im3cpo

I picked up a slate grey 507 a couple weeks ago and have ~400 miles on it thus far. I know there is some controversy with regard to oil catch cans (effectiveness, worth the cost, possible warranty issues, etc.) but past experience with other high performance vehicles made me feel installing the Weistec oil separator was worth the risk and while I was at it, I might as well replace the air filters and remove the charcoal filters. Now that I am done with the install, I figured I would share some thoughts and insights on the whole project.

First off, the Weistec oil separator is by far the highest quality one I have ever seen. I obviously have to get some miles with it installed to see how effective it is, but overall the build quality is excellent. The mounting bracket is by far the weakest link in the design. I would have liked to see something that would bolt directly to a metal piece of the car rather than rely on a primitive "hanger" (for lack of a better word) that goes over firewall or front bumper area molding. I noticed a ground wire bolt near the passenger side wheel well that looks to be a possible area to build a bracket/extension arm for the oil separator. I will most likely pursue this idea a little further and see what I can come up with.

Another down side of the Weistec oil separator are the instructions. Man! What a piece of crap! I understand this product is intended to be used on a number of different cars, but the removal of the engine cover, air boxes, MAF sensors, and the black plastic Y to the throttle body are horribly under documented. I was able to figure everything out on my own, but I wasted a considerable amount of time trying to reverse engineer how to remove this stuff. Once I got past this hurdle, the instructions were decent.

The last concern I have of the oil separator relates to the mounting again. There is no way to mount the oil separator on the firewall (as shown in the instructions). I ended up mounting it behind the passenger side headlight. This in and of itself is no big deal; the concern I have is that this entire structural area of the car is made of plastic rather than metal and I really have no idea if the plastic will be able to hold up over time. The mounting mechanism will also easily scratch the plastic up. I added some rubber to alleviate this as well as placing a rubber "bumper" to the lower part of the can to stop it from hitting other plastic pieces further down the engine compartment.

Installation of the air filters was straight forward, but it took me a little bit to figure out how to remove the charcoal filters (the plastic piece holding the filter does not come out; only the filter and surrounding cardboard are removed).

Once all this was complete, I fired up the engine.. Everything checked out fine! No CEL, no leaks, etc. I noticed immediately that the car idled MUCH better! Not sure which component is responsible for that, but again, it was very noticeable.. I took the car out for a quick drive and it honestly seemed to run much better! Even the shifting is improved! Previously, the car seemed to get confused as to what gear it should be in; its substantially better now! I suppose the computer could be re-learning due to the changes, but again, the overall benefits in drivability were noticeable.

I will post some pictures of the engine compartment if anyone is interested (so please let me know). Also, I would like people's opinion as to whether the plastic area behind the head light where I mounted the separator will be able to hold up over time.

Overall I would recommend doing the oil separator, charcoal filter removal, and air filter replacement.. The benefits I have seen so far are well worth it!

Ezec63

The charcoal filter removal is what changed the idle up. I did the charcoal delete and changed to a Bmc filter and the idle sounded much better/deeper. It's been proven to give a small HP bump as well. I agree the weistec catch can instructions are terrible my instructions were showing the catch can being mounted next to the intake ypipe on the pass side. I have a dipstick there that was impossible

Sincity

You should get the "ROW" airbox tops. ACG may still have a set in stock.

abcut973

What do you mean by "the car is idling much better"? The sound ?
I did exactly the same install as you 2 months back on top of ROW airboxes. The car feels much better and the sound has improved as well.
I'll need to check which plastic area you are talking about. I did install mine behind the passenger's headlight but hanging on the metal piece/chassis where the rubber sits. I did use zip tie to prevent it from moving.

VaclavSV

Heres my install....

MrRipfrog

Thanks for posting this. I just picked up a 507 as well and will be deleting the charcoal filters as well.

Critter

Gentlemen, why is it necessary to remove items from a new or fairly new car that would or could void any or all warranty on the engine in the first place. Another idea is to tell everyone you have a tune, removed carbon filters, install go fast filters, running 114 octane lawnmower fuel and increased the air in the tires by .035Lbs on the back left only even though the car is bone stock, get my drift. Really you have one of the faster cars on the road and when broken in as the miles increase then you could appreciate it for many many miles. Also you could tell folks that you dusted a modded out smart car with no problem. Even the catch can although a good addition will not sit well with the dealer if the car goes in for engine related warranty work. Modding these cars will greatly reduce your chance of using the entire car warranty and expect to be left out in the rain when issues arise.

im3cpo

Nope, I am not referring to the sound. I was referring to the actual idle quality of the car. Don't get me wrong, it was never bad to begin with, but it would make the car shake ever so slightly. After I did all this, that "shake" went away completely.

im3cpo

I completely get what you are saying, but honestly, none of the mods I did are difficult to reverse. I suppose one could break something on the car during their installation, but these "mods" are so basic, I honestly don't really even consider them a "mod". In order for the warranty to be void, you have to be responsible for doing something that resulted in the warranty claim (vs. a part failure or defect). Again, outside of you breaking something during the install, none of these things are going to cause such a situation.

The oil catch can does stop a lot of oil from entering the intake which in turn prolongs the life of sensitive parts of the engine (sensors, fuel injectors, etc.). If you don't plan on having the car past its warranty, the oil separator is perhaps a bridge too far. But I would argue anyone who had the best interest in their engine (and maintaining its power) would use one.

