A200 Turbo Tuning upgrades

[BachgenDrwg]

Hi all,

New member here. Will be taking ownership of an 05 A200 turbo manual shortly.
Does anyone have any advise on tuning/aftermarket exhaust systems and suspension. I would like to bring the best out of it without being garish. Also any common problems to look out for.
No nonconstructive comments thanks. I like the look of the car and easy for city parking plus has the motor and box to allow comfy motorway miles.
I'm a Mechy engineer so will look at home fabrication tuning if there is nothing worthwhile out there.
Any help in the right direction would be much appreciated.

Cheers all

Tom

 

[merc85]

Glk on here knows quite abit about w169's , It must go quite well for what it is with that engine already. Welcome to the Forum btw

 

[BachgenDrwg]

Glk on here knows quite abit about w169's , It must go quite well for what it is with that engine already. Welcome to the Forum btw

Great, thanks for the pointer. Will try and get in touch. The factory spec/stats are pretty good actually but am looking at a map to bring the torque curve lower down the revs to allow for more economical city driving and motorway cruising. In turn it leads to good BHP gains however I'm not so fussed on that as I imagine it would struggle to put them down properly being FWD but apparently it does improve the throttle response which can be a bit fluffy.
Appreciate your time and the welcome.

Tom

 

[GLK]

Hi Tom, and welcome to MBClub

My knowledge of 169s is rather superficial, or at least limited to electrics and interior ... any of which I'd be happy to share.
Don't know much about mechanical stuff, though I'm trying to learn a few bits

Your engine, as merc85 said, is already quite good for the size of our cars - I wish I had a Turbo - and I'm sure it can be mapped to further improve it - there are a few recommended specialists on here.

As to the suspension - if you have a Sports one, it'll be 10mm lowered from factory, and on 18" AMG style III wheels looks quite nice.

I've done a few mods to my A200 - interior carbon upgrade; 9" head unit; adaptive brake light (my own design); DRLs; dual function turn indicators, etc, etc - more than happy to share all the details.

David

 

[BachgenDrwg]

Thanks David,
DFTI's? Is that when the fogs indicate proposed direction? Would be interested to see what the carbon upgrade looks like.
Pre-map, I'm considering fabricating a stainless exhaust system inc. manifold (possibly small turbo upgrade) as the factory one doesn't look like it would lend itself well to efficient airflow (or balanced cylinder back pressure). I have failed to find any aftermarket ones but then i guess there were not huge numbers of the models made? I believe there where only about ten of the 2005-06 manual model taxed this year in the UK.

For anyone else with the model or interest. I found a small list of common faults that i will be following up as preventative action once i collect.
FYI


Appreciate all the advise i can get. Thanks for the welcome!

Tom

 

[GLK]

Thanks for that list - saved.

Don't have the cornering option, I'm afraid - it would require a different headlight unit, and serious re-wiring, plus an additional fuse block in the battery compartment. The cool factor in this case does not (for me) justifies the huge expense of the bits I can't do myself.

What I did is, I converted the fog lamps into a dual function lights, with two independent actuators - factory (SAM) and a custom DRL controller.
I initially wanted to have a two-colour turn indicators, with this functionality, but was put off by the wrong way round wiring of the indicator socket.
When I finally did re-wire these, I already had fogs converted, so now my DRLs are both - fogs and turn indicators ...

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I would be very much interested in a custom exhaust, if I could afford it, and it works with the non-turbo engine too?

As to my interior and exterior upgrades, wheels, etc - here are a few pictures, in no particular order

I got a few more, but I don't want to get banned

 

[BachgenDrwg]

Yeah carbon looks great. Really like the colour on the wheels! gunmetal grey? will look at having that done now i have seen those.
Will also be on the look out for full leather from an Avantgarde model. Far better looking than the half and half of the turbo.

I will be sure to put a post up if and when i decide to tackle the exhaust. I imagine it would be easier to build one for a non-turbo so i will keep you in the know as to what I could turn one out for.

Will look into the wiring on your threads!

Cheers

Tom

 

[GLK]

Thanks

The wheels were done by First Aid Wheels in "high gloss anthracite" - powder coated, and then I treated them with GTechiq C5 - that was two years ago, and other than a couple of unfortunate kerb marks, they still look good.

Thank you - appreciate it, definitely interested in the exhaust option.

 

[Edd1968]

Tom, you should have bought an A210!

Just kidding, welcome to the forum. I see David has got you all done up (like a kipper) already.
Pictures please when you get it. Nice car.
Edd

 

[Edd1968]

I like this. LEDs or have you installed a hologram?

 

[GLK]

I like this. LEDs or have you installed a hologram?

