C36 AMG, C43 AMG (W202) 1995 - 2000

C43 '55' swap thread

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Old 01-10-2011, 07:25 AM
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C43 AMG 5.5 - 396.4HP
You never know what to exchange bevore...

When you use a W210 or W208 engine, it should mechanically fit without modification. I used a W209 engine, so it was necessary to exchange the oil pump and oil pan. I baught as new but you can use the parts of your C43 engine if you don't need anymore and parts are still fine.
My new engine was also fitted with the secondary air pump and valves that where not available in my C43. The secondary air injection is not only specific in W203/W209, also some C43 or 55 W208/W210 are fitted with secondary air. Any way your C43 should have the entire cable loom even if you don't have secondary air. Unfortunately the socket was different and I needed to exchange. It is hard to get the information about the cable wires...
The cable loom of W203/W209 is different. For W208/W210 it could fit, but for W208 there ar some at least, that have the same cable loom as W209. If different, you can use the C43 cable loom, if still fine. In this case you need to remove the air intake bridge to replace the two crank sensors. Thereby you need new gaskets. The throttle might have a different connector too. You can change socket or use the C43 throttle.

All attaching parts can be used from C43. But I suggest to use a new starter, because it is difficult to replace later. You should also use new bearings (don't use the hydraulic one).

If once started you will find a lot of parts in bad condition. I found a lot of rust I removed, I exchanged oil pipes and gering oil cooler. A big poblem for me was the exhausting system. The pipes are stanless steal screw clamps are standard steal. You can not replace the clamps as single part. So I upgraded my exhausting system. For all connections I used flanges, but it is difficult because there is few space.

Most difficult part in my opinion is to find someone who is able to programm the ECU without errors.
Old 01-11-2011, 04:05 AM
  #102  
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W203 C55 and SAAB 9-3 2.0T
Thank you for the info. If you don't mind, how much was your total investment on the swap and if you had it to do over again, would you or would you sell the C43 and go with a c203 C55?
Old 01-11-2011, 04:06 AM
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W203 C55 and SAAB 9-3 2.0T
BTW

Can some of you C55 guys post up some videos in the thread so they are all located in the same area of the section? Ive been looks more some good videos and the only place I can find two or three in youtube. There has got to be more out there some where, right?
Old 01-12-2011, 03:51 AM
  #104  
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Hey guys,
I see some posts say you can run the C43 ecu on the 5.4 displacement without problems? in my limited experience with tuning i dont see how that would work correctly as WOT must still run on maps,i guess knock control could be retarding timing enough to cope with the increased displacement but it would be far from ideal,has anyone actually run the 5.4 on a dyno to check AFR's??

If there was an opportunity to install the E55 ECU,TCU and security module what would stop them from functioning correctly in the C43?

cheers
Old 01-12-2011, 11:35 AM
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23K, I had a look at your link for your turbo W202. Nice stuff, lots of hard work I'm sure. Reminds me of my Saab 900 Turbo building / tuning days - I know the pain of multiple engine rebuilds and lack of tunability with stock engine management!

If you look at the first couple pages of this thread, you will see multiple references to guys running stock C43 ECUs with 55 swaps. SpeedyBenz - who is selling his car now - is on the stock ECU, and ProjectC55, who posts pretty frequently, is the same.

I saw your post on the CLK forum about the swap. Got me thinking. One would expect any 430 to be able to handle the swap, 'build your own 55 AMG', as it were. My friend's dad has a W210 E430 4-matic, pretty rare car apparently. I guess one could ostensibly have the best of all worlds and build up an E55 AMG 4-matic that way?
Old 01-12-2011, 11:43 AM
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12' W204 C63 AMG coupe "T-Rex", 12' W451 Smart Fortwo Pulse (99' W202 C43 AMG sold)
Hi 23K
Just glanced at your turbo project. That is one VERY serious looking engineering feat Will get to look at it more seriously when I have more time
Old 01-12-2011, 09:01 PM
  #107  
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Hi guys!,
Yep spent some serious time on that thing to say the least,Im just in the process of passing on most of the turbo setup to another 202 enthusiest as iv had enough of spending huge amounts of time and money fabricating and on the rollers trying to make it run like a factory engine,and while it makes good power its the small things that bug me,like idle control...closed loop cruise etc etc they are very time consuming to tune and make smooth,things like DBW and some functionality from the oe ecu could have saved alot of effort down the line,but we were so far down the line in the end i couldnt bear to go back over it all again to fix.The new owner plans to retain DBW and the stock ECU so he should have much less trouble.

