So, after buying this cheap 230K and getting the few months use out of it that I needed as a stop gap transport, I didn't really know what to do with it. I could have sold it and got my money back or maybe more, or just keep it. Since it was my first forced induction car of any kind and I was enjoying driving it I decided to hang on to it. And there begins a very slippery slope...

But in all honesty I've had no regrets and it's been a great leaning tool - supercharged, canbus etc and having owned several different Merc's over the years I'm a fan. The only real downsides, it's not like a BMW, VW, Honda etc where any number of modified & upgraded parts are available off the shelf supported by a massive wealth of knowledge that's out there too.

So, within two years/10,000 miles from the initial purchase the car received the mother of all services and loads of preventive maintenance. The theory behind this was safety and reliability, giving me some greater confidence in the car and so far after another four years and an extra 25,000 miles it's paid off.

Besides getting fresh fluids alround, filters etc etc, the engine was treated to all new sensors, including Maf, o2, knock and a fuel pump. Coils & leads too. Plus it got new tyres (Bridgestone Turanza T001) which were great value. The brake discs's & pads, steering joints, ball joints also got replaced, the drag link was worn and the damper was as useful as a rubber band. The engine breather hoses & PVC valve were replaced too along with the radiator (which was bowed but not leaking) and thermostat. The belts, tensioner, idler and shock were also replaced. New engine & gearbox mounts were fitted too, all were well past their best, the same with the propshaft (driveshaft) center bearing and rear coupling. I stuck with popular brands like Lemforder, Febi, Bosch, Hella, Gates etc.

The most noticeable and biggest improvement was replacing the lower front suspension arms. I fitted Meyle heavy duty items. I reckon this is a must do every 60-80,000 miles

Part numbers: 016 050 0004HD & 0005HD

There's other bits & pieces no doubt that I've forgot about but I think you'll get general drift of what I was up to.

Anyway, that's all or most of the boring stuff accounted for. I'll move on to 'modifications' carried out and planned, plus repairs, mistakes and improvements in my next post.

 

One of the very first modifications I did was fitting a larger crank pulley (220mm). The best bang for buck, full stop. On it's own I reckon it gave a genuine 20-25 bhp and probably 20 lb ft of torque and all for less than $200 delivered. An eBay special, clamp on using grub screws but I wasn't too keen on the screws, so I used bolts instead. All o.k. and no issues in close on 30,000 miles.

After that, I had a remap carried out. Only a generic map sadly as finding somebody to live map Bosch ME 2.1 Ecu's defeated me. Being candid I don't know if I gained any power with the new map but driveability seemed to improve. Stuck the car on a dyno and got 214 bhp with a failing fuel pump, it started running lean just below 5000 rpm. Fitted a new pump, may be it's giving 220 now, may be not? I never got around to putting it back on the same dyno. Hopefully some day, but hell it doesn't matter what the max power is as I'm happy with the way it's driving.

 

One of the very first modifications I did was fitting a larger crank pulley (220mm). The best bang for buck, full stop. On it's own I reckon it gave a genuine 20-25 bhp and probably 20 lb ft of torque and all for less than $200 delivered. An eBay special, clamp on using grub screws but I wasn't too keen on the screws, so I used bolts instead. All o.k. and no issues in close on 30,000 miles.

View attachment 2608910

After that, I had a remap carried out. Only a generic map sadly as finding somebody to live map Bosch ME 2.1 Ecu's defeated me. Being candid I don't know if I gained any power with the new map but driveability seemed to improve. Stuck the car on a dyno and got 214 bhp with a failing fuel pump, it started running lean just below 5000 rpm. Fitted a new pump, may be it's giving 220 now, may be not? I never got around to putting it back on the same dyno. Hopefully some day, but hell it doesn't matter what the max power is as I'm happy with the way it's driving.

Speer pulley upgrade?
Nice. We have this on the 99 c230K
Difference from stock is very noticeable.

Looks like you've given her a new extended life and some love.

