Everything You Need To Know About "M282 Modifications"

How to modify and upgrade the Mercedes M282

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Mercedes M282 engine!"

Forums like the one at TorqueCars are always getting messages requesting information on how to improve the M282 from people wanting to know what are the things tuners recommend when it comes to M282 modifications. So let us look into Mercedes M282 upgrades and outline the best modifications on this great engine and point out some potential pitfalls along the way.

This pages aim is review M282 tuning and show the premier modifications for your car. Mercedes M282 are fantastic to work on and with the ultimate performance tuning mods like remapping, turbo upgrades and camshafts you will really enhance your driving enjoyment.

The top M282 tuning mods on an engine are typically the ones that give the biggest return for your money.

We won't be swayed by popular M282 tuning mods, they need to be cost effective.

Improving air intake on the M282

You need air matched to fuel for an engine to work. If there is a lack of fuel then it will run lean, if there is a lack of air it runs rich resulting in lost power which risks damage to the M282. We'll pick up on fuelling later in this article but for now we shall look at air supply.

So it's important to any engine upgrade project to push air into the M282 engine but this has a knock on effect with the air flow sensor.

It is not unusual that there's a restriction in the air flow sensor MAP/MAF/AFM on the M282 when loads more air is being pulled into the engine.

When tuning you may well find you need to get an air sensor or flow meter capable of upto 4 bars to cope with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor was restricting torque at a much lower level.

Air Intake manifolds transmit the on the suck phase from the intake filter and allow it to be fed into the engine cylinders.

The size of bore and shape and rate of flow of the Air Intake manifolds can make a big difference to to fuel mixing and power on the M282.

I usually find intake manifold are ripe for motorsport parts, although some makers provide reasonably good intake manifold.

Larger M282 valves, doing some 3 or 5 angle valve jobs and porting and head flowing will also increase bhp, and as an added benefit will permit a better bhp increase on other modifications.

M282 performance cam tips.

Different M282 engines respond better to less aggressive camshaft durations check your engine on a rolling road.

The engine timing and injectors and fuel pump also have an effect on the power gains you'll make.

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.

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 power band gains are on offer for cam upgrades.

NB: Fast road cams tend to push up the performance throughout the rpm range, you might lose a little low end power but your high end rpm power will improve.

Motorsport and race cams, push up 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 and race camshaft won't do well if driving in heavy traffic.

You should ideally match your engines power to your preferences so for a car used daily stick with a fast road M282 camshaft

Stage 1, 2 and 3 mods for the M282

Before we break the best tuning upgrades down into stages of tune, let's list the most effective tuning upgrades for you.

1. Suspension Upgrades - always improve your cars handling
2. Brake Upgrades - Even before adding power improve those brakes
3. Intake - make sure the intake is not restricted, use filters and intake upgrades to improve this
4. Exhaust - as with 3 ensure there is not restriction in the exhaust, cats are the usual bottleneck
5. Tunes - remapping, piggyback ECU's and aftermarket ECU's can all make decent gains
6. Fuelling - when you've increased power you'll need to match this with more fuel
7. Turbo upgrades - Improving the intake with a large turbo and better flowing intercooler will be the biggest power gain you'll see (but one of the most complex).

This video guide to tuning cars is a great starting point to work from in your project.

Stage 1 M282 parts:

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

Stage 2 M282 parts:

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

Stage 3 M282 parts:

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

Remapping should help to fully realize the full potential of all the upgrades you've done to your M282.

You will typically expect to see gains of approximately 20-30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but your mileage usually depend much on the upgrades you've fitted and the condition of your engine.

Turbo modifications on the M282

To get a turbo working on a NASP engine there is a lot involved, from lowering compression ratio to improved fuel supply and mapping, so we have found a great guide to helpavoid the common pitfalls or end up with an unfinished project because you were not told what you were getting into by doing this on the M282.

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

When the engine is fitted with a turbo parts are simpler to install and turbocharged engines will have many forged and stronger components.

There are reliable limits for every engine, with some being extremely strong and some only able to handle stock power

See where you'll find these limits and fit higher quality components to handle the power.

We see many mechanics spending a lots of money on turbocharger upgrades on the M282 only to suffer the indignity of watching the whole thing explode just after it's completed.

Bigger turbo units tend to experience low end lag, and low capacity turbo units spool up much more quickly but won't have the peak rpm bhp gains.

Thankfully the choice of turbos is always increasing and we now see 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 flow into two channels and flow these at differently angled vanes in the turbo. They also help the scavenging effect of the engine.

Beefing up the air intake by adding a supercharger or additional turbo will help you achieve very large performance gains, although harder to setup. We have this guide to twinchargers if you want to read more.

Tips about fuel supply on the M282

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will have to increase the fuelling when you start going beyond 20% of a bhp hike. It is important to be generous with your flow rate on the injectors.

The accepted safe increase is to add 15% capacity when specifying an injector, helps cope with injector deterioration and gives you some spare capacity should the engine need more fuel.

Don't forget that different fuel grades will usually require different settings, a high octane fuel will burn more efficiently than lower octane fuel for example. A car will trim fuel supply to keep within the ideal air fuel mix but at the extreme ends you may need to adjust your injector capacity, or the mapping or you'll get flat spots and potential lean or rich fuel issues..

Recommended M282 performance exhaust upgrades

You may need to replace your exhaust system with an upgraded one is if your exhaust is actually causing a restriction in flow.

On most factory exhausts you'll find your flow rate is still fine even on modest power gains, but on a serious tuning project with a big boost in power you will certainly need to get a better flowing exhaust.

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

But if the exhaust pipe is too large, ie: it's over two and a half inches diameter, you will lose a great deal of your flow rate and end up losing power and torque.

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

Decats (NB:catalysts reduce harmful engine emissions) is illegal in most countries and regions.

Faults issues and things to look out for on the M282

Like most engines an M282, should have few issues if it gets properly serviced and looked after.

We cannot stress enough the need for oil changes with the correct grade of oil on the M282, failure to do this will exacerbate engine wear, on a tuned M282 this is more important than ever and close attention should be paid to your maintenance schedule.

If you are interested in learning more or getting impartial tuning advice for your M282 why not pop over to the forums at TorqueCars where you can chat about M282 tuning options and read about others projects who may be planning to do similar modifications on their M282.

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This entry was posted under Makes and Models. Tags: engine, mercedes
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