At the moment i have no engine so was looking into a complete donor car either a C43 or E55,even a 2000 E320cdi setup almost made it in there but its a bit of a tight fit being I6 as i measured one last week.however based on what iv seen in this thread it would be best to use a C43 as i would wont all the W202 bits prior to needing the 55.

Saaboteur,I guess what im asking is,is the C43 ECU ideal with the 5.4? or would the E55 ECU prove to make better power if installed and if its possible to install the E55 ecu what else would be needed ie TCU/security/different loom plugs??...as far as i know most ECU's will adapt AFR in closed loop situations for economy etc,but you might find in open loop the ecu is retarding timing to curb knock,especially on lower grade fuels,this may work fine however retarding is less power hence why it would be interesting to know if anyone has run the C43 ecu with 5.4 on the dyno to check power and AFR!
Old 01-12-2011, 09:43 PM
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C43/55,2k11 Volvo S60 T6AWD,2k Audi B5 S4,95 Eagle Talon Tsi AWD 500+awhp
Originally Posted by 23K
Hi guys!,
Yep spent some serious time on that thing to say the least,Im just in the process of passing on most of the turbo setup to another 202 enthusiest as iv had enough of spending huge amounts of time and money fabricating and on the rollers trying to make it run like a factory engine,and while it makes good power its the small things that bug me,like idle control...closed loop cruise etc etc they are very time consuming to tune and make smooth,things like DBW and some functionality from the oe ecu could have saved alot of effort down the line,but we were so far down the line in the end i couldnt bear to go back over it all again to fix.The new owner plans to retain DBW and the stock ECU so he should have much less trouble.

At the moment i have no engine so was looking into a complete donor car either a C43 or E55,even a 2000 E320cdi setup almost made it in there but its a bit of a tight fit being I6 as i measured one last week.however based on what iv seen in this thread it would be best to use a C43 as i would wont all the W202 bits prior to needing the 55.

Saaboteur,I guess what im asking is,is the C43 ECU ideal with the 5.4? or would the E55 ECU prove to make better power if installed and if its possible to install the E55 ecu what else would be needed ie TCU/security/different loom plugs??...as far as i know most ECU's will adapt AFR in closed loop situations for economy etc,but you might find in open loop the ecu is retarding timing to curb knock,especially on lower grade fuels,this may work fine however retarding is less power hence why it would be interesting to know if anyone has run the C43 ecu with 5.4 on the dyno to check power and AFR!
Stck C43 ECU works perfectly with the 5.5L motor. We've confirmed it many times and mentioned it in several past threads. SpeedyBenz ran high 12's with the C43 ECu in his car with mods as well. There is also more room to program the C43 ECU to make more power with cams and exh mods.
Old 01-12-2011, 10:08 PM
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W203 C55 and SAAB 9-3 2.0T
^ I think I am going to just buy a 5.4 next January with my income-tax check and contact you to try and help me get it working, if you dont mind? You seem to really know what your talking about and I keep thinking there is more to this swap than I am understanding.
Old 01-12-2011, 11:21 PM
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Originally Posted by ProjectC55
Stck C43 ECU works perfectly with the 5.5L motor. We've confirmed it many times and mentioned it in several past threads. SpeedyBenz ran high 12's with the C43 ECu in his car with mods as well. There is also more room to program the C43 ECU to make more power with cams and exh mods.
Thinking more into it, I guess the MAF would pick up the extra airflow produced by the 5.4?,I see here somewhere someone spoke about loading different software onto a new ECU to trial but it interfered with the ASR?... so they ran the original program if i recall(dont quote me on that) if this was so would we be able to load the E55 program to the C43's ECU? would make an interesting comparison test for someone running there new 5.4 on the dyno.
Old 01-13-2011, 08:23 AM
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Originally Posted by 23K
Hi guys!,
Yep spent some serious time on that thing to say the least,Im just in the process of passing on most of the turbo setup to another 202 enthusiest as iv had enough of spending huge amounts of time and money fabricating and on the rollers trying to make it run like a factory engine,and while it makes good power its the small things that bug me,like idle control...closed loop cruise etc etc they are very time consuming to tune and make smooth,things like DBW and some functionality from the oe ecu could have saved alot of effort down the line,but we were so far down the line in the end i couldnt bear to go back over it all again to fix.The new owner plans to retain DBW and the stock ECU so he should have much less trouble.

