'97 E420 cold air or short ram intake??

[SoCaL420BeNz97]

Does any one know where i can find a cold air or short ram intake for a '97 E420? Or any ideas on how to custom make one? I can custom fit the piping that’s not a problem. But I can’t figure out how to connect the piping to the manifold. I can’t just run piping up n over the motor directly to the manifold because there isn’t enough clearance to close the hood. Can anyone give me any ideas?

[acarter53]

SoCal,

Before you find the intake that you desire, I think you should know that the OE system in the car was engineered for the best performance. I am 98% sure that you will not gain anything by changing out the OE air box. There is a possibility that you could loose some performance. If you want to get some extra power out of the car, put the money into a Super Charger. They are not cheep but you will see a difference.

[ohlord]

you have to be kidding me
You say you lost no power?
You took a short ram intake with a totally ineffective filter and put it in place of the oe location at the point mercedes engineers computed and tested was the point of highest cool air and pressure.You moved that to a point in the engine bay directly over one of the exhaust manifolds,the hottest part of the engine to pick up air that is 40-50 or more degrees hotter then the ambient outside temp with little or no pressure to aid air flow.You effectively dropped your horsepower at sea level over 20H.P. even more if you live someplace like Lk. Elmo Mn.
You are not sure if it added power, but you are definitely wrong in your belief it did not lose power........the only thing that intake is sucking in is the cashola from your wallet and the other people that fell for the sales pitch and a bunch of super heated air.
ohlord
whoever is selling those things,I can here the hot air really sucking in all the way from North of SeattleSUCCKING really loud
Sometimes I feel we need a B.S. or common sense Filter to sort through some of the incredulous statements made as fact "but it definitely didn't lose any power"
Somebody get me a beer

[kent426]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. As a friend of mine tells me, opinions are like butt holes, everyone has one. No matter how much you clean it up, it still stinks.

So to the cold air intake. I used a generic 4" cone filter for $30 and some left over 4" exhaust tubing I had from an exhaust project. Tapped in to the existing cover and built a insulated heat shield. I have have no code issues and the car has run 14.0 in the quarter mile. A small improvement.

I have talked to numerous manufacturers about making parts for Mercedes and most refuse as they say there is insufficient demand unlike BMW's and Audi's. However if you believe that the factory knows best, then there would be no after market.


Here's some pics of my intake and my custom Flowmaster exhaust.

[ohlord]

nice work.
Butt what a waste of time.
Again the aftermarket that does good design and engineering would never take a fresh air duct like the oe unit and go backwards with technology.
You moved the intake air from fresh cool grill mounted area and put it in the engine bay no less next to the radiator discharge point.
Fresh air,cool air,denser air.The factory while not always right,was right on this one.And you are traveling backwards back to the days where car makers put air cleaners on top of the engine in a hot engine bay.
ohlord
Have your opinions,but please use common sense.

[kent426]

Actually you would think that cold air would win out but that is contrary to KN's FFPK systems. I have installed 2. One on my dodge diesel and the second on a Subaru WRX were both remove the stock airbox with outside air inlets and replace with my setup. KN test's their kits over stock and have hound 10 15 hp of the restricted stock box. That is validated by 4Wheeler magazine, grass roots motorsports and several other magazines where they tested KN designs. When I have time, I will scan the comparison in Diesel Power where they test, stock versus several designs and oddly enough, under the hood produced the most power.
Sorry, not home mechanics at work, enough literature searches.

[ohlord]

also claim they flow better.
Cooler air is denser air,why do you think a hot air balloon floats.Hot air is less dense.Heat,low pressure,altitude all rob you of power.Facts,science,boyles law.
In reply to your relying on magazine articles see who advertises in their mag. K/N that's who.
here is a link to a non partial non commercial test.K/N except in the first 20 minutes of operation tested at the criteria to rate filters is the lowest rated filter tested.
ISO 5011 Duramax Air Filter Test Report
You ever race cars?Go out to qualify at 2pm on a 100f day,why do you go faster when the race starts at 8pm and the temp has dropped to 70f.Why do we cool down intake manifolds?Why do we use intercoolers on turbo engine?Why do we use cold air intakes?So we can lose power?
You need to spend more time racing and less time believing K/N articles

under temps can reach 180f on a hot day,if the ambient temp at the cold air inlet on the w210 is 80f .That is 100f change 100f =about 10h.p. any time you want to put two identical cars on the track and feed one with 180f air and the other with 80f air and bet me?You will lose.
10 h.p. is the equal to a drag strip at 2500 ft. altitude.Ever hear of correction factors?
K/N does a lot of butt dyno testing so do the magazines a 10h.p. change on a real dyno under controlled situations is with a margin of error.Two cars on the track hands down the one with cooler air wins.
K/n has no air box around it,it is under the hood,it sounds louder and makes you think loud is power,science proves you wrong.
Lets remove this big aerodynamic drag producing scoop on a pro stock car.
carb engine normally aspirated 6.53 second 1/4 mile do you really believe that it will run that time if they moved the air intake under the hood.The drag produced by the scoop is far outweighed by the gain from the cool air.Science not K/N butt dyno's
Why don't you go argue your case with Greg anderson.
ohlord

most people subscribe to this theory
'My lighter wallet has re-calibrated my butt-dyno so that the perceived improved acceleration is only because of the lighter and thinner wallet.
I spent money on it so it MUST help?"
matter of fact google "K N butt dyno"
and see how many references there are.
Real world tests prove real world facts . butt dynos prove diddley

If you believe a hot air intake works you may also want to lighten your wallet some more and spend 3-4 hundred bucks on a sprintbooster they have been looking for you.
At least the people that sell that snake oil state "it is not faster, it just feels faster"
400 bucks to feel faster.

[kent426]

In practical applications, I agree with you that colder air makes more horsepower.

Now lets look at the reality of the mercerdes design of the intake.

1. Mercedes prime objective in developing cars are the comfort, prestige and safety.
2. In order to make money, cars makers skip corners to reduce costs.

With that said, the mercedes intake is incorporates silencers and restrictions to reduce in cabin noise. Fact, the intake tract on my E420 where it enters next to radiator is smaller than the inlet tract on my 165 hp 190e-16v with more twists and turns.

Next, lets look at how many racers run stock cars??? Not too many. If you look SCCA club racers, what's the first upgrades? Intake and exhaust.

Nice try for trying to school me but I do race, autocross, dirt bikes and the occassional boring run down the strip.

Lets just agree to disagree.

[Kobus]

If you search in the R170 forum, you'll find dyno tests where people has made similar changes. The initial run may produce a marginal improvement while the engine bay is cold - after that it just goes downhill on every run. Even those that did change to K&N, either ended up installing it inside the standard airbox, or ended up manufacturing a new airbox with an outside cold air feed.

But let's look at the positive side - you'll have a nice quick warm-up in winter.

[ohlord]

the intake tract is plenty enough to propel that car way past the limiter ,so we know it flows all the air the engine needs.There are tons of mb owners out on track days running bone stock w210 with tire upgrades and no hot air intakes
SCCA member since 1967
NHRA member since 1967
2200 lbs. 157 H.P.
SCCA class record Solo
instructor n.w. region
cold air intake
You are correct we agree to disagree, or degree to disdegree
ohlord