Bringing it Back to our Roots – Mercedes Tuning the Mercedes CL55 AMG V8 Kompressor Engine

When we opened this shop we had one thing on our mind — all of the possibilities for Mercedes Tuning. The Mercedes CL55 AMG and specifically V8 Kompressor engines. Out of that passion came PRESSERtech, and many Mercedes V8 Kompressor Engines later we are proud to say we’ve expanded to working on the engines of other European makes and models, like BMW. But today, we’re going back to our roots to work on that V8 Kompressor engine. One that is near and dear to our hearts, is in a 2005 CL55 AMG with a W215 chassis. The name for the V8 Kompressor Engine is a marketing name by Mercedes-Benz used in Supercharged Engines.

Arnold in Armani: Mercedes CL55 AMG Stock Specs

“Think Arnold Schwarzenegger in an Armani tuxedo.” That’s how MotorTrend described the Mercedes CL55 AMG in 2003. It’s certainly “a confident head-turner, with a hint of the formidable muscle underneath the beautiful tailoring.” At stock, its 5.5 liter V8 Kompressor engine outputs 493 horsepower and 518 LBS-FT torque. As you may know, the CL-Class is a derivative of the S-Class and is comprised of a line of full-size luxury grand tourers. The CL stands for Coupe-Light or Coupe-Luxury.

Planning and Perfecting Mercedes Tuning

This particular Mercedes CL55 AMG is a 12-year-old car. Rather than let it feel its age, we made big plans to enhance its engine. (You can watch our progress on our YouTube channel.)

When we talk about Mercedes tuning options with our clients, we speak in terms of stages. The anticipated results of a Stage 1 tune was 530 horsepower and 565 LBS-FT torque. A Stage 2 tune would bring the vehicle’s performance up to 535 horsepower and 605 LBS-FT torque. While this CL55 would see gains all around, we were most excited about what we’d be able to do for the upgrade in torque.

With a Stage 2 tune in our sights, we got to work in the PRESSERtech garage. When our expert technician’s tune, they target a small, but important piece of technology under the car’s hood. The engine control unit or ECU. If you’ve read some of our other blog posts or watched some of our other videos, you know that this process is complex and the ECU needs to be handled with care. We remove the ECU and use our in-house technology to modify its settings. In this case, breaking a 12-year-old Mercedes CL55 AMG from its factory specs. We’d soon be able to see what this car could really do.

The Results

You can see and hear the 2005 CL55 breathing freely now after its Stage 2 tune. We saw gains all around, including an increase of 42 more horsepower and 87 more LBS-FT of torque. That’s a 16% increase in torque for this Mercedes Benz, and we couldn’t be happier to share these results with our client.

Performance tuning is an affordable way to make a potential 15-20% improvement in your vehicle’s horsepower and torque. If you’re thinking about a performance tune, give us a call at (770) 648-0500 or use our Contact Form. We’re happy to chat with you about what a performance tune can do for your vehicle.