Brabus has a perf. kit that includes custom camshafts, valve springs, platinum spark plugs, & carbon fiber air intake. They claim a 20hp and 11 lb.ft. increase over stock. They also claim that MB USA would still honor the 4/50 new car warranty & Flex Service, if the mod. is done by Brabus USA. Is this true ? Has anybody done any Brabus upgrade to their MLs ?

Nope, but I gotta tellya, a custom cam (2) and only 20hp? Simply not worth it. I also doubt that MB will honor any warranty claims if you tell them that the engine has non-MB parts in it. Do they regrind your cam or do they put a whole new one in? I don't know how much it costs, but if you're going to do it you better make them give you back your old parts so you can sell them.

Kuan

It is possible MBUSA would still cover the car. Normally places like Renntech and Brabus offer their own warranties once the engine has been opened up. Replacing cams is not that intrusive. I know Renntech offers (or did) 2-3 years while Brabus was one year on converted engines.

Personally I second Kuans opinion, that 20 hp is simply not worth it. If you are doing it on an ML320, take the $5k and upgrade to a ML430. If you have the 430, take the money and buy the ML500, and so on to the ML55. If that is not enough, either one of the above mentioned tuners will bore the V8 to 6 liters.

IMO those tuners offer awesome full engine conversions. The engine mods, short of the full blown deal, are a waste of money. Chances are pretty good that you would never feel the 20hp. Also consider that all you have done is move the power up the rpm band with a cam change. In a heavy vehicle like the ML you need the torque down low. I wouldn't be surprised if you actually lost some performance in daily driving.

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1995 G320
1984 280GE
1971 Unimog 416

Brabus charges $4K for the kit that includes 2 camshafts, valve springs, platinum spark plugs, and a carbon fiber air-intake. And another $1K for installation.
Anyways, I think I'm keeping the $5K and spend it somewhere else. Thanks for your inputs.