I bought an LED drink holder, and modified it - trimmed the diameter to fit in; rewired so it can be plugged in permanently (meant to be taken out and plugged into a USB charger); removed the silly green LED (charging indicator); fitted a fuse tap to the rear power socket and ran under the armrest. It's now light- and movement-sensitive, so comes on when one touches the armrest, or handbrake, etc. A gentle tap with a finger is enough to activate ... I have too much time on my hands, unfortunately.

 

[BachgenDrwg]

Cheers Edd. I did take a butchers at the A210, the stats being fairly good but I'm a sucker for a turbo or a charger. It gives the motors personality (only my opinion )
Got it at a fair price and will look to spend the rest to bring it back to mint hopefully. Its been lowered already (subtle enough from the pics) and well maintained with lots of spares included. Will find out exactly what it is when i get back from working away. Looking to collect on the 26th

 

[Edd1968]

Cheers Edd. I did take a butchers at the A210, the stats being fairly good but I'm a sucker for a turbo or a charger. It gives the motors personality (only my opinion )
Got it at a fair price and will look to spend the rest to bring it back to mint hopefully. Its been lowered already (subtle enough from the pics) and well maintained with lots of spares included. Will find out exactly what it is when i get back from working away. Looking to collect on the 26th

Excellent. I know what you mean regarding turbochargers, I've had 2 in my time (not including boring turbo diesel company cars) a 1987 Fiat Uno Turbo ie and a 1981 Porsche 924 turbo. Both had ridiculous turbo-lag which made them like 2-strokes and an absolute hoot to drive.
Yes a bit of lowering always makes the difference H&R on my cars, lovely progressive ride.
26th, it's gonna be a long month for you then!!

 

[Edd1968]

I bought an LED drink holder, and modified it - trimmed the diameter to fit in; rewired so it can be plugged in permanently (meant to be taken out and plugged into a USB charger); removed the silly green LED (charging indicator); fitted a fuse tap to the rear power socket and ran under the armrest. It's now light- and movement-sensitive, so comes on when one touches the armrest, or handbrake, etc. A gentle tap with a finger is enough to activate ... I have too much time on my hands, unfortunately.

Maybe you do have too much time on your hands, then again maybe you have a great talent for this kind of ingenuity and we're all just envious!

 

[Edd1968]

... Hey, I just had a thought, A200 turbo motor in my A210... Straight swap woadoyer think?
On second thoughts too much hassle and besides I'm hijacking someone else's thread. Apologies

 

[GLK]

... Hey, I just had a thought, A200 turbo motor in my A210... Straight swap woadoyer think?

If you want a feeler, you're more than welcome to fit one in my car - should be a straighter swap?

 

[BachgenDrwg]

... Hey, I just had a thought, A200 turbo motor in my A210... Straight swap woadoyer think?
On second thoughts too much hassle and besides I'm hijacking someone else's thread. Apologies

Brainstorm away! (is that politically correct anymore?) I figure it wouldn't be too taxing. I imagine most of the loom should be there minus TCU and relay units? GLK? your the man for that!
The biggest task would to be find a donor providing you wanted the manual? My last company car had DSG which i must admit was really good for an auto but i always stick to manual for personal vehicles (please excuse the pun!)

T

 

[SmartAmg]

Thanks for that list - saved.
Like that a lot.
Don't have the cornering option, I'm afraid - it would require a different headlight unit, and serious re-wiring, plus an additional fuse block in the battery compartment. The cool factor in this case does not (for me) justifies the huge expense of the bits I can't do myself.

What I did is, I converted the fog lamps into a dual function lights, with two independent actuators - factory (SAM) and a custom DRL controller.
I initially wanted to have a two-colour turn indicators, with this functionality, but was put off by the wrong way round wiring of the indicator socket.
When I finally did re-wire these, I already had fogs converted, so now my DRLs are both - fogs and turn indicators ...

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I would be very much interested in a custom exhaust, if I could afford it, and it works with the non-turbo engine too?

As to my interior and exterior upgrades, wheels, etc - here are a few pictures, in no particular order

I got a few more, but I don't want to get banned

 

[Edd1968]

It's a fun thought, in some ways probably simpler than my original plan of an A38 AMG Tribute car (twin engined). I know time and money won't allow though so I'll probably just keep my minter as it is and just enjoy enhancing it. Found a set of twin exhaust trims in Germany so it looks like the Twin twin exhaust is going to be on the cards. Watch this space.

 

[Edd1968]

Seen this.... ?

ECU Tuning :: Car :: Mercedes-Benz :: A-Class :: W169 200 Turbo 193HP :: Mercedes-Benz A - W169 - 200 Turbo 193HP ECU Tuning Remapping Programming - Autotronics