97 E420 modifications - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#1 01-08-2003, 11:35 PM

I just bought a 97 E420. Time to start adding more power. Intake and exhaust sytem of course, Custom fab them myself. What I am worried about is the check engine light going off? Does any body makes chips for it? And who makes headers for car?

Pete Geither · #2 01-09-2003, 05:46 AM

IF you are serious I GOTTA see this. Fab an intake and exhaust for a 420 yourself? Believe me, stick to the body mods and enjoy the stock power of the V8. I sincerely doubt that most mortals could do better than stock, unless you have a whole lot of engineering and tooling behind you. Just my opinion of course.

Ashman · #3 01-09-2003, 10:41 AM

you can get a carbon fiber airbox from www.feathercarbon.com

price is around $450. better airflow than stock. with ITG or K&N filters, you should get a slight increase in power/throttle response.

As far as exhaust goes, the stock mb system, flows quite well, if I were going to mod the exhaust for better performance, I would suggest a cat back system, that was made for the car from a tuner already unless you are capable of copying one.

Other than that, if you want to make the car faster, find out what differential ration is in the rear. you can upgrade the differential which should give you the most boost in lower end speeds. a 1994 e420 with a 2.82 differential, will make the car's power feel more like a 500e, but you will lose some gas mileage and top speed.

check www.bergwerks.com for information on doing a differential swap.

Hope some of that helps. All the information I have posted has been pieced together from others.

Alon

#4 01-09-2003, 01:41 PM

Thanks for the replies. Well, I am looking at replacing the stock air box and possibly the air flow sensor with a K&N cone filter.. I have done this before on a 300TD, lots of Dodge Cummins Diesels, simple mod that makes a huge difference. I was also looking at doing a full exhaust system, from headers thru a new 3" random technologies cat and a Dynomax Ultraflow muffler. I can build the enitire exhaust sys for under a $1000 hopefully, I think headers will be the biggest cost. I see that most aftermarket exh systems only replace the rear muffler, throw away the middle muffler as well if you don't mind a litte more noise but alot more power.

dieseldude · #5 01-09-2003, 01:57 PM

A K&N cone in that super-tight, super-high-temp engine compartment is not going to net anything other than annoying sound - the stock set-up is hands-down better. I'd definitely go for the feather-carbon box - half the price of Renntech, and quality from what other posters have indicated, is top-notch.

Seriously, the new differential transforms this car. Reveals the M119's true capabilties. Better yet - it's an MB part. A perfect, durable, and factory-tested upgrade that will likely give you all the power you're interested in. Perform a search for differential swap an read the impression from other posters!

Regards,
- Ryan

Ashman · #6 01-09-2003, 08:44 PM

I don't think headers are going to improve the car much if at all. The car comes from the factory, pretty much fully tweaked out. The airbox, differential, and a cat back exhaust designed for better flow based on the characteristics of the engine and based on its airflow requirements, will yield you very good results. Another option is to try to get the ECU reprogrammed.

Other than that, there isn't too much you can do to the M119 engine besides a custom forced induction system, or boreing it out.

Thats one of the things about a benz, mostly the only upgrades on the older engines is displacement. on the newer 320 and 430 engines and 500 engines, there are more hop up parts you can get, like kleeman superchargers.

Search up on the differential upgrade, the carbon fiber airbox from feather carbon, and look into a real exhaust from a mercedes tuner who spent the time to R&D the exhaust for the car. These will yield you the best performance upgrade.

Alon

craiggotgame · #7 01-10-2003, 03:23 AM

Ive thought about doing it all. Really the only mods that make sense are the differential change, forced induction, and taking it to a machine shop and increasing the displacement. Hmmmmm maybe Ill do all three...