bassn_07

I have a few thousand to spend on my CPO 2006 E55 AMG and I need some opinions on where to spend it. I know it's not much but it's something and that's why I want to make sure I'm happy with the end result. My thoughts after doing some research would be ECU tune and pulley...or should I do pulley and IC? I'm 100% positive I'll be adding on more mods but right now I'm in the market for a new LS460 so I need to be a somewhat conservative.

As for the labor, I don't do any wrenching myself but I did get hooked up with a Mercedes Benz service foreman who is willing to do the mods after work. I spoke to the guy for about a hour and he seems to be really cool and definitely mod friendly...a huge plus. He will also be installing the phone cradle system and I-pod in the vehicle next week for 70% less then MB in labor cost and 10% on the purchase of the items needed. Thanks in advance for the opinions and have a good day.

cte430

How about a good driving/racing school? It's a lot of fun and you'll learn stuff you'll always be able to use.

Mr. AMG 20

Before you do any engine mods do some exterior mods. Tint the windows, maybe new rims, a rear spoiler. This is just my opinion. Good luck on what you decide.

Hammer Down

Are you more concerned with looks or power?

Andy0331

I would think a great start would be an upgraded heat exchanger from LET or Code3 with a johnson pump. It will certainly benefit a stock car, is fairly inexpensive ~$1,000 or less installed and will be virtually necessary if you go on to further mods.

MJ50

VR550!

Jakpro1

Where are you located???

Warmer climate would need to include some cooling mods 100%.

Should be able to snag ECU pulley and and cheaper exchanger kit for around 5K with new cheaper tuners.

See ChicagoX's LET post. Not sure of the price though.

I Like Soup

Crankshaft pulley.
ECU tune.
K&N filters?
Bigger heat exchanger.
Johnson pump.
PTE thermostat.

About $4K worth of mods installed for around 70 some odd horsepower and the cooling capacity to boot.

bassn_07

Thanks guys. I'm more interested in power not looks because I'm not willing to sacrafice the ride quality that 20"s will give. I have 2 small children and part of the reason I bought this car is because of the ride quality of my modded F350 6.0 Powerstroke (low 13 second 1/4 mile truck at 8,300 pounds)...I felt bad watching their heads bounce up and down. So far I had my windows tinted (all windows removed and tint was baked on), a clear bra on the front and stock rims chromed (already that way when I bought it). Not sure if I quite like the chromed rims but they are good enough for now.

I live in the Bay Area and it gets fairly hot during summer, especially right now. This morning at 9:45 it was already in the 90's, at least that's what my car registered. I will definietly look into the LET heat exchanger, crankshaft pulley and whatever else you guys recommend.

deaded

FWIW I strongly advise against installing the iPod interface. I had this done last year. It's horrible. Yeah, it's nice to be able to use the iPod in your car but you'd be better off just installing a little jack for the earphone cord. This is why... The interface is nothing like the iPod interface. You do not get to use the COMAND screen, only the dashboard. You can only control it with the buttons on the steering wheel. This is EXTREMELY distracting and you are a setup to get in an accident while trying to find the song you want because you have to keep staring at the screen while you scroll through your music/book library. There is no search at all, just skip to next song. No stop button. No pause. Nothing is easy or intuitive. You can't even skip chapters on audio books (skip goes to the end of the book). The controls are extremely difficult to use and you have to take the whole freakin’ car apart to install it (and I had to take it back FIVE times before the got it installed right so the ipod would charge). Plus it broke after three months and had to be replaced! It's a huge pain in the *** to use and you'd be much better off just plugging the sound port into your system and using the iPod and it's interface to choose what you want. It really sucks. I wish I had not done it.

