Saijin_Naib

Im sure that a thousand threads have been written concerning this stuff, and ive waded through 20 pages thus far, but I think that maybe there is more recent developments in this front?
------------
First, www.cksperformance.com Are they trustworthy? Their parts seem to be exteremly expensive (9200USD for the Mosselman turbo and 7000USD from Mosselman) but they do have things that I am interested in...
------------
Secondly, they have this information for tuning w124s..

ECU upgrade Maximum power: + 30bhp (i read something like 12-18 actual)
K&N High flow air filter: +4bhp
Ramair Induction kit Maximum power : + 12bhp
Power free flow Catalytic converters Maximum power : + 20 bhp (200cell vs 400cell standard)
Exhaust system for all E class models Maximum Power: + 5 bhp
300E/ 300CE / 300TE Biturbo (’85 –‘95) 24v Power: Torque: [220 bhp/265 NM] to [317 bhp/425 NM]
-------------
Now, I know that list will probably run me somewhere in the neighborhood of 12k and above, and with that kind of money I should just buy another car that would be faster stock... but the point is, I love my w124 and I want to keep it forever and its not wasted money IF these parts do actually work and I can find the damn things.
-------------
Thirdly, I am a resident of the US of A, and this CKS performance is based in the UK, thus meaning im going to get smacked by GBP vs USD and VAT and shipping like whoa. Does anyone have first-hand experience with these parts and know what they are/who they are from/part number/where I can get them/ how much they run USD? I know, its a ton of questions.. but Ive been digging around on the interenet for about three weeks and Im now beginning to find that Im just chasing shadows. I hate being that stupid forum a$$hole that seems like they dont do any research before they ask a huge question, but Im on my last resort now, because I cant find any reliable/definitive information elseqwhere.
------------
Lastly, I saw this bodykit and I completely fell in love with it...
Front:

Rear:

They label it as: D Styling E class W124 Coupe or Saloon. Ive done extensive searches for this product/company and I believe its from some company that they didnt name :C Anyone have any idea on this as well?
------------
On a positive note, www.dragtimes.com now has two entries for 1991 300ce (my entries lolz) and the timeslips are there as well. My 300ce is bone stock right now, so the times are pretty much what factory states (i think?).
------------
Last big favor, I want to call CKS performance and ask them stuff myself so you guys dont, but I dont know how to call outside the US on my phone!!!
These are the numbers they list:
0044 (0)20 8432 6363
0044 (0)1923 897007
------------
Thank you all so much ahead of time, and please dont think less of me for the quantity/difficulty of the questions I have posed here :C Im truly sorry, but cars are not my forte and I dont want to mess up or buy crap because I simply am not knowledgeable. Im a computer geek first, and 300ce enthusiast second. Trust me, Im trying to combine the two Im thinking 300ce with laptop tied into ECU and ICM for some performance readouts XD

Saijin_Naib

bump? :C

crr1612

does it say kompressor under the right tail light?

NorCal124

I think it does say Kompressor.

CDP

lol

AMG_Fred

I say, if you can, why the hell not? Do it! And some of those gains are false scuch as the 30 bhp from exhaust... You will at most get like 8. The body kit pictures are not loading for me so I can't see them... Get the turbo!

Saijin_Naib

I want the turbo, but I cant afford it new (7kUSD from Mosselman) and Im having problems finding it used anywhere in the US :C As for the other stuff, this CKS performance over charges liek crazy and i wnat the part numbers and stuff so i can find them from a US retailer and not get charged VAT and insane shipping and the conversion pwnage :C oh, you misread by the way... its 5+ hp for the exhaust which from what I understand is quite reasonable... the 30+hp was from a combination of the ECU and catalytic converter.. which im not sure about...

neanderthal

while the mercedes is conservatively tuned, its tuned for torque not power, and gaining power by changing just the ECU is not going to gain you any real hp.

possible, but i call bull***** again.




youre not going to find 20hp in a higher flow cat. sorry, not gonna happen. maybe in a chevy or something, but not a benz. the germans know how to optimise thier intakes and exhausts a lot better, and use higher quality materials than the yanks.

possible. but read my comments above again.


turbos can do pretty much anything.

sell your car and buy a 400E if you want performance. fastest and more economical way.

actually you found pretty much all the mods you can do to the benz inline 6. which is to say not much. just a few turbos and a bunch of false claims.

horsepower modifications to benzes require serious cash infusions to benz specialists like lorinser, brabus, AMG and co, but those companies have no interest in modifying your car that is more than ten years old. or supporting the aftermarket for them.

sell your car and buy a 400E. or do an engine swap from one.

