You guys are awesome. I definitely have some good ideas now, thanks to the excellent posts.

Thanks for the knowledge on the performance chips. I gather that when it comes to chipping anything that sells for less than $300 is probably gonna be a gimmick. I was kinda bummed when I read the post about how expensive ECU mods were(just under $2000). I wish the guy that was posting about it did before and after dynos, but I understand that he was just excited to get it done, and the project was already expensive enough without the dyno tests.

I think I'm going to get the clear corners, and get the stealth bulbs to get the yolk out to start with.

The body kits that I've found are either too subtle, or too over the top. I haven't found anything in between. If you have found otherwise please post your findings.

I want some suggestions on grill mods. I have the grey C350 sport. Can you chrome dip the factory grill? Please post your favorite grills.

I'm think about removing the chrome side strips.

Also, please post your favorite tail light mods/upgrades.

Keep the great suggestions coming. I'm having fun with this. I'm just itching to make this car my own, and add as much extra performance as possible. I think it's gonna be hard though because this car is already pretty fast to being with.

Upgrades are so much easier on Midnight Club!

 

Jen Kenne,

You have a segway? Can I ride shotgun?

 

Dude, those cars were ugly! I'm sure there is some better stuff out there. Right?

 

LMAO!!! OH MAN, you don't know how bad I was hoping you'd say that! LMAO!!! Seriously though, the nicest kits I've found so far are the Carlsson, Lorinser and Brabus ones. Subtle, not over the top but still not exacltly to my tastes. My guess is it'll be awhile before some really nice ones hit the market. My tastes lean more toward Auto Couture. They make some really classy kits IMO.
http://www.auto-couture.com/index_en.html

They don't make anything for us yet but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

Take your car to Chip Foose and let him do the job for you.

 

sprintbooster does not make your car faster nor get you into your powerband more quickly. it makes your car respond faster by advancing throttle position, giving it the appearance or "feel" of being faster. its like say you go 1/3 on throttle vs 1/2 on throttle. After sprintbooster, 1/3 will now be more than 1/3

45 CRANK hp and tq, or 45 WHEEL hp and tq?

even with your exhaust mods:

Eisenmann Quad Race Exhaust (sound - 5whp minus weight addition)
Secondary Cat-Delete (sound - 5whp, though doubt any)
Renntech Headers (max of 10-15 without tune)

that sounds super high to be wheel numbers on just exhaust.....maybe all of that with K&Ns and a lighter weight crank pulley and a tune will net you 45 more to the wheels....maybe. its an N/A V6.

 

Well thats the whole point, of sprint booster, it is to get rid of that annoying delay in the throttle response. We know, it doesn't make your car "faster" its just more responsive. And as far as power, I do believe its possible to get another 45, if not higher hp/tq (at the crank...not wheels) with an ecu/exhaust. I can't tell you the exact figures, because I have not dyno'd my car personally. The only thing I can say, is it is night and day difference. As far as deleteing the cats, it actually gives more power than you think. Think about it, when the exhaust flows out of the motor, it get restricted by the cats. Thus robbing us of power. About 7-10% of power. Are exhaust is so choked from those secondary cats. With the renntech headers they leave the primary cats, but they have converted them in to hi-flow ones-less restrictive, but keeps the CEL off. Thus allowing us to gain an additional 32-38 hp and 36-40 tq. Secondary cat delete does not throw a CEL. But must be replaced when going in for service or a emission test. I will say however, after replaceing the whole exhaust and getting the ecu re-tuned. You have basically, exhausted the performance aspects of this car. Air filters and pulleys are secondary mods.

 

GM did this by making the accelerator pedal progressive, rather than linear.

 

night and day on your car might be 10-15 whp, because the percentage increase is much greater over the baseline than what it would be on a car that dynos higher numbers

7-10%? sounds arbitrary. i can tell you that C55's have a more restrictive exhaust and that the secondary cat deletes on them result in a max of 7-10 WHP (and they have two of them). i'm aware that deleting them does not result in a CEL as they are not monitored by the car's stock narrowband O2 sensors.

you will pass emissions with secondary cats. they are basically worthless. SL55s pass all day with high flow race primary cats, deleted secondaries, deleted resonator....in CA. will they pass visual? idk......no visual inspection here but their deletion will not result in your failing emissions testings. and for service? only thing that would happen is they void your exhaust warranty. big whoop.

and the 32-38 hp and 34-40 tq? are there dynos that show this? those are ridiculous gains (again, i'm assuming wheel numbers). LS1s that do full exhaust (LTs, ypipe, and catback) might see 40whp, and those cars are choked to death from the factory.

and air filters i would consider to NOT be a secondary mod....rather should be the first thing.....i'll keep it simple. your car needs air. you add more air (to a point), its good for the car and it doesnt choke as much top end.

yes pulley would be a secondary mod but a mod nonetheless. less rotating mass = less power lost = power gained back

 

You say I sound arbitrary " i can tell you that C55's have a more restrictive exhaust and that the secondary cat deletes on them result in a max of 7-10 WHP (and they have two of them)." Thats funny because its an amg.

