naschbac

Howdy,

I recently wrecked my '86 Volvo 240, and when it came time for a replacement I was looking to get a 2001 Volvo S60 T-5, or perhaps a new S60-R.

Well I didn't go that route and instead picked up a very nice '94 Mercedes E320 with 96k miles. About the only problem it has is that there are some scuffs on the black leather, but on a car that is almost 10 years old that kind of thing is to be expected, and some black leather conditioner makes them all but invisible.

Anyway the jump to the ~220 hp engine from my old Volvo has been nice, but like with anything else you get acclaimated to it So I'm curious about performance upgrades.

I had considered getting an E420 or E500, but honestly I had a friend with a 500SEC w/ the 5 liter V-8 which had nothing but issues. Probably an irrational "fear", but I'm not too concerned about it. Besides the insurance on a 300+ hp V8 for a male under 25 is horrendous. The M104 3.2L I-6 in the E320 seemed to be a well designed and reliable engine, and it even has a little power consider it's size and not being turbocharged or supercharged in anyway.

I'm also already looking at getting a set of AMG Monoblock wheels to replace the stock alloy 8-holes, but I'm waiting until after the winter because the de-icing chemicals on the road here are murder on nice wheels.

I've seen a few pics of some grille upgrades to the S600 grille insert, and that looks like an excellent accent in style, and it's pretty damn cheap too.

Here's some pics of the car that I took quickly with my digital camera, sort of the "before" until I get to the "after"

E320 Pics...

Any suggestions are much welcomed.

Cheers!
-Nathan

ksing44

Your car looks beautiful! The black interior really looks nice with the white exterior and I think the two-tone gray-white exterior breaks up what would otherwise be too much white.

I’m sure you can have some fun changing some things, but be careful about getting modification fever. The cars really are very nice just the way they are.

I made some suspension modifications (see link to my "1995 E320 Special Edition" and list of modifications below). I really love the subtle drop, the slightly stiffer ride, and the way my car handles on backcountry roads, but it does come with a cost. It is always a compromise between performance and ride comfort. Mine is kind of in between, but the OEM form of the car is already a nice balance.

I have read many times that there is really nothing you can do to increase performance of the M104 motor and OEM exhaust, unless you are willing to spend a lot of money. Most people recommend just buying the E420, if you are not satisfied with the E320.

The 15" wheels are certainly a little small, so most of us have gone to 16" or 17". The 15" wheels are great for mounting winter snow tires.

Adding Bilstein HDs to the stock springs will snug up the ride without too much change in ride comfort.

Changing to the smallest spring pads will give a tiny drop and will not affect ride comfort.

Bigger swaybars will flatten out the car in the corners and should not have too much of an affect on ride comfort. You need both front and rear swaybars and the rear is a bit harder to install.

The lowering springs are considered the biggest suspension upgrade and they will have the biggest affect on performance, but they will also have the biggest affect on deteriorating the ride quality

As for the S600 style grille, it has been a nightmare for me. I purchased one from Florida and it was broken. They also double charged my VISA and I had to get VISA involved to get the part returned and the charges removed from my account. Then I purchased one from Germany and it arrived broken. Then the vendor sent me a second grille from Germany and it was broken too. I am still trying to get everything straightened out with the vendor in Germany. The grilles from the different vendors were very different, but both grilles were very inferior to the quality of the OEM plastic insert. I have determined that painting the OEM plastic insert black is really the best "upgrade" for the grille.

Good luck with that beautiful car.

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...&pagenumber=13

naschbac

Hey thanks for the feedback

I was under the impression that it was the M103 engine which was exceedingly difficult to get almost any reliable form of performance boost out of, but that the M104 was a different story altogether.

I'm still undeceded about wheels. I followed the link at the bottom of your post and the first car on that page has some wheels that I wouldn't normally thing would look very good at all, but on the W124 chassis they actually look pretty decent.

I'll also have to look into just painting the grille insert on my car.

Still looking for suggestions

Oh though some of you guys might be able to answer this for me too. I'm pretty sure that my car has the premium audio option, but I've been a bit weary to start digging to much. The old 500SEC that I mentioned in my first post had an odd setup where each speaker had an inline amp installed behind the upholstery somewhere near the speaker it was connected to. Do you know if Mercedes continued this trend through the year my car was produced? The reason I ask is that I'm considering buying a nice CDT Audio kit and installing it myself. I'd prefer not to have to buy an amp, find a place to install it neatly, and wire it without tearing up too much.

