Quote:
Originally Posted by Dee8go
I DO know that it'll do at least 100mph. I thought it only prudent to try and blow out a little carbon on I66 yesterday. Smart thinking, since it passed the emissions inspection this morning. Unfortunately, it didn't pass the safety inspection, holes in the muffler. . . Did you know that Midas will NOT weld straight pipes onto this car? Now I must find someone who will . . .
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You need a muffler unless you want it to sound like a canal boat.
For a mellower sound, you could ditch the resonators...but keep a muffler on it.
Borla, Eisenman, Eberspacher, and Timevalve make nice mufflers for these cars. Remus is best, but no longer in production unless you can find a NOS one like I did this year. Stainless steel ones last you about forever.
The catalytic converter is supposed to legally be on there, but if they don't inspect for those, in your benighted Stgate of VA, then you could take it off if you want, just be sure you deal with the O2 sensor correctly, or the orange CEL light will illuminate on your dash.
If you remove the Cat, keep it handy in your garage to reinstall when you sell.
A new one would cost you $700-$800 at least, out of the Mercedes Benz dealers.
Inspect your muffler hangars. At 190k they could be rotten, and you could suddenly drop and drag the whole exhaust system if they fail. BTDT.
Replace them with 560SL hangars; most people don't know that those ones are reinforced inside with METAL, and are bombproof. The 560SEC/SEL muffler hangars are only rubber.
Whatever you do, don't cheap out and buy cheap rubber O ring hangars from the Auto Parts store. That would be a mistake,a bad one.
Also, at 100k, have the timing chain, tensioners and guide rails been replaced, and documented???
If not, then do it NOW. It is not pretty when the chain slips and the pistons collide with the valves. You would be looking at a $7,000 motor rebuild.
Don't take the chance. Do the job every 100,000 miles on the 560SEC, use the search function if you don't believe me.
Then go stick some Euro lights on it.
My 2 cents, keep the change