"and for service? only thing that would happen is they void your exhaust warranty. big whoop." Really my friend removed his cats from his 335i and they where telling him he was going to get fined and they didn't want him to service his car their. The only reason I removed mine, is because me and my family are very close with the owner, of the dealership and we have purchased many cars, from their, over the years.

"and air filters i would consider to NOT be a secondary mod....rather should be the first thing.....i'll keep it simple. your car needs air. you add more air (to a point), its good for the car and it doesnt choke as much top end." I'll keep it simple, since the 80's mercedes have standard cold air/ram air boxes. Believe me, these car are getting plenty of air.

 

Whats so funny about it? Let’s look at a few examples off the top of my head
1) C63 AMG being detuned via the ECU from the factory, leading to lower power numbers than the other AMGs with the exact same motor. Weird? No. Didn’t want the car to compete with the sale of “higher, more expensive models”
2) Mercedes-Benz publishes lower power numbers for the E55. Why? Same reason as above. It puts down just slightly less power than all the other M113ks. Didn’t want it to compete with the SL55, CL55, S55, etc….
3) Other restrictions? Let’s take a look at the charcoal filters put in the intakes of cars like the C63 and the E63. VRP (a reputable tuner on mbworld and on the westcoast) has dyno’d gains of 18rwp on an E63 just by removing these and replacing them with regular intake filters. Weird…..why would AMG do that?
4) How about the more restrictive intake snorkel placed on the E55 so the power is less and so, again, does not compete with the other M113ks? Many guys replace them with the proper snorkel that should be there to get the normal power numbers.
Before you comment on AMGs, know your stuff bud.
Wow….bad example for you. haha…..ok. I’ll take this through 2 different routes.
1. You are talking about the BMW 335i, more specifically the N54 motor. This car and motor has been sweeping the nation in issues at dealerships. Why? Because it is extremely easy to mod. Some modding has led to many problems, such as issues with the waste gates and problems with cylinders 5 and 6. So what has BMW done? They have implemented a mandatory software “update” that can now detect if mods have been placed on the car. They are going beyond out of their way to detect these things. MB doesn’t do that. They don’t expect that with the owner’s of their cars as much, as it is commonly accept that MB owners buy MB for the luxury element while BMW owners buy BMW for the driver’s experience.
2. Now, why did that dealership b.tch out your friend? Well first off, sure he can get fined for removing cats. Anyone can get fined by doing that. But that is the secondary reason (if a reason at all) as to why the denied him service. The 335i is twin-turbo’d. Not sure if you are familiar with tubo’d motors, so in case you aren’t, this is basically how turbos work: a turbo is propelled by exhaust gas coming out from the engine. This power is used to compress the intake gas to the engine. As the amount of exhaust gas increases, it will increase the speed of turbine and thus a greater and greater amount of air is taken for compression. This in turn increases the system intake pressure….what you know as boost. Exhaust on turbo’d cars has a direct effect on boost, which is why you can slap a downpipe on an STI and pick up 30whp by upping the boost. Increasing the boost increases the stress on the engine, which is expensive. BMW doesn’t want you messing with the engine, and deleting the catalytic converters will mess with the exhaust flow on a turbo’d car and thus the engine. This is why they wouldn’t service your friend’s car.
Exhaust does not drive a supercharger. Naturally aspirated motors and S/C motors are not affected by exhaust like turbo’d cars are, which is why MB won’t be looking for your secondaries being deleted regardless. I know countless guys with M112ks and M113ks with extended factory warranties or secondary party warranties and their dealership couldn’t care less about exhaust mods. Heck, Hooleyboy has a supercharged C55 and the dealership just covered his power steering under warranty. So to recap, exhaust on turbo’d cars affects motor, so they look for it……exhaust on your car and other N/A and S/C’ed cars? Again, big freakin whoop.
Believe you? what makes you the expert as to decide whether these cars are getting enough air? you haven’t made any argument at all. All you are saying is “trust Mercedes. They know best. They look to maximize the performance of your car.” I remember when I used to be naïve like this. Though I am glad to see you noticed that Mercedes has a cold air or ram intake setup. So do a lot of other cars. Why do you think intake mods are generally the first mods done on a car? Perhaps because AIR is needed for combustion of the fuel? That’s an interesting one. Why would an intake on the SLK32 add 30whp (look it up, needswings.com)? Clearly not getting plenty of air. Or perhaps the LET intake picking up 17whp on a C32? The 335i chokes above 360whp and will gain 20+ after switching to a better flowing intake (look it up). The stock intake on the LS1 camaros is a ram air, but doing the common “intake lid” mod the SS’s have nets a 10whp gain.
But wait, I guess we’re only talking about filters. Ok fine. So you have your stock filter versus your aftermarket K&N or Green or BMC or w/e you wanna use. Why change intake filters? More air flows through, better throttle response, better acceleration. If you’re modding your car, it will choke with all exhaust mods and no intake mods (may require more than filters). A stock C32 running a 13.9 at 101.6 tried out K&N filters and ran a 13.4 at 104.58, and tried out Green filters (same day) running a 13.4 at 103.9. SOoooo what is that, an ETA improvement of 0.5 seconds and an increase in trap speed of 2-3mph? weird….”intake filters must not do much”