You guys eat up mad threads bickering between the 430 and 55 AMG..... MB made them look freakin' identical thats why people can't tell a difference.

The point trying to be made is that outside of a few plastic panels and basic layout, the 430 and 55 have little in common. Brakes, motor, driveline, suspension parts are all VASTLY different. You cant just go swaping parts between the two and expect everything to work. This needs to be taken into account when doing mechanical mods. Otherwise that little trunk badge would be the most expensive part of the car! Take one for a spin and you'll realize they are not the same car.

MB did NOT make them look "freakin' identical."

if you can't tell if a W208 is a 55 or not by looking at the brakes or the exhaust, you don't really know much about the 55's..........

Sorry slickclk430.. we got a little distracted there As for your purchase I think you made a great choice. The 430 is a great platform to start with because of it's potential to "mod". The 55 is superior from the factory so makes it a bit more crazy to tear into something that isn't broken.. not to mention the original expense. In other words taking the 55 to the next level is gonna hurt. The 430 is more of a vanilla pallet with the same potential as the 55. More of the debate between silky smooth factory performance 55, and the custom "what was that!" of the 430 route. Read through the forums though.. there is unlimted information within

Opal,

They are freakin' identical looking (whoops some rivets on the AMG wheels and a tailpipe). Dude...you can't be for real. Find me someone that upgraded from a 430 to 55 AMG b/c of rivets around the wheels ? Thats b/c nobody upgrades to a 55 for cosmetics....only performance just like me I'll upgrade one day but for performance

i think opal is referring to the exhaust which looks different than the stock 430 one and the AMG brake kit: different calipers, rotors n such.

If you know what you're looking for then you will spot the difference between a 430 with an AMG kit and a true double nickel.

Geez guys. Get off the guys back about the AMG thing. He's new. I doubt that he was trying to 'POSE'.

slickclk430- the CLK430 has a AMG appearance package (bumpers, mats, etc). Does not have an 'AMG tuned' engine.

I have removed my resonator and like the subtle sound difference. Not much of a 'seat of your pants' gain as far as I can tell.

so what kinda of mods can i do to get more hp and torque?
thanks for all those who could hlep