Newbie (probably dumb) questions
08-20-2006, 03:33 PM
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Newbie (probably dumb) questions
My wife drives a 1995 Mercedes E320 with pretty low miles. We just repainted it, and now I want to do some stuff to it for fun, like an induction kit and free flow exhaust, maybe a chip; nothing too rad, since she's still going to be the primary driver. I've been googling all over, and there seems to be a dearth of performance parts for this car. Any suggestions?
PS: Koni's are quite a bit pricier than KYB or Bilstein. Are they clearly worth the difference?
PS: Koni's are quite a bit pricier than KYB or Bilstein. Are they clearly worth the difference?
08-20-2006, 06:22 PM
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'92 300E
I have heard bad things about adding a sports chip or even a new intake system in our cars. A new exhaust seems to not add much power at all to these cars, considering the stock exhaust is supposed to be very free flowing anyways. the only reason for a new exhaust would be for sound. from what i have heard many times from this forum, the best way to add performance is to do a full on engine swap.
try searching this forum a little more... your questions have been brought up and argued about many times.
welcome to the forum!
try searching this forum a little more... your questions have been brought up and argued about many times.
welcome to the forum!
08-20-2006, 07:29 PM
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93 300SE Rauch "Smoke"
Doc! I would settle for some nice dress up items! 
Hot rodin this car will be kind of tough as not much is available for it!
MB has pretty much tuned this engine for about its best performance.
Unless your gonna get real rad and have deep pockets!!!!!
Smokie
Hot rodin this car will be kind of tough as not much is available for it! MB has pretty much tuned this engine for about its best performance. Unless your gonna get real rad and have deep pockets!!!!! Smokie
08-21-2006, 02:57 PM
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Originally Posted by SNSMBZ W124
I have heard bad things about adding a sports chip or even a new intake system in our cars. A new exhaust seems to not add much power at all to these cars, considering the stock exhaust is supposed to be very free flowing anyways. the only reason for a new exhaust would be for sound. from what i have heard many times from this forum, the best way to add performance is to do a full on engine swap.
try searching this forum a little more... your questions have been brought up and argued about many times.
welcome to the forum!
try searching this forum a little more... your questions have been brought up and argued about many times.
welcome to the forum!
PS: Regarding wheel tire, are there any clear winners for looks and reducing unsprung weight without being overly fragile?
08-21-2006, 03:35 PM
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'92 300E
bilstiens and new rims and tires are a good choice. dramaticly improve the look and at the same time do one of the few "budget friendly" mods that actually makes a diferrence in the cars performance. Do it!
08-23-2006, 12:04 AM
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1992 Mercedes 400E
I concur with the other members; european cars are pretty maxed out performance-wise already. Given their price of gas, and the heavy taxes on engine sizes (i.e. England) it's no surprise that such is the case.
Having said that, I did do a ECU chip swap in my 400E, following the instructions on 2phast's site. A relatively easy-to-do job; if you've swapped memory chips on your computer, you can do this. At $69 from an Ebay seller I felt it's worth the money; if it was $300 I'd say that it's a waste of money. I don't think that I gained any HP, especially at the city driving rpm's. However, it does move the shift point upwards, so that one thinks (and feels) that the car is going faster. It also burns a lot more gas; going from 20 mpg down to about 16 mpg : (
A 400E starts in second gear. I'm not sure if the 300E's do this, but I also did the selectable 1st/2nd gear start modification on 2phast's site. The combination of both is , I believe, greater than the sum of the individual parts. If I want fuel economy, I select 2nd gear start and go easy on the gas; she shifts around 2,000 rpm (remember; this is a 400E). If I want performance, I select 1st gear start, and the chip holds off the gear shift, depending on how far you're keeping your foot down.
