LUV2SPD

I decided to install Kleemann headers, high flow air filters and a Eurocharged tune for my 2006 C55. Here is a picture thread for anyone who is interested doing this tune in the future.
-Kleemann headers (eliminates primary cats and saves 10lbs)
-K&N air filters 33-2181 (two needed)
-Eurocharged (Toronto) tune, you can do the tune via e-mail, just need an OBDII cable that Eurocharged sells.
-Installation should take about 6-10 hours, it took us 17 hours due to seized bolts and other issues. The car is 11 years old now and is driven daily in the rust belt.

Two Mufflers (left it stock)



Resonator (left it stock)



Resonator



Secondary cats (the car has a total of 4 catalytic converters)





Stock exhaust header



Kleemann exhaust header



Stock headers (100,000 miles on them)



Stock header



Klemmann header



Klemmann header



Kleemann header



Stock headers and primary cats weight 34lbs



Kleemann headers and straight pipe weight 23.2lbs

LUV2SPD

Primary catalytic converters (very heavy and restrictive)



Primary Cats inside



Stock air filter



K&N air filter



Uploading the tune took 12 minutes

amgen

I“ll bet it sounds good, especially from the outside!!
Have the same setup since several years, awesome tune for that car.

LUV2SPD

The car sounds a lot better, but I'm happier about the fast throttle response and how much faster the engine revs. In hindsight, I would have been happy with the air filters and tune, but the manifold adds a good sound even though it was pricey to buy and install.

wawy

Nice write up and pictures! That’s something I always wanted to do when I owned my C55, but I ended up delaying it until my warranty was up and just got a C63 instead. It’s probably a good idea you left the resonator on, as it would have sounded too raspy with primary cats and resonator removed. I’d be curious to see what the M113 is putting out on a dyno now..

LUV2SPD

My butt dyno tells me about 15% of power increase. I figure it's around 400hp, and if so my C55 has the same power to weight ratio as a stock '07-14 C63; but weighs 450lbs less.

I had the K&N air filter and the ECU tune in the car 2 weeks prior to the header install, and just those two mods made a huge difference.

wawy

Sounds about right..

I did the Renntech airbox + K&Ns on mine first -- no tune. On a Mustang dyno it showed about 305 HP and 316 TQ. Eventually, I got a Eurocharged tune to go a long with everything and that made the biggest difference. Unfortunately no dyno after that...

If you feel like spending more money, I would recommend the airbox!

Nurburgringer

I recently had Kleemann headers installed by Eurocharged, along with their ECU and TCU tune on my 2005 CLK55 (same engine as C55 I think?).

The header install was a big job. One manifold nut rounded off, they had to buy a nut extractor tool and use several extensions and u-joints to get it off. Then we discovered Kleemann sent me two right-hand downpipes, so after trying to get that to work for a few hours waited until the next day when the correct one arrived. Then several hours of cutting, test fitting, grinding, cutting, etc then welding the downpipes to the stock pipes. So glad I didn't try this at home...

Dyno proven power increase ~8% across the board.
Assuming 18% DT losses that means ~380hp and 400ft-lbs peak.

Nice increase in sound.

Nitrous coming next.

Dyno vid: 1/4 mile vid:

LUV2SPD

Thanks for the Dyno chart. That's a good looking power curve, even in stock form.

austinholloman

Please dyno your car. I'm doing the same mods this fall/winter plus res/2nd cat delete and I'd love to see the gains! Congratulations and post some sound clips.

amgen

A few C55 F 1 -edition was sold in Germany. Along other things they had "snake-headers"
in front of all 4 cats, and they claimed 400 hp.

So Kleemann headers without primary cats should yield more.

I only have an after-dyno, made by Kleemann in Denmark in their bench and it said 414 hp (367 orig.)
and 562 Nm (510).
After the dyno I realized that my K&N-filters were not 100% clean, maybe I could have reached
higher numbers? I will never know.

moedigga

same setup 7yrs as of April this year, still in love every time I crank it

Nurburgringer

Agreed. Beautifully flat torque curve from down low.

Assuming those numbers are at the crank not wheels, they sound a little high but it all depends on what factor they calculate for drivetrain losses.

