G55 K3 Project.

INTERIOR:
custom read leather stitching, customd read leather door inserts, custom AMG carpet with red leather borders, Ergonomic charcoal and burlwood steering wheel, burlwood door handle bars, burlwood executive rear tray tables, custom rear cargo mat with red leather borders, rear cargo accessories box with red leather borders to match, rear cargo net

ELECTRONICS:
US comand activated to play video in motion, MB TV tuner with A/V output for rear monitor, half DIN DVD player in glove box, 6 disc DVD changer in rear carbo bay, overhead flip down thin DVD player for rear seat passenger with Aux A/V inputs for PS2, independent rear Tv tuner for rear seat passengers, power inverter, scrolling "KLEEMANN G55 AMG" rear license plate frame, custom hard wired passport SR7 with ZR3 with display integrated into rear view mirror, custom hard wired JLO I-POD integration, Alpine XM radio with antenna on the dash, custom Home Theater Master learning remote control that controls ALL units in the car, Hide away Alpine 4-input A/v switcher for endless A/V inputs to Comand, Mercedes Benz UHI kit with Siemens S66 phone and voice control module.

ENGINE:

Hennessey pulley requiring smaller water pump pulley, Kleemann headers and ECU, Kleemann performance crankshafts, Kleemann large throtle body

EXTERIOR:
full functioning bixenon headlights, dual oval fog lights, rear roof wing with third brake light

WHEEL and EXHAUST:
No change, AMG ones are perfect

Ted

more pics....

more pics......

more pics.....

more pics....

more pics......

more pics......

Stock dyno
K2a...........Rentech/Kleemann sized pulley with Kleemann ECU and Kleemann headers
K2c..........Larger Hennessey pulley with Kleemann Ecu and Kleemann Headers
K2d..........same as K2c

...............using 25% drivetrain loss (conservative for 4-wheel drive SUV) car has 609HP and 705lbft of torque as a K2 car

K3 dyno............pending

FINAL PIC!!

Ted

......other mods:

rear view camera, electric winch, trailer hitch.

Ted

nice! what is that you have on your license plate? does it display custom messages? if so, where did you buy that?

Hi Ted, A bit over the top for my taste but can absolutely appreciate the attention to detail and quality of the work. Surprised you didn't go for the Alcantara roof liner and the Brabus 20" wheels. I believe they accept one of the factory MB center caps. Is there a reason you chose to go with Renntech/Kleemann vs. Brabus for the motor work? Its my understanding that Brabus is the only tuner 'approved' by MBUSA.

MBUSA hasn't approved any tuner.

...........if you look closely you will see that I removed the Renntech/Kleemann sized pulley and replaced it with a Hennessey pulley. I am not particularly interested in the name of a company, rather I am more interested in the results. Regarding Brabus, as has already been mentioned, there is no tuner approved by MBUSA. Not even Brabus. further, my G55 K3 is faster than any Brabus G. results are what count.

Ted

Got it! You have mail.

Alright, that's it Ted, we're gonna race!!

Kidding, looks good, although some of it is not my style, I can also appreciate the workmanship (and dollars) that went into the project.

Oh, and why not get a direct AUX input for your Ipod instead of that crappy FM modulator? You wrote that it's hardwired but why the FM radio station under the Ipod and the transmitter above the Ipod?

Hey, are you watching The View on your TV Tuner? Shame

..........i have a direct aux input but prefer to leave it free the glove compartment to listen to voice memo's and dictations while driving. You can see the aux cable to the right of the half DIN DVd player. The FM modulator is hard wired in the sense that it came with a cig lighter plug and I took it apart and hard wired it to a switched circuit in the car, so now it comes on and goes off when the car is on or off. Having said that, the base of the fm modulator also has female 1/8 plug to be usded to plug into the comand Aux if I choose to. The current set up allows me and my friends to swap ipods easily from car to car. A point you'll realize if you look at my completed E55 project. LINK

