There's some info out there on the forums, but the rest was sort of figuring it out by myself. The hardest part is taking everything apart properly to remove the old intake manifold, but there's a good number of people on here with tutorial videos on how to pull the intake manifold out of an M272. I'd say if you can work on your own suspension, you can do this mod. A bit harder than a brake service, but I did this entirely with hand tools and no power tools. Since a lot of people ask about this mod, I'm thinking of putting together a video soon of just what parts are needed, how to do it, and how much it costs. In the meantime, if you ever want any info, you can DM me on Instagram at @danny_playswithcars and I'll always try to help out!
If you're on the fence I recommend watching even a little of the last video I posted (it's long, but there's time stamps in the comments). The decision is yours, but the answer is that it probably isn't worth it.
Working on a written copy a bit more in-depth. Will reply with that if it goes live. Some people report no CEL after doing the swap. Personally, I figured I would definitely have one given the flap sensors left hanging loose in my engine bay (magnesium one has em, the composite one obviously does not). Considering the change in airflow in the intake system as a whole from this mod set, I elected to tune it before I even drove it for the first time following the swap. OE tuning can delete the flap sensors and I haven't had a CEL since I tuned it some 10k miles ago
@@danny_playswithcars Much appreciated Danny. I am planning to do this to the E35 variant of this motor and thank you for also mentioning the gasket that goes with the elbow in the follow-up video. I will be running on the stock tune for a while when I do get the chance to do this swap, but there is really minimal loss overall. Reading through everything was fun, but actually getting to see a visual documentation of the entire process cleared up many of the questions I had about the conversion. Will definitely make sure to give you a follow on IG, and will be using these videos for references with no doubt.
Hey Danny great job! I too was deciding whether to replace it with the stock OEM intake manifold on my 06 SLK350. But I always considered the option of upgrading to the new design. I didn't want to get rid of the car just because it was one of the last years with the manual transmission! Since you've had it for a while now, have you noticed any difference at idle or fuel economy? I'm hoping it's a simple plug and play with the OE tune!
Manual SLK is a bucketlist for me, that's awesome you have one! This is a 6MT car too, albeit the 2.5L M272 will never stack up against your 3.5. Fuel economy is better than it was before, presumably because my car was running a bit wonky with the flap failure on the stock manifold (which existed before I even purchased the car). The idle occasionally surges up a couple hundred RPM on warmup, but that could easily be a byproduct of unreliable Connecticut weather and the tune trying to adjust to our random temperatures. The OETuning software was incredibly easy to work with, and the people at OE were even easier. The only thing I will say is that my transfer pump for my fuel pumps has also been bad since I bought it, and my company had offered to do it. Still waiting on that, but until then, my CEL is on as a result. That being said, while the car is tuned to delete the flap sensors, I won't know 100 percent that they aren't throwing a light until I eliminate the fuel issue. The code for the flap sensors persists on a scanner but not as a stored code.
@@danny_playswithcars I like your enthusiasm for the SLK! I am on that fence where do I spend all this money to fix it or do I just watch it become a paper weight... Well I decided after your video that no I will fix it. I think these cars sleepers in the wild, being how rare they inherently are. The balance shaft may give out and am budgeting for it if my number is called! Your RPMs at start seem normal to me, I get high kick ups when I first start it too, it's a Mercedes thing to warm the engine up I suppose. As for the code, I suppose if it's not a stored/active code it will probably just cycle itself away when the time comes? That's what the tune is supposed to do right? I too am in talks with OE and trying to figure out what mods can be done via the tune for my engine. You did the performance tune too right? Any feedback on that? I do apologize for all these questions, since you've been down this road I am very curious to know what your experiences are before heading down this road myself! I'm following most of the repairs you've done, except for the exhaust, I'll probably modify it at a later date! Just rewatched your second video, do you by chance have the part numbers for the 82 mm throttle body and the 90 degree bend?
@@maverick7200 Happy to answer any questions always, though I don't always check on here. Feel free to dm me on Instagram at @danny_playswithcars and I'll always share whatever I know. Mercedes Medic has a pretty good page for checking your engine serial and learning if your car is prone to the dreaded balance shaft failure. If you haven't already, it's worth looking for the piece of mind. A good handful of cars received the updated balance shaft with no failure issues, so hopefully yours falls in that window. Yeah, the secondary air injection definitely plays a role in that on cold start. The revs fluctuating a bit in traffic once warm is the more notable thing, but it isn't irritating or concerning in any way. I've had the tune for a good 2 months or so now, and the code has persisted as a passive code. I'm fairly confident the CEL will not come on, but the ECU still recognizes the flap sensors are sending no signal. I love my tune. I've always loved the feeling of an NA car, and while the broad powerband in the middle of the rev range of the M272 is very useable it doesn't promote the high-rev driving an NA car usually does. Deleting those flaps with the intake manifold, plus adding the tune, will pull from your mid-range grunt but makes the car absolutely scream up top. It may be less useful in daily driving, but as I'm building this car for autocross and backroads, I love it. Plus, yours will see a much more substantial power increase with the same mods than mine did. I'll get back to you on the part numbers. Definitely have them around somewhere
@@maverick7200 Air deflector boot part number: MER-2731400118 82mm Throttle Body part number: MER-2731410325 A new refurbished TB and a used boot ran me $200 on eBay. If you're willing to toss a used TB in, it'll run you way less as the throttle body was $180 of the $200 total.
