SL55/63/65/R230 AMG: 05 SL55 amg performance upgrades
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,897
Likes: 85
From: Central WI (BFE)
SL55, ML500 & Acura TL
IMO do some research on Washington smog laws. You might not be able to mess with the exhaust much, but that does not mean you cannot do a smaller SC pulley or bigger SC counter pulley, plus some cooling mods and a tune. This will give you serious power gains.
Have a look at the E55 W211 thread to see what the guys there are doing. We share the 55K motor and they seem to be the mod nuts of the forum.
If WA smog will allow and you want to go for big HP and TQ gains, the best first mod IMO is long tube headers. From there, you can make tons of additional mods as you wish. Just make sure you have no issues with WA smog as LTs eliminate the primary cats.
In Wisconsin, where I live, all they do for smog is pull smog related codes. That is easy to defeat. I know some states, like CA are supposed to perform an exhaust inspection looking for mods. Done right, I can't imagine many inspectors could look at an AMG exhaust system and tell if it is stock or not. I doubt most even look.
Have a look at the E55 W211 thread to see what the guys there are doing. We share the 55K motor and they seem to be the mod nuts of the forum.
If WA smog will allow and you want to go for big HP and TQ gains, the best first mod IMO is long tube headers. From there, you can make tons of additional mods as you wish. Just make sure you have no issues with WA smog as LTs eliminate the primary cats.
In Wisconsin, where I live, all they do for smog is pull smog related codes. That is easy to defeat. I know some states, like CA are supposed to perform an exhaust inspection looking for mods. Done right, I can't imagine many inspectors could look at an AMG exhaust system and tell if it is stock or not. I doubt most even look.
Member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 212
Likes: 77
From: Arizona
2003 SL55 AMG, 1989 348 Challenge, 1987 Testarossa, 1992 F40, 1989 Mondial t cab, 2001 X5 4.4 Sport
We've done a number of these kinds of mods. If you delete the secondary cat, you will probably get a CEL. That situation can be avoided by passing it in the ECU. We make those changes when we do ECU/pulley exhaust mods.
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Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 23
Likes: 0
From: Seattle, Wa
2103 SL 63 AMG
thanks. Here in Wa they pretty much just plug into the computer and go by that. I appreciate the info and suggestions. beings that I only have 25K on my SL55 not sure if I should wait awhile before doing anything too much. Are the ECU mods very difficult??
Super Member
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 678
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'05 SL 55 Black/Black w/mods from Eurocharged/Kleemann/BuckheadImports
Eurocharged, Kleemann, Buckhead Imports
For my '05 SL 55 I've used various places to upgrades all sorts of things on my car...Kleemann for the headers, Eurocharged for the 82mm TB, one step colder spark plugs, phenolic spacers, upgraded pulleys, upgraded belts, Buckhead imports for transmission, tuning (ECU & TCU) .....exhaust 2nd cat & res deletes, SS brake lines, ceramic brake pads, eurocharged for the upgraded heat exchanger & pump, filters, buckhead imports again for the closed loop fuel lines, eurocharged 550 injectors, Shardul for the belt wrap kit, ...etc.. etc...it never ends....if funds are huge for you I recommend also upgrading to the 6.1 liter Brabus sized engine and get either the Weistec supercharger upgrade or have a custom shop drop twin-turbo's on it also....also for LSD I went with Quaife....hope this all helps...after this you will need to probably seriously upgrade not only the cooling but also the brakes in general and the LSD and put some very wide tires on the back...might have to widen the wheel arches to fit really big ones though....not cheap but will look very mean and bad ***.....
A fully/completely upgraded SL 55 with all the recommendations from mbworld forums is a force on the road.....watch after that when your car will then walk away from cars that you never ever thought you had a chance to pull on ever....it will shock you how fast they can get....especially after traction is not an issue...like on the highway when you're cruising already at 80 or 90 MPH and a much more expensive and new sports car rolls up on you and you straight up gun that s**t from like 80 to 180.....it will in a fully modded 55k only take a blink.....and you'll leave a lot in your dust....
A fully/completely upgraded SL 55 with all the recommendations from mbworld forums is a force on the road.....watch after that when your car will then walk away from cars that you never ever thought you had a chance to pull on ever....it will shock you how fast they can get....especially after traction is not an issue...like on the highway when you're cruising already at 80 or 90 MPH and a much more expensive and new sports car rolls up on you and you straight up gun that s**t from like 80 to 180.....it will in a fully modded 55k only take a blink.....and you'll leave a lot in your dust....
Last edited by SL65amg; Jan 14, 2016 at 04:41 AM.