 

Next up I relocated the MAF from the I.C. outlet up to the T/B. This did solve the very annoying 'flat spots' @ 2500-3200 rpm since fitting the larger crank pulley. BTW, I replaced the three small rubber mounts at the I.C. outlet, two where split. I presume that was caused by worn engine mounts.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hAoK1F]Maf relocation by Johnny Slow, on Flickr[/URL]

I also fitted the later ( plastic) T/B inlet rather than the original metal one. The plastic has a much nicer radius (not as sharp). Has it made any difference? I don't know but since it was free I reckoned there was no harm fitting it. I did have an issue with the boost pipe coming adrift, so I fitted good new wide band hose clips and changed the pipe setup.

One thing I have been meaning to experiment with is different Maf's. I've tried a standard Pierberg didn't notice ant difference but didn't do any logging on the OBD scanner. I also have two other Bosch Maf's, both for BMW's E46/E39's & E60's. So between two possible Maf locations and four different Maf's I've a fair bit of experimenting to do but I;m not expecting massive results possibly just problems. What I can say is, I did run the car a few years back with the BMW M5 E60 Maf and the increase in torque was really impressive but I ran into a problem after 250 miles of driving, the S/C would cut out on WOT and would only engage after switching off and starting again. The only way to overcome the cutting out was disconnect the battery for 30 mins, and then it was good for another 250 miles. What I presume was happening, during the 250 miles the ECU is going thru it's learning phase and then decides it doesn't like the MAF signal output @ WOT. It's real pity as it drives great with the E60 Maf.

 

I carried out other minor engine mod's. I fitted a 4.0 bar fuel pressure regulator but reverted back to the standard 3.8 bar now. Judging by the fuel trims from the OBD the 4 bar didn't seem to be required, the LTFT's are around -9.0/-8.0% currently, with the STFT's hovering between + 1 to 2%. At WOT the AFR is hitting 12/12.2 :1. so that's safe and not too rich.

For some strange reason I think the engine is running better with the 3.8 bar, I say that because I think it helped to eliminate the 'flat spots' I had around 3000 rpm. Of course I could be wrong because I can't see how 0.2 bar would make a different one way or the other at those rev's?

I also removed the baffles from inlet & outlets of the air filter housing since there purpose was to dampen induction noise which I presumed also may have slowed down induction airflow? Anyway, it may have helped, regardless no harm was done removing them and all better it was a free modification. I also did away with original air intake on the housing and fitted 70 mm i.d.hose and a bell mouth. Again, I couldn't honestly say if there's any worthwhile benefits but it was cheap to to do and I can clearly hear induction roar now and the Bypass valve opening.

 

I'm in the process of fitting another air box inlet, a dry weather one which II'll post up within the coming weeks - you can't get enough cool air is my thinking especially with the heat the S/C produces.

 

The interior:

Didn't do much here, just a few gauges. Stack Oil temp & Boost and an AEM AFR. To fit those I mounted where the stereo was with a simple stainless facia plate and moved the stereo to the little cubby hole that was there.

I mounted the all important small Autel ODB scanner just off to the let with a homemade bracket using double sided tape and some sponge. That makes it handy to remove & refit.

The original gear lever gaiter/knob was well worn and the knob was loose. After hearing the price of a new one, something like $250 I decided I'd just make up my own and shorter too. A cheap leather gaiter from eBay along with a gear stick and a heavy delrin knob, I cut the original gear stick down at the base and cut some threads on the remaining piece, screwed on the new stick job done. It looks o.k.'ish and does the job, that's about it.

One thing I was annoyed about is the positioning of the pedals, particularly the brake & clutch. So, I wanted to move them to the left as they are a bit too offset to right for my liking. I reckoned even a little movement would be better than nothing. I removed the pedal rubbers and trimmed down the metal pad itself leaving just enough to bolt some alloy foot pads too, then I could adjust these simply by bolting them in a position. I've now found the best position so I'll dump those alloy one's (I don't like them) and fit 2mm thick pads cut out sheet metal with flush bolts and refit the original rubber pads. All I really need now is normal operating handbrake, never a great fan of these foot operated one's.

Just in case!

To be continued....

 

Bodywork modifications: None really, other than cutting two large holes in the hood (no harm done, the hood is covered in stone chips and the scars of bird droppings) to assist engine bay temperatures. As you can see, one vent is above the back of the rad and as close as possible to back of the I.C.. The other directly above the S/C and some of the exhaust header.

The high temperatures show up after driving the car hard and getting into traffic and worse when having to come to a stop. The amount of heat being emitted even at idle is surprising.

