Hi Craig- the mods sound great! Keep us posted with progress.

Suggest considering replacing tires w/ S-03's or Pilot Sports or Yoko AVS and upgrading front brakes to SL600 units w/ braided hoses as well.

You may wish to contact a couple of other E420 owners that have upgraded their suspension's & braking to nearest 500e/e500 spec as possible.... for more tips too.

What horsepower/ torque are shooting for with the Kleeman? I'll reserve a run with your E- - - right after youdance with Neil!


-fad

Hey all bets are off with that Kleeman supercharger , except perhaps on a twisty track like ButtonWillow . . .

Don't all 92 and beyond 300/400E's have first gear start? I have it on my 92 300E.
Tom

I think Craig is kidding about the supercharger, as Kleemann does not make one for the M119.

What exactly does Berg Werks mean about H&Rs being more consistant?

Yes the 400E/E420 does have the fist gear start, but unless you realy push it the car will upshift at about 7 mph and will not downshift unless you kickdown. This realy sucks like some times I take a turn and then want to acclerate (but not full throttle) and the car seems slow because it is in 2nd gear. I suspose that the mod Berg Werks offers will let you keep first gear longer, if not I would not get it.

I dont know much about the yoko AVS but I have a friend who had them and they did not work well for him.

Subman

__________________
Factory trained Mercedes-Benz Technician
Look At My Website
-2002 C32
(E420 has passed away)
The best way to contat me is e-mail.

Thanks Subman for the info

Neil- we can run with Craig for kicks at Button Willow...we'll both be black flagged for the day and I'll help you polish the wagon for the car show!

We can do a warm up lap and 'space' ourselves from the pack, then go at it for one glorious lap.

...maybe we can get Guido's 500e behind us to see if he can pass all three of us? it'll be a good show of the '92 motor hp superiority together w/ Guido's mods?

Mark- if you're up for it, we can add you in too- no problemo! We just have to ensure we get in the same group run.

-fad

fad- are you saying first go to ButtonWillow and then WillowSprings (2-hours away) for the EuroTuner Fest?

If driven correctly, the 400E & 500E should pass the wagon on the straights of Willow. ButtonWillow has very little straights, so its about handling & cornering.

Although I've been known to keep Porsche 911's & M3's behind me due to my exit speed at Turn 9 of Willow . . .

I believe the BergWerk's electronic 1st gear start only allows you to choose between 1st gear & 2nd gear starts.

Can you imagine the 500E with a 6-speed manual and a 3.07 diff . . .

:-) neil

Tom-

You've blown my cover. No, Kleemann doesn't make a supercharger for the M119. He said that the H&R springs were more consistant meaning that if you put springs on 10 of the same cars, they would feel similar. Not so with the Eibach, if I understood him right.

Are the breaks on my E420 that same as on your E500's, or does the E500 have the same breaks as the SL600? I think there was a discussion about this a while ago. The conclusion was that the E420 and the E500 had the same breaks.


Craig

__________________
1994 E420, Pearl Black/Black. 2.82 rear diff., AMG front spoiler, painted lower half. SOLD

1972 & 1974 BMW 2002tii's.

Hi Neil and Criag-

... we can play at Willow Springs if we're all there this year

Craig-

...not totally positive, ...I believe that the E420 got bigger disks and (2-piston) upgraded calipers? vs. the E320 Sedan....and also believe that those upgraded units stock on the E420 are also stock on the E320 Coupe (maybe just the upgraded calipers)

from what I've gleamed here, the E420 brake hardware, compared to the '94 E500 brake hardware are totally different since the E500 received SL600 front disks and calipers

any other thoughts to help Craig out?

-fad

Since Mercedes upgraded their brake offerring 3-times on the 500E/E500, I suspect they did the same thing for the 400E/E420 life-span.

1991-1993 500E's came with Brembo aluminum calipers. Owners complained of how noisy they were so MB good-will upgraded them to the cast-iron units from the 1991-1992 500SL.

1994+ E500's were fitted with the 600SL's calipers and directionally vented rotors.

A quick check (via FastLane) on a 1994 E420 shows a different front brake pad than a 1994 E500, so comparing apples-to-apples, your 1994 E420 does NOT have the same calipers as a 1994 E500.

BTW- a 1994 E420 front brake pad is also different from a 1993 500E front brake pad.

Shortening your braking distance is more dependent on how sticky and wide your tires are.

Going to larger rotors & calipers add more resistance to FADE since you now have bigger heatsinks to convert moving energy to heat. Unfortunately, without exotic materials, bigger rotors usually means more unsprung weight. If you can get air ducted to your calipers & rotors, you should be fine.

If you don't have good pedal feel, renew your brake lines with OEM's and flush/bleed the system twice.

Stainless-steel lines are not absolutely necessary, and moreover stainless-steel brake lines need to be inspected more often. IMHO, they have a higher failure rate than OEM lines.

Unless you autocross or track your car often, the stock calipers & rotors should be fine. Just get stickier and wider tires.

FWIW- Stu Ritter (MBCA Techical Advisor) has an E420 with 3.07 rear diff and keeps the stock brakes because in his opinion, they are more than strong enough.

If your current brakes can invoke ABS (hence lockup) then they have more than enough clamping force.

A must read is:
http://www.teamscr.com/grmbrakes.htm

Hope that helps,
:-) neil
1988 360TE AMG
1993 500E

Breaks are not a big concern for me. Mine stop the car great. I wonder what car the E420 shares with?

Turns out that the rear diff would be cheaper if I had ASR, not sure why? Carl is still working on getting prices for me.

Willow here we come

Craig

__________________
1994 E420, Pearl Black/Black. 2.82 rear diff., AMG front spoiler, painted lower half. SOLD

1972 & 1974 BMW 2002tii's.

If you car had ASR finding a 2.82 w/ASR is cheaper most likely because the 500E uses a 2.82 w/ASR rear diff.

:-) neil

Update:

Thanks to Carl at BergWerks, the 2.82 diff swap went well. I haven't picked up the car yet (this week) so I can only go by the numbers he gave me.

Pre-swap 0-60 times was 7.1 seconds. Post times were 6.5 seconds. Turns out that I had a broken kickdown switch. Not sure how (or if) the switch fix will change the times.

RPM's will now be in an area where the engine will respond quicker.

Almost ready for Eurotunerfest!

Craig

__________________
1994 E420, Pearl Black/Black. 2.82 rear diff., AMG front spoiler, painted lower half. SOLD

1972 & 1974 BMW 2002tii's.

Craig,
No matter how many times I have heard it I still can not belive it. Wow man you went and got the gears changed.
Now its my turn!!!

Makes me so jeluous.

I want to see 1/4 mile times, when you get them.

Subman

__________________
Factory trained Mercedes-Benz Technician
Look At My Website
-2002 C32
(E420 has passed away)
The best way to contat me is e-mail.

Congrats Craig. I just talked to Carl Friday about your car. I think you'll like it- a good compromise between low-end acceleration and highway acceleration.

We should meet up for lunch soon.

BTW- Carl use to work here in SB.

Take care,
:-) neil

any updates??