anybody found a performance chip for a 88 300E?
04-23-2012, 11:16 PM
#2
To be honest Jesse - I don't believe there is any such animal !
The late 80's model cars have very little in terms of computerised performance management.
To quote from a well known Mercedes W124 reference book....
"Reprogrammed EPROM chips have been tested by the well respected German car magazine Auto Motor und Sport. Their findings are that most chip changes do nothing for the engine and at times even reduce power output. Whilst some power improvement might be noticed at full throttle here the engine management system goes into a fixed set of full power parameters, it will not be noticed at partial throttle.
Once an engine is at operating temperature, the injectoed fuel volume depends on oxygen sensor output. No matter what changes are made to the programming on the EPROM, the oxygen sensor will maintain a stiometric ration of 14.7:1 (air:fuel) also known as the mabda.
Any attempts to add more fuel to the mixture causes the oxygen sensor to readjust the injection system. It is only at 3/4 throttle or more that the ocygen sensor is removed from the circuit during full power operation.
So, while a speed chip may indeed improve full throttle performance by 15% as claimed, it does nothing at part throttle."
The late 80's model cars have very little in terms of computerised performance management.
To quote from a well known Mercedes W124 reference book....
"Reprogrammed EPROM chips have been tested by the well respected German car magazine Auto Motor und Sport. Their findings are that most chip changes do nothing for the engine and at times even reduce power output. Whilst some power improvement might be noticed at full throttle here the engine management system goes into a fixed set of full power parameters, it will not be noticed at partial throttle.
Once an engine is at operating temperature, the injectoed fuel volume depends on oxygen sensor output. No matter what changes are made to the programming on the EPROM, the oxygen sensor will maintain a stiometric ration of 14.7:1 (air:fuel) also known as the mabda.
Any attempts to add more fuel to the mixture causes the oxygen sensor to readjust the injection system. It is only at 3/4 throttle or more that the ocygen sensor is removed from the circuit during full power operation.
So, while a speed chip may indeed improve full throttle performance by 15% as claimed, it does nothing at part throttle."
04-23-2012, 11:24 PM
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1988 Mercedes-Benz 300E
Thanx, that's good to know. I'm very new to this vehical. Do you have a w124? Do you have any suggestions on how I can improve the performance?
04-24-2012, 01:17 AM
#4
Not a problem my friend.
Look as a general rule of thumb there are no real performance mods for the M103 3 litre inline 6 cylinder engine that you can buy off the shelf inexpensively. The M103 engine was pretty advanced for it's time and that's evident by the fact that Mercedes stuck with that format of powerplanet for many years across their model range !
There are some who have flirted with performance headers, grinds etc but it becomes pretty costly and sourcing the parts for some of these things is quite difficult.
Probably the most successful mod is the twin turbo modification. But be prepared that's big money.
Honestly you would want to have a very very nice example of motor vehicle in the first instance before I would go that route or prepared to make it that way.
There's no sense having a top class engine if the fenders fall off going down the driveway !
Have a look at forum member bahnstormers example below and you will see what I mean. Man I have wet dreams about that thing !
The other mod that can be done is an engine swap. Late '89 into the 90's MB models came with a twin cam M104 engine initially a 24V 3.0 litre then a 3.2 litre engine with a bit more grunt than the 3 litre.
Whilst as an engine they can swap in relatively easily, you need the running gear to go with them as the type of fuel injection system and some of the electronics changed as well.
I recently read an excellent post on another forum where the owner of a 1992 300CE coupe wrestled an M119 V8 under the bonnet (see picture below).
A really quality job and it took time.
Jesse whilst the 88 300E won't win any performance awards, if looked after, it will be running when your friends car's have been traded in or sit rusting in a wrecking yard.
One MB W124 in the museum in Germany has (wait for it) 1,000,000 MILES on the clock. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MB...lion_miles.jpg
What you can do is ensure it is always running at it's peak though with careful and timely maintenance. Even have things such as the catalytic convertor checked as I discovered recently. Mine was past it's use by date and was clogged up to the extent that performance was impaired. Since replacing it with a free flow Magnaflow cat, it is now spritely and quick off the mark once again - noticeably so ! (see my car below)
Your best friend will become this forum and another called benzworld.
Read and search for answers, listen to advice when it is given as the collective knowledge on these forums is worth a million dollars. !
Good Luck with your W124 and Welcome !
Look as a general rule of thumb there are no real performance mods for the M103 3 litre inline 6 cylinder engine that you can buy off the shelf inexpensively. The M103 engine was pretty advanced for it's time and that's evident by the fact that Mercedes stuck with that format of powerplanet for many years across their model range !
There are some who have flirted with performance headers, grinds etc but it becomes pretty costly and sourcing the parts for some of these things is quite difficult.
Probably the most successful mod is the twin turbo modification. But be prepared that's big money.
Honestly you would want to have a very very nice example of motor vehicle in the first instance before I would go that route or prepared to make it that way.
There's no sense having a top class engine if the fenders fall off going down the driveway !
Have a look at forum member bahnstormers example below and you will see what I mean. Man I have wet dreams about that thing !
The other mod that can be done is an engine swap. Late '89 into the 90's MB models came with a twin cam M104 engine initially a 24V 3.0 litre then a 3.2 litre engine with a bit more grunt than the 3 litre.
Whilst as an engine they can swap in relatively easily, you need the running gear to go with them as the type of fuel injection system and some of the electronics changed as well.
I recently read an excellent post on another forum where the owner of a 1992 300CE coupe wrestled an M119 V8 under the bonnet (see picture below).
A really quality job and it took time.
Jesse whilst the 88 300E won't win any performance awards, if looked after, it will be running when your friends car's have been traded in or sit rusting in a wrecking yard.
One MB W124 in the museum in Germany has (wait for it) 1,000,000 MILES on the clock. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MB...lion_miles.jpg
What you can do is ensure it is always running at it's peak though with careful and timely maintenance. Even have things such as the catalytic convertor checked as I discovered recently. Mine was past it's use by date and was clogged up to the extent that performance was impaired. Since replacing it with a free flow Magnaflow cat, it is now spritely and quick off the mark once again - noticeably so ! (see my car below)
Your best friend will become this forum and another called benzworld.
Read and search for answers, listen to advice when it is given as the collective knowledge on these forums is worth a million dollars. !
Good Luck with your W124 and Welcome !
Last edited by stormtigers; 04-25-2012 at 06:03 PM.
08-13-2013, 05:41 PM
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1987 300e
I put in a new set of plug wires because the old ones were quite loose. Plugs were in bad shape and I replaced them with Bosch Platinum +4 plugs. I'm getting 24.9 mpg driving on the Interstate. Seems good to me.
08-13-2013, 09:42 PM
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88-300CE TWIN TURBO, 99-C43, 05-G55K, 71-280SL, 94-E320 CAB, 08 CLK63 BLACK SERIES
First mistake is your choice of plugs....
Only use factory specification non resistor plugs as they are a necessary part of the EZL ignition system.
Ed A.
