hey new member quick question

[95mbC280]

hey hows it going. i got a 1995 c280 and its my first benz and i love it! the only thing i'm having a hard time looking for performance parts any suggestions?

[zmatt]

There isn't the kind of aftermarket support for mercedes like there is for honda or any of the other Japanese brands. A lot of what you would do is either custom work, or swapping in stuff from bigger benz's. The first thing anyone should do when tuning a car is intake, exhaust and chip in the order. You can have a custom cold air or ram intake made for you, or you can do it yourself, as for the exhaust find a local exhaust shop to help you out. You have the M104 I6 which sounds great unhinged so get a 2.5inch stainless exhaust and have fun. Powerchip has a chip for the 280 that costs $690. If you are feeling really adventurous then you can turbo it. Plenty of people have turboed that motor over the years and it likes boost.

[95mbC280]

yea i had already made a custom CAI but i noticed a dfference from the stock air box and it was worse. now im wondering if thats because all i did was slap a filter on instead of taking my time to actually make one. but for the exhaust removing the resonators would also let it breathe easier too right?

[zmatt]

If you remove the resonator completely you will have a very loud exhaust. i recommend getting a performance resonator and muffler and having the exhaust fabbed from the cats back. The should be good for now, if you go forced induction then you can mess with the headers back as well.

[95mbC280]

i was looking into magnaflow for the muffler but im not sure which one but i do know they make resonators too would those be any good?

[zmatt]

I personally don't like magnaflow, but there are some here who do. it's really personal taste. I don't like the rasp magnaflows have, but again some do.

[Yujin]

Yes, Im a magnaflow kiddie, but again, its preference. Shop around, youtube will be your best friend when it comes to sound clips for exhausts.

[zmatt]

agreed, youtube is your friend. Ask people who know their shit and see what they think. Figure out what kind of sound you want, ie: deep rumble, sharp rasp, subtle roar etc and figure out who caters to it. Every brand more or less tries to go for a certain sound. I personally run vibrant performance on my exhaust, but in the end it's up to you. The performance gains will be more dependent on the size of the piping and restrictiveness of the muffler/resonator, sound is all subjective.

[W202FTW]

Mercedes is on the other end of the spectrum (when compared to BMW) when it comes to modding. If you want some serious fun, source and swap a 3.2L M104 I6 from a S320 or SL320.

[zmatt]

I wouldn't go that far, in BMW world the way to go fast is about the same, you swap in an engine form an M car. There are a few turbo kits around for the normal engines but they aren't common. As afr as suspension stuff the big name companies support us the same.

[W202FTW]

There are plenty of aftermarket goods for E36s and so forth. A simple google search and comparison will show the difference in the aftermarket world between the two manufactures.

[nelius]

the best way to get more performance out of a 202 is to buy a 36 or 43 AMG :)

[95mbC280]

thanks for the help guys swapping an engine doesn't fit my budget so im gunna start with the simple CAI exhaust and maybe the chip

[Yujin]

the best way to get more performance out of a 202 is to buy a 36 or 43 AMG :)

If only it were that simple. They are non-existent now, and if they are, they cost wayyy to much.

[zmatt]

If only it were that simple. They are non-existent now, and if they are, they cost wayyy to much.

Around here they aren't too hard to find, but I think that's the easy way out. 1 they aren't that fast anyways by modern standards so you would be disappointed in them and 2 the way you build aftermarket support isn't by buying the amg, it's by working on the other ones and getting tuners to care about the cars. There is a reason why HKS doesn't make a turbo for the 202, it's because Mercedes owners are content to sit with an AMG instead of working on their cars. Our cars are way better engineered than some other common "tuner" cars, we should be mopping the floor with them. I don't understand why we aren't like our BMW brothers. You see stupid swaps and turbos all the time in BMW-land. IMO Stuttgart should start to behave like Bavaria.
[/rant]

[W202FTW]

Unfortunately owning a Mercedes isn't as prestigious as it was 30 years ago and now everyone can afford one, but I doubt that Mercedes is willing to look that way to cater to a small market of tuners.

[95mbC280]

well my 202 is stock for now except for a system and radio but in the future id love to turbo it but thats gotta be pretty expensive though

[Yujin]

Zmatt, where do you live lol? I need to shop there :P

I agree with you on being up to standards with our BMW counterparts, and I do like modding my car, theres almost a sick fetish in it. Even if I had an AMG at this point, my C230K would still be a favored car to play with. Idk, on paper, I think a C43 can keep up with alot of cars by todays standards. But I also believe that a Non-AMG 202 can be made to blow away the C43 and other cars if they invested the money, like Pagz/23K's C230 with the biturbo setup.

[zmatt]

well my 202 is stock for now except for a system and radio but in the future id love to turbo it but thats gotta be pretty expensive though

well if you want to turbo then Pagz is the guy to talk to. As for budget it depends on what you want to accomplish. You could have a turbo header fabbed up and a rebuilt GT28 slapped on and run with the stock ecu. Depending on how much boost you push you could get away with it, but if you want to make real power you would need a bigger fuel system and a standalone. The nice thing is the M104 in the 280 and the M111 in the 230 are built out of unobtanium, they are much sturdier than your average motor.

[95mbC280]

thanks for the info zmatt i just need to look into it a lot more cause i do drive 70 miles a day back and forth for work