pterion

Here is an email I got form Renntech about modding the E63:

"Right now everything is in R & D. We are planning an ECU upgrade, Carbon Fiber air box, headers. Hopefully we will get over 60 HP additional.

Bob"

I have to wonder though, if you 507hp already, will you notice an extra 60 (I mean anywhere other than on a drag strip...)

PT

WayneE

By your logic, would you notice if you suddenly went from 507hp to 447hp?

That said, 60 is pretty significant. IMO, you won't see that much from those mods together (ECU, airbox, headers). On an NA car, the power just isn't there from those mods.

2MANYCARS

Watch out for the tranny though, the motor can take 567hp doesn't mean the tranny can.

kchristos

I understand that making the airbox bigger would increase the airflow to the engine and thus more power, but why does it have to be made out of carbon fiber?

BoBcanada

I think all that hype about the tranny is funny... i mean yea it wouldnt hold if you put 150+hp maybe but 70 to 100 hp and another 30 to 60 ft of trq it should do just fine.

but then again waht do i know

I wanna hear from kleemann what do they coocking for 63 series.

Ted Baldwin

..........I agree that the tranny is probably more resilient than we have been made to think. There are folks with supercharged SLK55's with upwards of 550HP with no tranny issues. At the same time, MB chose to use the old 5 speed tranny even in their flag ship W221 S65. If there was a way to make the 7 speed tranny work, they would have done it for the W221 S65. So clearly the 7 speed tranny is a true and true limiting factor. No one yet knows its limit in the real world. If you are not interested in engine mods, then this is a non issue. If you are interested in engine mods, it kinda takes some of the fun out it. One cannot just go all out and mod their car as they please. You find yourself in the odd position of looking for tuners with products that generate less HP and torque, knowing that you cannot go all out because of the tranny. With previous MB's, you never even had to think about the transmission. You just moified your car and that was it.

Ted

pterion

My point was not that 60hp is not a significant change, just that it probably is not enough to really make it worth all the effort in a car that is really fast to begin with. Now if they made a supercharger or turbo that got you like up over 600hp... that would be something. Then of course the tranny issues might come in.

I don't plan on modding, but I was just curious what people might do...

PT

absent

To justify their price....

absent

Every car is detuned for a safety margin and to reduce warranty claims,so I'm sure the real danger for the 7 speed tranny is somewhere in the low 600hp bracket.

WayneE

My point is that 60hp is a lot. As I said, by your logic, it wouldn't make a difference if you had 447 or 507hp. You wouldn't feel it, right?

Depending on your personal calibration you'll feel as little as 20hp with the SOTP dyno



I think that as a general rule, that is not true. A manufacturer will state that X ft-lbs is acceptable for the tranny, when it's really X+100, but most manufacturers aren't detuning engines in their fleet. They will sometimes underrate them, but that's just on paper. Think E55 vs. S55 ratings - that's not tuning, it's the manufacturer fudging the numbers and saying the S55 makes more power.

absent

Every engine has much higher output available but not offerred by the carmakers.
Nobody sells their cars to the public with the maximum power the engine can achieve.
All cars ,with no exception,available in retail market,are detuned from their peak power.
That's a fact and you can verify it with any automotive engineer.



i

2MANYCARS

Only if we could get octane 98 anywhere, then we can get the same spec'd out cars as Europe. Power is there to be had, it's just the question of when the US is going to give us some. I believe Rob Allen from AMGFest last weekend told us that the 7spd tranny is at it's "almost" max-ed out capability, anything significantly over stock power would require a gear sets upgrade or a higher capacity torque converter. I wouldn't be surprised Kleemann, Renntech release a low pressure supercharger system along with tranny upgrade package for the 63s. On the other hand, Powerchip has informed me that ECU upgrades for the 63s is in the work, another 30hp and 30tq would be good to have.

blackbenzz

Yup, thats exactly what Rob Allen said. 7 speed cant handle as much torque as the 5 speed.

Fikse

an extra 60HP in a 4000 pound car is enough to beat the stock version by about 4 car lengths.... worth it to me.....

2MANYCARS

For me the bottom line would be mod the E55 while leaving the ML63 stock with the exception of an ECU upgrade.

vraa

The 6.3 on the ML63 probably won't gain a lot from an ECU.
Just my speculation seeing how it's already a 'top' N/A engine.

sly55

sorry to be a geek, but your example may not exactly be his logic. Seeing as 60HP on top of 447HP is more of an increase percentage wise than 60HP on top of 507HP. I know its splitting pickles but thought id mention it..

But totally agree with you in second para of quote.

IanSL55

I think they're going to say it keeps the engine bay heat out, but that's a little dubious.

~ Ian

2MANYCARS

Very true, but they are able to extract another 26 or so hp from the SLK55, and it was the motor of its time. I will see what Powerchip could do with 6.3.

Kev04C320

Your comment is not entirely true. The 93 Octane gas that we get here in the States is actually equivalent ot the 98 Octane gas in Europe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_...rement_methods

pterion

Actually, my point was not that 60 hp will not make the car faster or even noticably faster (I agree it will do this)
My point is that in my day to day life unless I am constantly trying to race people at stoplights, that I will not make use of the extra 60hp. I almost never actually push this car to what it is capable of now because that kind of driving is dangerous on busy streets.

PT

blackbenzz

It looks better. I bought one just for shows (plus the added performance). And I guess it lighter Kinda like why people buy c/f interior trim.

2MANYCARS

Interesting find, thanks for clearing that up, I stand corrected.

sly55

oh ok, well if thats your point then why mention 600hp supercharged or turboed examples when the stock example can already be "dangerous" on the streets.. or you mean if you can have a 600hp example and not have to "push the car" at the stoplight drags it wont be as dangerous?! i dunno, its late here!

WayneE

If that's your point, why didn't you buy an E350 Sport?