You know ... I'm basing my theory on the engine compartment of a CLS55 ... I hope it's similar to the E55. I see some obvious areas that can be improved very easily. At least in theory.

I don't believe any under hood system will work best. (Not without a custom hood) The factory design is actually very good IMO.

You guys missed my latest idea, (adding 5"-6" larger flexible plastic tubes like the SL65 Black Series has only bigger, mounting them over Foam Cones then C-Clamping directly to OEM air-inlet holes, removing any mixture w/hot engine air) will be testing/racing vs same friends car for results possibly this Sunday, then Dyno on next thursday, plus 1/8 mile track assaults

I have chosen to do the entire hood fabrication myself excluding bondo/paint, after speaking w/few highend bodyshop's their faces werein shock @ my request to cut/add hood opening, to quote another MBW member they looked as if I had a kock growing outt've my forehead

Sometimes weve gotta rollup our sleeves n' get dirty to get what we want

No apologies, I have an answer/design for your ideas on cowl induction there's a certain model of car I found that has exactly what we all want. I'll be testing it after hood-fab, the design may be interchangable between cars after some cutting, I already have the pieces ordered.

This may be a silly question ... but I don't suppose anyone has any wind tunnel test data on these cars? Knowing where the highest air pressure area is would be somewhat useful.

Nope, but I did read on an another Forum most car makers utilize front area by headlights/grill for air-intakes because it is the highest air pressure area on modern import perf-minded vehicles...

What materials have you guys used to insulate the underside of airbox? Though it is plastic, it gets considerable heat soak and transfers heat to the air that enters the engine. Cheap reflective aluminum tape will only do so much, and I'm sure there is better stuff on the market.

You mean to tell me that you don't like to cook your airbox and filters on the valve covers?

That lining underneath the hood looks like it would work.

OK ... so I've already drawn up a design for a cold air intake hood that doubles to remove engine compartment heat more efficiently.

It's for the CLS55 though. Now I'm stoked to make one.

Maybe I should have saved my money on the extended warranty.

I wonder how much interest would their be in a replacement hood with a cold air system that could be easily installed. I wonder how many of you guys would go for it or is this a one off kind of project?

Wouldn't be cheap. And sure eliminates any stealth factor.

The demand completely depends on the gains.

probably not as much interest as the CLS55 forum

We should have an official MBWORLD exclusive E55 intake shoot out! With the best track results as the winner. Hmmmm, who's down??

But it would work easily for the E55 too.

Just some different lines to the hood. Personally I think the CLS lines work much better for this very aggressive look.

I think the gain would be significant for the simple fact that you could push other mods further. It would also go a long way in reducing that heat soak problem.

It would also be an aesthetic upgrade. Like I said ... one thing you can forget about is being stealth anymore.

Oh ... one other thing I'd bet on is it would make the Kompressor whine, very audible.

Ok, maybe not.. I hear crickets.

I'll have an intake shootout, sure. But I have 4 years on my warranty to sacrifice. What you got?

So, when do we get a rough draft of what your planning?

Cool, an intake is not going to blow your motor. So I am not worried about that. I gotta few designs. Just don't have the time right now to get it of the ground.

Time to order that hood then

I have 4 yrs as well, CAI mods/hood chops aint gettin' Dealerships blackball stamp, unless your/our filters fail & let in rocks/dirt = KABOOM!

My dealer is very MOD unfriendly ... just let them catch me with a custom hood with the MB intake bypassed.

They won't change a broken button in the interior.

Grrrr ....

This is all you get. I'm not posting the system that will make it work under the hood.



DAMN , that pic came out really small! WTF???

LOL, nice- is that a cowl on the bottom for air induction?

Drawing detail is *****e ... Image shack is hacking it. The intake cowl is on the hood. Believe it or not that hood line is about 2" higher than stock.

I had to reduce the image for upload (Over 10mb) but I didn't know it would turn it to crap.

Brother wait'll you see what I found/bought awaiting install my hoodline will remain unchanged, at least height wise & w/some finesse it could be installed on ANY E55/63 SL/55/600/65 CLS63/55 CL55 etc...