Chappy

IMO, the most "economical" way to boost power on your 300CE is to locate a donor C36 motor and tranny and transplant that into your coupe.

Good luck.

cap'n jasper

Removing it altogether will only give you 13 more bhp.

Twin turbo is probably the best way unless you do an engine swap (C36AMG would be a good choice).

Saijin_Naib

hmm... I figured that most of the information they gave was bs but I wanted to check for sure... I know the Mosselman Turbo works well because they build a 300ce race car with it As for the engine swap... your right, thats probably the best thing... my dad (mechanic/benz salesman) said that I could get much better performance just from swapping my gearbox/tranny for the 300D tranny (2.27 to 4.2 something) and my car would scream through the 1/4 and 0-60mph, but id probbaly lose my ability to reach the governed speed of 155 zomg :C I saw a c36 amg engine on ebay but its like 13k :C And getting a new car is not an option, my whole point is to keep this car.. I am aware of the fact that its not cost effective and my car will never be a super car... but thats not what im gunning for you know? I love this car, everything about it... I just feel like theres some things that I want from it that will truly make it my car such as the cosmetic stuff and a slight tweak in performance.. After all that is said and done I can truly say its my benz.. And thanks alot for clarifying that they are lying to me! Some of those numbers seemed extreme I thought... but again, what do I know? Maybe I can go scrapyard hopping for a wrecked c36, but I doubt I will ever find one...

Saijin_Naib

ba-dunka-bump

Saijin_Naib

Okay, so I found out that the kit I love is the Demec Race Kit. Demec is based in Finland, and apparantly CKS performance is the only company that distributes them. Crap. As for the whole raft of modifications, they really are too expensive... I did silverstar treatment (lame, I know) and it did help a little. My next step is going to be to buy new headlights and taillights. Tails Im thinking smoked upper (where white/yellow) and red crystal lower or I found a completely blacked-out tailight.. but Im not sure how those would match up on my burgundy 300ce... and I dont have a computer at home anymore so I cant photoshop it.. anyone? Also, for the headlamps... Do the european lights focus the light better than the american spec ones?

mhorn

You sound like a smart guy. I know the temptation to mod this thing out is very strong, but please for the love of god, save your money and buy another car one day or do smoething else with it. W124's are great cars, they will last forever. The reason these cars were $45k new 15 years ago was because they were engineered to the hilt from the factory. I'm not saying that you have to keep the thing bone stock and anything else is an insult to german engineering. Headlights, body kits, little things to give your car it's own look are great. But think about it logically, are you really going to get $7,000 worth of enjoyment from that turbo? And even then, remember, if you sink a ton of money into this car and god forbid it gets wrecked, all that money will be down the drain. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, just repeating it. Good luck, Matt.

Saijin_Naib

Yeah... I know :C I would like to think that the turbo is worth 7k but I know it really isnt. I almost had one used/pulled from another w124 for 1,200$ but I didnt have the money at the time. As for asthetic stuff like kit/lights, those I will definately do because they are fairly reasonable and not difficult to install. But i also feel as if I should have the performance before the looks.. You know what I mean? Like, if my internals are stock, theres no justification to change the externals. Who knows, Im going to start small & work small first. Big stuff later perhaps. As for the euro lights or the ones you can get from ebay and stuff, do they focus light better? I know they use h3/h4 instead of h3/9004 and that they sorta have focuser cups around the bulbs, but Im not sure if it actually makes a big difference.

mhorn

I've never installed euro lights so I can't say. However, I will tell you that it has been rare in my experience when I felt like I got my money's worth from any aftermarket part I bought. I hear you that you want the performace, but just be happy with what you've got. Your car is already miles ahead of most guys cruising around in wannabe 2fast2furious mobiles. Look at the 500E. Most people would just look at it and think it's a regular mercedes sedan. They have no idea what that car is like under the skin. There is something to be said for cars that don't scream performance from the outside. Would you rather have a fast car that looks slow, or a slow car that looks fast?

