Z06EATER

for C36 and C43...any ides fellas? i was thinking about a carbon fiber driveshaft....wat you guys think? if you know any other good mods, please list

silence

carbon fiber driveshaft would be very cool thing to have, but will not have very good "bang for the buck"

I doubt enough owners will want one to make the cost of getting a manufacturer set up worth it. It's something that i would do only after I felt i had maxed out the engines potential and was looking for ways to add a bit more power to the wheels without adding further risk to the engine internals (to me this is the same category as a crank pulley modification).

I know it's super negative to say this (or at least that some will think so), but with either car i would basically leave them alone (just basic intake/exhaust modifications) or actually step it up to some sort of forced induction. It is possible to do a custom turbo set-up on a C36 if some people are willing to dig into it and the C43 could definitely be done with remote mounted turbos or with a variety of supercharger options.

If i were not looking to spend the $ to really play and go FI i'd consider a wet shot long before i'd spend 40-60% as much as FI would cost just to get a chip tune, headers etc. and end up with only 30 hp or so gain (at the wheels) tops.

I don't have a ton else to add- but i'm curious what else you'd be interested in for your car and what your ultimate goals are for it.

RBYCC

AMG did a fairly good job on the 3.6L M104-24V.
It was used also in the E36.

Without spending a good bit of money, you're not going to improve much over stock.

You want power on a Merc M103 / M104 then consider adding boost.
It will give you the most bang for the buck, but also a lot of bucks to do it correctly.

Z06EATER

well, i was thinking about heat wrappig some stuff, def a turbo, exhuast is done. no NOS. haha maybe next car. def wanted to get the ecu reprogrammed. i wanna put on some more efficient headers, and that pully. silence i understand wat you mean that this thread is like the other one. i'm just looking for tings to ask onto my car, hey C43 owners let me kno wat you would add on you cars

silence

i didn't mean to make comparisons between this thread and the other.

the best advice i can give you is to leave it alone or go big- i've been there and done that with many past vehicles and it simply isn't worth it (all the more so with an AMG that is already tuned very well). The money you will spend will add up quick to forced induction levels and you will have nothing like the hp!

RBYCC

There seems to be a great deal of concern about rotating mass such as pulleys or driveshafts.

No one seems to consider the weight of the oversized wheels and tires that most run.

Unless you are running a true light weight performance wheel, the benefits of lowering weight of rotating drive train items is negated by the additional unsprung weight you add downstream on the wheels

Low cost performance enhancer would be high flow spun metal performance cats like the Random Technology or the knockoff from Magnaflow.

I picked up over 12 RWP by using twin Magnaflow spun metals ( 2" in / out ) over a single 5.0L Merc cat ( 2 x 2" in /out ).
Not to mention I rattled the bricks in the Merc cat during the dyno tune

SeeKlasse

12 rwhp is great! im def lookin to get metal cats eventually.

z06 - get the chip, its cheap and effective (from the right tuner) some companies will charge you alot for similar gains. i got hosed with all these threatening emails (from tuners) for noting a few overpriced brands in the chiptuning industry in previous threads. so ill just stick to my preferred company, upsolute. they charge 400 or less (the guy here in atl will do any one of my cars from now on for 300 each)

unfortunately they dont list the mpg upgrade like they note on most other cars, but it gives you a good idea of what kind of power youre going to get (to the fly) for 400 bucks...

http://www.upsolute.com/index.php?op...id_model=13179

apparently only one place in cali is sponsored by upsolute to do their tuning...

UPSOLUTE California
Jasper Motor Werks
Tustin
California
USA
Telephone: (714) 724 4367
Fax:
E-mail: contact
Information:

they have alot of tuners on the east coast... maybe its because theyre based in austria idk.... what i do know is that i only have a 15 min drive to my local upsolute tuner...

bagelsjustbagel

brembo Calipers. =]

RBYCC

Powerchip is very reputable and they have great technical support....

