3pointedSTAR

Since my C200K share the same general engine design with the 230K (m111), would it be possible for me to change the crank shaft to increase my engine capacity? what else would I need to change? I'm assuming I'll also have to change the rods between the piston and the crankshaft.
Do you guys see any problems with this mod? The ECU should be fine right?

cheers

3point

NJPaprika230

JEEBUS CHRISTMAS!!!! Why didn't you just get a C230K to begin with?!?!

3pointedSTAR

I would have if I could have but not enough money unfortunately...

a lenghty explanation... stop reading now if you have better things to do...

Thailand has one of the highest luxury car tax in the 200 to 300% bracket... my C200K costs USD80,000... yup eighty grand US. still at that price Thailand remains the top buyer of Mercedes-Benz cars second only to Germany. Bangkok streets are littered with Mercs... to the same degree as Fords are in the US and Holdens are in Oz. As nasty as it seems, I'm sure you folks in the west don't see many E200 (non kompressor) around your neck of the woods... oh yea also the BMW 520
Secondly road tax is based on engine capacity...

I wish I was back in Australia, but I'm stuck here for a while... you guys in developed countries don't know how lucky you are especially in the US where M3's and C32's are cheap as (thai) chips hehehe

bajaiman

I'll be damned!!! .... US$80K for a C200K???? ... I thought I got ripped by Oz MB!!! .... But still I envy those guys in US where you can get a C32 for the same price as a C320 in Oz ... crap

Anyway.....say for example if you are importing a used C32 engine and have it installed in your car... can that be done overthere?? would you have to pay a lot more tax?

3pointedSTAR

engine transplants are possible, and common here in thailand, this is because we don't update our rego to reflect the new engine

The most common engine here is the Toyota 2JZ-GTE and that engine gets shoved into everything from a tiny little BMW 3 series to a 1 tonne ute.

I don't think I can afford a bigger engine, transmission, drive train and brakes, nor can I afford the freight costs, so I was just thinking of converting the 200K to a 230K which should be good for about 40HP I think. The engines are identical, just the stroke length is different from what I've read on this board. If this is so, I'll just replace the crankshaft and piston rods with those from the 230K... I'm sure I'll be able to source these parts from wreckers in Germany (it's useful to have a german speaking friend )

bajaiman

Yo 3pointedstar....if its that simple then i want to upgrade mine too ... but I really doubt if its gonna be that simple altho I'm wishing it is :p .... maybe somebody in this board can share any insights if this is doable?

Btw...have you installed your ASP/Kleemann pulley yet?

3pointedSTAR

yes yes... someone please share... from what I feel (although not very technically minded) if the stroke increases, then more air can get sucked in... I can compensate for more fuel by setting stage 3 right?

Bajaiman... ASP pulley 4 weeks into manufacture..should be a few weeks now. so far I've got brabus block V 17", koni shocks, apex springs, brabus exhaust and tips...

all this stuff is just piled on the floor in my house waiting for my car to return. so far I've got the springs on as well as a set of lorinser D93's from my w202

Oh the reason why my car is in the shop... just 3000 Kms old, some bloody ****** rearended me so hard I had to slice off the rear boot section and weld on a new piece. Car's been in the panel beaters for over four months now as parts had to be shipped from europe. Thank god I've still got another c200K to drive around with...although stock standard (family's emergency car... not allowed to touch it hehehe)

I'm also trying to find a japanese off-the-shelf intercooler that fits...so far I've found an HKS slimline front mount for a Honda civic which fits perfectly, but its about the same size as the stock intercooler...so I'm still looking. also playing around with an air intake setup.. but there's such little space, I found the space behind the driver (for us guys ) side headlights, but plumbing is a problem.

cheers...

3pointedSTAR

check out

http://www.eworx.net/blackbeauty

for more sad pics

Mike T.

Ha! You think that's good?

Come on up to Canada then. The C32 costs under $43 K US up here

A C 230 K costs about $22 K US here.

Hey, we're both part of the commonwealth...share and share alike, right?



Cheers

tberry

I must say you guys pay through the nose for cars (guess we do have it pretty lucky in US) but how can you afford $80k (you cant buy cars on credit and monthly payments in Thailand right?), same thing goes for those in Hong Kong and stuff, (are we in the legit business? kidding). On the other hand instead of trying to make your 200k a 230k isnt there performance parts you can get that'll make it as fast if not faster than a 230k for alot less $$$$ and headache.

3pointedSTAR

lucky people... still for being part of the commonwealth you guys drive on the wrong side of the road... heheh

bajaiman

Is your car covered by insurance?? … I mean your car should’ve been a write off from the insurance company for a severe damage like that…. If you have to weld your car aren’t you worried about the stiffness of the car when you do corners? A welded chassis won’t be as good as a 1 whole piece chassis I would’ve imagined.

How about custom made intercooler??…since the labour cost in Thailand is not as expensive as in Oz or US you might be able to do some experiments

3pointedSTAR

we do pay through the nose for luxury cars. sad isn't it... buts this is a country where corruption is an accepted way of life..

my business in legit... (in Thailand) anywhere else I would be locked up by the IRS hehehe... OK OK monopolys are not banned here... nor is price hiking or sudden profiteering... tax can also be evaded if you know the right people and give them a new car

you can buy cars on credit, but most Thais with enough money buys with cash. Thailand is an economically messed up place... asian economic crisis started here... its like 20% of the population owns the country... how's this for corruption... the Prime Minister here is also the richest business man in the country... holds a monopoly of all communications IN/OUT of the country, telephone, cell networks, data links, cable TV, ISP... oh yea, he's also a high ranking police officer... how that for f**ked up?!?... he personally (not through a public company) owns the only two sattelites in the country.

