My EC headers and tune are waiting for me in the garage so it's time to knock out a punch list. With 57K on the clock (along with the ease of access) I am planning on motor and tranny mount replacement. Oil change and air filters are due... might as well replace the kompressor oil along with spark plugs. As far as one stop shopping, it looks like ECS Tuning fits the bill. Prices are very fair and if everything is in stock, I get one big box of goodies from the same place. Anyone feel differently about my choice?

 

http://pilotshq.com/product_info.php?products_id=13633

Sourced a place to purchase Mobil Jet 387 for the supercharger oil if anyone is interested. $25 a quart. I should have by end of week.

 

Is it equivalent/better/worse than Mobil Jet Oil II that everyone else uses?

 

According to the comparison charts, better all the way around.

 

Thought I would post a few thoughts now that this round of maintenance/mods is complete.

1- Spark plugs were original. They fought me until 3/4 of the way out from a light coat of rust on the threads. New NGK LFR7AIX installed with slight coat of anti-seize. Originals looked pretty good with almost 58K on them.

2- Motor mounts replaced. Corteco mounts are good quality and thank goodness I did them. Passenger side mount was cracked, crushed and leaking oil. New mounts were 1/2" + taller so the motor had to be raised quite a bit for the reinstall. I left the top heat shields off until motor was resting on mounts and bottoms bolted in. At that point the mount top was sitting in its groove correct. Removed top bolt, install shield and reinstall bolt. Shield was killing my visual to line up the top groove... no fumbling around this way.

3- Original trans mount was prefect but replaced anyway... very easy.

4- Kompressor Oil changed. Car was raised out back to let fluid move forward. 120ml was all that was left in the case. While nasty, in my opinion it could have looked worse. Very dark but not burned up. Final total on the new 387 fluid was about 200ml. Fluid came up to drain plug (while car was angled) and no drainage once the rear was let back down. Lucky for me the small drain plug went in on first try. Used ball style allen key with the plastic on the tip trick to hold it on. Rubber gloves should be considered- Mobil 387 starts to burn on your hands after a while. Came with an 11 page MSDS sheet by the way. I was only in the hospital for a week... kidding!

5- Eurocharged headers mounted. Very nice quality material and welds. Fit perfect but drivers side a bit tricky to get in there with steering shaft in place. Removed #6 exhaust port studs and turned steering shaft to correct position for the clearance to push through. Patience required for a few of the header nuts that are only "box wrench" accessible.

6- Plug wires. All the wires ohm'd out the same and look new so they were reused. Labeled each wire as I removed to reinstall at original location. MB boot lube used as well.

7- Latemodel21 scattershield installed for good measure... very easy and great quality as well.

8- Ran my Zeitronix wideband cable. Found a rubber grommet just behind the brake fluid reservoir. I notched out a section of metal under rubber weatherstripping (hood seal) for cable to pass through. Once exhaust is mated up and wideband bung installed, I will finish the install and connections to the DashDaq. Hope to have exhaust done next Saturday.

9- Oil changed with kit from ECS. Very pleased with the one stop shopping they offer. All of my parts came from them except for plugs from Summit. Dropped the ball on my ECS order... forgot to add to cart.

10- K&N filters installed. I like that the filter height is shorter than stock. Clears the path for the air entering the box. Factory air filter hangs down further so the air sort of hits the wall first. Just an observation.

Fired car last night and all is well. The E55 is raspy and RUDE open header on cold start! I suppose my last turbo car made me forget how loud it would be! Once the exhaust is complete and wideband situated, I will get my EC tune and install.

I know none of this is groundbreaking info but I thought it might help someone a little bit. Thanks to this site and some feedback from the previous owner (MB tech), everything went off without a hitch. Thanks guys... will keep you posted!

 

Good stuff man. I am coming up on a large maintenance round too.

 

Good info, I need to do the supercharger fluid soon too.

 

I would suggest upper and lower ball joints and transmission fluid change if you have not already done it.

 

Upper and lowers have not been done to my knowledge. Lemforder's suffice or is that an MB genuine must? Trans and rear diff are on my list as well. Honestly, these are all probably items that will be sourced out to a local/trusted German automobile shop in the near future. I really appreciate the heads up gjunon.

Hot and Romeo... thanks!

 

For lower ball joints I used these.




I cannot tell you how they've held up as I just changed themy out today.

Transmission fluid change is pretty easy as well. Remove the pan which removes 4 quarts roughly. Then add 4 quarts. Next open up the transmission cooler line going to the radiator and start the car you'll find about 3 quarts of fluids dumps out of the line immediately shut off the car then add 3 quarts. You'll repeat the process 1 more time. You'll hear a gurgling sound when the 3 quarts is done coming out. Next measure your fluid and add/remove what you need.





I ordered 12 quarts of fluid. 1 dipstick tool. Transmission filter and gasket. I also got the red lock pin to replace on the dipstick cap.

 

Their oil service kit is convenient

 

Yes sir it is!

 

Exhaust done today. The 3" flex pipe was a nice/needed addition to the fab work. The down pipes off of the EC headers required considerable cutting down for everything to fit and flow correctly. Car sounds very nice with secondary cats and reso's in place. Deeper growl but still passes off as "not modded" sound wise! Air fuel is definitely on the lean side. Car is not tuned yet so one very, very quick 3rd gear pull at boost netted 13.2 afr. Couldn't monitor a/f prior to exhaust mods. Will get the tune installed this week if time permits. Car feels better with new motor mounts as well. They probably kept the car in one piece while driving to the shop open header. The resonating may have loosened half the interior bolts on the way over this morning at 530am.