gt4awd

I never really introduced myself on this forum. My name is Mattew. This is the second Mercedes-benz I've owned. First one was totaled after someone rear ended me going around 50MPH while I was at a dead stop. Even worse it was the second time I had been rear ended in the span of three months. My old benz was a red 2002 C230 Kompressor Sportcoupe that I had modified some. ASP pulley, silencer removed, and custom intake. Bought it at 91k, and it's life was ended nearing 135k. In that span only one failure being the coolant pump at 115k miles. Here's a few photographs of the good old Sportcoupe. During that time I was only an active member on benzworld.org, username "2002c230".







I made out with almost double the money spent on my Sportcoupe after it was totaled, bought 7.2k, totaled 12.3k, and so I decided a C32 would be the best choice. Found one down in Arizona for 12.5k at 83k miles. Had to take it!

gt4awd

Here are some photographs after I spent several hours cleaning up the exhaust with turtle wax chrome polisher. Also, a photograph after adding clear side indicator covers, and last one showing the new CL style grille with flat hood emblem...








Took the OE splitter plate, and drilled many small holes. Similar to the OE silencers. I then used a $4 dollar FRAM air filter for the filter material, and the cover screen. Had aluminum sheet laying around in the garage from my previous custom intake on the sportcoupe. Placed two sheets of filter material, and sealed with metallic tape. The C32 sounds amazing now! I thought the sportcoupe was great after ASP pulley, and silencer removed. It doesn't compare to the sound of this supercharged v6! Acceleration seems to be slightly faster now. Throttle response is definitely better!

This is what the restrictive rear intake sounds like.

gt4awd

Custom boost and air fuel ratio gauge setup for the AMG. Took some time to get nearly complete, but everything is in place, and working now except for the a/f ratio as I still need to connect the sensor wire to the oxygen sensor. For the boost line I just cut a small hole in the rubber coupler that joins the charge air y-pipe to the intake. Most people spend an hour or so taking out the entire y-pipe, and drilling a hole through the solid metal pipe... Figured there would be an easier way!

The ECU box has four rubber plugs that the OE wiring exiting into the engine bay go through. One of the plugs wasn't used, and I ran the grounds to esp ground, and the boost line. For the positive I pulled fuse 44 for teleaid/telephone placed the wire, and pushed the fuse back in place. Not very professional on that part, but it works without any problems so far...








Here's some photographs on the start of my great power steering experience. The pump gave out leaking fluid through the pulley shaft. Loud whine, and foaming reservoir...

gt4awd

Here's a video of the my c32 going up to 140MPH after modifications.

Dyno sheet showing the difference between 185MM & tune compared to 185MM/tune and my custom intake.



C32 on the above listed dyno run...

Photographs of my incomplete custom intake...

gt4awd

My main issues with the c32 have been related to the power steering system. First the pump gave out, then the pressure line was sliced by the 185MM, and to top it off the o-rings on rack connection gave out. To date I have replaced the pump with a brand new one, had the pressure line rebuilt, and replaced the o-rings on rack return/pressure connection. Total for all these issues no doubt hit or exceed $1,000 dollars including two tows, and more than ten hours of DIY work. Here's my other problems, or planned modifications...


Oil level sensor; Cleaning electrical contacts didn't help. Sensor is shot!
Fuel filter; Already bought one. Awaiting installation...
A/C stepper arm; That clicking on startup is so annoying!
Evap valve; Another annoying clicker!
Driver seat for/alt motor; It's blown...
Brake light; Save the easiest for last, right?
Broken front ///AMG plate fixed, and waiting re-installation. (Trashed)

Completion of my custom fabricated intake. Slight redesign, and a nice paint job to top it off.
Upgraded heat exchanger to cool down the supercharged high intake temperatures.
Separation of intercooling system from engine coolant system. Also to reduce intake temps.
Removal of the exhaust resonators, and secondary catalytic converters. It's going to be loud!
Completion of custom boost, and air fuel ratio pillar gauges.
Might hard-wire radar detector...

