Porschenut

I just thought I'd introduce myself since I'm the happy new owner of a 2000 Black ML55 AMG. It's in need of a little tlc and customizing so I should be frequenting this forum quite a bit until it's all to my liking. Hopefully I should fit right in here since euro blood courses through my veins! My previous cars include a few euro'd volkswagens and a 1982 911. OEM+ is the theme that my cars have always followed and my plans for the ML are the same. No crazy stickers or spinners!

Anyway, back the to truck at hand...I'll give you the ride status so far...please leave some comments!

- Just ordered a set of Bilstein HD struts since the original KYBs are as soft as marshmallows. It's like driving a trampoline down the road! I was considering lowering it with some H&Rs, but since reading some of your comments on how the ride deteriorates I think I'm going to keep the ride height where it is...for now.
- Also ordered a full set of cad plated cross drilled rotors and metal pads. I'll have to put in some garage time after they arrive.
- Stock 18" wheels for the time being, but perhaps some dished 20's or 22's in the future. These would be combined with the lowering springs to maximize their visual effect.

QUESTIONS for you guys...

1. Can I easily upgrade my OEM sealed beam HIDs to a 2002-up projector setup without cutting or fabricating? I don't want to mess with any factory wiring if possible.
2. WHEEL SPACERS...I'm going to order some H&R spacers very soon to bring the track out with my factory wheels. However, our hubs use wheel studs don't they? (I haven't had my wheels off yet.) The 1"/25mm DRA spacers from H&R should bolt right up on the rear, but spacing out the front 1" may stick the wheels out too much. What spacer set-up do you guys recommend to fill the arches perfectly?
3. Engine management chip...best bang for the buck! Who makes it and where can I get it?
4. Motor mount(s) is shot. I can feel a clunk upon initial acceleration. I'd like to order the part(s) online and install it myself, but I don't know how to identify the offending part. Is it typically one particular mount? If so, I'll just get that one.

Thanks for any advice that you guys can offer, hopefully my ride will look and drive as nicely as the ones I see here!

Cheers,
Dennis

Darkmann

Welcome to the board and congrats on your ML55. You'll love the oooommmppphhh of this truck. Please post pics, lots of pics.

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I don't know where you read about poor ride with lowering the truck. What you want to do is lower with H&Rs in the back and then use the HD's upfront. If anything, lowering with the torsion bars without upgrading the front shocks will result in a somewhat mooshy ride upfront, sine, as I understand it, one basically is releasing torsional stiffness when lowering the front via the T-Bars. To counterbalance that, a thicker T-Bar can be used but a stiffer set of shocks like the HDs would do the trick also. As soon as my 500 goes out of warranty, I'm doing B'Steins on all 4 corners and H&R at the rear.

It's all for looks. The stock 55's brakes are as good as they come.
Stick with the 20's but please don't do 20x9 or 9.5. Go for x10 or 11 if available. There's no problem staggering either. Remember, if you do the HDs and go 20s, you will need a kidney replacement in a week!!! And maybe spinofixscopy also!!! Look at these pics from amg8451 (see page 4 of the Pictures Post (sticky) above). This stance is probably the best I've seen so far:



QUESTIONS for you guys...

1. Can I easily upgrade my OEM sealed beam HIDs to a 2002-up projector setup without cutting or fabricating? I don't want to mess with any factory wiring if possible.

I thought the 02 55s came with BiXenons. I don't know of any more headlight upgrade on the 02 55's besides the bulbs.

2. WHEEL SPACERS...I'm going to order some H&R spacers very soon to bring the track out with my factory wheels. However, our hubs use wheel studs don't they? (I haven't had my wheels off yet.) The 1"/25mm DRA spacers from H&R should bolt right up on the rear, but spacing out the front 1" may stick the wheels out too much. What spacer set-up do you guys recommend to fill the arches perfectly?

You are right about the front. I went custom on my 500. Frankly though, if I were you I'd wait until and get the 20s then worry about fender flushing with spacers or maybe the rim width will do it for you.

