Tuning the Mercedes M277

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Mercedes M277 engine!"

We often are seeing threads asking about the optimum M277 mods that work. So let us look into Mercedes M277 tuning mods and outline the best modifications on this great engine and point out some potential pitfalls along the way.

Therefore we look at M277 tuning and outline the ultimate modifications for your car. Mercedes M277 are popular engines and with a few sensible tuning mods like a remap, turbo upgrades and camshafts you will greatly increase your driving opportunities.

Just because particular upgrades are appear in lots of M277 projects it doesn't mean it is good, instead we'll optimum upgrades that will give your M277 the best power gain for you money.

The cam profile plays a big part in the engines power output so cam upgrades make quite a large difference. The intake & exhaust durations will alter depending on the chosen cam profile, so large torque gains are on offer for cam upgrades.

NB: Fast road cams usually bump the bhp across the rev range, you could sacrifice a little low down power but your higher rpm power will improve.

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

For a car driven daily you need to optimize your power band to your driving style.

You'll never have found a M277 Motorsport and race camshaft is a pleasure to live with when driving around busy urban areas.

Each engine responds better to less aggressive camshaft durations check your engine on a rolling road.

The map and fuelling also will say much on the power gains you'll achieve.

Altering valve durations can alter the power 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.

M277 Tuning Stages

Stage 1 M277 modifications: Fast road camshaft, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Panel air filters, Intake headers, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Sports exhaust manifold.

Stage 2 M277 modifications: Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, high flow fuel injectors, Ported and polished head, Fast road cam, induction kit, fuel pump upgrades.

Stage 3 M277 modifications: Twin charging conversions, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Engine balancing & blueprinting, Competition cam, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression.

Remaps will help to establish the full potential of all the parts you've done to your M277.

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 differs on the parts you've carried out and the condition of your engine.

Forcing more fuel and air into each cylinder is the aim to any engine modification job.

The intake plenum transmit the air during the suck phase from the air cleaner and allow it to be sucked into the engine and mixed with fuel.

Design and flow characteristics of the Headers can make a large difference to to fuel engine efficiency on the M277.

Most intake headers are needing aftermarket tuning parts, although some car makers provide well optimised intake headers.

Adding a M277 larger valve kit, getting port matching and head flowing will also improve performance, and as an added benefit will raise potential for raising the performance increase on other mods.

Turbo upgrades for the M277

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 M277

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 parts are relatively easy and we find turbo charged engines already contain strengthened components.

There are common areas of failure for every engine, with some being over specified and some only just able to handle stock power

Discover these limitations and install better quality crank and pistons to handle the power.

There are many car owners spending a loads of money on turbocharger upgrades on the M277 only to have the whole thing throw a rod soon after it's first rolling road session.

Larger turbochargers often suffer no power at low rpm, and little turbochargers spool up quickly but don't have the high rpm torque gains.

Thanks to progress the choice of turbo units is always moving on and we are seeing variable vane turbo units, allowing the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp.

Twin scroll turbo units divert the exhaust gases into a couple of channels and flow these at differently designed vanes in the turbo charger. They also increase the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is common that there is a limitation in the air flow sensor (AFM/MAF/MAP) on the M277 when loads more air is being sucked into the engine.

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

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large bhp gains, although more complex to setup. We have this article covering twinchargers if you want to read more.

Uprating M277 fuel injectors

When you increase the power you will need to look at to the fuel system.

More power needs more fuel. We would recommend you to be generous with your flow rate on the injectors.

As a rule of thumb add 20% to the flow rate when fitting an injector, this takes into account injector deterioration and gives you some 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 M277 performance exhausts

You may need to increase your exhaust if your current exhaust is creating a restriction in flow.

On most factory exhausts you'll see the flow rate is 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 generally help improve air flow out of the engine but avoid an exhaust that is too big or you could will reduce the flow rate. Stick to 1.5 to 2.5 inches for best results.

Typically exhaust restrictions are in the catalyst and filters installed, so adding a higher flowing high performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the M277

The M277 engines, if regularly serviced and maintained, are generally very reliable and have few issues.

Regular oil changes are vital on the M277, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your M277 engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our M277 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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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 M277 guides and tips are kept up to date.

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