I used a 9v battery powered digital temperature gauge and extended the lead to the probe. All I do is place it in different locations in the engine bay and mount the gauge in the car. It's not very scientific and I haven't taken any readings in a long time but there has been heat reductions with the vents uncovered. From memory I've had reductions of 20C/68F, near the bulkhead. I'll get back to checking the temps again but for now I'm content with vents. Again, they cost little to make and can only help even if they look crude (which they are) but the covers are 100% sealed, so there's no rain making it's way into and around the engine. The mesh & fitting are stainless steel so they won't tarnish or rust.

 

View attachment 2609276

Found a replacement hood in the correct colour and in better condition than the original - no damage from bird droppings and very few stone chips. It's not perfect by any means but for the few bucks it cost I can't complain. And for a bonus it came with perfect grill and star

So, it's out with the hood vents and back to stock even if the lack of vents will be noticed on hot days and driving or idling in traffic.

 

I needed new tyres last year so, opted for Yokohama Advan Sport this time. With standard 16 x 7 sport wheels up front I stuck with 205/55. On the rear I got some 16 x 8 ET36 sport wheels (A20240113020), I think these were standard on SLK's and may have been an option on C-Class's & CLK's. I fitted the same tyres but wider 225/50's.

What can I say? Not a lot other than I've no complaints. Are they better than the previous Bridgestone's? I don't know being candid, it'd difficult to compare old worn tyres with new one's when both brands are in a similar price point. Anyway, the Yoko's are doing their job come rain or shine.

Here's a shot of the 16x8, you see there's a noticeable lip on the outside unlike 16x7's.

.

 

Nice touch with the extinguisher.
Never had to use ours in each vehicle for our own, but they sure do come in handy when you see another driver in a smokie fire distress (thank goodness only one time....)

 

Thankfully I never had to use one but you never know and as you say it could assist somebody else too.

 

Weight reduction.

Ideally I want more power or a quicker car. But, I've no plans on porting or running a smaller pulley on the S/C etc So, my only option is to lighten the car, the problem there is I don't want to strip it either. I set a modest target of 50kg/110lb.

Items gone:
Rear split folding seats, head rests, belt receivers & rear shelf speakers. 28.5kg/62.7lb
Exhaust resonator 2.5kg/5.5lb - mistake, doesn't sound too good.
A/C system 17kg/37.5lb
Original spare wheel, replaced with a space saver from a W203 6kg/13lb
Lighter battery 6kg/13lb

Total: 60kg/132lb

Added items:
Rear 16x8 alloys + 225/50 tyres 4kg/8.8lb
Fire extinguisher & gauges 3kg/6.6lb
Rear bulkhead Plywood sheet (seat opening) and 2 x lateral reinforcement bars 5.5kg/12.1lb

Total: 12,5kg/27.5lb.

The total savings made was 47.5kg/104.5lb, so close to my target of 50kg.

The car weighs 1420kg including driver@ 68kg, luggage @ 7kg and 90% fuel @ 42kg . Subtracting those items leaves a dry weight of 1303kg/2866lb,

1303kg - 47.5kg + myself 95kg + 50% fuel @ 22.6kg, wet weight 1373kg/3020lb,

So, overall not a bad reduction giving 160 bhp/ton (220/1373) compare to stock @ 136 bhp/ton. Ideally, I'd really like 175 bhp/ton but I'll dream on.

The only way I can see on reducing the weight further is to fit light weight seats, lighter wheels and custom exhaust system. All pricey things to fit and they become very expensive when the actual value of the car is taken into account. But if I found good used parts I'd be tempted. There's an easy 40kg/88lb weight reduction with that lot.

 

To follow: Suspension, I.C. trials & errors and future plans.

 

If you want to spend a stupid amount of money you could put a 4 pound braille battery in there. That would lose some serious weight compared to the stock one. https://braillebattery.com/collections/micro-lite/products/ml9c-1

 

1000 bucks? That's more than I paid for the car!

 

double post

 

I told you it was a stupid amount of money.

 

Suspension:

In the first year of ownership I replaced the tired shocks on all four corners, the old one's looked original and where still balanced (even wear alround). I fitted Koni (yellow) Sport adjustables, these are a mono tube design. The car was transformed but it became more apparent that front suspension was worn but I still carry another 10 mph into bends than I could with the old shocks.

