First off, I want to say Thank you to people like Gardevski and Pekkah for jumping into this and posting so much info about this topic.

Lets get a bit of history shall we
I have been building cars/trucks for ever for like 20 years off and on but this was my first Mercedes. I have built a couple of show cars in my history but decided "hey i just want a nice car to drive ALL YEAR AROUND." Now im in Edmonton Alberta Canada and our winters are brutal , brutally cold asnowy salty ****ty you name it it sucks. So I literally Talked myself out of buying a 63 (idiot) "427 hp is good who needs more then that for a daily" FML lol But i have loved the CLS ever since i saw a matte silver one at my local auto show in 2011(see grey Picture thats the actual photo from 2011)



Well fast forward to feb 2021 I bought my CLS 2014 60k on it Loved it


But it didnt have carbon interior ... So i made one






So this is how she sat for a while


Well then i found some Chinese bumpers bought a euro version rear fog and decided hey why not lol and wrapped the car in stealth





Well I also Decided stereo want good enough so i decided to make some Oem ish tweeter pods for my Focal Utopia M speakers with matching interior RGB's




Well I decided Engine now needed Carbon fiber and new intakes so Black boost here we come


OK NOW interior neede more carbon lol NEW steering wheel


NOW GO FAST PARTS

All new CSF heat exchangers


Boosted Benz motor mounts


Old turbos


new turbos


and how it started

And how its going

Now i have done other mods like amg 6 pistons so ill update on that and well see how this goes haha

but i will be powder coating stuff and making my own weistech bov system because i am sick of being exploited by manufacturers be cause its a MERCEDES or they say well you got to PAY TO PLAY , well eff that

and here is a secret squirrel pick of a project i am working on....**** you cloth intake tubes

 

Looking good man! Looking forward to seeing the progress. All that stuff taken apart looks scary haha, but I'm sure you're looking to do the same as that one guy on here that made tons of HP?

 

Very cool! Love this stuff, keep the updates coming.

 

That "how it's going" picture of seemingly infinite number of holes kinda makes me want to sell mine while there's nothing wrong with it ( and i've only had it a month .) EPIC vehicle. What's your method of keeping the salt from eating the car alive? Mine is driving my Tundra that day. Beautiful build. Labor of love without a doubt. Is that a glass roof? carbon fiber? black paint? Bravo!

 

hahaha yea its terrifying but its like a big German puzzle, i have a Q5 i drive for work and in the winter , and the roof is just wrapped black , but im probably going to paint it or wrap it in gloss black ppf this summer, motor first lol

 

So given your level of project here I'm assuming you may have a solid answer for this. I'm looking for a "code reader" little understated, that has the capacity to do everything I'd need to do for testing and such. Like my current airbag issue. While the replacement seems about as simple as repairs get, there's some liberties that I'm not willing to take without thorough vetting. Specific to my current issue, air bag seems to have a slow leak. I've recreated the issue now so it's certainly in need of attention. In this instance it would make sense for me to have the computer to be able to activate and run the airbag tests. I'd bet money that the right computer hooked up can inflate that bag and know that it's leaking. Beyond that, that bag needs deflated before I'm going to take the air line off. Easing off an airline to release the pressure seems less than proper. I could also see that drop in pressure throwing off sensors etc, causing more issues. etc. I plan to keep this thing for a long long time, if that's realistic or not is yet to be seen. Oil in the engine, don't drive through salty muck, driving like an old man ( let's face it, i'm not not trying to be recognized in this ) but will hammer down from a rolling start if the sun is shining just right... Anyway, curious on that computer. Mixed messaging on the airbag swap, and arnott. When i see a youtube video uncut with a reinflated airbag i'll believe it's as easy as youtube makes it out to be. Otherwise it's always easier to use the right tool for the job. And i'm the guy who bought the tip top dewalt planer to bang out 1 window ceil. worth every penny - still cheaper than a "contractor" would charge to f it up.
looked a bit "Mercedes Benz Xentry diagnosis VCi" may be what im after...

 

So I have a Xentry Machine which will allow me to recalibrate and trouble shoot air matic system but if they are leaking it is generally two places, the bag or strut or the manifold behind the back bumper. if the valves in the manifold arnt closing it will let the front down. you can try spraying it with soapy water but you also don't need to worry about deflating the bag by removing the airline on the top of the strut just back it off slowly and it will let the air out.

 

Really nice build thread and car. Keep up the good work and hope you have the Dragy too, that we can see how fast it will run in future.

 

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUK here is a bit of info for you.
THERE IS NO MANUAL WAY TO GET TRANSMISSION IN NEUTRAL TO SPIN DRIVESHAFT FOR BOLT REMOVAL lol I had to re hook up all electronics AND Reconnect all the brake lines and old calipers cause it wouldnt detect break pedal depress without pressure in the lines .****
Any way its handled the motor should be out by the weekend

 

That's terrible to hear. What a job to do.

It's your built but I have some proposal what to do when engine is out if u like. I think that HMS bridge pipes will fit also in 550 and I do regret I didnt get them when my engine was out. Second is that install that CWA100-2 pump and wiring adapter and extra HE on passenger side. Those will help a lot to get all power out later.

 

labor of love - and hate and frustration so ya "love" tracks. Now you have to ask yourself who is going to fix that hole in the wall that the socket wrench made?

 

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright well we pulled the engine, once all the the front was apart it was actually relitiely simple for the pull, 6 bolts mount the sub frabe to the chassis, 8 bolts for tranny cross member and 3 bolts for the drive shaft. SHE is a HUUUGE *****.

 

God bless you! Gives new meaning to "pulling the engine." The entire front of the vehicle is removed!!!!

 

and here we have the snail in its natural environment




and here are the new motormounts installed:
now there for a M157 and since im a 278 the bolts didnt fit, the thread pitch was wrong, so i had to get different bolts i also had to cut the top of the additional heat shields as the mounts sit extremely tight to the motor itself and would not allow for the increased height of the heat shields




and here we are, new coolant lines and all bolted up



and thats how she sits as of 12:00 AM LASTNIGHT lol



im out of town for a week for work but i will be doing a new water pump and resealing the front covers because they are notorious for leaking on these motors. Im also building my own weistecish blow off valve system complete with bungs for meth PRE TURBOS, notice i didnt say water anywear lol and then i need to mount the new csf main and aux heat exchangers. I also replace the spark plugs to the AMG GT plugs (one step colder gapped to .22 which is what my friend whos a mbtech recommended for our climate and elevation)
to dos:
3" downpipes
BOV
AMG intank fuel pump
Amg fuel pump controller softwear update
Csf intercoolers
try and remember how to re assble the front
OH and i got the amg front calipers back from powder coating, they turned out great

 

This is awesome - thanks for documenting/sharing!

 

Awesome performance! Keep up the outstanding work!!
R,
2Merks

 

@Jbond2099 Do you have details on the turbos such as wheel size?