew immediately I was going to buy this car regardless of how neglected it was.”
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Given that there was $45,000-worth of work needed on the car (to bring it back to showroom condition, mind you) didn’t make the sale go any slower, but it probably made the sale go a hell of a lot easier than the salesman ever expected.
The repairs on the car didn’t scare Mike away, however, and soon he found himself in the possession of a CL600 V12. While most people might be afraid of owning such a car with a known temperamental attitude toward working, Mike was sure to dispel that myth, and then some.
“People are afraid to change the 24 spark plugs the car comes with, let alone what I was planning on doing to it.”
“People are afraid to change the 24 spark plugs the car comes with, let alone what I was planning on doing to it,” Mike said.
Owning this fixer-upper wasn’t just about the repairs. Soon after the car got back into a good mechanical spec, modifications were already floating around and planned in Mike’s mind. Admiring Mike’s two-year-long journey is not only amazing, but mesmerizing as well.
From day one, Mike knew this car wouldn’t remain broken, or stock for long. Troublesome areas like ABC would be addressed, as well as a host of other things, but the main focus would be the engine. It was going to be a massive powerhouse, and maximizing the ponies out of that V12 was paramount. As a result, the repair work soon turned into performance work. Such a glorious car should have a big V12 producing at least 1,000 horsepower, but for the CL, it’s not like there’s much in the way of aftermarket performance to achieve that.
From the very start, ABC was going to be removed, and as promised, that’s what happened. Coilovers took the place of the original system, and in combination with a non-ABC steering pump, all the problems of a saggy suspension were gone. Mike notes, “I decided to convert to coilover suspension and retrofit a non-ABC tandem steering pump and completely delete the hydraulic system.”
Making this car into a ballistic missile had two steps, however. Step one included a Nitrous Express system. It wasn’t an easy step, though. “This was tricky […] because there is no support or how-tos for these vehicles,” Mike said. After several passes at the strip, Mike concluded spray would only do so much. It became evident that small turbos were the limiting factor, and that’s when things got a bit crazy. Once again Mike decided it was time to start from scratch and really go for all-out numbers. Under-hood room meant you couldn’t really get bigger turbos in there, so his solution created a world-first kind of build.
Room under the hood meant that turbo size couldn’t really get any larger, and with ultimate power in mind, the decision was made to go to one big turbo. The biggest hurdles came from making the exhaust handle a single-remote-turbo setup. Manifolds for a non-turbo CL600 were used, and along with endless other parts of custom fabrication, the exhaust ultimately mated to a BorgWarner 78mm turbo. Difficulties didn’t end there, though.
“I welded all of the custom bends (which proved difficult on a V12) followed by the mid-piping and to the trunk’s T4 flange. I used 2.5-inch piping leaving the engine and merged to 3-inch piping staggered in the back and heavily wrapped to keep the air hot going to the turbo.”
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Obviously getting the engine to play nicely with this new setup was a bit of a challenge. Eurocharged helped supply a solution to both the ECU and TCU, with the latter receiving SLR-upgraded solenoids from the hypercar’s 722.6 transmission.
The turbo itself was mounted in a plexiglass housing in a cutout panel in the trunk. Not only does this mean it is on full display if you were to take a look inside, but it also leaves room for important supporting components of the turbo. A standalone oil reservoir with boost controller, blow-off valve, oil temperature sensor, sump pump, pressure sensor and oil cooler are all located out back with the turbo. With all of those components, a more efficient water-to-air cooler was used for the intercooler under the hood.
The goal of 1,000 horsepower sure seems like it’s reachable at this point, and final dyno tuning and testing is currently underway. The car won’t be a trailer-queen, either. Sponsorships from Toyo Tires, Apex Turbo, Glowshift Gauges and more ensure Mike that he’ll have a car ready to take on a planned cross-country road trip. “I am hoping to hit my goal of 1,000 HP this year and will be doing so after a cross-country Rt66 road rally in August,” Mike notes of his current state of the build.
MBWorld will be eager to see the progress, Mike.
Make sure to check out the gallery below, which includes all of the unsightly beginnings, and the current ultra-polished final product you see in the videos above.
