While I was at my local dealership, one of the salesmen that I've become friends with showed me their little "AMG exhibit", which had some brochures, key chains, and a couple AMG parts. In addition to an eight piston caliper, it had a piston and connecting rod assembly. I examined the piston and rod assembly carefully, and I discovered that our pistons are made by Mahle! For those who are unfamiliar with Mahle, they are pretty much the best piston manufacturer in the world. They make the majority of F1 pistons, including even Ferrari!

The fact that AMG uses Mahle pistons speaks volumes about their comitment to high quality and high performance. We couldn't ask for a better supplier than Mahle...

I'm not 100% sure, but the rod-bearing caps appeared to be the "broken" types, where the rod is forged as one piece, and the bottom half is literally broken off by a press. The idea is that when the two pieces are reattached by the rod bolts, they fit better because of the exact fit from the two broken surfaces mating together. I'm not quite sure how to explain it properly, and maybe someone more familiar with the process and explain it better.

Anyway, I thought that those were two interesting facts, especially about the Mahle pistons, and it only reaffirms my opinion about AMG quality...



Best regards,
Matt

 

You are correct. The rods are "Cracked" after the forging.

 

Mahle just happens to be one of the larger engine component manufacturers,and having the home office in town doesn't hurt it's relationship with the German car makers.


BTW-I tore down a 1200cc single-port VW (1962 T2) about 15 years ago that had Mahle pistons in it as stock parts.
Cracked rods have been around for at least a decade.Ford and GM have both been using it in their production cars for some time now.

 

Mahle pistons and components are used by some "lesser" makes as OEM as well:

Audi
FSI 3.2L DOHC V-6
(Audi A6)

AG 4.2L DOHC V-8
(S4)

DaimlerChrysler
AG 5.7L "Hemi" OHV V-8

3.2L DOHC I-6 CDI Turbodiesel
(Mercedes E320 CDI)
Cylinder Liners

General Motors Corp.
Vortec 4.2L DOHC I-6
(GMC Envoy)

Honda
3.5L SOHC V-6
(Acura RL)

Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.
3.5L DOHC V-6
(Infiniti G35 Coupe)

 

Hehehhe, just kidding. I wasn't aware that Mahle supplied pistons for the vehicles that you mentioned, although I guess that doesn't necessarily mean that it's a bad thing. I was only aware of Mahle from my Formula 1 interests, so when I learned that they were Mahle's, I was really impressed...


Awiner... Thanks for reminding my of the proper terminology. I knew that "broken" didn't sound right, but I knew it was something similar. When I was looking at the rod assembly, I absolutely could not spot where the rod cap attached to the rod. It looked like it was al one piece. Unfortunately, customers were entering the Maybach area where they had their AMG "display", so I didn't get to look at it for very long, as I had wanted to examine the rod bolts more closely. Does anyone know who makes them, and are they anything "special" so to speak?

While we're talking about AMG engines, I'm really disappointed that we're not allowed to purchase the service manual/CD for our cars. I'm not looking to do any home wrenching, but I would like to be able to get a better idea as to what he engine looks like. I'd like to see how the ports are shaped, how the intake manifold is shaped, etc... You would think that MB would be obligated to sell owners a service manual, but as of yet, I haven't been able to get one...

I did try to get one from one of the MB links, but apparantely I needed my dealership code and other propietary information...


Best regards,
Matt

 

The WIS (Work Shop Information System) is pretty poor at showing those details if any thing at all. Many items use black and white fuzzy pictures or drawings.

 

Thanks for sharing the "Info"