E320 wide body coupe twin turbo..help !

[mk817161]

Hi I am a new member but not new to the mercedes brand.I currently own a CLS 320 ,W124 E320 CAB,E320 COUPE,and a CLK 55 amg.
As a few of have spotted and commented on already I purchased the above car on ebay a few weeks ago.
the car has now been delivered and I have a chance to try and get to grips with what I have.As the previous owner has died little history has come with the car.what I know and have found out is as follows...

the car has been mostly in buckinghamshire for most of its life with lots of the services carried out Hughes( who suppied the car new),passed year 2000 and 100k miles it gets patchy with 2 mots showing 148 k and 152 k in 2005 /2006 however current speedo reading is 105k !
I know the body kit was on it in 2007 when it was advertised on the auto trader and then sold at barons.the last owner bought at barons and bought the tt kit from hughes and then died a few months later? car has been off road since then with the last mot expiring in june 2008.

the car has been taken for an mot today and failed on 1) idling speed to high (1030rpm),2) emissions carbon mon at idle excessive and 3)lamda 2nd fast idle reading outside tollerance.the car has a mainly stainless exhaust system which is off a very good quality with no manufactures makings or a cat !
the car apart from that is very good and nothing else would need doing for the mot.
I have driven the car only for a few miles and it would appear to drive fine but has a slight hestation when initially opening the throttle like it is going to stall but never does.it also has a oil leek at the front somewhere.
the bodywork is very good with very shiny paint so not much needs doing there.someone has spent a lot on this in the last few years as the tyres are like new and has new springs /exhaust system etc.

so how much would it be worth runnig to how it should be ?I would like to get it to a high standard with the intention to keep for a long while !

Hughes are very close ...so should I take it there to sort out, as the man that did all their conversion is still working for them

I dont have a clue about turbos so you guys need to educate me ...

worst case senario is I take out the engine etc and put it back to a standard 320 engine with the wide body as my existing coupe is mechanically brilliant but body work is not so good so I have a perfect donor car !

any advise/help welcome

cheers mark

 

[d w124]

Hi there mark and welcome to the forum.The car looked nice and the turbos is what makes it special.If you`re thinking of selling the turbo kit,i`ll be ready to buy it from you.

 

[RBYCC]

First thing to do is to see if the supplied 1990's TurboTechnics fuel enrichment circuitry is in place.

If it is, plan on removing it and going to something a bit more modern.

I can talk you through it to show you how to have a reliable engine that makes power.

Post some pix of the car !

Good Luck

Ed A.

 

[d w124]

Ed:Is the car is in this thread http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/spot...ide-body-twin-turbo.html?highlight=twin+turbo

 

[janner]

I suspected the problem would be emissions when I saw the e-bay advert. The Turbo Technics intructions are a little vague re cats and suggests they're not needed. The stainless steel exhaust is likely to be the one supplied by Hughes with the kit. I used new, high flow, metal spun cats that I bought from the States to make sure I didn't get emission problems at the MOT. You might need cats fitted to pass the MOT but I don't think at this stage it's your biggest problem.

I doubt that Hughes will be able to help you because yours has lots of mods done to the standard kit but it might be worth a try. It appears to be running a custom ECU covering the engine and possibly retaining the extra injector. This will be the hardest thing to sort out since you probably don't know exactly what the previous owner did.

What I would do is to take it to Alan Jeffery and ask him to spend a few hours trying to reprog the ECU on his rolling road. Alan's place is not far from me but I appreciate it would be a hike for you. Maybe you know of a good tuner with a rolling road nearby?

It may be worth considering ripping out the custom wiring and ECU and going back to a standard setup with a separate extra injector controller.

If you get it running in time why not bring it to the get-together in May. I'd like it see it in the flesh. Ironically the get-together in honour of a forum member who died recently who would have been all over that car. Mark loved turbo conversions.