I did too at one point have the carbon fiber front lip spoiler. It tore off at 150MPH on the highway. Watched my $200 dollars break into hundreds of pieces in the rear view mirror. My 185MM developed a wobble after around four months of use. Sending back to Eurocharged tomorrow. Oil cooler at filter housing was leaking. Around $65 for the two gaskets, and several hours of work. C32 has been parked in my garage for nearly a month now undergoing maintenance. Hard to find time with a busy work schedule...

mikekuriger

You should put the stock intake back on. It's not restrictive, and yours looks really bad. Really bad! Seriously? This is not a civic.

gt4awd

I guess the C32 just magically gained 20WHP/WTQ on the dyno then, because the stock intake is not restrictive... That is the fabricated version of my intake. Very soon I'll be doing a slight redesign, and topping it off with a nice paint job. Should look a lot better when finished. You don't have to own a Honda to make a custom intake. If it isn't your style I'm sorry, but it did show rather large power gains. Out of everything I've posted you decided to insult my intake. Thanks bud...

Viper98912

Welcome, definitely a nice step up. I remember two of your original red car's pictures from another forum.

You definitely posted a lot of information all at once! I think it became a little overwhelming for readers.

At the same time, it is of my personal opinion as well that your intake could use some work. I understand that you may have gained a good amount of power, and as a test piece, this is great. But as your final product, you need to work on getting something more concrete. Dryer duct, pvc, and exhaust pipe aren't the best resources for a final intake product.

Good luck and enjoy your AMG!

Biscuit

Great post.

Personally I love the custom intake. Pretty? Nope. Does it get the job done? You bet. And as you mentioned it doesn't sound like you're done so I'll be curious how it comes out in the end. But that's some nice power gains for sure.

60n5pt1

Good gains. I'm just not sure if the gains are worth the amount of work retrofitting the air intake. Your mods except for the 185s are exactly like mine plus your new air intake ( I have the C3 intake) and yet came out to 327 rwhp. You should be getting a bit more with the 185. Time to call LET

W203Ramos

Always a fan of your posts THANK YOU
what's wrong with hondas?....did someone get beat by one? personaly I'd rather own a honda than an Isuzu....

john

TemjinX2

great deal on the c32. Looks like its coming along nicely.

gt4awd

It's a tread I should have started when I first joined this forum, so had to catch up some, but yes it was a little bit of information! The intake is no where near complete. I would never consider leaving it in the current build state. Who uses PVC as an airbox? I'm trying to find a source of better supplies to complete the intake. The T-splitter has to go too. Look how small those pipes at the rear get compared to the front!

I love that the intake is all custom built by myself. As far as I know there hasn't been a similar intake for the c32 ever made. In it's current state it's no eye catcher, but it'll get there hopefully. I too was surprised by the gains. Need to upgrade the stock heat exchanger, and do another test...

You would be surprised how basic the design, and how easy to (un)install! The build process did take some time though. Think it was worth it for a general plan of what the intake will become. I blame the low WHP on still utilizing the stock heat exchanger. We let it sit for a while with the fan blowing, and she put down 355WHP/380WTQ. The shop owner said it was in error because all the previous runs had consistently lower horsepower.

Thanks John, and I'm not sure what's wrong with Honda's... I know there's many Honda's on the road that would take out my C32. Granted there's a lot of ricer ones too, but that's just how it goes...

Too good to pass up, but she has been a ***** to deal with...

So an update on the C32. 185MM is in transit to Eurocharged. Go into the garage, and take a quick look under it. I see a small puddle of fluid. What's this, power steering? Nope, the A/C compressor is now leaking from the connection to compressor right below the power steering pump. I'm not sure if this can be a DIY fix?

Dingleberry

your car seems to have a nonstop roulette of bad luck. bummer

gt4awd

Tell me about it... I don't know if it will ever get out of my garage. With this luck I'll probably get everything repaired with her running great, and someone will rear end me again a few days later.

Quicktwinturbo

You are awesome!

gt4awd

Awesome for not starting anti-depressants after buying the c32?

This will be my c32, and I someday again...

Now I just have to hope my 350z keeps running good. Oh yeah, I own a 350z, and here's a few photographs...

RLx02

man i know those rims are probably 19"s but those wheel arches are so big it looks like they're 17"s!