Saijin_Naib

true... My dad doesnt let me play with the 500e though :C But I see what your saying.. The tails/headlights are just for ascetics.. Im not a fan of the US 2 piece and the US tail with like 5 colors.. It just doesnt look neat. As for the kit, It doesnt make the car look fast to me, just a little more aggressive. Im probably not going to get the kit. The performance stuff would be nice cause like you said, its not a fast looking car, especially not in burgundy lol . Its also 3000 something pounds and for its weight and lack of power, it did quite nicely when I brought it to the drag strip. (I just wanted a stock benchmark in case I did any performance tuning). Not to say I won, I got spanked by a v8 mustang (96) and a tuned camaro, but thats not bad considering both cars werent stock and both are way lighter (I was 2 sec behind both times). So yeah... This is sorta a wish list for me.. And also a place to put up pictures and stuff of the changes I am going to make as well as ask advice from knowledgeable people. For Instance, will port/polishing my engine get it back to a good running state? Also, Ive heard about doign something to flush out and clean the transmission and replacing with new fluid will decrease shift time and get me some power back to the wheels that was lost to varnsihing and old fluid? Also, Ive heard people tout the benefits of syntetic oil instead of organic. Is this or is this legit? I want to get my car running correctly first as much as possible before I venture into the world of tuning and ups. Please, if anyone has any advice or tips or things they did, please tell me so that I may learn and look into new ideas.
Thanks!
(tails coming soon :p)

SNSMBZ W124

I agree with neanderthal, from what I have heard from others, this is probably your best option. Get the v8!

neanderthal

and euro headlights are not an "aesthetic" modification. they are a functional modification. the federal lights suck ****.

Saijin_Naib

Well thats good to know then! I know, the US/DOT ones blow so hard.. I cant see crap and thats the primary reason I want new headlights. Now, im just struggling between what lights will be better the BOSCH/HELLA euros or the symnic plastic ones (projector style). :C Im at a loss... Yeah.. I guess selling my baby would allow me to get a faster car, but I want this car to be a little beefier.. thats the thing.

shadowgriffen

I may end up going with the projector style ones in black because I just cannot save enough to go the euro route (which is what I was originally intending).

I just couldn't afford 250 + shipping (katmac and several other ebayers...) due to the overwhelming finacial bull**** going on in my life right now...

Saijin_Naib

i was thinking those too but im not sure how theyd look on my purple benz.

shadowgriffen

oh is that like bmw's "aspen silber"? its like this purplish color...its really different.

yea bro...I still dont know how I feel about them since I"m not fond of those other ones (the ones that look like w211 lights, squished together into our healight glass, PUKE)

but I thought , **** it, why not? I'll be the first in around boston to have them (I've never seen anyone with them, not even online, only the simnic ones) So I just went ahead and bought them.

I'll post pix once I get them and once they're on!

Saijin_Naib

94-95 W124 E Class Headlights (w211 style?) - would these fit on 1991?

94-95 W124 E Class Headlights (w211 style?) - same question

86-93 W124 E Class Projector-Style

94-95 W124 E Class Projector-Style (these have nice curved bit on inside edge, will these fit my car?

86-93 W124 Clear Euro Style

86-95 W124 Clear Euro Style


So those are what Ive found so far for our cars. Any ideas? What ones did you order?

shadowgriffen

all of those will fit our cars (pre-facelift) but whatever you do don't get the first two, IMO they just look hideous on our cars!

I ordered the third ones down (86-93 black projector style) even though I STILL WANT EUROS

I'm currently waiting for UPS as I write this as I'm hoping they will come today!

...we shall see!

PS: The sellers of each individual headlight styles say they fit our cars via plu-and-play, therefore, if you do purchase 94-95 headlights, you may also need to purchase 6 pin connectors, since 94-95 cars are 6 pin.

just as an FYI.