They give the same output as Renntech and actively support the older vehicles.
Renntech tends only to support the newer Mercs.

C36

http://www.powerchipgroup.com/intera...sp?pid=Mer0138

C43

http://www.powerchipgroup.com/intera...sp?pid=Mer0030

silence

I won't say who the tuners are, but some of the popular ones on this site don't really seem to know their stuff that well. I've had multiple phone conversations with a couple of them about tuning my car with very poor overall results (ie- they say they can do it but can't answer specific questions that should be easy, don't even have an in-house dyno, generally don't seem to understand tuning)

RBYCC

I trucked my car from the East Coast, 800+ miles to Chicago to have my M103-12V twin turbo installed by a shop whose owner knows more about M103 and M104 along with all Mercs ( and other exotics ), then any other individual that I was able to find !

Not inexpensive, takes time, tunes on a Mustang load dyno, and nothing leaves the shop until it is correct.

Owners background goes back to AMG Westmont and BHMA.
In an August 17, 1987 Autoweek, Willi Mosselman was quoted as saying about the Mosselman installs the shop did...
" His car is faster to 60 and 100 mph then ours "
0-60mph in 4.96 in a 1987 M103-12V TT with a 3.64 gear.

All this to say is that if you are going to spend money on a tuner, then find one who has years of experience on the engine / chassis that you want tuned.
If the shop doesn't have a dyno, then don't expect much.
Without baseline dyno pulls and after mod pulls, their is no way to twaek the most power from the mods.
The final result should not be solely max power, but more important max reliability....too easy to build a hand grenade !

Too many try to apply "ricer" mods to the M103/M104's and they don't really translate well as the Merc engines tend to be low rpm with power bands in some instances a few thousand rpm's under some "ricers".
Mercs also use "quirky" Bosch injection systems and "not friendly" to modding ECU's.

I'm waiting for the new Mosselman Vortex SC for the AMG 5.4L to be finalized...when it is, my 03 G55 will be on a transporter heading west

c55m8o

If you go turbo it would serve you well to go stand-alone w/a Motec or other.

bagelsjustbagel

anyone know of a place to buy that turbo? (c36)

silence

I could get it done, as could many other people (i'm not your best bet because i'd be relying on many friends for help with certain aspects?

there isn't going to be a simple bolt-on solution though

bagelsjustbagel

any price range estimate of what that would end up costing by the end?

RBYCC

At the minimum $10K to do it right...

bagelsjustbagel

good thing i plan on never ever selling my c36.

same as my dad. never sell your first true love (car that is)

its worth it

silence

6k plus tuning if you learn to do it yourself!

RBYCC

It's a fairly easy DIY on the parts install for anyone mechanically inclined.
But only if you don't have to fabricate manifolds and start with some basic kit.

The difficulty is in the fuel map setup and tuning which requires a dyno.

Expertise is required in achieving constant fuel enrichment of around .85 lambda under boost.

Run lean, detonate and it can get very expensive...

SeeKlasse

u talkin bout the camry?

SeeKlasse

RBYCC, i recognize powerchip as being a reputable tuner, but 700 dollars for ~25hp as compared to 400 bucks for ~20hp. i guess i shouldnt be splitting hairs, go for the extra 300 bucks and quit cuttin corners?

RBYCC

I mentioned Powerchip because they have a world wide presence....

If I recall Renntech asked about $2K to program the C43 ECU.

I don't necessarily look at raw horsepower claims/gains per dollar, but more reliability.

Not negating anything lower priced as I'm not familiar with other then the "name" Merc tuners which possibly get a premium because of the "name"

Z06EATER

sounds like fun, i'm just worried i'll get it done, and when i'm racing i'll blow my engine, or something, has this ever happend to anyone? or is this reallly safe? for the car

silence

done right it's safer than stock

I wouldn't do anything other than a custom dyno tune personally and only then after you had significant other mods (FULL exhaust at the least)

Z06EATER

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/pts/797609633.html