Quote:
Originally Posted by macdoe
Would there be an alternative to this exhaust that Mercedes has put onto my 1988 420 sel ? I really despise the pipe that goes behind the engine and right up tight to the firewall. This pipe definately hinders the access to the bellhousing bolts. We are swapping a running engine in place of the non running engine the car came with and I would rather not put this exhaust back on. I was wondering if there is another engine that came with a more reasonable set up that we could swap in place of the factory design ? I am looking for maybe something like dual exhaust. Also wondering if the exhaust on this car could be converted to just run with a regular single muffler per side instead of the four muffler design....or is this exhaust designed this way for a reason? Thanks.
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Just score a pair of 380 Euro dual manifolds/downpipes and off you go. I have a set from a 500SEL Euro going on my US 560SEL.
It is pretty well known that the US exhaust systems are nothing short of crap. Sure the Euro logs are not as great as the four piece set, but they sure are a ton better than the US nonsense.
Oh, scrap the factory dual cat assy and pocket some cash too or sell it to someone in CA that needs a good factory system. Big center cats here are fetching $200-250 in scrap alone. If you need a cat, this should be the PN for the dual in/dual out with O2 sensor for your car - 94038.
http://www.magnaflow.com/02catalytic_converters/02product/displayuniversal.asp?universal=94038
Not sure what 420SEL you have, but the one I had just had three mufflers... one out the back (dual in/dual out) and the two 'kidney' resonators under the rear seat. The rear muffler is straight through, the resonator off my 300SEL was too... so I will assume the resonators on the V8s are also.
Basically the catback is fine, the cats to the heads are what are terrible. Expect a boost in power and maybe fuel economy too.