McBear

That really won't help for a couple of reasons. Mainly, the fit will be way off [physical fit] from the V8 to I6 intakes and the mods will eat up any useful cleanup.

If you are looking at a progressive performance ladder to build up your car's performance for seat of the pants feel here would be a suggested list, in order.

First, clean out the trunk, remove all added power amps and big speakers. Find the smallest, lightest spare that will fit your 5X112 bolt pattern.

Second, make sure the car is fully tuned up, with new wires, plugs, rotors, caps etc. Check the wiring harness for damage [shorts cause misfires which causes poor performance. Make sure all fluids are correct and to spec including diff fluids, tranny, power steering, etc.

Third, insure the wheels on your car are as light weight as possible and the tires are also. As an example, STOCK 16" 500E wheels are 26 pounds. AMG Monoblocks in 17" are 31-33 pounds. Some of the cheaper wheels on ebay are in the 35-40 pound range. Good 17" BBS wheels are under 20 pounds. Same goes for tires. Michelin Pilots are among the lightest A/S tire you can get. You want to get the lightest combination of wheels and tires you can. Less rotating mass means better handling and better response. 1 pound reduction on the wheel equals 10 pounds on the body of the car.

Now, those are three items that do not even begin to address the engine. Why? Performance for any car is really a matter of the ratio of WEIGHT OF THE CAR / HORSEPOWER. Your car weighs about 3500# and has about 215HP. That comes out to 16.28HP per pound. Your goal is to reduce that number as much as you can. You do so by reducing weight or increasing power. As a reference the 500E has a ratio of about 12.00 per pound.

QUESTION: What kind of wheels/tire combo do you have right now? What stereo system do you have? Some of this may not apply to you if you have the stock stereo [although the amps are about 50# in the back right of the car].

McBear

I did these mods on my Sportline and the breakdown was something like this.

Piston/ConRods $3200
Boring/sleeving block $700
Rebuild Kit $500
Head work $1500
Port and Polish 20 hours for intake and exhaust ports and manifolds
Breakdown/rebuild 30 hours

Labor costs will depend on where you get the work done. California rates are ridiculously high with no value add as far as I can tell. Northeast rates are not far behind. So the Left and Right Coast might cost $125-150 per hour for labor. The South and Midwest are more reasonable at $60-100 for the same work. On a rebuild, it can pay to ship a motor, or car, to cheaper rate areas to get the work done.

I have put 75,000 hard miles on the Sportline with no issues on the motor. This was done both to test the car and because it was used as a track day car before the 500Es got set up for this coming year. We have had to address the tranny due to hard use but that was expected. I will be driving the Sportline to the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona at the end of the month.

shadowgriffen

x5

cannot be said any better.

Chappy

As far as I know, yes. They made some W124 limos in 6-door and possibly some other configurations. I don't have any part number(s) for this mod.

Best of luck.

Saijin_Naib

lol thanks I gotta figure out who to go to with that kinda question... I guess someone here must have the part numbers right?

McBear

Just go with the 500E sway bars. You will not get any value add with anything stiffer on the straight 124 body. The limo has so much extra stuff in the back end to require the extra 2mm that you will NEVER see on the 3500 pound coupe. Same with the front end. Remember, on any suspension, if you overspec any single component without having the rest of the body for it to play against, you throw off the rest of the components that you have in the system. Think of the adage "a chain is only as strong as its weakest link". You want to get a fully balanced system such as the complete AMG suspension or the complete Sportline suspension or the complete 500E suspension with as few overloads as possible. It saves wear and tear and saves money.

dragonfli_VF

sorry for bringing this back up, but doing nominal performance mods interests me in a DIY sort of way... FYI, MB has a set of wheels from a 98-2000 CLK and it fits like a glove on the w124 - ... BTW, 14lbs and you'll need extremely short wheel bolts though.

I definitely need an engine rebuild because my vehicle is leaking a little bit of everything. but a whole bunch of image searching, I'd be interested to see what a highflow cat, a mid-muffler delete, rebuilding the engine, and gasket match porting intake/exhaust runners - what could I gain out of just more air?

oh... I was wondering if there are ECU upgrades for better performance/fuel economy... I'll probably make a new thread to discuss my other questions.

E4///Turbo

Not sure on the emission testing in your state but check into that first before you buy anything, out in California we still have the visual inspection so we are limited to EPA approved parts regardless of if any new performance parts lowers emissions as most good parts do in some cases...
I happen to have a brother in Law that is very famous with the Porsche Turbo crowd and have done quite a few Turbo Mercedes, I have a picture of a single turbo C36 but can't seem to ad it here...

Klint54136

you know this has got to be one of the best threads on any forum I have read in a long time. Saijin I have to say you sound like a very smart, down to earth guy with realistic expectations out of your MB. I had been looking into performance upgrades for my MB ('89 300E) which I have owned for 6 years and love every minute.

Last year I finally came to the conclusion that it just wasn't worth dumping the money into it since the resale isn't there and like someone mentioned early, if it were to get wrecked it would be a total waste. It just seems to me to make more sense to upgrade to a 500E and take it from there.

I broke down last year and bought a 2000 Audi S4 which has been a blast, but the MB is still my favorite car by far... As always I keep it sparkling clean and all the trim, tires, dash etc shinning bright. Coupled with some AMG Monoblocks, new BFG GT4's and a new Bilstein suspension on all 4 corners, motor mounts, bushings, antenna and Zebrano wood...this car still turns lots and lots of heads.