 

[mk817161]

Hi ,thanks for coming back.the car went to a mechanic today who specialises in turbos and hes got rid of the hestitation and reduced the tickover to 850 rpm.
that was the good news now for the bad...the head gasket is leaking and so is the sump gasket so loks like some more cash needs to be spent.
do you or anyone can guide me on what this car would be worth in good running condition ...the body,underneath are really good and so is the interior?

where is the get together in may ?

thanks mark

 

[renault12ts]

Nice cars Mark. But I'm confused...you say you're a new member yet the blurb says you joined in Aug 2007?

 

[janner]

Good to see that the ECU issue can be sorted. The headgasket is more of a problem. There is someone who makes custom M104 headgaskets. Can't quite remember who but you could probably search the American forums to find out. This would give you the option to lower the compression ratio.
As far as value goes it's difficult to say. There's no Glass' Guide price for W124 widebody turbos. That said I think you bought it for fairly sensible money and it'll be a great car when it's all sorted.

The get-together's being held here... <Google maps>

 

[mk817161]

yes I Joined but then didnt do anything with it ,not very good at typing

to be honest only googled twin turbos after I bought the car and it directed me onto the forum and you were all discussing my purchase ! I decided it was good to get other views etc .

this week I have bought a 1997 500sl with pano roof..really tidy 2 owner car with 74 k on the clock..just to add to the collection

do you have a r12ts ? I bought one as my second car ..really loved it then I had a r 5 ts and a 9 ts before I switched to mercs

cheers mark

 

[renault12ts]

No, it was my first car. High back seats, Gordini wheels and a twin choke carb...life doesn't get much better.:bannana:

 

[mk817161]

thanks for map ,thats not far from me so will put in the diary...

re the head gasket ...wont hughes do it as it is part of the origional kit ?

do you know of anyone near oxfordshire /bucks who has 320 tt so I could get to see what I should /will get in terms of power and drive ?

thanks mark

 

[mk817161]

HI D W124
do you still have your 129 alloys for sale I cannot contact you through classified ad

can you pm me

thanks mark

 

[Niks]

Hi Mark,

You have a very unique car there! dont take the TT setup out and put the standard 3.2L back in. All these little problems your experiencing can be sorted out easily, it might cost a bit but it will be all worth it in the end. If you really want to get your turbo system running properly and safely (especially the fuel management side), talk to RBYCC (Ed) as he really knows what he's talking about through his own experiences.

Enjoy the car

Nik

 

[EDZ649]

HI D W124
do you still have your 129 alloys for sale I cannot contact you through classified ad

can you pm me

thanks mark

I have sent him a PM for you.

 

[d w124]

HI D W124
do you still have your 129 alloys for sale I cannot contact you through classified ad

can you pm me

thanks mark

Mark:I can`t pm you either and yes i still do

 

[nick.ged]

ed is using the std 103 tt extra fuel injectors with split second ecu. your car is 104...

from the ebay ad, your car has a standalone ecu. if you have tuning software then it should be really easy to tune.

imo...

questions you need to find answers to are;
is it using std merc injectors with an extra injector from tt kit?

if yes then should be easy to tune, but my experiances with standalone would make me think your best route would be to use bigger injectors in the std fuel rail, and loose the extra injector. should make tuneing really easy due to making one system responsable for the enrichment.

ed will dissagree because he has kept true to the tt method, but enhanced it. he has got good results but that system is also different to yours due to his 103 being simpler than your 104, by that i mean yor system will be trying to cut ful;e on low power demands etc, i think i read that at low power demands, 104's only fire on three cylinders?

please forgive me if that doesnt make total sence, i've been to a christening today, and am very well oiled ;->

 

[d w124]

Mark:Great talking to you mate and i`ll send the pic tonight

 

[grober]

One thing to bear in mind with the twincam M104 is the variable length inlet manifold which the M103 doesn't have. I not sure how well this will function with a forced induction setup???

 

[mk817161]

Hi nick thanks for your religious wisdom...I dont think that my car is set up as hughes would have done it ....the feuling is different and I think the 7th inj is not being used.I have had the car sort off tuned and it does run fine but I dont know what it should be like? I need to have ride in another to compare..anyone live in oxfordshie /bucks hat has one ???

 

[nick.ged]

it should feel really quick! you will know if it isnt right, cause you wont smile every time you floor it!!