Newbie here.

Looks a great site.

I wanted to start by asking a few questions as im looking for advice.

I own a couple Mercedes, one of them is the Classic 1990 Mercedes 500 SE. With only 59k miles and full mercedes benz history.

What i would like to do is extract more power from its 5 litre v8.

Im not sure if mine has a cat or not, but i have been told taking the cat off and replacing with a straight pipe would give an extra 15 BHP according to Mercedes dealer mechanic!?

Would a high flow replacement air filter element make a slight difference at all? Even say 2-5 bhp gain? Performance plugs/leads?

Anyone who can advise as to all the options to increasing power relatively easily id be greatful to hear.

Thank you.

Fellow Merc enthusiast from London, England!

 

i am sure it has the catalytic converter. if you do not need to worry about inspection or any government agency, CUT IT OFF.

cat converters are restriction to airflow. any restriction to airflow kills the engine performance.

also remove the silencer or replace it with freer-flowing son-of-a-punk type swollen-pennis-style mufflers. the less it muffles the freer air flows.

same thing with the intake. the fewer the obstruction, the better it is. if you are not going to the country or some dusty road, dont put any filter at all.

 

if you really want more power, you could also try having someone custom build the exhaust manifolds. The straight inline manifold that comes with the car causes much loss of power because of back pressure from each of the cylinders. In addition to that loss, the left exhaust manifold curvers around the back of the engine and joins the right side at the right side of the engine, which also causes a loss of power. You could also have someone shave the cylinder heads to increase the compression ratio, but this is a costly job.

 

Thanks guys.

How would i locate if it has a cat converter or not? Cos tried looking under the car roughly, and it seemed to have a large circular bit that looks like a cat but when i callled Mercedes up they said they dont think it would have according to the year (1990) and where it was destined for - The UK. Hmmmmm??

How costly would you say getting straight inlet manifolds would be, roughly? $500 dollars? Or alot more?

 

My mechanic had a look and he said hes not sure but he dont think there is a cat on it. He said he thinks its at the front on the Merc, but said there was a box type thing just past midday on the exhaustbut he thinks that too far down and thinks its a muffler?

Any ideas gents?