I went to a local performance shop today to talk about CAIs and while i was talking to the salesman another customer walks up and says is that Mercedes turbocharged? I dont know why he asked, but it got me thinking and i started asking the salesman how much it would cost to build a custom turbo kit on a low budget. He said he's done them for as low as $500 before (parts only) and on hondas mainly, but some mustangs too. He said he prefers kits, but where there are none available it is possible to modify an exhaust manifold to recieve a turbo and fabricate the piping, oil return lines, and intercooler for fairly cheap. He recommended looking on Ebay for Garret T4s and intercoolers. It turned up quite a bit, seems like the turbos themselves go from $200-500 and the intercoolers can be had for about the same range. My questions are
1) How will my engine handle the forced induction? It has 97k miles but has been taken care of and runs perfectly now.
2) Any ideas on how i could manage fuel pressure to make sure it doesnt run way lean and blow up? Can you put a fuel pressure regulator on a 320 engine?
3) Any ideas on how i could run piping or place a FMIC? I think i can find one that will fit the space i have, but most likely if i did this it would be a major, long project.
I realize his projection of $500 for parts seems quite rosey, but i do think this could put more power down for the money than something like a Kleeman blower or HKS kit. He estimated a 75 to 100 HP gain on the T4 turbo running less than 8lbs of boost.
I hope this works out because it would be amazingly original. I would appreciate any ideas, critiques, or experiences with turboing N/A engines that you could provide. If this turns out to be a possibility im going to have to decide between a turbo and wheels
Here are some links i found:
http://search.ebay.com/turbo-t4_W0Q...0t4QQsacatZQ2d1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...sspagename=WDVW

 

sounds like a good idea... turbocharging a MB... u'll be one of a kind.... hope this works out and if i find enouhg money maybe i'll do it..... but i dobut i'll TC it...

 

belive me it's not as easy as you think i'm working on my kit right now. it requires a lot of custom bending and the manifold part is a ***** because there is no room at all and you have to make sure that the pipes aren;t running close to anything because of the heat. and the most you would be able to boost with stock internals is about 9 Psi. and it requires many parts there is no way it can be done even with $1000 . the turbo that i recomend and i'm also using is the T3 garret. you need the turbo, wastegate, intercooler, blow-off valve, oil lines for the turbo, the t connectors for oil lines, hose clamps, turbo hoses, fuel pressure regulator, and belive me you don't want to go with cheap used parts specially the turbo because it can just blow on you or you have to get it rebuild. make sure the turbo has no shaft play. even if the turbo has a internal wastegate you should still use an external wastegate. t3 turbo about $500 to $1000 for a good one, wastegate about $500 for an hks or sard with 6 Psi spring, blow-off valve $150, intercooler $300 to $600 and the max size you can go is about 20"x6"x3" other than that it won't fit and even with that you still have to cut off some pieces in the bumper on the 320 bumpers, and the custom piping unless if you have a very good friend that is willing to help you out youre looking at about $1500 to $2500, and so on. it's not cheap and it's not quick but belive me it's a lot of fun. i'm still working on mine but i had the pleasure for about a good 3 hours. and it's fun it sounds like a beast i just want to try and push mine to 14 Psi

 

Thanks VIP, any threats to your transmission? I heard mine would blow up from the torque flutuations due to boost changes. Have you driven it yet? You should get that thing dynoed soon. I know its a pretty involved process (i didnt believe the guy for very long about the $500 kit) but its still attractive because it has more potential than a supercharger and can be purchased in steps. I know a fairly good bit about turbo systems from my audi tuning days, but applying that knowledge is another thing altogether. Keep me updated

 

King320,
Maybe we can get together and have someone work a deal on parts/labor for your car and mines.

 

That would be cool. Im not sure what time table im looking at though. I think first i'd have to find a good shop and then get the money. Im more getting a feel for the requirements of the project, but if you're interested and want to research the job as well, by all means do and if it seems feasible i'll get on board as soon as i can.

 

I talked to EIP tuning about doing a custom turbo on my 430. He said it would cost between $8-10k and would take at least 3 to 4 months of the car being in the shop. They have done a custom turbo on a SLK230 I believe. They are currently working on Cris Mcalister's Porsche and look to push over 650whp. They said that I should run no more than 6psi on my car since it has high compression. Thicker head gaskets could be used for higher boosts but theninternals would have to be changed. Anyways, I seriously doubt our transmissions can handle the turbo. EIP can get a R32 to over 650whp!!!!!!!!!!!! And it costs under 10k. 4 wheel drive light car with that much power is rediculous!

 

Would a custom turbo go for any less than $8-10k if you buy parts piecemeal off ebay? Is this price you're talking about only if you take your car to a shop and say "make me a custom turbo" and let them get all the parts and mark them up? A related question: would you recommend getting secondhand parts for this kind of job? If it could be done for less, this would be a neat mod for the CLK

 

it does not cost that much at the most about $5k with very good parts. ike HKS apexi and etc. but the piping is what makes it difficualt because you can't make a manifild because theer is no room what so ever on the 320 i think it's even worste on 430s. and the trancmission is fine youdont need to do any upgrades until you go past 10 Psi. my friend is running his custom turbo C class with no problems at 9 Psi. all that transmission stories that you guys heard is all B/S don't even let that stop you. the only thing that needs to be upgraded is youe fuel system which youre stock pump is fine you just have to add a fuel pressure regulator and a good ECU man to remap youre ECU. i haven't had any time to finish mine but when it's done any one that wants to go for a ride is more than welcomed. but i can't disclose details becuse i promissed my friend that is helping me that i would leave it up to him so he can make money from future customers.

 

I've come to realize, the car is enough trouble stock. I've given up my hopes and dreams of ever expecting the car to become reliable.

As time goes on, your CLK will become an enormous moneypit, the rattles will get worse, the squeaks will get louder, and something else will break that costs an insane amount to fix.

 

The price I posted was a quote from EIP tuning. That price includes everything custom made (manifold included) and labor. Maybe you can get it done for cheaper and you should let us know where, I was just talking about my experience. And in terms of the transmission, IT'S NOT BS! I just paid 4 grand out of my pocket and you're telling me the trans is good enough to handle a turbo reliably? You're friend has a C turbo, different trans and not anywhere near as much power. If you're gonna compare different cars, you could just say the SL600 has biturbo and no problems (again different trans). I admire how you have decided to turbo your car and I hope you dont have tranny problems but the tranny is weak (at least on a 430 it is).

 

i already have my transmission changed out for a new one. i have no experience with the v8 430 but the stock 320 transmission is fine for 8 to 9 psi. trust me we have tested it and if it wasn't good enough then how come the 430s are super charged all over the place boosting 5 to 8 psi with stock tranny?

 

I havent seen a supercharged 430 with high mileage yet. I also think that the 99 is the only one with a weak trans.

 

how much boost does the kleemann supercharger for the 430 run? ben had one on his red clk430 (recently sold) and his MB 100k extended warranty was still good with it. dunno if that's just because it was low boost or what

oh yea, see if you can get in contact with sleestack - he has some pretty crazy stuff going on with his 430. last i heard, the project was paused for a while, but he and evosport were going for over 600hp. not sure if they were planning to beef up the trans or what.

 

I've put a whopping 108k miles on my 2000 430, and it's going in for the supercharger this week. :0)

Yeah, sitting with no motor for 2 years is pretty crazy...

 

hahah yeah, kinda boring right now...i guess take out the "going on" and change it to a "planned"