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Took a few things apart today and did some digging and I think I am going to start investigating bigger water to air intercoolers, air filters, intake and possibly bigger turbos.
There are definitely ways to add more power to this engine.
Back out here today. So I removed a lot. I am going to clean everything since it is a little dirty. Do I need to clean this as it won't be seen...no but I'd like to know it's clean even though it will eventually get dirty again but only takes a few minutes to remove everything to get to it. I took the intakes out also and just sprayed them down and letting them dry and going to change the air filters.
The spark plug doesnt doesnt seem too bad. The intercoolers can be unbloted and just lifted up and hung aside with out disconnecting them.
They are the intercoolers above - the silver boxes connected via the throttle body. The turbos are down on the side leading down from the intercoolers connected to the headers.
You can see the intake to the turbo in one of the pics.
Behind the front bumper, mounted in front of the back of the foglights is the heat exchanger which is where those lines coming off the the intercoolers connect to. I will be upgrading the HE as they are inexpensive.
The cooling system for the turbos via the intercoolers is an independent cooling system from the engine cooling system. The way the intake is designed seems poor. The engine needs cooler air feeding in to it to maintain it's power through the band and for a longer period of time and it doesn't seem to be sufficient from behind the grill but I have to do further investigating about that. Did you ever notice how your car seems to run faster when it's a cold crisp morning.
I suppose the air coming in is parallel with the radiator and not behind it so it's not sucking in heated air from under the hood but it's getting ambient air from outside of the car but it doesnt seem like it to me. These engines put out some serious heat. I know mercedes engineers spent a lot fo time and money designing this but I still think the flow of the air could be improved...but what do I know, i'm just a peon lol.
I don't see the intercooler in any of those pics. The intercooler looks like a small radiator and is usually located just in front or behind the radiator.
I don't see the intercooler in any of those pics. The intercooler looks like a small radiator and is usually located just in front or behind the radiator.
No, on our cars we have the water to air intercoolers pictured above (the silver boxes). Behind the front bumper is the heat exchanger...the lines from the top of the intercoolers are connected to that.
I always thought the intercooler was behind the front bumper also, especially when I tried to change the fog lights as it looks like an intercooler I see on other cars but it's not.
Back out here today. So I removed a lot. I am going to clean everything since it is a little dirty. Do I need to clean this as it won't be seen...no but I'd like to know it's clean even though it will eventually get dirty again but only takes a few minutes to remove everything to get to it. I took the intakes out also and just sprayed them down and letting them dry and going to change the air filters.
The spark plug doesnt doesnt seem too bad. The intercoolers can be unbloted and just lifted up and hung aside with out disconnecting them.
Did you have to "lift" the motor to remove the coil packs? I was told by a "Indy" that on the CL65 this would need to be done because of clearance issues as the tubes are long.
I'm not removing my coil packs or changing my spark plugs I'm just cleaning my engine bay. The coil packs are right here...you don't have to remove or lift the engine lol.
Unless your CL65 engine bay is a lot tighter than this one, I don't see why they would need to "lift" the engine. You have access to 3/4 of the coil pack. Once the intercoolers are lifted you have access to the full coil...the tubes are a decent size but they should come out on a very small angle and lift out.
Who told you that Arlington or Euro? I would take it to an indy. My sister bought her ML and clk from Euro in Bethesda but for years she uses an indy that is really good in that area for certain things.
Who told you that Arlington or Euro? I would take it to an indy. My sister bought her ML and clk from Euro in Bethesda but for years she uses an indy that is really good in that area for certain things.
Nevermind, I see you said an indy told you that. I'm outside and reading this on my phone sorry.
Unless your CL65 engine bay is a lot tighter than this one, I don't see why they would need to "lift" the engine. You have access to 3/4 of the coil pack. Once the intercoolers are lifted you have access to the full coil...the tubes are a decent size but they should come out on a very small angle and lift out.
Okay..........when I read "The spark plug doesnt doesnt seem too bad" I thought maybe you had pulled a plug or two. I didn't think the engine would need to be "lifted".....................in his defense he did say that he'd never done a CL65 before.
And he wants $700 to change them.............................................. .............
Okay..........when I read "The spark plug doesnt doesnt seem too bad" I thought maybe you had pulled a plug or two. I didn't think the engine would need to be "lifted".....................in his defense he did say that he'd never done a CL65 before.
And he wants $700 to change them.............................................. .............
700.00 seems to be a great price as I have read that people pay between 1000-1200.00 as the dealer quotes 6 hours of labor.
I will probably do mine sooner or later though so I will make sure I take a lot of pictures and note a lot of details when I do it.
Well, after cleaning the engine bay, I thought the engine cover, etc was a little boring so I decided to paint it. I know some of you will not like it but that's what makes us all different. :-)
I took the mesh out of the middle and painted that also.
I'll put it all back together in the morning when it's done curing. The finish is just like my calipers. After I degreased the plastic, I sanded it and then taped over the holes and areas where the sensors go back in, primed it and then painted it. 5 coats of primer and 10 coats of paint on each piece. The finish is really nice. I have never been much of a spray painter but wow, it sure does look good when you take your time.
Resale doesn't matter as the cost for a new cover is only 349 new from the dealer and around 200 on ebay so I can always change it back if I ever need to.
Alright so I am all done for now! I will do more but that will have to wait until probably next week some time. I am painted out for now!
I took the air intake ducts out and did those. While I was at it I removed the whole CAI system and painted the intercoolers. My, they look so much nicer touched up!
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