Tuning the Mercedes M200

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Mercedes M200 engine!"

We are frequently getting emails asking about the things we are recommending when it comes to M200 power upgrades. So let us look into Mercedes M200 modifications and outline the best upgrades on this great engine and point out some potential pitfalls along the way.

Now we will review and look at M200 tuning and show the best mods that work. Mercedes M200 are awesome to work on and with the ultimate parts like a remap, turbo kits and camshafts you will positively enhance your driving experience.

The top M200 mods on an engine are sensibly the ones that give the biggest return for your cash.

We won't be swayed by popular M200 mods, they need to be cost effective.

Significant gains on the M200 can be made from camshaft upgrades. Altering the camshaft profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the torque and power output.

NB: Fast road cams usually boost the power across the rpm band, you might lose a little bottom end power but the higher rpm power will be higher.

Competition cams, boost the higher rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

For a road car you need to match your power band to your preferences.

I'd be amazed if you find a M200 Race camshaft is a pleasure to live with when driving around busy urban areas.

Each engine responds better to different camshaft durations than others.

The ecu map and injectors and fuel pump also will make differences on the torque gains you'll hit.

Altering valve durations can alter the torque band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

M200 Tuning Stages

Stage 1 M200 modifications: Fast road camshaft, Panel air filters, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Intake headers, Sports exhaust manifold.

Stage 2 M200 modifications: Fast road cam, fuel pump upgrades, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, high flow fuel injectors, induction kit, Ported and polished head.

Stage 3 M200 modifications: Engine balancing & blueprinting, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Competition cam, Twin charging conversions.

Remaps should help to to establish the full potential of all the parts you've done to your M200.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but your results may vary depending on the parts you've done and the condition of your engine.

Getting air into your M200 is the main goal to any engine tuning project.

Air Intake manifolds flow the air during the suck phase from the filter and allow it to be drawn into the engine cylinders.

The shape and rate of flow of the Intake manifold can make a large difference to to fuel atomisation and engine efficiency on the M200.

Commonly we find the intake headers are begging for motorsport parts, although a few OEM provide well optimised intake headers.

Big valve conversions on the M200, carrying out port matching and head flowing will also lift torque, & more importantly will give you a greater torque increase on other upgrades.

Turbo upgrades for the M200

NASP engines need quite a lot of work when you add a turbo, so we have a separate guide to help you take into account the pros and cons of going this route on your M200

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes major power gains.

If a car is fitted with a turbo upgrades are giving better power gains and you'll see that turbo engines are built using many forged and stronger components.

There are practical limits for every engine, with some being incredibly solid and some just sufficiently able to handle stock power

We recommend you find these limits and fit better pistons and crank to handle the power.

We've seen people spending a a stack of money on turbo upgrades on the M200 only to see the car catastrophically fail just after it's first rolling road session.

Larger upgraded turbo chargers often suffer low end lag, and little turbo chargers spool up more quickly but don't have the peak end power band gains.

In recent times the world of turbos is always increasing and we now see variable vane turbos, permitting the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp and torque.

Twin scroll turbos divert the exhaust gases into two channels and push these at differently profiled vanes in the turbocharger. They also improve the scavenging effect of the engine.

You'll commonly see there is a limit in the air flow sensor AFM/MAP on the M200 when considerably more air is being sucked into the engine.

We note 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor limited bhp at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large power gains, although more difficult to get working. We have this feature on twinchargers if you want to read more.

Uprating M200 fuel injectors

Don't forget to increase the fuelling when you are increasing the bhp - it makes the car more thirsty. It makes sense to be generous with your injectors flow rate.

The rule of thumb is to add another 20% when specifying an injector, this takes into account injector deterioration and affords a little spare capacity should the engine need more fuel.

We think this one is common sense, but you'll need to match your fuel injector to the type of fuel your car uses as well.

Best M200 performance exhausts

You may need to uprate your exhaust if the existing exhaust is actually causing a restriction.

On most factory exhausts you should find that your flow rate is still ok even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Sports exhausts can help increase the flow of gases through the engine.

But if your exhaust pipe is too large, ie: over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose a great deal of the exhaust flow rate and end up sapping power and torque.

Common exhaust restrictions can be traced to the emissions filters installed, so adding a better flowing performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the M200

The M200 engines, if regularly serviced and maintained, are generally very reliable and have few issues.

Regular oil changes are vital on the M200, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your M200 engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our M200 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

We need your help to complete and improve this page, so do give us your feedback in the comments box below.

We really like hearing from our readers, and hearing about which parts were the most effective for them, it helps us improve our recommendations and articles to reflect current trends in modifications and ensures that our M200 guides and tips are kept up to date.

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This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Mercedes. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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