ATKM5

A couple of days ago I got rid of the those plastic flaps/borders in front of the intake tubes that lead to the filter boxes. Driving the car for a couple of days now, it feels a bit more responsive. However it might be just the placebo effect. My question is however, I know a few of you did the same, are there any problems with getting rid of these plastic borders? It wont ruin the engine If I drive it in the rain, right?

ChicagoX

All I noticed was a large collection of bugs/debris in the airbox.

One shop-vac later, all is well.

TopGun32

here is a another tip...

look at your front grill (top corner & passenger side).. you will notice 2 sections of the grill are covered with hard plastic.. basically blocking air going directly to the intake tube.

Used a shard blade and I was able to cut those pieces cleanly. The cuts were made from the back of the grill.

I also removed the plastic cover on the hood vents. Almost 6 months ago.. and no issues with rain, car washes or even additional dirt on the engine. Just takes off the screws.

TopGun32

the only way water can ruin your engine.. if it mixes with your oil.

Let's think this through..

if water was to get in to your intake tubes... it will need to go through your air filter.. if moisture happpens to get through.. by the time it gets to the throttle body is evaporating.. and by the time is makes it to your pistons.. is gone.

You would need a hose connected to your intake tube to really damage your engine.

TopGun32

this only applies to E55 and probably E63.. not sure of CLS

supre55

I removed these some time ago... the benefit, if any, will likely only come on at speed from the "ram air" effect.

ATKM5

Thanks for your help!

str8ridin

If this was so simple, why didn't the manufacturer think of this? With all their expertise of building hundreds of thousands of cars for years and years, hours and hours in wind tunnels, millions in R&D and they forgot to remove those little flaps? Or did they?

Just throwing that out there.

gonzjed

those flaps look well designed to be extra plastic don't they...

blackbenzz

Just a reason to charge more

Fr33kn63

I did the same thing. Before I got my CF airbox I had just cut off the plastic flaps. After airbox I went back and cut out the plastic that is in the grill which also covers a large portion of the intake tubes. I think its more then placebo affect cause I swear I can tell a difference once moving slightly.

OzE55

I removed those pieces 2 years ago without adverse effect.

speedpeddler

Umm, not exactly.

I've seen two ricer motors destroyed by hydro locking the engine with water picked up through a modified intake placed below the bumper. They tried to drive through standing water that was just a little too deep and instantly sucked up enough water to kill the engine and bend a rod.

Doubt it could happen to our 55's by removing the intake flaps but it can be done if you try hard enough

blackbenzz

Theres a huge difference between what you mentioned and what is being discussed. Of course you can hydrolock a engine if you try

speedpeddler

Not really.

The discusion was about the possibility of water entering the intake and damaging the engine. I agree it's unlikely under the scenario being discussed but it doesn't take a garden hose to kill your engine.

Just passing on knowledge gained at someone elses expense. The lesson being...don't place your intake down low in the car where it can suck up water.

enzom

Agreed. That was the single reason I stayed away from the very popular and effective Vararam intake on my C5Z06. Intake ducts ran right to the front vents, about 6 inches off the ground.

corgiman

You're second guessing a bunch of engineers here. You paid them $$$$ to design the best car possible......it's why you get a Mercedes in the first place

There's some reason those deflectors are there.

Fr33kn63

If manufacturers made their products perfect the first time there wouldn't be any aftermarket tuners.

OzE55

That may be true but their design brief was for the car to cope under almost unimaginable, worldwide, conditions and without performance being the priority.

supre55

Remember, you are talking to a group of people who second guessed the engineers' designs for the ecu, tcu, crank pulley, heat exchanger, intercooler pump, air box, air filters, throttle body size, cam shaft shape, header design, exhaust design, tire choice, brake materials, and differential designs to name a few. If the engineers did everything perfectly, why is there such a large market for aftermarket performance mods... irrespective of make and model?

Second guessing Mercedes' engineers' choices is the very way AMG began.

aleksandar1099

i just cut off the flaps today, i will tell if anything goes wrong, or if i notice a change in power

str8ridin

eh, went ahead and cut the flaps a few weeks ago.

Now I'm thinking to fabricate an L shaped funnel to route the air better into the intake tubes. Has anyone done something like this?

OR

More extreme, but, replace our front grill with a mesh grill...

drop997stop

there is actually a compnay that makes ram scoops for our cars, rpi i think it is.

Alot of times manafactures do stuff like this to limit horse power to sell higher end cars. Look at the c63, there should be no reason why the car cant push 507 hp like the e63 and cls 63.

If the lower end cars with the same engine produce the smae HP, people would end up with the lower end cars for the HP