Thanks again,

-Nathan

Jackd

As it was mentionned in the previous post, it would be cheaper to trade your car for a E420 than investing $$$$ in your engine to gains a few HP.
These engines are already highly tuned and trying to get a few more HP is a very expensive proposition with aftermarket parts from places like AMG or Barbus.
The most cost efective method is to bring the car back to its original state of tune with an extensive tune-up (plugs, distributor cap, rotor, wires, coil, sensors that sense correctly, appropriate fuel pressure, clean filters etc.
jackd

ksing44

Just for the record, my car is the last picture on page 13.

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...&pagenumber=13

I tried to help you find it by giving you the title, "1995 E320 Special Edition" and you can look to be sure that it is a picture posted by "ksing44". The "new" forum rules would not let me post a second picture of my car so I had to provide the link.

I think the different story about the M104 engine is that it is really pretty darn fast, although I know that many people love their M103 and the V8 must be faster. My recollection is that the M104 has just about the same torque as the V8, but the V8 has about 50 more HP. I wonder how much faster the V8 really is, because my car really goes very well.

zeronero

The V8's aren't that much faster from stand still; I raced a '94 E320 and edged it out about a car length from the 0-60 thing. On the freeway I totally pulled away.

naschbac

ksing44,

Yeah I figured out which one was yours I was just commenting that I liked the wheel's on that first one on that page.

Do you know what size wheels can comfortably fit on my E320? I've been looking a bit at TireRack.com and I have narrowed it down to four choices. I'll post links to some mock-ups I made when I get home later.

The problem is that I know that the car can take larger wheels than they list there. For instance if I wanted to get Millie Bello's they list them as only 16" for my car, but I know they make at least a 17" version, and I fail to see why it wouldn't fit since I know people have put even 18"x8" wheels on a car like mine.

Oh and I'll agree with you that the car is pretty darn fast as it is, especially considering the relatively small engine size and the lack of any turbo or supercharger, but it's always fun to look at what's available. I mean a 300+ hp I-6 in this car would be amazing, and based on what I can find about later model E320 upgrades it isn't out of the question.

I know all of you have said that adding a supercharger would be expensive, but right now I'd just like to know that it is at least generally possible. I mean who specifically makes a reliable supercharger for my M104 engine? Roughly how much are they? Do they require extensive upgrades of other components to be installed and operate properly?

Because if we're talking $8000-$10,000 for the upgrade then you're right it's totally not worth it, but if we're talking $3000-$4000 I'd be really interested in looking into it deeper.

-Nathan

BrabusBenz300E

nice car, congrats on the purchase!

I guess theres certain things that I see that I would change but then again I'm not you. I don't like two toned W124s at all and think that they are dated greatly because of this. Also paint the little black trim that there is.

Don't know how far you want to go into the modding cause some of us are nuts! I suggest some Brabus VI replicas from ebay for $599 a set and some H&R lowering springs from ebay.de

All mods from ebay.de (german ebay) are MUCH cheaper. Many ppl on this forum know german if you have problems translating.

Manuel 320CE

I'm not familiar with the Millie Bello's -- its possible the 17" version might not have adequate offset to push the tire out enough; alternately, that coupled with the spoke design (and backspacing) might cause brake caliper clearance problems.

I've had an 18" fitment on my W124 coupe since 1999, and have not had any problems. Mine are AMG replicas (2-piece look), made by Intra and sold by NR Auto. I also use the W210 OE 16" wheels with my winter tires.

Holson

Wow! It looks really nice in white! I really like white W124s (when they're clean that is..) - Congratulations!

I drove an E320 and I thought it felt about as fast as the E420 in the city.

It's on the freeway where the M119 really shines I think.. oh and the sound that it makes.. even people who don't know cars comment "nice sound".. anyway...

I wanna get 16" wheels for my car as I think 17" would be killer in Boston. I really like the 124's mushy comfy ride... so I'd be happy w/ 16s. Problem is.. I really like the stock wheels' machined finish a lot.

I have the S600 grille but I took it out.. I think it sucks... fits poorly and looks weird at times... makes the car look narrower than it already is. (Maybe on the wide 500 it'd be different..)

unabrasive

Nathan I just purchased a 94 E320 to replace my 93 300 E. I am trying to locate a stock set of wheels on which to mount my snow tires. My problem was that the steel wheels that I used for my old car would not work on the front of the new car. Please let me know if you are interested in selling your wheels in the event you upgrade your wheels any time soon. Terry.

MB AMG

Now my friend used to have an `86 300E. I`m pretty sure it used the M103 engine. What`s the difference btween the M103 and the M104É Is the power and torque outputs the sameÉ I remember looking at the tach and it had a redline of 7000RPM!