3. Engine management chip...best bang for the buck! Who makes it and where can I get it?

I don't know about this man. The 55 is pretty fast, even from a stop light. People will want to race you. But remember bro, you're driving a 55 and you probably can blow away a lot of stuff out there. I'd skip this. Not worth the dough.

4. Motor mount(s) is shot. I can feel a clunk upon initial acceleration. I'd like to order the part(s) online and install it myself, but I don't know how to identify the offending part. Is it typically one particular mount? If so, I'll just get that one.

Are you sure it's the motor mounts? Could also be the T-Bars. Have a qualified tech look at this before you spend your Christmas money away.

You're welcome. Post pics today!!!

Porschenut

Thanks Darkmann.

I think I'm going to build my truck in stages. All of my previous cars have been highly modified using only oem or German parts like Schrick, BBS and H&R. However, in this case, I think I'm going to try and build my ML as if it was a limited edition factory model. If I like it, it'll stay that way. If the tuning bug takes over, I'll modify it a little further.

That being said, I'll get spacers for now (recent research tells me that our wheels runs bolts, not nuts), so the spacer application will be easily solved with some H&R spacers and longer bolts. I'm going to space them out to exactly the fender width since anything more would look too modified. As for my future wheel set-up, I think 22's are out. I've been driving on 35 series tires for years, and now it's time to drive in comfort without worrying about pot holes, manhole covers and the like. This being the case, I'd like to pick-up a set of 20" Brabus replicas in a 9.5" width. Anything wider and I might have to poke the tire out. AMG8451's ML55 looks pretty nice, but the tire poke isn't to my liking.

After looking around at lights, it looks like I'll have to keep my eye out for some 2002+ OEM xenons since the eBay projectors seem to be low quality. Maybe I can do a midnight swap with my Dad's 02 ML500 xenons. He might not even notice! hehe.

The brakes are on order since the current ones are all worn, cross drilled seemed to be the same price as oem, so I just went with it. The motor mount was professionally diagnosed during my pre-purchase inspection but there are other clicking noises that seem to be coming from the front end. Maybe the T-bars or the transfer case? Regardless, I'll have my tech go over it with a fine tooth comb.

As for the engine managment chip, it's been my favourite mod on all of my previous cars as it's always delivered the best bang for the buck in terms of horsepower. Since 400 hp sounds like a nice round number I'll try to work towards that. I need the power since my friends are all car nuts, own custom VWs and Porsches and I'll never hear the end of "Dude, you're driving a soccer mom mobile! You might as well castrate youself now!".

Thanks for all the input. I'd love to hear more from all.

Cheers!

fkong777

I have that Clunk too. Please let me know what it is if you find a fix for it.

lkchris

I wouldn't count on this.

This is a 4WD vehicle and besides the Porsche 959 you'll have a problem naming another that arrives ex-factory with staggered wheels.

This one didn't and AMG probably would have if they could since all 2WD AMG are.

If you stagger be very careful to get SAME rolling diameter wheel/tire front back.

Mercedes do NOT come with wheel studs but rather wheel bolts.

You'll need different ones should you foolishly install spacers.

AMG are one of the world's premier auto tuners and it's quite a stretch to think their work can be improved upon by someone just bolting on catalog parts without doing any engineering testing.

Porschenut

Don't worry, I don't have any plans to run a staggered set-up and I also plan on keeping an overall wheel diameter as close to stock as possible.

As for spacers, I'm familiar with the drawbacks to running them. It may cause more wheel bearing wear, but wheel bearings are a common wear item and assuming one doesn't ignore the symptoms of this issue, it shouldn't lead to a dangerous situation. That being said, I find that the heightened looks and small improvement to handling are worth the trade off.

AMG, yes I agree that they're the best, but they build vehicles that are sold on a showroom floor with compromises made for the general enthusiast buying public. I can't count the times I've seen the elderly and soccer moms driving AMG models. Would they notice a difference between a diesel lower spec model and an AMG? Perhaps, perhaps not. However, I like to take my vehicles to the next level. Usually that means lowering and tightening up the suspension for more immediate steering response at the expense of ride comfort and chip tuning to maximize the benefits from higher octane fuel.

btw, as for catalog parts and engineering, I'll refer to you a "little" company that I use exclusively. It's a German company manufacturing TUV approved parts called H&R. I think that they have more than a few engineers on their staff.


