so this idea was thrown out there by a friend: why not just take out the kompressor and make it naturally aspirated. Im tired of my car revving up to 4000 rpms and sounding unnecessarily loud when just accelerating after a stop sign. I just want my car to sound like a mercedes, you know? I want it to be quiet like my '88 190 E still runs. Thoughts on removing the kompressor and getting a better exhaust? is there anything else I can do to shush the engine noise?

 

Trouble with the idea is that a supercharged engine is seriously detuned in comparison to its normally-aspirated twin. In order to survive supercharging, the compression ratio is considerably reduced in the mechanical aspects of the piston and cylinder, being made up for by the forced breathing.
A successful conversion of the sort your thinking of would entail piston replacement, to begin with. Cam timing, grind and ECU characteristics would also need re-vamping.
As a mirror to those who want to go to supercharging with an engine not built for it, you'd be better-off going to a different car originally made without it.

 

I couldn't have said it any better myself.

 

thanks for entertaining my naivete, defiant! A follow up question I would like to ask would then be what options do I have for making the engine sound better? My '99 c230 has only got 45,000 miles on it and Id like to avoid adding extra stress to the motor, if possible. It seems from other posts that ambiguity is frowned upon, but Im not exactly sure what options I have available...maybe Ill post another reply after I delve further into what I mean by 'better sounding' engine...again, thanks, this helps narrow my train of thought to more realistic modifications.

 

OK, I'll give you my take on this. Please understand that I'm only trying to be helpful here. Sometimes my straightforwardness comes across
a bit harsh, so don't take it that way. You are trying to make a four cyl. supercharged engine known for being a bit "noisy" itself run and sound
like a V6. Chances are, it's not going to happen. This is one big reason why Mercedes stopped making the kompressor for the C class and started offering only different V6s. Much smoother and quieter. When I bought my C230K in 2005, I drove it for a while and then drove a C240 V6 to see the difference. I decided I could put up with the extra engine noise for better gas mileage and the car was more sporty in many ways. The dealer since has told me that Mercedes had so many complaints about the car's engine being inherently noisy, and there were some problems, that they decided to stop making it for the V6s. Any time you supercharge a smaller engine and rely on boost and rpm to do the job, it's going to be a bit noisier than a smooth running V6 just by design. So, trying to make it quieter somehow is really not something you want to start spending money on. If you were to put on a quieter exhaust system (?), the engine would still rev like it does and make the same noises you are hearing now.
And the more restrictive exhaust might even hurt performance a bit. So you're back to zero again. Just trying to help you out by saying this. Not bashing the little four cyl....remember....I bought one. But it is what it is. The good thing is mine can get over 32 mpg on the highway cruising at 65 mph. Not bad for a car with 125,000 miles on it now. Especially the way gas is. Hope this gives you something to think about.

 

I really wanted a C230K Coupe, and stumbled across a C320 at a price I couldn't avoid. I wanted the 4, I wanted the supercharger, and I wanted the mileage. But I love the 6, and tough darts for me about the 4mpg.

 

The way to fix it is to swap cars with defiant

In general, if you want to change something major about the powertrain, you want to trade the car. This routeis better in terms of initial cost, reliability, and resale value.