I did on reflection make a mistake buying these Koni's (my first Koni's, usually buy Bilstein's), I was under the impression that they were on car adjustable, sadly they have to be removed to adjust and that's been a pain. The on car adjustables are twin tube design, which on reflection I would have been just as happy with - live & learn.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hAkFFN]koni_26-1575SPORT_600px by Johnny Slow, on Flickr[/URL]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hAovdR]E2545-140 by Johnny Slow, on Flickr[/URL]

I fitted a set of Eibach Pro-Kit springs, dropping the car by about 30mm, since my car is a Sport version the drop was less. maybe 15mm. I did run into a problem when I was fitting fronts, both spring perchs had started to rust where they attached (welded) to the inner wing, it's not a uncommon fault here in Europe, the salt roads show up any design flaws when it comes things like this.

These are the reinforcement plates the local machine shop cut out for me, they are 3mm thick.
front spring pearch plates by Johnny Slow, on Flickr

Sorry about another crap & old photo, but you can see where new 'u' shape steel plates were welded to the inner wing and the top of the spring perch. Obviously, the perch top and the small section of the wing were taken back to bare steel, then the plates were welded in and painted etc.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2h12xra]spring plates by Johnny Slow, on Flickr[/URL]

While I was at it I replaced the brake hoses with a Hel stainless steel braided kit.

 

So, the suspension currently is Koni shocks, Eibach springs (with different pad numbers, forget which ones), Meyle HD front lower arms and there's reasonably fresh front A/R/B (sway bar) bushes & front lower ball joints along with steering links etc. Well, they may not be fresh at this stage but have covered very low mileage. With the car sitting on very good Yoko's complimented with a wheel alignment it rides well, handles well too and no real issues with grip - then again I don't drive the car at ten tenths but I'm happy enough and I feel confident when driving hard in the dry or wet.

Then only issue I have at the moment is driving at high speed, 100 mph + . What's noticeable is some wander, especially when decelerating from say 120 down and the car is also effected by cross winds more than I think it should be at higher speeds. I reckon I know what's causing these issues but I'll leave that for later in the thread.

 

The only issue I have at the moment is driving at high speed, 100 mph + . What's noticeable is some wander, especially when decelerating from say 120 down and the car is also effected by cross winds more than I think it should be at higher speeds. I reckon I know what's causing these issues but I'll leave that for later in the thread.

I mentioned the above some time back in this thread. I'm happy to report that car does not wander anymore. I put this down to the new rear suspension bushes. Happy days.

The car is now complete, as in the jobs I set out to do over the last few months, excluding one or two minor items. So, I'll have little to report (hopefully) on repairs or other work from now till late this year, possibly October on. But, I will post if anything of note or worthwhile crops up.

 

This may be of interest to anybody considering buying any '98> W202 . Here's list of common faults my car had @ 15 years old/112,000 miles.

1. Alarm Siren inop. - New siren required.
2. Sticky Windscreen wiper mechanism - requires stripping, cleaning and fresh grease & silicone.
3. Heater fan inop/ working only on max position. - Rheostat faulty.
4. Boot lock not operational with key. - remove, spray in light oil, repeat, repeat, blast with an airline, repeat, oil again, repeat & repeat. Insert key blade, tap, tap & tap with a rubber mallet and repeat. When rust & hard grease appears on the blade you're winning,
5. Headlights acting strange from dip to mains. - steering column multi control switch faulty (in my case).
6. Driver's side window slow in operation. Clean, lubricate glass runners (silicone spray) and lubricate window regulator mechanism.
7. Windscreen washer jets poor in operation. - Remove and soak in hot water with bleach overnight and prod with a pin, blast with an airline.
8. Remote keys intermittently operating. - New batteries and key case.

That's it, not too bad all things considering. There may be one or two other things I've forgot about but they won't have been major or a big deal.

I've still other issues that I've not attended to like:

A very slow battery drain. The car is a non start after three weeks sitting up but it's not an issue for me.
A very mild vacuum leak, a strange one as it's not always present?

Damaged wiring between the windscreen and the engine bulkhead which is not visible without removing the large plastic tray that fits very smugly above the rain water drainage area below the base of the windscreen. It's a bastard to get out without breaking.