Hmmm, I've been called a lot of things, but never before have I been called "foolish".

lkchris

There's no engineering in wheel spacers.

Darkmann

C'mon, 4WD has nothing to do with staggering the wheels. As long as you do it correctly so the various BAS/ABS/Traction sensors don't go crazy, you'll be fine. BMW does it with no problems - well, they have other unrelated issues.

It's cheaper to keep it the way. Have you ever wondered why AMG would even make a 4WD off-road vehicle and fit it with tires that are definitely not for offroading? Yes it's AMG but that doesn't mean they can't be modded.

Of course, that's the goal, besides the looks.

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They're good but it's still a ML and it's prone to all common ML maladies. I like to drive the ML55 but I think that the ML500 is a better deal. I will not touch the engineering testing thing!!!!

Porschenut

So far I've replaced and bled the entire brake system with crossed drilled rotors and metallic pads. Secondly, I've acquired a set of 22" OZ Canyon wheels and Pirelli Scorpion Zero tires.

Next up, Eibach lowering springs and Bilstein HD shocks. I've also initiated my order for a Powerchip (powerchipgroup.com) ECU reflash. If all goes according to plan, I should be testing out their 93 octane program by next week.

btw, I went with the Eibach springs instead of my H&R favorites because the Eibachs lower a touch more and apparently have a softer spring rate. If they prove too soft and result in too much body roll, I'll compensate with the H&R larger anti-sway bars.

fkong777

Have you replaced the engine mount? Did it fix the Clunk sound?

Porschenut

Not yet. It's all a matter of timing and my lack of it. I did the brakes myself first because they were a priority. I also wanted to get wheels before installing the suspension and getting an alignment for the new set-up. The motor mount will be replaced at the same time.

Darkmann

Thanks for the update. I wish most of us would update on issues on a regular basis. Please keep up the updates.

hanniep

Congratulations on your purchase!!! good luck with your mods!!!

Porschenut

I installed the Powerchip ECU re-flash this week. It was a fairly simple process that involved removing my ECU from the engine bay and shipping it down to Powerchip in Costa Mesa, California. I dealt with a fellow there named Travis Cattach and the all in cost was roughly $1,000. Despite a few hiccups from a U.S. customs/shipping standpoint, all in all it was quite a worthwhile modification.

Result: there's a definite seat of the pants improvement in the power of the truck. I wouldn't say that it was mind blowing by any means, but I always find that an ecu re-program outperforms any other (bolt-on) modifications performed on any of my cars. I initially thought that the engine sounded meaner than before, but I can't fathom why this might be the case and I also recently installed a drop-in K&N air filter (which usually improves the engine sound a mite).

Anyway, the ML55 is currently in the shop for installation of the new suspension and replacement motor mount(s). I've also instructed my tech to have a look at the suspension to eliminate all the creaking when the suspension loads/unloads. I'm guessing that it's the much discussed torsion bar bushings but we'll wait and see. 20mm billet hub-centric wheel spacers will also be finding a home on the hubs. The spacers were easy to acquire on eBay, however the longer bolts were not. Ultimately H&R got the nod here, they made bolts in the required size. Extra long wheel lock bolts were sourced from Alpina (not the BMW specialty vehicle manufacturer).

Depending on the outcome of the Eibach Springs/Bilstein shocks combo, I'll determine whether the H&R larger anti-sway bars are warranted. The truck will be used quite extensively for mountain canyon runs to Whistler, British Columbia (host of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games) as well as towing a 20' ski-boat on a 4hour trip into British Columbia's coastal mountains.

Further mods will be a custom mandrel bent X-Pipe or Y-Pipe (how many pipes going into the rear muffler anyway?) to replace the factory center muffler.

fkong777

Nice.. I just replaced my Engine Mount and it makes a world of difference if you have the Clunk sound upon initial acceleration. My truck feels way smoother.