I would never blame someone who doesn't touch the car while in warranty but again, these things are so basic the odds of them leading to a warranty nullification is slim to none.

im3cpo

On my car, there is no metal in the front of the car past the strut tower at all! *EVERYTHING* is entirely made out of plastic. Maybe this is a 507 edition thing?

Critter

My car still has the carbon prefilter in place, the car with this item is slow by no means, the addition of the oil catch is a good item to add but truthful this is for a high RPM engine, having owned the car for years I cannot think of any time the engine has been past 4500, even without the catch can the 63 runs 2000rpm at 80mph which in Canada is close to a stunt driving charge. Although I do like the idea of a catch can and since the car is out of warranty this could happen. If you are low on miles don't beat it too hard and in return the car will respond with years of trouble free use.

Bardman

What I don't really get (call me naive perhaps) is that if the catch can does this, has no negative effects, and doesn't cost much to manufacture, why don't car manufacturers fit them as standard?

Bardman

Are you serious?!?!?

You have had your car several years and never taken it past 4500 rpm? I did this on my car the day I got it.

This engine loves to rev. Use manual mode and flip between 1-4 and you can easily get over 4500 without breaking the law.

Have you heard the exhaust note with your foot flat to the floor going up a hill in 2nd or 3rd? Its glorious!

Do yourself and your car a favour, both of you would benefit from an "italian tune up" every now and then...

Critter

Yes, I am serious, car runs great and there is little you could educate me on the car or the AMG image, have two of them. The car also never fails to put a perma grin on my face when driven, even at 30mph. Our highway speed is 100km/hr and the cops take your car at 150km/hr so do the math. 3rd gear wide open is terminal. Take it easy my friend and enjoy your car.

roadtalontsi

why on earth do yall think a catch can would void your warranty. Its great that you did this. Its really amazing to see how much crankcase crap can nasty of your intake in no time at all. The only time it would affect your warranty would be if it caused a vacuum leak. They wouldnt void your warranty either they'd just make you pay out of pocket for the repair.

LOL at never past 4500rpm holy ****. you should've bought a diesel if thats all your comfortable reving up to. And no its not fast to 4500rpm, its not a v12 or blown 55. gtfo

im3cpo

Logical question! What I have been told as the reason it is not included by the manufacturer is because they don't want to create another maintenance interval for the car. This would be especially true in the case of MB as they try to push you out to 1 year oil changes. The catch can would have to be checked and drained at a much higher interval than once per year. Heck, I have one on my GT500 and have had to drain it 3 times over the last 4,000 miles!

Another point to this is that while the oil does fowl the intake, sensors, etc. of the engine, the manufacturer plays the odds of it not causing a major problem or malfunction until the warranty is up. Why add cost via something that could annoy some people (increased maintenance interval) and also not make them as much money from cars that need work when they are out of warranty? The guys with the MBAs in finance wont let them do it......

WESLEY KAY

Op, can you post pics of the catch-can install? I am looking to do this on my 507 as well. Also what kind and where did you get the filters? All from the Weistec web page? Thanks! Wes

avery.whss

4500RPM??? Wtf? I live in canada too..yeah our speed limits are f**king retarded but who gives a **** you can still floor it from 0-100 and it's going to red line, you don't need to be going 150km+ an hour anyways, i RARELY do that and i'm always into the pedal, max i take it upto is like 110ish then i back off because the car WILL pull until 320km if you wanted it to..they can't arrest you for doing 0-60 LOL and even if they tried to just go hire a nice expensive lawyer and sue their dumb asses because it's not against the law to do fast 0-60 runs on public streets, some people might consider it annoying and obnoxious but who gives a ****

Merc63

Ah the ppl on this forum are humorous, 4500rpm lol.

Thanks for the tips Critter.

jvanbrecht

I'll agree and disagree... If there are two of you racing to 60mph/100kph that is still racing even if you back off at 60/100

In MD, it is illegal to chirp your wheels, minor offense "Failing to maintain proper control of the vehicle", and you can easily do that flooring it to the speed limit of a particular road

avery.whss

i wasnt talking about racing...i try not to race, i usually just WOT it when the roads are empty late at night while everyone is asleep

Critter

Avery, The E will roll the tires 0-100km if given enough throttle (WOT) 150KM @ 5000rpm 3rd gear. 0-60mph on WOT is called street racing even if there is no one around except you and the officer who catches you. The 4500 rpm comment was used as an indicator of who actually reads these comments. So far no issues with cels, oil consumption between changes is minimal with no additional top ups, PSS tires 4000 miles still look like new, cost of ownership per year is gas and gas and gas, major breakdown has been the AC compressor which I ordered new Denso and changed out in my driveway in 4 hours. Happy motoring!

Critter

Back to topic, I do like the Weistec catch can.
Are you guys still running plastic idler pulleys on you 63's, One mod I did make on both cars was the billet pulley set from Weistec, no more plastic. High rpm will heat the bearing up which will melt the pulley and then you are on the side of the road. Serpentine belt will most likely shred, no power steering and no cooling.

ParkerK

You didn't happen to get pulled over on 28 a couple months or so ago?


Saw a white coupe with black wheels pulled over....

WESLEY KAY

Negative....lol. Not me. I am on 28 all the time though, between 66 and Dulles Toll Road. I am just waiting on getting pulled over for tints though. Not to hijack the thread, but are you in the same area? Feel free to PM. Wes