At the moment i have no engine so was looking into a complete donor car either a C43 or E55,even a 2000 E320cdi setup almost made it in there but its a bit of a tight fit being I6 as i measured one last week.however based on what iv seen in this thread it would be best to use a C43 as i would wont all the W202 bits prior to needing the 55.

Saaboteur,I guess what im asking is,is the C43 ECU ideal with the 5.4? or would the E55 ECU prove to make better power if installed and if its possible to install the E55 ecu what else would be needed ie TCU/security/different loom plugs??...as far as i know most ECU's will adapt AFR in closed loop situations for economy etc,but you might find in open loop the ecu is retarding timing to curb knock,especially on lower grade fuels,this may work fine however retarding is less power hence why it would be interesting to know if anyone has run the C43 ecu with 5.4 on the dyno to check power and AFR!
I feel your pain with custom tuning. I've been on the dyno lots with the stand alone system on my old Saab. Part throttle and cold start programming was the worst, very tough to master.

I think ProjectC55 has answered the question about whether the C43 ECU will work.

Here's a link to some discussions on 55 swapped C43s and their dyno numbers:

https://mbworld.org/forums/c36-amg-c...6917-rwhp.html
Old 01-13-2011, 03:29 PM
  #112  
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Thanks for the link!,lol how it turned into a "mines faster".

Yeh i wouldnt go down the full custom road again,i could have bought a new C63 for what that thing has cost me so Im trying to avoid dyno tuning at all cost in the future,hence why the questions about the E55/C43 ecu's!.

Cheers!,
Paul
Old 02-14-2011, 05:39 AM
  #113  
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12' W204 C63 AMG coupe "T-Rex", 12' W451 Smart Fortwo Pulse (99' W202 C43 AMG sold)
Originally Posted by 23K
Thanks for the link!,lol how it turned into a "mines faster".

Yeh i wouldnt go down the full custom road again,i could have bought a new C63 for what that thing has cost me so Im trying to avoid dyno tuning at all cost in the future,hence why the questions about the E55/C43 ecu's!.

Cheers!,
Paul
I just love your Turbo work. Superb and an example of what can be achieved (the hard way)
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/735658...s-benz-c-class
Old 02-14-2011, 05:48 PM
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Here's a suitable 55 that might still be available:

https://mbworld.org/forums/engine-pe...gine-sale.html
Old 02-15-2011, 02:22 AM
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12' W204 C63 AMG coupe "T-Rex", 12' W451 Smart Fortwo Pulse (99' W202 C43 AMG sold)
Originally Posted by Saaboteur
Here's a suitable 55 that might still be available:

https://mbworld.org/forums/engine-pe...gine-sale.html
I wonder if he can ship the engine across the Pond to Switzerland for that price
Old 03-16-2011, 03:43 PM
  #116  
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I acquired my 55 motor a few months ago, and since then I've been checking out part numbers for various items, as I intend to R&R a few parts here and there before dropping the 55 into the car.

