Quaife LSD is by far the best mod for the C32. The A2 Sprintbooster is second. The power mods are in third. Add all three and the car rocks.

 

I'm curious to know if all Stage 1 kits makes the same amount
of boost.

Also curious what PSI Stage 2 EVO kit makes over the Stage 1.

 

$7,000 for stage 2?! Ouch! Our cars retail in the pathetic mid-$20k range. Seems for the money it's hardly worth it and we all know mods add little, if any resale to the car. You could buy one hell of a crate motor for $7k with no miles and more hp if that is the final goal.

 

The boost is the same. Gains come from headers and air box.

 

Thanks for the response Vadim, can you verify what PSI gains
are from each Stg1 you sell? This would help any potential buyer
for you.

 

Yes the cars have dropped quite a bit. However, that does nothing for the pricing.

Pricing is based on quantity. And with C32 (as with nearly all Mercedes parts) you cannot make 1000 kits at a time. So you cannot get any economy of scale pricing (like with a domestic or import tuner car).

There is always a law of diminishing returns with modifying your car. Ever subsequent dollar you spend will buy you less HP, giving you less value. It becomes more and more expensive to get to the maximum output. This is true with ALL tuner and race cars however. Again, even smaller quantities produced and it takes more expensive parts and engineering to get gains.

This is a sad reality with modding a car. As is the fact that adding mods will in fact 99% of the time lower the resale even more (not just keep it level). However, I really doubt that those of us with the modding bug do this for resale (especially with a car like the C32 which is a niche tuner vehicle).

Now, if you can get a crate motor for $7K that will bolt into the W203 chassis and work with all the electronics and give you more power - SHARE THAT INFO. I know of nothing that could possibly exist that fits that criteria.

Thanks
Brad

 

I love C32's !

 

As with the larger HE and other parts, it may not be a direct bolt on or plug and play setup for a crate motor, but as with anything, if you want it bad enough and have the know how, it could be made to work im sure. But no, I don't know of any, though I haven't looked either.

I can understand that each additional hp squeezed out if going to cost more and be harder to unleash, but for such nominal gains at a cost of (in some cases) more than 1/3 of the price of the vehicle, I just don't see the point. Even if you have deep pockets and are a hard core tuner, its seems most would be better of with the money put towards an E55, CLK63 black edition(), or something along those lines.

To each his own though. Guess I'm just thinking outloud. I will continue to slowly piece my way up to a stage II.

 

Right, so I am with you. However, you post made it seem like $7k would get you the mod, and it only gets you half way. Expect another 5-10K in install, electronic work, etc.

Sure makes parts that bolt on the first time with no fuss and that give you a reliable and known power boost look better and better!

I totally understand your position. But that is why these things are made, as there are people who see the point.

Nothing wrong with thinking out loud or going slow (unless you are on track!).

Thanks
brad

 

I see where you are coming from but I still don't buy it (no pun intended). Take for example headers. Once there is a template, they can be cranked out. Now for the pulleys, once the correct spacing/sizing/weight etc is figured out they can be machined out like crazy. I can probably find a dozen machine shops through google that could crank those out for a reasonable price.

I know these cars were exclusive, and I mean were simply because of how much they can be picked up for, but it still seems like the tuners are still sticking it to us with the costs. I could probably have Kooks fab up a set of equal length headers for cheaper. It is just sad that tuners automatically upcharge like crazy if it's a BMW or MB.

Just think if our aftermarket came down more in the lines of say the Honda aftermarket how many more German cars would be tooling around with big horsepower. In a perfect world I guess. I wonder what would make the most business sense, charge an arm and a leg and maybe sell a handfull, or lower the cost and sell a lot of handfulls? Tuners need to rethink their pricing structure because if people aren't paying the rates they are advertising then that's a recipe for failure.

 

I completely agree w/ your other comments, but just wanted to reflect on the amazing world we live in where 350hp isn't considered "big" horsepower anymore, especially out of Germany, where sport sedans with 400 hp are becoming more commonplace, and it takes pushing 500 to still raise some eyebrows...

Fortunately, the C32 and C55 are both tuneable up into these ranges - but you're right, you've gotta pay to play in those ranges... if I had to guess, we won't see much decline in C32 tuning product prices - instead, you'll just start to see tuners dropping that model from their range of products.

 

Does GMG have any other branches anywhere?

 

exactly...350 crank hp is very 2001...

 

At this time Southern California is our only location.

 

Sorry if this is but I did an advanced search and couldn't find info, so instead of starting a new thread, I figured I'd ask it here: I remember seeing that Brabus created a 3.7 liter displacement upgrade for the C32 engine, and I'm a bit surprised that no one else (to my knowledge) took this approach, or has added it as a "Stage III" proposition.

I would think a C32 w/ upgraded pullies, intake, 3.7L displacement, HE & IC pump, & headers would be squarely in C63 territory - at least from a power standpoint...

 

I think Brabus and Renntech sold a stroker kit for the C320 - not sure about the C32 AMG. A stroker job for the C32 to convert it to 3.7 / 3.8 liters would have to involve changing the pistons so that we could lower the compression ratio and make the stroker motor safe.

 

Not necessarily, it depends on the amount of stoke that the engine can take. Generally the crank and rods are changed out leaving the pistons alone. What would determine this is if the increased stoke would necessitate the wrist pin to be located higher up on the piston. A little more homework would answer this question. One thing is for sure... I'd hate to see the price tag on that one!

 

Mercedes made 3.7L version of the V6 in 2005-2007. It was used in W163 ML350 and W220 S350. If I recall correctly it was a new block with a larger bore.

This option is still offered byRenntech. $10K plus.

 

did the w203 C350 use a different engine than the models you cited?

All I can remember is that Brabus's old website listed a C32 mod using 3.7L displacement - the specs weren't off the charts, I think they listed it at something like 404 hp (PS maybe ... whatever the difference is) - but it was just ECU, pullies, and displacement increase, I believe. And yeah, I'd guess price was off the charts...

Anyway, sorry for the off-topic tangent.