catalyst
I have a 1993 ge 300 petrol with a manual gearbox. I have always been underwhelmed by the performance of the engine which has a stated output of only 170bhp. Particularly so when different Mercedes cars with the same engine had outputs of 188 or 192 bhp. The principal blame for the discrepancy I believe is the requirement to fit a catalyst to all cars manufactured after the 1/8/1992. In an effort to improve this mediocre figure I have fitted a k&n filter and ditched the last exhaust box but with only limited improvement.
Two weeks ago I wrote to Mercedes in Milton Keynes asking for the exact manufacturing date for my car. It's a K plate and was 1st registered in March 1993. To my surprise and delight I recieved a letter from Mercedes informing me that not only was my car manufactured before the 1/8/92 deadline but was actually constructed a year before that in October 1991.
I decided to double check, I telephoned VOSA and visited my local M.O.T. station, both confirmed the above, my car does not legally require a catalytic converter.
Today, this afternoon in fact this item was deleted by my local Longlife exhaust centre. The improvement in engine breathing is astonishing. The car will rev freely for the 1st time in its life and as a bonus I expect a distinct improvement in fuel economy. The point to this story is that g-wagens did not sell well in the early 1990's some like mine must have been hanging around on forecourts for some time and their manufacture dates may well be at odds with their registation dates so many more of us could be in my position and be able to delete the cat. :)
Interesting factoid on K-reg 1991 Gs! There might be a few more like yours then. Your research paid off.
Longlife? Does that mean you already have a stainless steel non-factory system?
I am hesitant to remove anything from my stock system because when I tried running for a while without the centre box (replaced by a straight pipe) it seemed to accelerate the decay of the rest of the system, with bits falling off soon after (I suspect due to different resonance frequencies from those the system had grown accustomed to). Sure it might have been helped by an already old and rusty system, so removing bits from your system might be okay for a new/near-new exhaust, but I'd advise against it on an old exhaust, unless you want to end up replacing the whole thing.
Hi I have removed all the MB plumbing from a 1991 LWB 300 GE and replaced system with tandem oval silencers and the outlet forward of the drivers side rear wheel...to do this to a SWB would mean two specially fabricated oval boxes somewhat shorter than for the LWB..keep the outlet pipe around ID 50mm to equalise the back pressure..larger diameter into and between the boxes...now getting 25 to 27 on a motorway run holding the speed to 65 mph and 18 mpg around town..needs a much lighter foot to get the revs now.....photos availalble.....
I would echo that Peter, I have not tested the mpg yet but expect an improvement as the engine is much more free revving. I have always averaged around 19/20 in mixed driving but will have to curb my enthusiasm now, deleting the cat has made the car so much nicer to drive, no traffic light grad prix with Citroen Saxo's :wink:
Strange that prwales G 300 is a '93K manufactured in October '91 and was fitted with a cat. Mine is a '93L G300 and was manufactured in January '92, it is a UK spec rhd but was not fitted with a cat.
I had a s/s exhaust fitted about 6 years ago. As you can see from the photo it only has one silencer and exits on the right hand side.
It makes quite a sporty noise but that can become a bit wearing on longer journeys especialy at higher revs. I don't know if two smaller silencers would give better noise reduction than one large one ?
Last year when I had the G in for some work my mechanic put it on his rolling road and I was surprised to see it making 168bhp, not bad for 180,000 miles and 17 years old.
Strange that prwales G 300 is a '93K manufactured in October '91 and was fitted with a cat. Mine is a '93L G300 and was manufactured in January '92, it is a UK spec rhd but was not fitted with a cat.
Last year when I had the G in for some work my mechanic put it on his rolling road and I was surprised to see it making 168bhp, not bad for 180,000 miles and 17 years old.
Did you consider the possibility that your cat may have been deleted before you got ownership of the car (if you weren't the first onwer)...
Depending on the last 5 digits of your VIN you can tell roughly when it was made, might be another 91 with a 93 plate :)
Hi Doug, yes that was the design I was thinking of, Peter has described his as having two boxes which I suppose would be in line. This is similar to a design I had on a ge280, the original was removed in its entirity and Longlife made me an exhaust which consisted of 2 smallish exhaust boxes with an exit in front of and below the fuel tank. I was little surprised that they did this because the previous year on my gd300 they had simply put one large exhaust box, perhaps it was for the reasons Peter outlines above? I did ask Longlife about a design like yours and they said keep what I have but it is rorty to say the least. Is the 168 bhp at the wheels, if so that's excellent and would equate to over 200 bhp at the flywheel.
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yes I have a s/s system with a s/s centre box which was fitted some 5 years ago, at that point I deleted the main silencer with its convoluted pipework on the nearside. I'd have to say that it made little difference to the noise the exhaust made. Having run mine as it is for a few days now I would admit to it being quite noisey, effectively the only silencer is the centre box so I may look at a large silencer on the right hand side with a right side exhaust exit. But huge increse in torque and the engine feels like its breathing for the 1st time. :)