My dyno numbers stock and then after Kleemann headers/primary cat delete and ECU tune are below.

I assumed 84% drivetrain efficiency, based on the crank HP/TQ published by Mercedes vs my car's initial, stock dyno numbers.

So the "after" power at the crank works out to ~390hp and 405ftlb (550Nm).

If I assumed 20% drivetrain losses it would be ~405hp and 425ftlb(576Nm) at the crank.

In any event the % gain wouldn't change so based on the before/after results from the same car, same dyno, testing on consecutive days with similar temps/humidity you can expect about 8% increase in power and torque throughout the rev range with headers, primary cat delete and ECU tune (primarily leans out the A/F mixture in the lower rev range).
Also a nicely angrier exhaust note under load.

amgen

Well, I“m certainly not a dyno-expert! What I understood, they can calculate the drivetrainloss in their bench during the run. It varies from car to car depending on tyres etc.
On their website they claim "up to 415 hp" (crank) with this setup.

Nurburgringer

I'm no dyno expert either

When you say " in their bench " I assume you mean putting they put car on a dyno machine that measures wheel power, or?

As you say there are lots of variables, so the most useful information is from before and after dyno graphs with the same dyno equipment, which are overlaid to show any changes along the whole rev range not just calculated peak #s.

AtlasMG

How hard was it to get the headers on I am thinking of buying some for my C55 but just the thought of taking them of and putting them on makes me shake so is it hard or not some much and I do have experience with working on car I do it everyday.

Nurburgringer

Do you have a lift?
Can you weld stainless steel?
Do you have a helper available?
Do you have a metal chop saw, sawsall, bench grinder&die grinder, several 1/4" u-joints and about 30" worth of extensions for getting off manifold nuts?

I can do a lot of repair work in my garage but wouldn't attempt this without saying yes to all of the above questions.

Getting a couple of the manifold nuts off is a real PITA. Aligning the existing pipes (after you cut off the primary cats) with the new Kleemann downpipes is also very fiddly, and takes muscle to move and hold the heavy 3" pipes.

The $600 I paid for installation was very fair IMO.

91RS

If you really want some power, run 2.5" pipe from the down pipes to the mufflers.

LUV2SPD

If you are indecisive with the manifold, just get the ECU tune and the aftermarket air filters. Just those two modifications made a big enough difference in power, and even in sound. I drove the car like that for two weeks and was very happy with just those two mods. The car sounds even better with the Kleemann headers, but the headers and the installation cost is not cheap.

Instead of welding all the exhaust back together, we used a clamp to join the pipe where we cut it, this gives you a bit more flexibility down the road if you want to do any more mods or change the engine, etc. Welding is a nicer finish, but it takes a lot more time.

Nurburgringer

Agreed.
I'd be really curious what the dyno curve looks like with just ECU tune, since I did the tune and headers at the same time and "only" gained ~8%.

I agree with you though that the ~$1350 for Kleemann headers and installation isn't cheap, but then again neither is $800 for ECU&TCU tuning (maybe less if you catch a Eurocharged sale).

If you want cheap power go for the $430 Nitrous Express Proton Plus set-up

That looks fine. I wish I'd had Eurocharged install flex pipes between the downpipe and stock pipe, like these: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-643025/overview/

Even though it came that way stock, just seems wrong to have the pipes rigidly mounted, not allowing any movement with the engine.

austinholloman

I'm planning to have Eurocharged do my ECU/TCU next month, after I have my secondary cats, res and X pipe done. I'll post numbers to show what that yields.

Addi-c55

Finally got my kleemann headers and downpipes in the mail. ( kleeman were extremely nice to do business with. )
already have speed43 airbox, k&n's and sec cat delete.
will install the headers and a eurocharged tune aš soon as the shop fits me in.
Going to dyno the car after mods.*
fingers crossed it hits the numbers im hoping for.

norcalcasey

Keep us posted. Interested to see about the Speed42 box

Nurburgringer

double post

Nurburgringer

cool - you're getting it done at EC Houston?

Here's the final dyno of mine, after installing a Nitros Express kit.
best of two 1/4 mile runs was 13.1sec @ 108mph