Brian McL

Hi...I've been reading this string with interest 'cause I want to replace the stock 15" wheels on my 94 E320 but still don't know what sizes will fit. It sounds like 16" aren't a problem, but what combination of width and offset will work on the front to clear the caliper? Will any of the stock W210 16" wheels fit the 94 - 95 W124? My stock wheels are ET44 with a 6 1/2 width. Does the ET go down, say to ET37, if the width increase to 7"? How does that work? Thanks

The Godfather

Here's my old car, a '94 E320.

stock

Brian McL

Your stock car looks just like mine does now. What whhels are those? What else did you do to the body?

Diesel

Hey Doc,

What kind of chrome wheels were those on your car (and what size)? They looked sweet, how come you changed them?

Diesel

pifcat2

and what antenna is that??? Hopefully not the dummy GPS being sold on eBay!

The Godfather

The chrome wheels were my first set, AMG monoblock II 17x7.5. 215/45/17 Bridgestone Potenza S0-3 all around.

The antenna on the roof was for my XM satellite radio.

Here are my list of mods:

Interior:
- AMG white face gauges
- Chrome AMG Crest gearknob.
- Carbon Fiber style vinyl overlaying all wood trims.
- Wheelskin 2 tone grey/black leather steering wheel cover sitched on
- 3M Metallic window tint, 20% in front, 18% in rear.
- Maybach pedals (yes, from the Maybach! They're also found in the new SL and SLK. I've seen them in the Maybach at the L.A. Auto Show in January.)

Exterior:
- SCHÄTZ wing with integrated 3rd brake light
- Clear Corners
- Smoke/Red taillights
- AvantGarde Grill (from S600)

Wheels and Suspension:
- 18"x8" ///AMG SL2 2 pieces, replica with 225/40/18 Bridgestone RE750 rubbers.
- H&R springs, Bilstein Sport shocks

I.C.E.
- Alpine CDA-7894 MP3/CD/XM
- Alpine XM Satellite Radio Tuner
- Sony XM antenna
- 2 15" 15W6 JL Audio Subs
- Crossfire D Class 1000 Watts amp for the subs
- Custom trunk panel for subs with pretty blue neon!

Engine/Performance
- Weichers Sport Strut tower brace
- Arospeed exhaust

pifcat2

Those 18" wheels with the ultra low profile tires are the sweetest look. What do they do to the ride, honestly? They were drawn that way on almost every concept car drawing since the 80's and wheel manufacturers have finally caught up. My only concern is a tendency to go overboard and lose some practicality. Well maybe another concern on balanced visual proportion.

neanderthal

does anybody know the part number for the 8 hole 16 inch wheels that were on the late 124s? i like em and want em, but i believe they were an option.

thanks

Chappy

The 16-inch 8 hole alloys on came stock on the 500E/E500 and will not fit the 300E/E320 or 400E/E420.

A stock E320 came with 15 X 6.5 inch wheels mounted with 195 65-15 rubber, unless ordered with the Sportline Option (available 1992-1995). These came with 15 X 7 inch wheels mounted with 205 60-15 rubber.

8 hole 16-inch wheels were available for the E320 in the aftermarket.

Hope this helps

Chappy

M103 - 3.0 liter inline 6 (2 valves per cylinder)
M104 - 3.0 liter inline 6 (4 valves per cylinder) - 7000 redline
M104 - 3.2 liter inline 6 (4 valves per cyliner) - 6400 redline

In the U.S., the M104 with the 3.0 motor was only available on the 300SL and the 300CE from 1990-1992. MB then switched to the 3.2 liter M104 in the E-class models.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

dlafever

The 8 hole wheels you are referring to are for the 500E/E500 model, here's the part number:

For 124.036 (E500):

B6 6 47 0016 DISC WHEEL, NON SPORTS TO 1994
8-HOLE DISC WHEEL, 8 J X 16 H 2

No other 124 model came with 16" rims, although the Sportline cars did come with 7 x 15s instead of the standard 6 1/2 x 15s.

-D

Brian McL

Doc...do you know (or anyone) if I can put 2004 C class wheels on a 1994 E320 with the larger front brake caliper. The wheels are 7J x 16H ET37. Thanks

The Godfather

Do you have pictures of the wheel?

I have seen them on a W124 before. Show me what they look like and I'll let you know.

I have a set of wheels, 16 inch, from a 2000 E320 for sale. I don't know if they'll fit, but I sold an exact set, in chrome, to a 190E owner, and he said it worked, though he might've used spacers.