M113k mods where to begin

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chris-durham

Active Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2015
Messages
174
Location
Scotland
Car
2005 CLS55 AMG
Hello guys, im toying with the idea of doing a few engine upgrades to the cls55, so looking for some feedback from those who have went down this route. Im not looking for anything too wild, but around the 550hp mark reliably. Car has 103k on clock, secondary cat delete and x-pipe. Coolant pump has been replaced also.
So assuming im looking at a supercharger pulley upgrade, whats next size down from std? Must i have a remap in parallel to this? Or does the std fuel map cover the extra boost. I want to retain the primary cats. do i need a shorter drive belt to go with the pulley? How much should i budget for above? Assuming msl is the fav for the remap? I live in scotland, so dont think there are any that specialise in these up here.
I also read a while back someone had recommended replacing all the gaskets/seals on the inlet tract as its common to loose boost over time.
Interested to see how the above mods have affected reliability over time.
Thanks in advance
Chris
 
Chris, I'd advise against meddling with the mechanicals like pulleys.
I went the dyno custom re-map route on my CLS55. Mallory Performance did it all via the OBD port. Went to 520 bhp 568lb/ft 770nm. Derestricted.
Dyno Phil took it to 183mph in 4th. When I asked him why he didn't go to 5th, he said my tyres were only rated to 186mph.
520 bhp is enough top end for me. 170mph (GPS) on the Autobahn and still accelerating well before coming onto traffic. Torque is the thing. 770nm will really light your tyres and take you past anything.
 
Have a word with John at Big Fish Tuning in Middlesboro.
He has written many of the maps for MSL and can advise the best way to safely get more power from your CLS.

 
Hello guys, im toying with the idea of doing a few engine upgrades to the cls55, so looking for some feedback from those who have went down this route. Im not looking for anything too wild, but around the 550hp mark reliably. Car has 103k on clock, secondary cat delete and x-pipe. Coolant pump has been replaced also.
So assuming im looking at a supercharger pulley upgrade, whats next size down from std? Must i have a remap in parallel to this? Or does the std fuel map cover the extra boost. I want to retain the primary cats. do i need a shorter drive belt to go with the pulley? How much should i budget for above? Assuming msl is the fav for the remap? I live in scotland, so dont think there are any that specialise in these up here.
I also read a while back someone had recommended replacing all the gaskets/seals on the inlet tract as its common to loose boost over time.
Interested to see how the above mods have affected reliability over time.
Thanks in advance
Chris

Hi Chris - I had issues with tuning my old W211 E55 a while back - 77mm pulley, bwk, downpipes, x-pipe, k/c cooling as the s/c snout gears seized. Ended up going the fixed pulley/map route and whilst it does work the delivery is brutal. Car now sold although I have recently bought a fellow member's already (sensibly) fettled S211 that he owned for 10 years, most of them modified.

IMHO, best to keep the mods light as they are pretty brisk even stock (my old E55 made 492bhp and 540lb/ft before any tuning began), or budget for repairs. NB - whilst MB do still list new s/c snouts @£900 (inc vat) there are none in stock in the UK and no lead time from Germany, plus virtually every used Lysholm s/c for sale is minus the snout.
Perhaps I was just unlucky? (Regardless, the current car's booked into my indy soon for the s/c oil to be changed).

Yes, a map and shorter belt are both required for a smaller pulley. IIRC, MSL used Big Fish to map mine. No seals/gaskets were replaced.
Highly recommend additional cooling though e.g. split cooling, uprated charge cooler or (the route I went) Killer Chiller.

Saabs were so much simpler/cheaper! 😁
 
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on my 2nd E55 at the moment, I would do the following in this order
- SC pulley & Map 73mm - MSL
- Intercooler upgrade
- Headers
- throttle body

I stopped at headers on my last one, didn't need throttle body upgrade IMO and there were so many issues with getting the wrong one. This one has a crank pulley, intercooler upgrade, no idea who the map was done by.

good luck and have fun with it!
 
on my 2nd E55 at the moment, I would do the following in this order
- SC pulley & Map 73mm - MSL
- Intercooler upgrade
- Headers
- throttle body

I stopped at headers on my last one, didn't need throttle body upgrade IMO and there were so many issues with getting the wrong one. This one has a crank pulley, intercooler upgrade, no idea who the map was done by.

good luck and have fun with it!
Hi there pal,

For the first time since owning my e55, I am looking at modification options. It already has a smaller pulley and headers, I think the throttle body and intercooler are standard. Which throttle body and intercooler would I need as a suitable upgrade? Also, I take it a remap would be required once the upgrade is carried out.

Kam
 
What sort of Air intake temps should I be seeing, on the warm days we had the last couple of weeks I was seeing 40 degree as cruise speed. Maybe need to do more recording and compare it to ambient temps outside.
 
Hi there pal,

For the first time since owning my e55, I am looking at modification options. It already has a smaller pulley and headers, I think the throttle body and intercooler are standard. Which throttle body and intercooler would I need as a suitable upgrade? Also, I take it a remap would be required once the upgrade is carried out.

Kam

Hey Kam.

It doesn't have the smallest pulley unless the owners before you changed it but I don't think so. So you can go one smaller.

The throttle body is standard but the IC pump is an uprated Johnson IC30 fitted by Acid so that should be more than capable.

If you are moving forward with more mods, you might need to think about additional cooling though although I forget what the options are now. I think it's a split system and then ice tank beyond that.

Acid said to get any more power, you'd have to change the supercharger and / or start changing engine internals i.e. larger injectors etc.

Then you would definitely need more cooling.
 
IMO the first thing is service it and get it tip top.

Then map and cooling! Cooling is very important on these.

Then start to look at increasing boost
 

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