May have already been brought up just haven't found it. But custom intake system for a C55? Or just go with the K&N's??

Found one online but just had two chrome pipes leading off the air box with filters on the end which would be something I would be looking to get but kinda defeats the purpose of the box all together.

ANy input?

 

Rentech is the only one worth buying thath makes proven power other than Rentechs i would just go with the K&N replacement. All the other ones are open to heat soak from engine and not a true cold air.

 

you can run the 55k airbox. they have better flow than the NA 55 airbox

 

I just put in the K&N air filters recently in my stock C55 air box, WHOA! What a world of difference in response, sound and gas milage.

I would say get the 55K air boxes from the E55 as they do flow better and keeps the car with MB OEM parts. Don't know on cost though...

Open air type you might get more heat from the engine bay, I think hooley has one like that. I've seen that chrome pipe one your talking about also, I don't think it will do much for performance just using those, just make the engine bay look nicer.

Any one know the RENNtech or E55 air box prices?

 

Really?

 

K&N's really do much???

 

There have been a ton of debates on the forum on stock vs. Green vs. K&N. K&Ns and Greens show slight gains on the dyno but nowhere near enough to notice on the butt dyno and defnitely not a world of difference, especially if otherwise stock....

 

if you can feel a big difference by putting in new filters, you were doing it wrong.

 

I have the Renntech airbox with K&Ns and I don't think I could ever "feel" a difference -- although the dyno consistently showed I picked up about 6rwhp/tq with the Renntech. Perhaps your stock filters were extremly dirty...

 

"World of difference"=old and dirty stock filters replaced with brand new clean ones...

 

with higher flow filters, you may pick up a whp or two, but you will likely not feel that....rather just the increased throttle response.....some also claim to see increased gas mileage.

 

Stock OEM air filters were clean, they were barely 2 months old. The overall throttle response is what i was referring to feeling a difference in. Never said anything in regards to hp.

 

Some says OEMs are better than any aftermarket filters.. Supposed to clean better too...
I went with Green and 1st filter fell apart but 2nd one has been problem free.. (i think)..
K&N would be better choice imo...and With renntech airbox, thats a win win combo..

 

K&Ns will go "bad" once u drive in for a while, since it's oiled, all sand, dust particles get stuck there, next thing you know, you get a dirty filter very quickly.

The best i've figured is Stock filters, open up ur airbox every 800-1000 miles, dump out the sand and dust, and you're good to go again.

Next step up would be a hollowed out airbox which i've done, it DOES make a difference in terms of "noise" the engine seems to growl a bit louder

 

I know most people would like to keep the stock engine bay look, so there isn't much to be had with intake modification as far as just changing the filter/box type. Maybe a few whp/wtq. My custom cone filter intake showed nearly 20whp/20wtq gain on dyno in it's incomplete stage. That's with the 185MM and tune. I'm sure minimal gains with stock engine setup.

 

let's see a pic of your setup. Why would there be less gains on a 55? it has more power stock, so gains should be there as well. Are you the one with the dual cones with heat shields that another shop made for you? Whomeoever that was had a pretty slick setup. Another idea would be to route cones into the bumper like the old saleens did. Only problem is when they get wet though.

 

https://mbworld.org/forums/c32-amg-c...om-intake.html

I did all the work myself, so you must be thinking of someone else. The reason I say you won't see much gain on a stock engine is because the intake design is to spec of the engine. The stock air boxes will flow enough, so you will see minimal gains. However, a modified engine requires more air, and freeing up any air flow restriction tends to increase power more substantially.

 

Yeah that's definitely different than the one to which I was referring. The other one looked much more like the K&N and actual production sealed off boxes with cones. On yours there doesn't look to be much area around the cone filters to flow...

 

Ehh, they are conical filters with an open end. Plenty of area around the filters..

 

one thing to point out Gary is that the K&N and any other washable filters are all applied with oil to help attract those dust and dirt.

after using it for a while it actually helps filter better with some build up particles. all you need is to rinse it out with water if you don't want to actually clean them with cleaner and reapply oil.

 

Well here's some pics of how I insulated my stock airbox.
I was very intimidated one 90 degree day when I brought the car into the garage from about a 10 min drive, popped the hood to let the motor cool, and found that the air cleaner and feed tubes were so hot I could barely handle them to get them off! The inside of the air cleaner was also very hot.
So off to Home Depot to see what I could find , and came out with the self adhesive and reflective R-3 insulation in the pictures. It was very easy to put on and I believe I felt quite a difference in throttle response at highway speeds with these changes. I also removed the top bar of the grill for better ram effect(it was a little bug scarred anyway), as well as the rear underhood gasket. Some testing with shop air showed that the air was flowing nicely over the engine in this configuration, and flowing nicely out of the rear of the hood.
I know this is also a high pressure area at the base of the winshield at elevated speeds so it may not flow over the engine as well, but I do believe it works to evacuate heat at around town speeds. You can see the heat coming out at the stoplights. I do believe the insulation keeps quite a bit of temp out of the intake charge. I can remove the air cleaner easily after long runs because it does not seem to heat soak as badly. I am thinking of adding another layer shortly-

 

I did mine like this,

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...-pictures.html

Andy

 

I was thinking about running a 3" intake tube down to the area by the passenger side fog light and putting the air filter there. I think I could do it with minimal bends. I think something like that would make it easier for the engine to suck the air in. It might not look as good as the stock setup, but the stock air box doesn't seem like it would work too well for maximizing air flow.

I am going to try and work something up in a couple weeks. I will start a thread do discuss my plans, reasoning, and post pictures. Stay tuned (pun intended)!

 

I was thinking along the same lines. The big square plasticbox sitting on top of the hot intake manifold just does not seem optimal to me for cooling and maximizing the airflow to the TB. I'm looking forword to your posts!

 

Funny thing is that Kleemann DOES NOT recommend the use of KNs or any other after market filters other than stock for their SC applications. Don't know why BUT they don't.