I have inquired about the Brabus stroke kit for the C200K, which will increase the displacement to 2.6L but as you know Brabus is expensive...I have not asked for the proce but all I know is the Brabus pulley is going to set me back about 1200 Euros, imagine how much a bore/stroke kit would cost from Brabus! the rated output for this kit is 250HP... not too good considering if I can just change the crank/piston rods to 2.3 and with an ASP pulley I can get 230HP (averege HP from other members of this board with pullied 230K), I already have Brabus muffler and am putting on a new intercooler which would be good for about 15-20HP.

bajaiman

hahahha LOL ... a good one , I paid almost US$40K for my C200K and US$87K for C32 back here in Oz...I'd say you Canadians are very lucky ... btw... are commonwealth countries all RHD cars??

3pointedSTAR

yup I'm insured... thank god...

the car's not a write off cus the damage didn't touch the suspension... just the boot section.

thanks for mentioning the possible trouble when cornering... will install a strut bar in the rear... only problem is that my boot space will be severely decreased... great MB techs placed the strut mount points in the middle of the boot storage space.

yes yes labour costs here is dirt cheap... I will experiment and keep you posted.

3pointedSTAR

geez prices have dropped in Oz... I bought my C200 (non compressor) W202 on the gold coast in Jan 1997 for A$73000

eerrr... do any of us actually work?? (myself included) hrrmm..

JeT

In Singapore, a 3 or 4 year old Honda Accord costs around $60K US. I think an new M3 would be close to 150-200K US. The governtment introduced a scheme whereby you have to obtain a certificate of entitlement to own a car, the price being based on your engine size. In general the price of any car in Singapore works out to be 2-3 times the price in the US. The idea was to limit the number of cars on the road but it didn't work...the type of car you drive is such a high status symbol in such Asian countries people still buy them.

Naughty Pants

Sell the 200K and I'll send you my car for $60,000.

3pointedSTAR

would love to but I'll still be taxed at the port... hrmm... $60K time 2... $120K all up minus the shipping charges besides the steering wheel's on the wrong side

but I WILL buy your engine for $6000 hehehe

bajaiman

If you’re willing to pay that much…why don’t you try to source a C320 engine? Smoother than 4 Cyl...I’m sure somebody in US can sell you the engine for US$6000

3pointedSTAR

bugger... forgot about the currency sign.... I mean A$6000... still thinking in aussie dollars..

oh yea, was checking out the C32 engine thread yesterday... I guess I need more than the engine right? like I'll need the transmission, drive train, new brakes, new springs and shocks to support the added weight, new ECU, new intercooler (c32 engines are water intercooled thus more plumbing and pumps)... I not prepared to go to all that trouble

But the 200 to 230 still sounds feasible and should be cheap (just crankshaft and piston rods) I will go to my dealer and ask about the parts and the cost.

Oh like I said before 500HP+ 2JZ-GTE engines (supra twin turbo) are everywhere... laid on the ground in the hundreds at the sunday markets... going for about A$3000 per engine (reconditioned)...

but since my w203 is only done 3000 ish KMs I wanna keep that though for later...hrmm... come to think of it, that's exactly what I need for my ageing white w202 C180 locked away in a storage yard...

Mike T.

Nope, left-hookers be here

Cheers

Spyke

At the very least you'd need the crankshaft, connecting rods, and pistons. (This would assume the bore and deck heights between the two engines are the same.) I doubt the ECU would work fine... you just increased displacement by 15%, and are talking about numerous other mods to boot.

There may also be other components that are different to provide clearance for the longer stroke. The heads/combustion chambers may be different. Cam profiles? Valve sizes? Throttle body? Manifolds? I'm not familiar enough with this engine to give you any specifics... it could even be the block would need to be machined to provide the needed clearances.

All in all, I'd guess you don't know enough to do the mod yourself. So... you're going to pay someone else to rebuild your engine with non-stock components and all the development that goes in to making them work.

It would almost certainly be cheaper in the long run to swap engines???

3pointedSTAR

Spyke,

But my assumption was based on the Brabus kit for my C200K which converts it from a 2.0 to a 2.6L, the brabus kit comes with crankshaft, pistons, connecting rods and an ECU upgrade.

If Brabus can go all the way to 2.6 without all the other stuff you mentioned I was just hoping an upgrade to 2.3 would not be too hard.

I'm waiting for a reply from Brabus as I type about the exact contents of the kit.

I have no experience with Mercedes engines, I have fiddled with numerous Toyota engines especially the 1JZ and 2JZ family, have increased to stroke of these engines from 2.5L to 2.8L... didn't replace the ECU, just the crank, rods and cams & timing belt...

Hrrmm.. the more I think of it the more complex it is becoming. I think I'll stop here... thanks to all who's tried to help out.

I think I'll just stick to a fast Jap car instead

3point

JeT

Yo 3point, how much was your Brabus setup? I wish they had a Brabus outfit in Australia...haven't seen one in Sydney and there's no chance of there being one in Brisbane.