........regarding taste, obviously tastes are different, but I think people see more in these pics than is actually there. All I've done as far as interior apperance is to lay red leather over the oem leather on the door panels and carpet. These are areas that already had leather on them. So, what I did was not earth shattering. Exterior modifications include bi-xenons and roof wing and step ladder at the back. That brings me to the issue of cost.......well I could tell you that it cost an arm and a leg, but it didn't. Much less was done to the car than people seem to realize. I did most of the electronic work myself. The major expense was in the engine modifications, and even then, I already had the headers in my 03 G55. I sold the 03 and transfered the headers to the 05. The Hennessey pulley was purchased secnd hand from a member of this forum. Even the bi-xenons were present in my 03 G55, I swapped them into the 05.

.........the show on TV is Ellen. I should be ashamed, but I think she is funny and entertaining.

........as far as racing, bring it on.....just kidding!

Ted

Hey, I ilke Ellen too! No shame in that

The taste issue, when people try to build a car that is both show and go it usually takes a lot of trial and error or a lot of money to get it done "right". Mind you, "right" in this context means a car that is attractive to a wider range of people than just its owner. People in general, but moreso on the forums, see the G as a purely functional vehicle and that dressing it up with different color leather, chrome, tvs, and neon is nothing short of a travesty. However, I think that due to the fact you didn't "overdo" it with the red leather makes me waffle about whether I'd have done it the same way. But what I can tell you that doesn't agree with me (I know it doesn't matter at all) are the red accent pieces (shift knob, red borders, rear DVD surround, etc) and the chrome steps and marker cages. The LED frame....well, as long as you can turn it off.

All in all, nice job using pre-owned parts. I've done this too and it really highlights the versatility of the aftermarket products available to the 55 cars.

In regards to racing, I don't know where you live, but I would be interested to see how my truck compares. I know that my blown 5.0 (bored to 5.8) is probably a bit slower than yours but I'd like to know how much... I also don't have the throttle body or crankshafts. I think it's time for me to dyno again. :v

........not a big issue, but a friend of mine pointed out that most of what is being discussed actually is not present in the car. Reminded him of those psych experiments when a white guy will come in in a mock armed robbery scene and spectators will be asked questions about what they saw and a significant number will describe the him as a hispani or blk guy, because that is what they are conditioned to see.

.....what is funny is that the car has no neon, and no added chrome. The rear step ladder is stainless steel to resist chorosion, just like the side entrance panel on all G's and came that way from ORC. The the rear ceiling mounted rear DVd player actually has no surround. I flush mounted the DVD player to the roof and did not use the surround borders to make it less bulky. The flush mounted deiling opoiece is less in your face than the a headrest monitor and is about half the bulk of the OEM piece in the ML....which I could have used.

.........regarding red accents, below is pic of the factory AMG designo edition complete with pink accents and pink carpet borders including pink accents in the steering wheel, shift knob and doors, headrest, as well as pink leather accents both the front and rear seats.........way more than I did but acceptable to most because it came from "factory." Somewhat fascinating to see how peoples opinions are fashioned by what they are fed.

Ted

I was referring to border around the dvd/nav unit in the cargo area...and the license plate frame LED as being neon, when I know that it's not. The chrome/stainless steel - I know there's nothing you added minus the step, but (like my 20" wheels, lip spoiler, side exhaust, etc) make the G seem less functional as an off-roader. Again, I know it's completely a subjective aesthetic preference...just trying to qualify my comments.

Holy crap, now THATS A SLEEPER!

Very nice man.

how were the headlights?

.............those are containers in the cargo area to place items in. Problem with the G is that if you go shopping for instance, there is no compartment to place your items. You simply drop them on the floor in the cargo area and by the time you get home, your items are everywhere. That THe DVD changer haoppens o be placed in one of these compartments seemed better than placing it on the floor with wires showing.

Ted

.............The bixenons work perfectly.

Ted

nice and how much? ..something the g55 definately needs

I can't say I would have done the same but it looks very well done and even more impressive that you did it on a relative budget (on a $100k+ truck, lol)!!

What I really dig is the red stitching. Did you do it yourself or have shop do it?