I just accepted it will never be blazing fast, now I drive by nice and slow so everyone can appreciate true MB beauty at it's best!

JasonOne

I feel the same way about my 1987 300E. It's an old car with low value and it's got high miles so it's not really worth a whole lot. It is a one owner car in exceptional condition with a freshened gearbox. Motor oil has been changed every 3 thousand miles. I have the records from the indy mechanic and the service stamps from the dealer shop before that. Great car. handles well for an old girl too. Just needs new shocks and springs. Maybe a front end alignment and a steering box adjustment.
I would like to look for BBS wheels, almost bought a 1985 euro in florida just to get the BBS wheels on it. I may have access to a few 103 motors. Putting a lightened rebuild motor in a 300E/300CE would be just great for better driving. I had a 1988 300CE that i totalled recently. I ought to have bought it back for the parts alone. The motor would have been great to get.

Mcbear, do you have a shop i could ship a motor for a rebuild and lightening? I like the idea a lot. Makes sense to me. Just need to score a cheap, decent m103 for a donor.

I also agree that upgrading suspension and or mechanics together as a whole is the way to go. I have been trying to figure out which springs and shocks/struts combo i need for my sedan. I thought that Vogtlands with Billie Sports would be good with whatever size spring pads are allready on the car. Does that sound too performance? Does it seem a good pair? I think 500E or 420E bars would work too. And of course all stock rubber bushings to keep the feel on the road.

Thanks,
Jason

Saijin_Naib

Okay so looking back, naturally aspirated tuning seems to be the best bet. McBear, your shop is down in VA right? So basically, I need to get the full sportline suspension with the 500e sway bars, with bilstein sport shocks and what springs? H&R? Eibach? Vogtland? Is the sportline steering gearbox worth the 500$ some i see it on mercedesshop for? And light rims hmm?

pifcat2

Nice weight suggestion by McBear, here are more:

I replaced my stock steering wheel with an non-airbag AMG which was probably 15 lbs lighter. My RENNTech 3.6 didn't have an heavy airpump (maybe 10 lbs) and still passed smog, visual and perf. The seats are pretty heavy, if you replaced them with non-motorized, you can lose 50 lbs for the pair.

Saijin_Naib

Awesome. However, there is no way Im going to get rid of the airbag. I would like to get performance without sacrificing personal safety. Anyway, what kind of seats would fit in the car? Recaros? Those are sport/light right? And what about the back bench? O_o Please keep suggestions coming! I cant afford any of it, but eventually I want to make my baby awesome

RBYCC

If you haven't replaced your airbag, it probably has rotted by now....get in an accident and at the most you'll get covered with white powder !!!!

Years ago my Merc dealer service department disconnected the airbag because I didn't want to replace it.

Not against safety, but I've owned and driven many very fast vehicles over the years that didn't even come from the factory with seat belts, and had big hard wood or plastic steering wheels, metal unpadded dashes and lucite tinted sun visors..........

Saijin_Naib

Alright, looks like replacing the airbag is the next order of business then. Super-expensive i assume?

Eliot

Check the expiration date. It should be listed on a sticker in your doorwell. Mine for example (on a 94) is 2008.

Saijin_Naib

Ahh okay. Will do. How about brakes? Any thoughts anyone?

Chappy

Alcon.

RBYCC

Expensive enough.......

RBYCC

Very subjective....

I went with Zimmerman cross drilled rotors and Textar pads.
Both of which are MB OEM suppliers.

I would stay away from ceramic pads as you don't need the stopping power and they do not perform as well in street use as an OEM low dust pad.
The ceramics also take a toll on the rotor.

Stay with a good quality OEM replacement and you'll be satisfied for many years.

Saijin_Naib

Awesome. Do you have any experience with EBC or Powerslot rotors?

RBYCC

Both good brands.

The key to rotor performance and durability is the quality of the casting.
EBC is a UK based company, and Powerslot in the USA.
Both use high quality castings.

My personal choice are the Italian (Brembo) and German cast rotors.
Why I went with Zimmerman (German) is that they are very high quality, chamfered cast holes and heat treated after drilling.

A cheap casting that is drilled tends to crack at the hole radius.

I think you will be pleased with the EBC or Powerslot.
Use a good quality DOT 3-4 or even DOT-5 brake fluid and make a habit of changing your brake fluid on a regular basis to prevent corrosion within the system

You're driving on the street, so you'll not generate the heat that will cause a cherry red glow, like you would on the track.

You mentioned the safety aspect of the "air bag".....it comes secondary to brakes, tires and even suspension, which keep you stuck to the road, allow handling stability and give the ability to stop !!

Saijin_Naib

Indeed! And my stock 17 year old rotors are completely shot, and I want a safe, good performing replacement that is affordable. Are the stainless lines worht the 62$ investment for each set? I hear they can help reduce brake fade...

RBYCC

PM me...I have a set of stainless lines that I never installed...
I'll let them go for much less then what you are contemplating spending

Saijin_Naib

PM sent Why didnt you end up isntalling them? Are they helpful at all, or are they just a placebo effect? Also, which rotors do you feel perform the best for the value? You chose Zimmerman, why? Im sorry Im asking annoying questions, its just if I fund this repair its going to clean me out of my money, so I want to be sure I do it right. Thanks