Hi Everyone,

I have a 99 E300 and am researching performance mods for my car. I was looking at the SpeedTuning Stage 2 program. It will give me +60hp. I like Gale Bank's philosophy of making the induction and exhaust the least restrictive as possible, before you start with modifications. Do y'all think the stock induction (air cleaner, box) and exhaust will flow ok without me having to worry about high EGTs?

Also, what other performance mods are there?

Thank you for your help.

Your air cleaner will flow all the air you'll ever need with this engine. The stock injection pump will probably be maxed out with whatever chip-tuning you purchase, and at that point the performance mod list pretty much ends, unless you consider adding a high-quality propane injection setup. In any case, you should install a pyrometer to monitor EGTs just to be sure what's going on in there. So long as you're using the stock turbo, there should be no need to modify the exhaust. There are lots of other mods you can undertake on this engine, but they're not even remotely off-the-shelf bolt-on.

The stock turbo is very small. No matter what you change in the intake or exhaust, the turbo will be a significant choking point.

The intake is very good stock. Adding a K&N will only do harm. Research on how to disable the EGR on your model, its not as simple as the old models.

You can gut the cat(s) or replace them with a straight pipe. "Cat-back" style exhausts are a big waste of money.

Plan the project. How much power do you want to make? How much do you want to spend? This applies to any car, truck, whatever. Have a good plan before lifting a wrench to start.

Some choices on your car from mild to wild:

1. Gauges. Always install at least an EGT gauge before modding a Diesel.

2. Chip. Provides a measure of extra power at the cost of higher EGTs.

3. Open up the exhaust system. Cat gut, straight pipe, etc...

4. Custom exhaust manifold/bigger turbo. The turbo is pretty much worthless for power much above stock. You can choose a T3/T4 hybrid, a smaller VGT or go wild with something bigger: HX35, HX40, HX50 ()

5. Larger pump elements, custom delivery valves, custom injector nozzles.

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

Remove that cat, disable the egr, get a pyrometer, boost gauge, and let the fun begin.

They have an EGR delete kit too. So disabling the EGR will trigger any codes?

Anyone put a different muffler on?

I plan on putting another muffler on but I'm putting together a 4" exhaust so I'm probably going to use something like an Aeroturbine or other diesel performance muffler.

Here's your EGR delete discussion for '98-'99 cars:

got it this time - egr bypass 606 turbo

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

First get a Boost and EGT Gauge....

Speedtuning makes a very good tuning program, gut your cats and go with a reputable exhaust vendor i.e. Eisenmann........

Is there a turbo that bolts in without any modifications?

__________________
2005 SL65
1999 E300
1995 E300
1994 SL320
1988 560SL
1987 300TD
1982 300D
1955 300SL