pjfla

Hi guys! Well, I finally joined you. In the last 45 days I have gone from a 2008 BMW 650i to a 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo to now (to be delivered in a week or so) 2008 CLK63 BS.

I had the BMW for 3 years, had the Lambo for about a month. I LOVED the 650 and loved the Lambo, but it just isnt for me. Im pushing 6'4 and I cant get comfortable in it (nevermind the stares and constant questions at lights and gas stations).

Anyway, I have always liked the looks of the BS and finally drove one this past week. That was all it took... one drive. Wow.

I pulled the trigger on a 5700 mile Silver BS. I want to get right to modding. First up is cosmetic work (painting OEM wheels, grill, smoked tailights, Pioneer Nav, and a few other things) but will quickly move to performance.

So how should I start performance modding? Im thinking Kleemann headers and ECU to start but want to get your take before I spend any $. If you had it to do all over again, what would you do?

Thanks!

MACHC5

Welcome on board.

If you're talking engine performance, I'd just buy a Supercharger as that will make your really fast car, a too fast car.

Jim

Jim Brady

Welcome to the board. A tune, pulley and long tube headers will get you close to a 90 whp. Cosmetics is a personal thing, but wheel spacers on the stock wheels is a must.

pjfla

Thanks guys. Spacers are a must. Really works well with those flares. ECU, headers and pulley get 90 hp???

MACHC5

What state is the car registered in.?

pjfla

Will be Florida.

clkwork

welcome

MACHC5

12 months of good weather to drive her.
Being in FL, you could call Renntech and ask them to look at enhancing the car.

Jim

AMG BRED

Good choice on the KLEEMANN headers and tune. You can't go wrong with their stuff.

Nstar

Welcome, I'm sure you'll love the CLK BS. It's a better daily than a Gallardo and gets a round a track in a way that belies its weight. Impressive vehicle.

LOVEMYBS

Wheel spacers on a stock car? First time I've heard of this. Why and what size? Just curious as I'm approaching my VIR track days in June and would like to know if this helps.

Jim Brady

By moving the track of the car farther out will help handling as it will increase the front camber and most of all it looks better.

Doctodd33

unless you are getting new rims/tires the spacers are a great looking and functioning addition

Becks Imports

If you track the car, and/or drive hard, keep in mind spacers put additional stress on the hubs.

Make sure you get high quality ones (H&R, etc), and ideally keep them under 10mm......5mm is better, but more than 10mm and tracking the car is asking for trouble in my humble opinion.

Bruce

forhamilton

Yeah for 10k. Skip the headers and add 60hp for 4k.

jenk12m

I agree on the spacers. Its personal preference if you go with kleeman, renntech, or evosport

brad @ evosport

I will add another perspective on spacers.

First, all H&R spacers (of ANY size) are TUV approved and tested. This is the German equivalent of DOT, but far more stringent and in fact all aftermarket parts have to pass to be on the road in Germany.

Second, Any high quality spacer (like the H&R ones) are hub-centric (above 5mm/side) and will correctly carry the load of the wheel as per the engineering of the auto-maker. There is NO difference between adding a wheel spacer vs adding a new wheel with a large rear pad.

Third, reality is the use of spacers does NOT have any negative impact. I have used them on EVERY road and street car I have had for 10+ years. We race 500+ WHP BMW's with them. Porsche used them as factory on the wide-body rear 911's dozens of years ago.

There is a large "anti-spacer" movement on the net (not sure why or where it came from), but in theory and in real experience it does not bear fruit.

Feel safe to use spacers! Not only are they safe, they WILL improve handling by adding track to the car.

The one caveat to this is actually very different then one poster above. I would recommend against 5mm in most cases as they are not hub-centric and in many cases do not allow for enough of the wheel to be supported on the hub. I prefer to use a 10mm+. On some MB's the factory hub carrier is very long and 5mm is great. On some, especially if you have a short hub carrier and an aftermarket brake kit (with a thicker hat than on the stock rotor), 5mm is just not going to work at all.

Thanks
Brad

GeoGeo

I do agree with Brad on this one...5mm is not useful and I heard from multiple sources that it could give you problems due to not being hubcentric.

If the car is only street-driven and something of a garage queen, no need for spacers (or anything really). For track it would help a bit. If you do get spacers, consider changing over to a stud-and-nut combo as it'll be safer than running wheel bolts.

I'm one of the few who thinks 500hp is plenty and would focus more on tire/suspension. At the minimum you'll benefit from a good alignment, even on a stock car. Significant help.


On a completely different note, this board's gone a lot quieter without LZH and Jcart...it's like for every useful thread there's an ad for lubricants.

CLKBSVegas

what size spacers and from which companies are your guys using with the stockers?

GeoGeo

12mm f/r

CLKBSVegas

H&R or?

CLKBSVegas

no wobble at all with a 12mm spacer on each corner?

brad @ evosport

You want to use H&R. they are the only TUV approved spacers that I am aware of. It is all we use or sell.

You will NOT have issues with H&R spacers if installed and used correctly - EVER.

Thanks
Brad

CLKBSVegas

Can you pm me a quote for 4 shipped to 89102?