You can clearly see the state it was in. Prior to the photo I did untangle some of the melted wiring and just by touching the large positive cable it broke in two! I was lucky, I just and I mean I just got to it in time.

How this damaged was caused or in what exact order I don't know but what I can say there could be three possible causes. One, a rodent (mouse) had a good chew. Two, rain water damage and three, the smaller wires were suffering from cracked insulation just like on late W124's and early W202's. .

I suspect this wiring loom is for the A/C and alarm siren, looking at the way it's running in the engine bay and the fact that everything was working in car and I've got A/C deleted and no Alarm siren, still I could be incorrect.

All I did was join the large cable and then heat shrink it and wrapped insulation tape around all the small wires. But, be warned I suspect there's other face lift W202's out there with similar issues to this.

 

Intercoolers.

Now, this is a difficult subject (for me) in the sense what's actually the right size for a the car with it's extra boost pressure thanks to the larger crank pulley and the generic remap. When all the parameters are taken into account, that's if I had them all and of course that's presuming I understood them too, which I don't. So, I'm unsure what shape, size, type etc I should fit. Answers on a post card please.

First, the original I.C. (plastic end tanks) is past it's sell by date, after all these years there's corrosion in the core, some road debris trapped there also, even after cleaning and there was damage the core fins. At the time it wasn't leaking which was the most important aspect. To my mind it always looked a bit small, which in itself is meaningless as I've no hard data to back that up. The other noticeable design quirk is the kinked inlet & outlet pipes, that can't aid air flow.

Now, the kinks are there because the A/C condenser pipes are routed that way on non S/C M111's, so I presume Mercedes decided the easy way to design the I.C. is to suit the A/C. In a nutshell adding an S/C to the M111 in a W202 was an afterthought it seems to me, unlike the R170 SLK, which no doubt was designed from scratch to fully incorporate an S/C M111. This view is supported by the fact that W202's I.C. has a 153 cubic inch core (17 x 4.5 x 2) while the R170 has 198 c.i. core (22 x 4.5 x 2) - making the R170's core 30% larger but with the exact same engine! Therefore, to my logic the standard W202 I.C. is too small and possibly far too small for an S/C providing more boost pressure over standard.

I can only surmise that it was restricted space at the front of the W202 led to a smaller I.C. being fitted as stock. Makes sense too, as it's difficult to fit a bigger I.C. without chopping metal and the bumper to fit it - ask me how I know....

Original I.C.

To be continued...

 

Intercooler upgarde.

This became tricky. I didn't want to spend mega bucks on a new custom built I.C. and I didn't want an off the shelf poorly fitting, poorly flowing I.C. either. But it was obvious I'd have to compromise. After looking around at options for sometime suitable and taking on the comments and views over in R170 section here, general info on the interweb etc I ordered a CXRacing I.C.. They are cheap, fairly popular, bar & plate design and they had one design that just might fit without chopping up the front of the car. $107 delivered to my family in CA and then sent on to me, can't complaint and if it doesn't work out no big deal.

The new I.C. is a bar & plate design and far heavier than stock I.C., it's far bigger too with a core of 295 cubic inch (21.5"x5.5"x2.5) which is over 90% bigger than the old stock I.C.. Yep, it seems too big but then again it's only 50% bigger than a stock R170 SLK I.C. and running more boost than stock this I.C. might be o.k., as in I won't lose any real pressure at the T/B?

CXRacing.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2dESKHz]27x5.5x2.5 by Johnny Slow, on Flickr[/URL]

CX fitted

It didn't fit perfectly as it was sitting a little proud and that wouldn't allow the bumper to sit back fully but it wasn't bad either and I could live with it.

More info here: https://www.benzworld.org/threads/intercooler-install.1393510/page-5

The bottom line with this new cheap I.C., it gave lower I.A.T.'s but lowered the max boost pressure by 1.4 psi. As I said in the attached thread above, I prefer the max boost pressure so refitted the stock I.C. but one that was all alloy, i.e. no plastic end tanks.

To be continued...