The ML55 exhaust is configured to be 2 cats on each side and the center muffler combines 2 2.5" pipe and exit to a Single 3" pipe. 3" single pipe goes around the rear drive shaft and to a single muffler with 2 exit.

What I did was get a Y-pipe made and remove the center muffler. Sounds a lot better. I may get a new muffler in the rear in the future. I also replace all 4 cats to Magnaflow cats because my 2 of my OEM cats failed.

hanniep

Porschenut, keep me informed on the Spring install I want to go Eibach too but my ML rides like a rock already so HR is not first choice! I am having a Kleemann ECU upgrade along with Evosport pulley upgrade this month. I'm waiting to hear more about how the Eibach/Bilstien install goes before I go there..Good luck!


Well just found out that Pulley kits are for Kompressor engines only so that MOD is out..

Tone

Made the cornering even better than it was. I did have trouble with the front driver's side main bushing disintegrating but they took care of that. Definitely worth the money if you drive if aggressively the way it was meant to be driven. See my track videos @ Google Video

Porschenut

Bilstein HD shocks installed
Eibach spings installed
Alignment
new motor mount
20mm hub-centric wheel spacers installed


It handles like a stock sport sedan now. It tracks in corners and the turn in is quite crisp for a truck. It definitely improves the fun factor in corners. On the other hand, the ride deteriorated by a fair margin. It's probably comparable to a stiffly sprung sport sedan and pot-holes and manhole covers have to be avoided. The shocks must be ultra stiff for this application, since the Bilsteins on my VW and Porsche were much softer. As for the springs, the drop was more than I anticipated but the look is now very aggressive. All in all, I'd recommend these upgrades only if you drive aggressively frequently or don't care much about comfort. For me, the trade off is worth it.

I'll post pictures when I get a chance.

55fanatic

can you post where you bought both shocks and springs from? I have been unsuccesful finding the eibach lowering springs... I am well past due for shocks and springs

hanniep

I had Bilstiens installed last week got them from http://www.shockwarehouse.com/ and the ride is MUCH better handling has imporved a great deal, I did not lower mine the ride is low enough for me, Plus I could not find eibach springs for the ML55 and after your comment on the much harsher ride I'm glad I didn't! lol!! Kleemann ECU is next.

Porschenut

My Eibach Springs came from Tirerack and they were backordered so I had to wait an extra week. Btw, Eibach only makes the round end spring which worked on my ML55. As for the shocks, I sourced them from eBay for $529 shipped. Here's a current auction from the same seller:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=200165805960

Regarding the comment on suspension comfort, even though I'm riding on 22" wheels and 35 profile tires, I can tell that the lowered torsion bars have a much softer spring rate than the new Eibach rear springs (they're not really evenly matched). Honestly, I know I'd be far happier with the comfort of the stock springs, but the lower center of gravity and stiffer suspension enhance the handling by such a large margin that I'll probably keep it this way.

hanniep

Cool!!! I paid @ the same from shockwarehouse,...Have you had it dynoed yet? I was wondering what HP gains you got from Powerchip??? I was quoted @29 extra HP from PC and close to that for Kleemann, I went with Kleemann because at some point I might do other l Kleemann upgrades...either way good luck and take some pics.....

55fanatic

I have the flat bottom springs... I think Im going to be going with the bilstein/ HRE lowering method but I am a little bit afraid of how stiff the ride will be... I keep this vehicle around for my mother to drive mostly while Im driving my E... although I do take long road trips in it.

I think I would prefer to do the eibach springs on the ML though

LiquidSmile

I will be ordering the Bilsteins as well... I don't think I will lower it though. It will soon be the kiddie cruiser.. I just want a soft ride... Mine has just clocked 91K and it rides like it has a load of bricks in the back!

Nice E Class 55fanatic! It's good to see some other 55 owners still one here!

Porschenut

I recommend that you avoid the Bilsteins if a soft ride is what you're looking for. Bilstein only make an HD (heavy duty) model shock for the ML and while the higher spring rate of the Eibachs certainly contribute to the stiff ride, I can tell the the aggressive damping rate of the Bilsteins is probably the main factor involved.