Clk430
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 260
Likes: 0
From: Pittsburgh, PA
W208 CLK55 AMG, W203 C32 AMG, W163 M Class Sport
Wheel and tire upgrade. 245's in the rear are pretty puny and have trouble putting down the power.
H&R Springs and Koni yellows are a nice suspension upgrade on these cars. Some people have trouble with camber and have to get camber kits after installing though.
The secondary cats can be removed for a straight pipe for a more aggressive exhaust.
What are you looking to do with the car? Daily driver with better performance?
H&R Springs and Koni yellows are a nice suspension upgrade on these cars. Some people have trouble with camber and have to get camber kits after installing though.
The secondary cats can be removed for a straight pipe for a more aggressive exhaust.
What are you looking to do with the car? Daily driver with better performance?
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Clk430
Daily but a sick *** daily driver. I just picked it up from an older lady for 6k. It only had 60 k on it. So I was thinking about putting another 5 or 6k in it. I'm definitely doing wheels, would like to do full exhaust with headers. Maybe a full suspension. Thanks for the info. Any ideas on performance would be helpful.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 2,781
Likes: 13
From: The Heights, CA
Tesla Model S
Headers are a waste of money. The exhaust bottleneck is in the exhaust port of the head itself so without addressing that, you won't see any appreciable gain from just headers. If sound is what you're after, cut out the resonator and take your pick with off the shelf cat-backs.
This car likes suspension upgrades, and as Gundo said, the AMG airbox w/ good filters gives you 15 horses at the wheels. I've dyno tested this.
Canned chip "tunes" are a waste of money unless you have serious mods and pay for a custom tune with datalogging.
Sprintbooster is liked by some on here, but it's a waste of money IMO as well. It just makes the computer think you're flooring the gas before you actually are. Some will tell you it eliminates throttle lag and that mercedes purposely put lag in, yadda yadda yadda. This is BS. It decreases your pedal resolution so the car floors it before you're actually flooring it. That's all. Even says so on their own site.
Kleemann makes a very expensive but effective supercharger or you could go the custom s/c route as I did, but it will certainly exceed the budget you laid out. HPS Gen 1 is not efficient, and gen 2 seems to be very efficient at blowing up motors (do a search).
AMG box, suspension, brakes, lighter wheels. That's most of the real performance you'll get on this car without spending serious dough.
This car likes suspension upgrades, and as Gundo said, the AMG airbox w/ good filters gives you 15 horses at the wheels. I've dyno tested this.
Canned chip "tunes" are a waste of money unless you have serious mods and pay for a custom tune with datalogging.
Sprintbooster is liked by some on here, but it's a waste of money IMO as well. It just makes the computer think you're flooring the gas before you actually are. Some will tell you it eliminates throttle lag and that mercedes purposely put lag in, yadda yadda yadda. This is BS. It decreases your pedal resolution so the car floors it before you're actually flooring it. That's all. Even says so on their own site.
Kleemann makes a very expensive but effective supercharger or you could go the custom s/c route as I did, but it will certainly exceed the budget you laid out. HPS Gen 1 is not efficient, and gen 2 seems to be very efficient at blowing up motors (do a search).
AMG box, suspension, brakes, lighter wheels. That's most of the real performance you'll get on this car without spending serious dough.
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Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 260
Likes: 0
From: Pittsburgh, PA
W208 CLK55 AMG, W203 C32 AMG, W163 M Class Sport
How many miles are on the car? I'd be looking into maintenance before doing too many mods.
Make sure the wheel bearings are in spec. They are easily adjusted if there is play. Also check your steering gear bolts for proper torque.
I hate to admit this, but a W208 will never have amazing handling. Recirculating ball will never give the feedback of rack and pinion.
I wish someone made a subframe spacer for the W208. You can slightly overtorque the 4 rear subframe bushings for better rear end feedback as they soften over time.
Make sure the wheel bearings are in spec. They are easily adjusted if there is play. Also check your steering gear bolts for proper torque.
I hate to admit this, but a W208 will never have amazing handling. Recirculating ball will never give the feedback of rack and pinion.
I wish someone made a subframe spacer for the W208. You can slightly overtorque the 4 rear subframe bushings for better rear end feedback as they soften over time.
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