Dingleberry

that's what i was thinking. some 20x10.5" wheels would fill up those wheel wells nicely.

or maybe even a spacer on the current wheels

gt4awd

Everything on the 350z flows perfect in person, but it does look a little odd in photographs. Needs a new paint job soon as the roof, and hood are fading. The front bumper is cracked bad too from hitting a dead dog in the road. Once I finally get the C32 out of the garage the 350z is going in...

Got a call from Eurocharged today, and they are sending me a new 185MM crank. He just shook the old one real fast as I did, and verified the rattling. I asked what caused the wobble, and he wasn't 100% sure as they didn't take it apart yet. There guess being one of the internal dampeners broke. Wondering if it'll be a new light weight ASP/Eurocharged pulley, or one of the first generation 185MM. Was going to get the heat exchanger, but have to delay that now due to the A/C compressor leaking...

TemjinX2

i'm glad they were able to take care of you.

gt4awd

New pulley arrived yesterday, and is now installed as of this morning. Same type not the new light weight, so hopefully this one is a good build. My arms, back, and neck are sore... Bleeding the power steering lines after an hour and half there was still bubbles. Must have turned the steering wheel lock to lock at least 100 times. Hope to finish that up tomorrow morning, and be ready to drive her again. Still have other important stuff on the list to fix of course...

Lorinser side skirts will be painted, and installed here very soon. Dropping her off on Wednesday at the collision shop my Sportcoupe was repaired at. They did excellent work on the coupe. Side skirts will have to be completely stripped down so it's more expensive than I expected. Quote went from $300 to $600 dollars. Think they'll look very nice though!

For the time being I have coated the original intake enclosures, and air tubing in high heat black enamel. I'll post some photographs of that here soon when it's reinstalled. Amazing what a difference a little paint can make. Plan to do a complete rebuild with heat shielding material, no PVC, black air tubing, and silver air boxes. Might also custom fit the original front engine cover.

gt4awd

Finished bleeding the power steering. Start up the c32, and let it idle. Look under at the rack, and everything is great. No leaking. If only it went that way... Still getting a drop of fluid about every three seconds. I've always worried about that repaired line not being adequate. They didn't rebuild it anything what the OE line is like, so I've decided that's the best place to start. Priority shipped new pressure line off parts.com for just about $250 dollars. So much for getting the side skirts done, or finally driving the c32 again...

gt4awd

The new power steering line did fix the leak. I found it very interesting the connection points on both lines were different. The new line had a little more length of metal which goes into the rack, and of course had that secondary teflon o-ring. I'm wondering if previous owner had the line swapped out, or repaired at some point. I can swear this new line is longer as it has at least an inch of clearance between the 185MM. I see no way the other line could have been sliced if it was the same length.

Now I have a new major problem to deal with. After purchasing the vehicle I noticed the intake valve covers, I believe they are, on the top side of engine had instant gasket material in place of the OE gaskets. Thought no big deal. After thoroughly cleaning the underside of vehicle while working on the power steering I found major sections of the engine have been dismantled for some reason, and instead of buying new gaskets they instant gasket sealed those up too.

I was able to enjoy a drive in the c32 today finally after more than a month of sitting to find out there's now an oil leak. It appears to be seeping out of the engine sections joined together with the instant gasket. I have to wonder what required tearing down so many sections of the engine, and what jerk off went so cheap they couldn't replace the gaskets.

The guy I bought this car from said it was in perfect condition. I drove over 400 miles just to see the car in person, and was rushed into the sale. Accident free was one of the "perfect" listed. I find the side skirt is torn up underneath. I knew the headlight was replaced, but he said a rock had hit it. Tires in good condition. Had to replace both fronts after getting it home because the passenger side front had a huge tear in it. Lucky I made it back without a blow out. Heat exchanger pump completely gave out after I got on the highway for trip back.

I would like to think there's something I can do about this purchase, but am unsure if anything can be done. Would this be something I can sue the previous owner for, or am I SOL? I must have bought the worst c32 ever produced, and it came with lots of bad luck... At this point I might be looking at having to tear down the engine for repair of the oil leak(s).

FrankW

honestly i'm reading a lot of HUH? without pictures to explain.