bfnnrgn

I was taking out the air filters and cleaning them out and while I had the intake tubes off I peeked inside the opening in the grill. I saw this large box that was taking up over half of the intake opening. What is it and why is it there? Couldn't they have found somewhere else to put this thing instead of blocking over 1/2 of the air passage? There's one in each air intake.

dsb

Dont disconnect! You might set off the airbags!

I had the same exact question. Why did they place them there! Lame. Here's the info I got from Dansslk on the other forum.

"Be careful with that thing mate!

Thats your airbag trigger unit its in the intake since its crushable structure you could relocate it below the intake if you wanted to so long as it is mounted securely enough to stop any vibration against the chassis and is correctly orientated it must also be located as close to the front end as possible the further back it sits the worse its performance.

Just don't move it or disconnect it with the power on because disconnecting it will shut off the SRS and a sudden jolt when connected will set off your airbags."

and

"Yeah they really should mark them up better the control module is a metal box totally sealed to shield it from RF but the triggers and sensors are located around the car.

Safe enough when the power if off but if the ignition is on then it can be a bit risky because the bags will cost an awful lot of money to replace the airbags and tensioner's.

dsb, As i say keep the ignition off and you will be OK working with them just check the connectors are tight at all times."

If you find another location and attempt to move them... let me know. I might do the same.

dsb

It doesn't seem like there's enough cable to move them

dsb

This topic sparked my curiosity again. I sent a PM to the only Black Series owner, that I know of, on the other forum. He's rarely online, but hopefully he'll be cool enough to check out his car. I just wonder if the Black Series has the same issue or did the sensors go elsewhere.

bfnnrgn

I'd be interested to know about the black series. It might give us a clue as to what they did with them and if it has anything to do with the extra power it puts down. Surely having those things in there is having some negative effect on power output, maybe not much but I'll take it anyway.

FishtailnZ

Just to interject on that topic, again from info posted by Dan on the other forum (he as access to the list of Black Series parts and was good enough to do some in depth comparisons), the only differences that affect power output from the regular '55 to the Black series are different ECU (better tuning?), cabon fibre airbox (unknown if this adds power or is just there for looks) and the use of headers - all else engine-wise is the same.

bfnnrgn

A larger airbox isn't going to do much good if a large chunk of the airway feeding is blocked. We're trying to see if they moved these srs boxes in the black series and to where. There's lots of little goofy things restricting airflow in the slk55.

FishtailnZ

Silly of MB to set it up that way I agree. Curious to see if even uncoupling the intake hose from that section (as if removing the engine cover) would make a difference - I hope to get mine on the dyno in the next couple weeks so I may just try that to see if there is any change in power numbers.