Excellent job. Would have been nice to get a 'before' dyno figure with the old engine? Would be interesting to see what the difference was with the same exhaust/ECU/etc.
SL280 to SL55 conversion
- Thread starter fast28
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- conversion sl280 sl55
That looks fierce and savage when the ESP triangle flashes! 
The original factory supplied cluster, did you replace the original with an AMG cluster rated 300?
Did you do a calibration - diff for the new cluster for exact speed readings?
When you do a tune, car will probably show less HP and TQ with the new tune?
That's what happened to other guys doing the engine swaps.
If you think you are running lean, buy new breather hoses and swap the other vacuum rubber hoses around the intake and engine, new hoses will improve AFR fuel mixture running less lean.
New gaskets, two of them for airmass sensor airduct housing will also help
The original factory supplied cluster, did you replace the original with an AMG cluster rated 300?
Did you do a calibration - diff for the new cluster for exact speed readings?
When you do a tune, car will probably show less HP and TQ with the new tune?
That's what happened to other guys doing the engine swaps.
If you think you are running lean, buy new breather hoses and swap the other vacuum rubber hoses around the intake and engine, new hoses will improve AFR fuel mixture running less lean.
New gaskets, two of them for airmass sensor airduct housing will also help
Doodle
MB Enthusiast
Assuming the ones you are replacing are perished and leaking, of course.
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Excellent work. You did well to find such a low mileage engine. Did you do the work yourself? I would be interested to know how many hours labour were involved.
These vacuum hose gets very stiff with age and from long time engine heat cooking.
When replacing valve cover gaskets you have to pull out vacuum hoses, then you will notice they are old.
They are cheap, buy new hoses and they will improve AFR, more airtight system.
I checked my MOT papers, my car always pass MOT although my lambda readings shows maximum to fail.
I'm within readings.
Last year I had all my vacuum hoses and other rubber hoses replaced, lambda readings dropped into better AFR reading.
Meaning car running less lean.
Looking good! Have you made any other mechanical changes along with the engine e.g. brakes or suspension?
Doodle
MB Enthusiast
As a 1999 car, it should already have the 334mm brakes on it 
Were there suspension differences between the 500 and 55 ... IIRC that was the case with the 60?
Doodle
MB Enthusiast
There was certainly a set of springs and shocks available for non-ADS cars.
That's correct but I went ahead and upgraded the rotors to the silver arrow onesAs a 1999 car, it should already have the 334mm brakes on it
I installed the Bilstein built AMG suspension
Doodle
MB Enthusiast
It's the calipers that are a key improvement over the ATE ones when braking from speed. Bigger pads so more heat capacity.
Because my engine came from a W220, the wiring harness for the fuel delivery system was different.
Intake manifold, fuel rail and throttle body was used from the existing 5.0 engine. Only the fuel injectors were used from the 5.4 obviously.
Existing oil pan was used, and everything else just bolted right up.
I am running SL500 722.5 transmission and SL500 2.78 diffs.
I am sending the car over to a tuner in Saudia Arabia so they can live tune the ECU for the new engine.
My ECU is an ME2.0 and needs to be mapped for the new fuel delivery and timing characteristics.
249w123
Member
Horsepower curve comparison in automobile-catalog
using the compare function above does indeed favor the m113 with its peak 530n.m torque @ 3krpm instead of 470 @3900 of the m119. That a hefty shove for sure.
using the compare function above does indeed favor the m113 with its peak 530n.m torque @ 3krpm instead of 470 @3900 of the m119. That a hefty shove for sure.
BespokeAutomotiveDynamics
Member
This is a fantastic thread and I am grateful to the OP for starting it and keeping it up to date. I have a similar interest in this conversion, having a very high mileage m113 r129 SL500 which could do with a rebuild. Anyway, some information that I have come across which may be useful to others:
1. The output differences between various 55 AMG engines are attributable to exhaust constrictions and compression ratio. Most engines have a 10.0:1 compression ratio and put out between 349 and 354 bhp. However, the 209 CLK55 AMG has a 11.0:1 compression ration giving 367 bhp.
2. The most powerful NA 55 engine was in the SLK55 AMG Black Series. This put out 400 BHP. It has a compression ration of 11.3:1. I think a clean and careful installation of a 209 CLK55 engine with a tuned map would give a solid 375bhp. This is a significant enhancement over any 129 except the SL60 AMG and the SL600.
3. The AMG cars get a significant performance bump from running a faster diff. The 55 AMG cars typically run a 1:2.82 rear end whereas the SL500 runs a 1:2.65. I had a w210 E430 which also has a 1:2.82 rear end. It was noticeably faster to accelerate than my SL500. Likewise a w211 E500 that I tried. I do think the cheapest performance gain for an SL500 would be to slot in a 1:2.82 differential. It is a very easy change and the diff was used in pretty much everything with a V8, w210 E430/E55, w220 S430/S500/S55 and w209 CLK500/CLK55 among others.
1. The output differences between various 55 AMG engines are attributable to exhaust constrictions and compression ratio. Most engines have a 10.0:1 compression ratio and put out between 349 and 354 bhp. However, the 209 CLK55 AMG has a 11.0:1 compression ration giving 367 bhp.
2. The most powerful NA 55 engine was in the SLK55 AMG Black Series. This put out 400 BHP. It has a compression ration of 11.3:1. I think a clean and careful installation of a 209 CLK55 engine with a tuned map would give a solid 375bhp. This is a significant enhancement over any 129 except the SL60 AMG and the SL600.
3. The AMG cars get a significant performance bump from running a faster diff. The 55 AMG cars typically run a 1:2.82 rear end whereas the SL500 runs a 1:2.65. I had a w210 E430 which also has a 1:2.82 rear end. It was noticeably faster to accelerate than my SL500. Likewise a w211 E500 that I tried. I do think the cheapest performance gain for an SL500 would be to slot in a 1:2.82 differential. It is a very easy change and the diff was used in pretty much everything with a V8, w210 E430/E55, w220 S430/S500/S55 and w209 CLK500/CLK55 among others.