For quite a few of these 'service' items, the part numbers are the same for the 43 and 55 (part numbers from AutohausAZ):

belt tensioner - 112 200 09 70
trans mount - 220 240 02 18
front main seal - 023 997 84 47
rear main seal - 112 997 02 46
exhaust manifold gaskets - 112 142 01 80
idler pulley - 000 202 00 19
intake manifold gasket - 113 141 09 80
oil cooler seal set - 112 184 99 61
valve cover gasket, left - 113 016 02 21
valve cover gasket, right - 113 01 60 321

All of that makes sense, as of course the engines are from the same family. Interestingly, one would then also expect that the intake and exhaust ports on the heads are the same dimensions too, as they share the same part numbers. I've measured the 55's exhaust ports at 36mm in diameter. I don't have the 43 out yet to measure the ports on those heads though. I believe previous discussion focused on larger ports for the 55? By that rationale, then I suspect the entire intake tract, including manifold and airbox are the same between the two cars as well.

Thinking 'aloud' now, I'm curious to see an under the hood shot of a W208 CLK55, as again I would expect those items to be the same as well, but curiously, I'm fairly certain they are different on an ML55, as that vehicle doesn't seem to have the same airbox, but a more generic Mercedes airbox? And the W203 C55 has a different looking intake tract too, right?

Engine mounts are different between the 43 and 55, but I believe that their physical dimensions are the same, as I understand people swap in the 55's engine mounts. And the test port cover / timing cover gasket is engine serial number specific.
Old 03-16-2011, 04:07 PM
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C43/55,2k11 Volvo S60 T6AWD,2k Audi B5 S4,95 Eagle Talon Tsi AWD 500+awhp
Originally Posted by Saaboteur
I acquired my 55 motor a few months ago, and since then I've been checking out part numbers for various items, as I intend to R&R a few parts here and there before dropping the 55 into the car.

For quite a few of these 'service' items, the part numbers are the same for the 43 and 55 (part numbers from AutohausAZ):

belt tensioner - 112 200 09 70
trans mount - 220 240 02 18
front main seal - 023 997 84 47
rear main seal - 112 997 02 46
exhaust manifold gaskets - 112 142 01 80
idler pulley - 000 202 00 19
intake manifold gasket - 113 141 09 80
oil cooler seal set - 112 184 99 61
valve cover gasket, left - 113 016 02 21
valve cover gasket, right - 113 01 60 321

All of that makes sense, as of course the engines are from the same family. Interestingly, one would then also expect that the intake and exhaust ports on the heads are the same dimensions too, as they share the same part numbers. I've measured the 55's exhaust ports at 36mm in diameter. I don't have the 43 out yet to measure the ports on those heads though. I believe previous discussion focused on larger ports for the 55? By that rationale, then I suspect the entire intake tract, including manifold and airbox are the same between the two cars as well.

Thinking 'aloud' now, I'm curious to see an under the hood shot of a W208 CLK55, as again I would expect those items to be the same as well, but curiously, I'm fairly certain they are different on an ML55, as that vehicle doesn't seem to have the same airbox, but a more generic Mercedes airbox? And the W203 C55 has a different looking intake tract too, right?