 

Here's a photo of the all alloy stock I.C.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2gGMxxm]All alloy I.C. by Johnny Slow, on Flickr[/URL]

The idea behind getting one of these is that it will be easy to get a larger core fitted, thicker in my case and it will still mount without any issues and it's far cheaper than a complete custom I.C.. I bought a used one for 30 bucks which is currently fitted to the car. I also bought a new one for $100 which I'm going to fit soon and then have the old one ready for re-coring at some stage. The other advantage being all alloy is that it should act a better heat sink, assisting cooling where the plastic can't.

 

I've had boost leaks, not helped with changing I.C.'s and relocating the MAF. But the leaks have been small, I didn't feel a lost of any power or see it on the boost gauge. The only way to verify that there's no leaks is rig up a pressure tester. In my case it was two silicone hoses blanked off at one end and one hose fitted with a tyre valve. Attach air line (very low pressure) and listen for leaks.

A side note.
I pressure tested the original stock I.C. after it being on a shelf for a year, it was to be used as mock up on a friends turbo built. Well, it leaked. Just a minor amount but leak it did right at plastic end tank were it's joined to the core. Again, I suspect time has taken it's toll along with the increased boost pressure hastened it's demise. I wasn't upset in the slightest as I wanted a new I.C. anyway and of course now I could justify having bought three!
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hDRuEq]Original I.C. by Johnny Slow, on Flickr[/URL]

I'll sell of the CXRacing I.C., fit the new all alloy one to the car soon and send off the other used one for a thicker core, possibly to 3'' ( 17 x 4.5 x 3) 229.5 cubic inch core which equates to a 50% increase. From what I understand (stand to be corrected) thicker is not the best. Longer and slimmer is better but as I said previously that's just practical. Still, works out far cheaper than a custom I.C and no hassle either.

 

The next maintenance item on the list is the rear suspension bushes including, subframe, all arms, lower spring arm inner & outer, diff, wheel bearings, brake caliper seals and driveshaft gaiters (with fresh grease)
This has been on the cards for a very long time and since I had a rear caliper semi seize (lack of use) that freed up o.k. pushed me to do that lot over the winter. And importantly I suspect worm subframe bushes are causing some wander at high speed on trailing throttle (which I mentioned in an earlier post). Mind, it's easy talking about here as I haven't even made a start!

I did however order some parts. SKF, Lemforder, Meyle, Febi etc., see photo.
I've still got to buy a set of arms and 4 x s/frame bushes. The front bushes will be Meyle H/D.

I won't be doing the wheel bearings, lower arm or diff bushes as I've not got all the correct pullers for these and after pricing those tools up against what my local & friendly garage man is going charge I'll get him to do those. He'll also slacken off the s/frame bush and propshaft bolts. Call me lazy sure but it makes a lot of sense to me. I'll do the four subframe bushes, all arms, remove the fuel tank and clean up, protect the floor behind the tank and s/frame. I might even paint the s/frame a go faster colour just for the hell of it.

 

Another job that I've always wanted to do but just didn't bother, freshen up valve cover. I bought the gasket and plug seals about five years ago and was always expecting an oil leak which never happened. Now, I got the paint so I'll get it done. I was going for white, cream or something similar to the original very light grey. Being practical as I don't do cleaning on this car, I reckoned a darker colour would be better. Blue for the win! The contrast with the red plug cover and black front cover surely must give an imaginary extra 10 bhp? Hopefully I don't mess up now...

 

A few random photos.

Late (M45) T/B inlet

Front bumper with rubber lip. Not too sure way, partly because I had rubber.

Replacement radiator ducting due to removing the A/C condenser & fans.

I.C. ducting, same reason as above.

Engine bay bulkhead seal. Due to removing the hood insulation the stock seal was too low, replaced it with a taller one. This stops all crap entering behind b/head and protecting the electrics.

Modified larger crank pulley, bolted in rather than grub screws.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hCog1x]Damper Modified 001 by Johnny Slow, on Flickr[/URL]

 

The other items on the (never ending) to do list are:

1. Install second air filter housing inlet, home brew job - in progress.

2. Install I.C. water misting system, home brew again - in progress.

3. Install the Water/Meth kit, that I have since 2016 - now in progress.

4. Check out the possibility of fitting an electric exhaust bypass valve, I'll need to measure very carefully as space is limited.

This Granatelli or a Quick Time Performance kit.