SL280 to SL55 conversion

[Will]

I think the exhaust note/volume plays a significant part in the perceived performance & 'sportiness' of a car. 500s are generally set up to be very quiet under most normal driving conditions, whereas AMGs typically aren't. Will made the comment earlier "the 5.4 barks into life" - would that still be the case if attached to a standard 500 exhaust system?

Undoubtedly the exhaust note makes a difference, but I’ve always found pre ‘63 AMGs pretty quiet in general exhaust wise.

My CLK55 was always garaged so probably the exhaust note comment maybe exaggerated as on cold start (fast idle) it always sounded a little louder than the others but yes, the AMG exhaust system would clearly be different (and sound different) to a regular 113-engined model.

Some of those differences perhaps (larger bore/maybe different cats etc?) may have an influence on the power output and the rest (ie sound) add to the driving experience. But I never really noticed a great deal of exhaust noise in general when driving unless the windows were down - hence many AMG owners used to mod the exhaust system (not me though!)

As said about the gearbox/diff ratios etc it would be interesting for the OP to perhaps dyno before/after the engine swap, or perhaps some timed acceleration runs (ie in gear 30-70 or 0-60, 1/4 mile etc) whilst keeping the rest of the car as is (ie exhaust, gearbox, diff etc)

The additional power should be noticeable but I would always expect the in gear acceleration to be quite a bit better with the additional torque from the 5.4 on a 5-speed transmission

 

[BTB 500]

I only have the AMG muffler, my car from factory does not come with the resonator right before that.
I have also had to gut out my secondary cats because they were messed up from the inside.

Here's a video of my car, sounds very tame.. and I honestly don't mind.
I am told that the R129 SL55 and SL600 are quiet cars anyway.

Yup MB dropped the centre muffler/resonator and went to two sets of cats - pretty sure that was when the M113 came in. My late M119 car only has a single set of cats and had a centre muffler/resonator.

Exhaust note is definitely a personal preference thing. My car in stock form was even quieter than yours ... pretty much silent unless you were really pushing it hard (which is not such a great idea on UK roads!). It's just about where I want it now ... a bit more volume on acceleration but still quiet when cruising. That's with the same AMG back box as yours, centre muffler removed, and 200 cell sports cats.

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[BRN9121]

Yup MB dropped the centre muffler/resonator and went to two sets of cats - pretty sure that was when the M113 came in. My late M119 car only has a single set of cats and had a centre muffler/resonator.

Exhaust note is definitely a personal preference thing. My car in stock form was even quieter than yours ... pretty much silent unless you were really pushing it hard (which is not such a great idea on UK roads!). It's just about where I want it now ... a bit more volume on acceleration but still quiet when cruising. That's with the same AMG back box as yours, centre muffler removed, and 200 cell sports cats.

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Wow, that is a bit loud but sounds orgasmic.

 

[BTB 500]

Wow, that is a bit loud but sounds orgasmic.

It's hard to capture on video ... it's not too loud in real life. On a long run it's still virtually silent when cruising, which is important to me. I love a really deep V8 rumble (TVR, US muscle cars, etc.) but not sure I could live with that long-term. I dislike the harsh/raspy exhausts that a lot of modified V8 AMGs seem to end up with ... like I said it's all personal preference though!

 

[BRN9121]

Right.. about to pull the trigger on one that came out of an E55 W210 from Japan.
It has just under 30k miles.

Supplier quoted engine comprehensively checked and cleaned up + installation + one month warranty for 600 pounds.
These engines have no demand here in my part of the world, most come from half cuts imported from japan and some from totalled cars locally.

Here is a video of one of them, the one I am getting is not in this video, it's in storage.

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[BRN9121]

Next question:

How do I go about programming my ECU for this engine?

 

[noogieman]

Next question:

How do I go about programming my ECU for this engine?

If you already have the M113 engine in your car it's a direct swap for the AMG engine with only minor tweaks.
You have to check if you have both of the engine coolant cooling ports open on your engine where one is plugged on the AMG engine.
Need both ports to be open, MB sells the connector.

No ECU mapping needed.

 

[BRN9121]

Thank you sir.

 

[BRN9121]

Engine ordered, should be here in a week.
The engine is complete from a W220 S55 AMG Japan.

Fingers crossed, I'll keep everyone updated.

 

[Will]

Good luck!

 

[noogieman]

Did you order the SC engine from S55?
Could be more difficult to install?
This is a completely different beast than the NA engine from previous model.
Make sure you did your homework before you buy the engine?

When I refered to engine swap it was between AMG cars where people took the larger cubic inch w210 and fit to their w202.

 

[BTB 500]

Did you order the SC engine from S55?
Could be more difficult to install?
This is a completely different beast than the NA engine from previous model.

I think the W220 S55 did have the NA engine to start with.

 

[Doodle]

I think the W220 S55 did have the NA engine to start with.

Until circa 2003

 

[BRN9121]

No it's the naturally Aspirated 5.5 litre M113

 

[BRN9121]

Old 5.0 M113 out, new 5.5 M113 AMG in.

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[noogieman]

Good luck with your car.
Hope it fires up perfectly!

 

[BRN9121]

Engine is in

 

[BRN9121]

Once again a huge huge thank you and appreciation goes out to member fast28 for starting this thread and being my inspiration to do this

A video of the start up this morning. Don't mind my hand and fingers, I have no idea why I pointed where I did when talking about the throttle body.

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[Will]

Glad to hear the swap went smoothly

This is a proper modification, great value for money especially considering your old engine was fairly high mileage

Should give you many miles of trouble free motoring now

 

[noogieman]

Congrats dude.
Now you're hooked on AMG performance.

Next thing to do is to get an AMG steering wheel with a thicker grip.

The wheels on your car.
Are they split rims 10" wide in the rear?
They are the moaw!
Mother of all wheels.