Also, since you live in the bay area and if you take your car to Walnut Creek Mercedes, I have had very bad luck with them, just so you know.

bassn_07

All that for $4,000? That's not bad at all considering labor cost these days. How does a ECU tune work? Do you send in your ECU into the company of choice or do you just purchase a new one that's already flashed? How are the K&N filters for these Mercedes compared to the stock media?

bassn_07

Thanks for the advice on the I-pod install. To tell the truth I could live without it anyways and plus I just had my sirius installed through MB. I did buy my car in Walnut Creek but they will not be servicing the vehicle. The only reason I bought from WC is because they had the car I wanted and met my offer on the vehicle. I would have to agree with you on the lack of ability from Walnut Creeks service department because my car was already in the dealership for right valve cover replacement due to a oil leak and resealed the breather cover. My car also had a irritating creaking noise coming from the dash and that issue was also resolved by Beshoff Motors. This is Wlanut Creeks idea of a CPO...lame. I asked my SA to look into the history of this vehicle and it came back very clean which made me feel better. I should have looked into before purchasing but I have 4 years or 75k remaining on my factory warranty and that's what made me comfortable with purchase.

I Like Soup

Yep. I got the Code 3 7" core heat exchanger for $810, the Johnson pump for $125 and $220 installation - $1155.

VR550 / Filters / PTE thermostat / -10C Star mod with install and before/after dyno - $3692. (w/out dyno $3442). Oh, and I bought my pulley from Victor in Canada and the freaking dollar is so weak I ended up paying more for a red pulley, stupid. So it would be $3555 (w/out dyno $3305).

So, oops...a little off as I forgot the little bits that weren't clear for install that added up...$4847 for me ($4460 w/out dyno and buying in the US). Anyway, not bad at all.

jangy

The VR550 is $2500 and yes, you would send your ecu. I love the K&Ns.

On Heat Exchanger, decide what you want before you buy parts, because different systems have different needs. IMO the best is to separate the systems. If you do, then the thermostat mod becomes a non-issue.

I Like Soup

Really? Crap. I was gonna do the split loop sometime coming up for about $400. Is it because it so effectively reduces your IATs? I was wondering if with a larger HE, and splitting the loop, if I would be degrading one of the loops for cooling?

deaded

Yeah, too bad about Walnut Creek Mercedes. I live less than a mile from them. They are very nice people but the service department borders on incompetence, imho. There is really no place else to take my car unless I drive to Oakland. There is this garage even closer to my house called, "M Service." They say they specialize in Mercedes and BMW high performance cars. So I called them and asked if they work on AMGs, specifically the e55. He said, "Sure they are the same as the M5." That was all I needed to hear. They obviously don't know sh*t about AMGs. Beshoff is supposed to be good but they are an hour drive for me.

bassn_07

PM sent

Could you please explain on what you mean by two different systems...I'm a little slow on weekends. As for the buying parts that's where I need all the help. I know that I need to build a foundation first to support future mods and I definitely don't have a problem with that. I don't mind taking baby steps to make sure I reach the end goal with no regret. As time goes on and the factory warranty starts to diminish I'll start getting more aggressive with mods but for now I still want to be somewhat conservative. From what I read so far I'll be purchasing some type of heat exchanger with a new pump to help keep my SC cooler...right?

I have a question regarding ECU tuning. Lets say I have my ECU programmed and god forbid something happened to my engine, would I be able to have the ECU programmed back to stock before taking it back to the dealership and would they know? Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking MB to pay for my mistakes but if the mod had nothing to do with the failure I would hate to lose that factory warranty.

bassn_07

What type of driving school would you recommend? I'm all for taking my car to the cutting edge.

Hammer Down

Take your car to Mercedes of Pleasanton for any type of service. Send me a PM when you are going to take it in and I can introduce you to a really cool SA and all of the techs are really cool.

Let me know

deaded

Cool, I think I'll do that. I've got my next "C" service coming up in 2k miles. Maybe it's time to give them a shot at it. Of course my car is still in the shop right now. I brought it in two weeks ago because the "Visit Workshop" light went on. ..... actually, I don't want to hijack this thread anymore. I'll start a new thread about MB of Walnut Creek and Pleasanton...

aleksandar1099

This is the exact setup i was looking into doing this summer....after you had it done can you notice a difference in power on normal roads...thanks

I Like Soup

Absolutely, especially after about 70mph. Do a search on VR550 and check out the thread I posted after upgrading.

Karlson

Sorry to rain on this parade, but isn't it CPO warranty will be canceled if ECU or any other modifcations will be on a car?

MB_Forever

It usually depends on the dealer. I've heard of dealers honoring CPO warranties on stage 5 cars.

Jon2007E63P30

Put the money in a college fund. I know this seems boring, but if you spent the money on the car already you have had your "fling".