Engine mounts are different between the 43 and 55, but I believe that their physical dimensions are the same, as I understand people swap in the 55's engine mounts. And the test port cover / timing cover gasket is engine serial number specific.
If you were to open up the hood of a CLK430,W208 CLK55 and a C43,without seeing the rest of the car you would never know which car was which. They are all the same. The ML 55 motor is the same M113 5.5 just the airbox is different. All of these cars use the same intake mani. if you take one off of a E430,CLK430 or C43 the part #'s are the same and you will see an AMG logo. The newer cars like the C55 W203,SLK55 use the same intake mani as well to the best of my knowledge.
Old 03-17-2011, 07:45 AM
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C43 AMG 5.5 - 396.4HP
Don't worry about the air box. If you have an engine with 'new' airbox (W203/W209/R171) you can mount your old airbox.
You also need to use your C43 oil pan and oil pump if you have an engine from new models.
Old 03-17-2011, 05:35 PM
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C43/55,2k11 Volvo S60 T6AWD,2k Audi B5 S4,95 Eagle Talon Tsi AWD 500+awhp
Originally Posted by popey24
Don't worry about the air box. If you have an engine with 'new' airbox (W203/W209/R171) you can mount your old airbox.
You also need to use your C43 oil pan and oil pump if you have an engine from new models.
+1+1+1+1+1
Old 03-17-2011, 06:57 PM
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PLAID
Originally Posted by ProjectC55
Stck C43 ECU works perfectly with the 5.5L motor. We've confirmed it many times and mentioned it in several past threads. SpeedyBenz ran high 12's with the C43 ECu in his car with mods as well. There is also more room to program the C43 ECU to make more power with cams and exh mods.



Are you saying that the NA 5.4 responds to a tune?? How so and where's the dyno to back this??? If it does,. I'd love to see the dyno on this and who did the tune???

I'm not talking about headers or res delete here, I am talking simply about a 5.4 tune (NA of course, M113). There's seems to be much debate about whether the 54. NA responds to tune, so I am anxiously awaiting Kuzni's results next week.

Old 03-17-2011, 07:00 PM
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Originally Posted by ProjectC55
Stck C43 ECU works perfectly with the 5.5L motor. We've confirmed it many times and mentioned it in several past threads. SpeedyBenz ran high 12's with the C43 ECu in his car with mods as well. There is also more room to program the C43 ECU to make more power with cams and exh mods.




How about just a tune (no exhaust or cam mods) with the C43 ECU??
Old 03-17-2011, 08:39 PM
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2006 C55 RENNtech
Need HELP......
Can someone lead me in the right direction, I have the opportunity to purchase a 2002 CLK55
engine in Cali for 1800. plus shipping to Toronto which is 800. and 50,000 miles on it
or should I pay the extra and pick up a 2006 SLK55 motor for 4500.00 with 6000. km on it
which is already in Canada and still have to pay 500. to have it shipped to me.
PLEASE... What would you do?
Any advice will be Greatly Appreciated.
Old 03-17-2011, 10:33 PM
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C43/55,2k11 Volvo S60 T6AWD,2k Audi B5 S4,95 Eagle Talon Tsi AWD 500+awhp
Originally Posted by Newzchspy
[/U][/I][/B]


How about just a tune (no exhaust or cam mods) with the C43 ECU??
I will have to look for my old dyno's. The best example I can tell you about now is PTE's car b4 he supercharged it. He went thru the steps and dyno'd his car each step of the way. I will look for my dyno's.READ below about modding a N/A 5.5L

PTE:
https://mbworld.org/forums/clk55-amg...er-review.html


PTE:
https://mbworld.org/forums/clk55-amg...ms-review.html

Last edited by ProjectC55; 03-17-2011 at 10:40 PM.
Old 04-06-2011, 09:12 AM
  #124  
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C43 AMG 5.5 - 396.4HP
Short feedback...

accelerating from 100-200 km/h (about 60-120 mph) with full throttle but without using kick down (started with 4th gear I think) it takes around 10-11 seconds.

Once accelerating on low speed I had a strange noise as if some metal is rubbing on the street. I suppose it was the exhausting system that touched the ground. Once I had a friend behind me (not for long), he confirmed that the rear is close to ground when accelerating.
Any ideas to prevent?
I am using the KW version 2 kit where springs are stronger than standard already. I could increase rear level but I dont like wedge profile setup...

Bye,
Stephan
Old 04-06-2011, 03:04 PM
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Stephan, sounds like you are pretty low, but I was thinking about it and I think probably the only way to rectify your situation is suspension related. If you don't want to raise the rear ride height, then perhaps you need stiffer rear springs. But if you do that, perhaps you should also increase the front spring rate as well to preserve handling balance.


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