The new chip also eliminates the forced 'stuck in-low-gear' mode of the stock chip when the engine is cold (to heat up the catalytic converter) and allows the tranny to shift. It also supposedly eliminates the 155 mph cutout, but I haven't been able to verify that yet : )
Having said that, I did do a ECU chip swap in my 400E, following the instructions on 2phast's site. A relatively easy-to-do job; if you've swapped memory chips on your computer, you can do this. At $69 from an Ebay seller I felt it's worth the money; if it was $300 I'd say that it's a waste of money. I don't think that I gained any HP, especially at the city driving rpm's. However, it does move the shift point upwards, so that one thinks (and feels) that the car is going faster. It also burns a lot more gas; going from 20 mpg down to about 16 mpg : (
A 400E starts in second gear. I'm not sure if the 300E's do this, but I also did the selectable 1st/2nd gear start modification on 2phast's site. The combination of both is , I believe, greater than the sum of the individual parts. If I want fuel economy, I select 2nd gear start and go easy on the gas; she shifts around 2,000 rpm (remember; this is a 400E). If I want performance, I select 1st gear start, and the chip holds off the gear shift, depending on how far you're keeping your foot down.
The new chip also eliminates the forced 'stuck in-low-gear' mode of the stock chip when the engine is cold (to heat up the catalytic converter) and allows the tranny to shift. It also supposedly eliminates the 155 mph cutout, but I haven't been able to verify that yet : )
08-25-2006, 12:53 AM
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Originally Posted by natural_person
I concur with the other members; european cars are pretty maxed out performance-wise already. Given their price of gas, and the heavy taxes on engine sizes (i.e. England) it's no surprise that such is the case.
Having said that, I did do a ECU chip swap in my 400E, following the instructions on 2phast's site. A relatively easy-to-do job; if you've swapped memory chips on your computer, you can do this. At $69 from an Ebay seller I felt it's worth the money; if it was $300 I'd say that it's a waste of money. I don't think that I gained any HP, especially at the city driving rpm's. However, it does move the shift point upwards, so that one thinks (and feels) that the car is going faster. It also burns a lot more gas; going from 20 mpg down to about 16 mpg : (
A 400E starts in second gear. I'm not sure if the 300E's do this, but I also did the selectable 1st/2nd gear start modification on 2phast's site. The combination of both is , I believe, greater than the sum of the individual parts. If I want fuel economy, I select 2nd gear start and go easy on the gas; she shifts around 2,000 rpm (remember; this is a 400E). If I want performance, I select 1st gear start, and the chip holds off the gear shift, depending on how far you're keeping your foot down.
The new chip also eliminates the forced 'stuck in-low-gear' mode of the stock chip when the engine is cold (to heat up the catalytic converter) and allows the tranny to shift. It also supposedly eliminates the 155 mph cutout, but I haven't been able to verify that yet : )
Having said that, I did do a ECU chip swap in my 400E, following the instructions on 2phast's site. A relatively easy-to-do job; if you've swapped memory chips on your computer, you can do this. At $69 from an Ebay seller I felt it's worth the money; if it was $300 I'd say that it's a waste of money. I don't think that I gained any HP, especially at the city driving rpm's. However, it does move the shift point upwards, so that one thinks (and feels) that the car is going faster. It also burns a lot more gas; going from 20 mpg down to about 16 mpg : (
A 400E starts in second gear. I'm not sure if the 300E's do this, but I also did the selectable 1st/2nd gear start modification on 2phast's site. The combination of both is , I believe, greater than the sum of the individual parts. If I want fuel economy, I select 2nd gear start and go easy on the gas; she shifts around 2,000 rpm (remember; this is a 400E). If I want performance, I select 1st gear start, and the chip holds off the gear shift, depending on how far you're keeping your foot down.
The new chip also eliminates the forced 'stuck in-low-gear' mode of the stock chip when the engine is cold (to heat up the catalytic converter) and allows the tranny to shift. It also supposedly eliminates the 155 mph cutout, but I haven't been able to verify that yet : )
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08-25-2006, 10:29 AM
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1992 Mercedes 400E
Unsprung weight - funny that you brought this up. My car came with the stock 15" 8-hole rims. I now have two more sets of rims, the ASA 16" x 7.5" 8-hole replicas from Tire Rack, and AMG Monoblock replicas 17" x 7.5". Both are made in Italy. While a lot of people go for Monoblocks, here's the interesting fact: the ASA's weigh a lot less, 20.7 pounds vs. 26.1 pounds for the Aero's. (The tires, 205/55/16's and 215/45/17's, weigh the same - 21 pounds) There's 20 pounds in unsprung weight that one can save.
