Trimming the fat... not what you think!

OK - not really about weight loss or removing stuff from the car to make it lighter, but ever since I had the larger heat exchanger mounted, the E55 has had a bit of a 'swollen lip' look to it... notice the bottom of the chin spoiler, you can even see a chunk taken out of it from scraping... oh the joys of bigger parts...

Well, over the past 9 months of that little 'extra' fat lip, took its toll.  Here's what I found a few weeks ago after a long drive to Monterey, CA and back.  

Yes, that's a little rubber strip that is usually below the oil cooler, and part of the underbody tray directly below the heat exchanger.  The wear and tear of little bumps here and there eventually cracked the parts off.

So, now that I have more clearance due to the plastic pieces coming out, I figured I'd give a trim to the fat lip.  Used a simple utility knife to gracefully trace the lines between that 1/4" edge and the rest of the bumper lip.  

And here's the result of my handiwork.  I think it slimmed things down quite a bit, even though it's only a 1/4" edge!

Hopefully I wont run into any more sharp pointy things!

Mercedes E55 AMG Zoomin...

not much explanation needed for this... :o)

and here's an oil filter for the E55 - good deal! :)

Shop Amazon - New Year, New You Event

Data logging - man, this is fun!

With all the fun mods, and my I/C pump failing last month - I figured it's a good time to start logging ECU/Sensor data on my car.  I've always wanted to check this stuff out - but just never had the motivation and/or patience to set it all up.  I found that it's really easy now...

First and foremost you need to get an OBD-II connection that will pull the data from your vehicle.  I did lots of research and wanted to find the best 'bang for the buck' setup.  There are fantastic options like the DashDaq but they cost $550 and I'd rather put that into other stuff - so I found the Kiwi WiFi adapter for $60 on Craligslist - pretty awesome considering they cost $149 new!

This is a really simple setup, you plug one end into the vehicle's OBD-II port and there's a 6' cable that you can mount anywhere in the vehicle.  There is a little on-off switch and the wireless component lights up when it's turned on.   Basically it sets up an Ad-Hoc Wireless connection to any device with Wireless access.  In this case I'm using my iPhone4.

Obviously - the iPhone needs an app to read the data - so I went with one that is actively monitored/developed called Dash Command for $49.99 on the app store.

It's a pretty cool application and monitors your car in real time!  Check out the screen shot below!

There are 5 different tabs (along the bottom) but this screen gives me a good look at timing and the intake temps!  This screen shot was taken on 105*F day outside, so my I/C pump is working hard to keep the intake temps to ~10-12*F within ambient temps!  Much better than last month when my IATs were in the 170-180*F range!  

Lots to learn from this setup as there is SO much data now, so I'll need some time to figure out all this info to make more sense of it all - but the instant data is excellent and I can't complain to have a setup for ~ $110 in comparison to the $550 models out there!

Dyno and a disappointment!

Well, a few weeks back we had a group Dyno day - never did that before, so I figured why not check it out!?  My brother and I drove a few hours to San Francisco and the guys at Dito's Motors were great!  Two days of dyno tuning for our group - probably 15 guys with their AMG power.

Jerry came in from Texas ( http://www.eurocharged.com/) to do the dyno tuning - and MANY guys had a blast and some big power was put down.  It was a usual Bay Area day - about 58 degrees outside, of course my brother and I forgot that it was colder there so it was quite chilly in our shorts and T-shirts (LOL).

I had my first run around 11:15am - got on the dyno and did a baseline...  

A whole whopping 400HP at the wheels... which isn't all that bad, but in perspective to other cars but we knew something was up...  my secondary water pump was failing so it couldn't cool the intake charge, my IATs were 170-180F so the computer was dumping all the fuel possible into the cylinders which pretty much made my AFR's dive into the low 10's (most likely into the 9s and even 8s)...  so we had to pack up and get a new pump installed...  The guys were great at the shop, a few guys even offered to replace the pump that day and get things dialed back in- but I let it up to the warranty to fix things (hey, that's why you buy one!) :-)

Oh well, next time I run into a Dyno - things should be much better!  I got a new toy to start logging my ECU to make sure stuff like this doesn't happen in the future... next blog!

Scoopin it up!

Well, in my last update - I was hoping to save up a few $$ to get the TTM scoops - and, well - there was this group buy going on - so I jumped in - they look great and from some testing they increase airflow by ~5% and also create more pressure (from somewhat a ram-air effect) - reducing the pressure needed by .55%

They came via USPS packaged very nicely, two scoops the mounting bolts and some heater hose to keep things from rubbing.

Here they are installed on the car, two simple holes, and a simple lock nut on each side

and here's a look with the hood closed...  

...all ready for some forced-air fun!

Add a little more air - for free!

Small changes to allow more air into the engine and out the exhaust are pretty common modifications that people make to their cars.  I went a more subtle route - by removing restrictions.  May as well optimize the stuff that's already present...

In my previous post - I put in the K&N filters - and this week I removed the rubber/plastic snorkels that come through the front of the engine bay - they're restrictive to a point - reducing noise mostly as this is an "executive" car - but they also reduce the airflow...

Previous photo of the while I was installing my new LED city lights... 

also note the 5K LED on the left, and the standard 4.3K bulb on the right...

and now with the front end 'de-snorkeled'

 now there's less "stuff" in the way of the air to get to the engine, so it was a 'free' power modification!

hopefully I can save up a few more bucks and get these nice looking TTM scoops to channel more air to the intake, they don't really provide ram air to a s/c engine, but gives more direct airflow when moving...

E55 AMG Mods & Upgrades

First and foremost, I'm not one to sit by and drive a plain old car that's not discernible from the rest - pretty much every car I've owned has been unique in it's own way...

So here's the list of modifications done - nothing too crazy - just tried and true mods.

PERFORMANCE UPGRADES:
Get some more air into the engine - for < $40/ea (and you need two) - I love these
K&N 33-2181 High Performance Replacement Air Filters

 

 

TTM Performance Air Scoops
While they don't add much in the sense of 'power' - they look AWESOME!  Many heads turn when you pop the hood, even the Mercedes dealer techs love these.
Check out Tuning Technology Motorsports (TTM) in New York.

AESTHETIC UPGRADES:

AMG Aluminum Pedals from JBSpeed

Painted E63 Lip Spoiler from JBSpeed

LED 5K City Lights from AZNOptics

Eurocharged 82mm S/C Pulley:

  

Eurocharged ECU & TCU Tune:

This blog is (and will be) under construction for a while...