Tuning the Mercedes M264

"Comprehensive guide to tuning and performance parts on the Mercedes M264 engine!"

We are regularly getting emails about the greatest M264 modifications. So let us look into Mercedes M264 upgrades and outline the best mods that work on this great engine and point out some potential pitfalls along the way.

Therefore we review and look at M264 tuning and outline the premier modifications for your car. Mercedes M264 really good project engines and with the optimum modified parts like remaps, turbo improvements and camshafts you will dramatically maximize your driving opportunities.

The top M264 parts on an engine are obviously the ones that give the biggest return for your cash.

We won't be swayed by popular M264 parts, they need to be cost effective.

Significant gains on the M264 can be made from cam upgrades. Altering the cam profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the power band and power output.

NB: Fast road cams normally boost the torque over the rev range, you may lose a little low end bhp but high end rpm power will be higher.

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

A Motorsport cam makes it harder when driving around busy urban areas.

You should ideally optimize your torque band to your typical driving style so for a road car stick with a mild fast road M264 cam

Different M264 engines respond better to mild cam durations so view each engine as unique.

The engine timing and injectors and fuel pump also have a large bearing on the torque gains you'll achieve.

Extending exhaust or intake 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.

M264 Tuning Stages

Stage 1 M264 modifications: Drilled & smoothed airbox, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Fast road camshaft, Sports exhaust manifold, Intake headers, Panel air filters.

Stage 2 M264 modifications: fuel pump upgrades, Ported and polished head, induction kit, Fast road cam, high flow fuel injectors, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust.

Stage 3 M264 modifications: Engine balancing & blueprinting, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Twin charging conversions, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Competition cam.

ECU mapping will help fully realize the full potential of all the modifications you've done to your M264.

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

It is the aim to any tuning task to force more air into your M264

Intake headers carry the air during the suck phase from the intake filter and allow it to be sucked into the engine cylinders.

The shape and flow rate of the Intake manifold can make a substantial change to fuel atomisation and engine efficiency on the M264.

Many mass produced engine intake are improved through performance upgrades, although a few car makers provide decently flowing intake.

Larger M264 valves, doing a bit of port work and head flowing will also improve performance, this will permit a greater performance increase on other upgrades.

Turbo upgrades for the M264

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 M264

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 an engine has forced induction modifications are giving better power gains and you will discover turbo engines already contain many forged and stronger components.

However you will find an engines will need better parts at higher power limits

It is important to find these limits and upgrade to better pistons and crank to utilize the power.

We've seen mechanics spending a fortune on turbo charger upgrades on the M264 only to see the engine block explode on it's first outing after it's been enthusiastically driven.

Big upgraded turbo chargers commonly experience a bottom end lag, and little turbo chargers spool up much more quickly but do not have the peak rpm power band gains.

Over the last 20 years the market of turbos is always increasing and we commonly find variable vane turbos, allowing the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end power.

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

It is not unusual that there's a restriction in the air flow sensor (AFM/MAF/MAP) on the M264 when loads more air is being drawn into the engine.

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

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large power gains, although more challenging to setup. We have this guide to twinchargers if you want to read more.

Uprating M264 fuel injectors

Don't forget to raise the fuel delivery when you are increasing the power - it makes the car more thirsty. Most tuners we speak with say to be generous with your flow rate on the injectors.

As a rule of thumb add 20% to the flow rate when buying an injector, this accounts for injector deterioration and affords a bit of spare capacity should the engine require 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 M264 performance exhausts

You should look to increase your exhaust if the existing exhaust is actually causing a flow problem.

On most factory exhausts you'll find the exhaust flow rate is good 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 equal out the flow of air through the engine.

But if the 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.

Usual exhaust restrictions come around the filters installed, so adding a higher flowing high performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the M264

The M264 engines, if regularly serviced and maintained, are generally very reliable and have few issues.

Regular oil changes are vital on the M264, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your M264 engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our M264 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 upgrades were the most effective for them, it helps us improve our recommendations and articles to reflect current trends in modifications and ensures that our M264 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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