Thought id Put my build thread up here as more and more comments about the skiddability of 525d and 530ds keep popping up so thought this may be of interest to some members on here. I bought this 9 months ago to replace my e21 as i needed something a bit comfier and more reliable for commuting to my new job so this is how it looked when i got it. Completely standard apart from the wheels First things first, I got the Diff welded up. Then fitted a 2.5" system from turbo to backbox And fitted a filter, had to fuck around with some pipes lying around my mates unit for it to fit I had to change my glowplugs which involves taking the inlet manifold off, i gave the manifold a good clean out and you wouldnt believe the amount of shite that came out of it, so decided it was time to blank off the EGR valve. Managed to find one on ebay for a landrover that uses the same M51 engine Before New and Old after Then it was time for some skids. Unfortunately on its first outing at crail it was pissing it down with rain and my mate only took one video and he decided it was a fantastic idea to hold the phone side ways... Thankfully at its second outing a few weeks later with Gogzy and Ade we got a few more videos, but as you can see it handles like the titanic, its desperately needing lowered... Then did some diddy doughnuts just to get rid of the old tyres So after a few visits to crail i soon realised the main things i needed were: A better intercooler (inlet temps were getting high on the oval) Some serious suspension work!! and a wee bit more power. So, the cooling. A friend of mine has an evo 8, he bought a larger front mount do i got his standard one for £20 Mounted it using some threaded rod and cable ties! had to buy 2 reducer pipes and 3 90 degree exhaust bends for plumbing it in Then i poly bushed the steering control arms as the arms were getting replaced anyway cause they were knackered! Going to lower it soon but need to re-route the cooler pipes first! Up next was more power. I enquired about a remap, average price i got was £400. No way i was paying that, so looked into tuning boxes, £200! Decided to see how they work, so i did some research and came across the EVRY Mod. Essentually all it is is a variable resister wired into your injector pump return line which confuses the ECU into thinking its not providing you with enough diesel, so it pumps more in. Fucking Winner. So i bought a variable resistor, spent an afternoon with my mate proding at wires and eventually got it done. Huge difference, turned the TDS into a real torque weapon! lots of smoke and a lumpy tickover So next on the agenda is slamminating and a better clutch, got a hydro waiting to go in too. But more importantly the main thing i need to do is more skids, so hopefully will get a to crail a few more times this year
Also if any one knows about cheap diesel injector mods, or any other M51 builds let me know. Infos a shitemare to find on these engines!
Decided to go down the single headlamp route, purely for that wee bit extra cooling as these engines are renowned for cracking heads with high temps. May have to do some heat wrapping too...
thanks mate, these old 6 cyl diesels sound surprisingly good. Most people assume its a petrol until they hear it idle. Should sound better soon, my back box has a big hole in it so i'm going to cut it off and replace it with a 4 inch section of lorry exhaust a mate had sitting around, but facing downwards for the reek!
I always wanted to give it a try, the torque makes it skid well well but the poor rev range makes it a bit of a challenge. But its damn fun!
if anyone knows of anywhere i can get 5.5" mesh speaker covers then let me know, When i take out my full beam lamps i could do with something to cover the hole!
lol its all about supporting the Canibeanz lads, their videos make me piss myself laughing and their attitute towards drifting is ace.
Hey mate, Dieselmeken is the god you need to speak to, he this bonkers Swedish bloke who runs a diesel tuners over there and making nuts pumps for Mercs mostly, but your engine too, check this out... He done the pump for that 500quid Merc C250TD in Northern Ireland thats running 400bhp on stock internals too. Watch all this YouTube vids, and you'll find him mostly on superturbodiesel.com - tuning performance turbo diesel mercedes, W123, W116 and up. OM617, OM60X.
Fuck yes, thats the kind of shit I've been looking for, cheers Stav! Ive heard these engines can only take around 200bhp max, Due to the shite head (like Tulisas attempt). But I'll not know this for definate untill i get it past that and break some shit. New pump is what ive been looking into so may have to see what sorta prices he does these things for. Ive been looking at the audi 2.5 V6 tdi pump as apparently with some fucking around with wires you can make them fit and they pump a load more diesel in, especially with my EVRY mod im running. That plus lorry turbo unit=WIN!
Nah, no way can a head be that bad on a 2.5ltr engine. UK people been saying that? As nobody here seems to have a clue about diesels here. If the Merc 2.5 5cyl TD can do 400+ on stock internals (standard they less bhp than yours) I bet yours can tons more than 200. Just need a decent turbo. IMO the best thing is to modify the pump you got, as what dieselmaken does is the same as incresing the rev limit and fitting larger injectors to a petrol car. The actual amount of fuel it can pump from tank to engine isnt the thing.
i was talking to the boy who owns the derv merc with 400bhp. with the modified pump and lorry turbo it revs to 7500rpm !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I see.. I had always wondered. I only takes one person to say it once on the internet and it seems to become fact, But as i said, I'll find out when i start running some serious ponies. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for cheapish Truck turbos, been in contact with a few breakers yards etc. Modifying my pump would be good, but ive never seen or spoken to anyone that has, so ill have to have a word with this crazy swede. If i could get this thing screaming to 7,000 RPM it'd make skids a whole lot easier!
