Inden Design Mercedes-Benz SLK, E-Class, and C-class

Inden Design is something of a miracle of marketing and hard graft. On the Internet it looks like a sizeable concern, and a workload that includes 20 annual Ferrari conversions alongside the major business of tuning Mercedes should have at least a staff of four working continuously.

The truth is a little different. It's Joachim Inden, on his own, manning the phones, tweaking the cars and selling wheels through an international network. When european car descended on his factory on the outskirts of Dillenburg, a friend came down to man the front desk and the workshop closed for business.

Word of mouth is the best advert in this industry and Inden is something of a local celebrity here. Wherever he goes in his small town he can point to one of his cars; happy customers wave and greet him. This is a man who's won the respect of his community by making cars better-all on his own.

SLK
Inden got hold of the 2005-spec SLK and immediately dropped it 35mm on to his own suspension components and fitted 18-in. wheels clad in Pirelli P Zeros. It was this that first grabbed my attention as it was one of the first complete new SLKs at Germany's recent tuning show at Lake Bodensee.

Sadly, with a little lateral load and opposite lock on the local airfield, the tires on the 18-in. wheels started to rub on the arches. Perhaps a tad more clearance is called for, but amazingly Inden sells kits that can lower the new baby SLK right down to 50mm and the big wheels would be a seriously bad idea in combination with this kit and anything like an aggressive driving style.

Thanks to BMW's Z4 polarizing looks the SLK could potentially clean up, and its new hard edge, inspired by the SLR and available for a decent price, will appeal to the aftermarket brigade.

This machine is good for 200 bhp, courtesy of a new exhaust kit and a remapped ECU, new inlet pipes. With a 2-liter engine and a supercharger, the original unit was hardly working overtime to produce 163 bhp and Inden's tweaks are just the first touches. It can undoubtedly go much higher.

Aesthetically, Inden has added just a few tweaks to toughen up the car, but the aggressive Konigseder stainless-steel exhaust tips didn't really belong.

E-Class
After a run in Inden's light and nimble SLK, the relative barge of the E-Class Estate was not a car that immediately appealed. After just a few miles behind the wheel, though, I was won over by a much firmer car that made full use of Mercedes' hydraulic self-leveling suspension by dropping it 30mm closer to the floor.

While pitch and wallow was minimized by the complicated system before, now it had been eradicated completely and the 4,000-lb leviathan hugged bends like never before. Clearly some of the luxury has been sacrificed, but this was now a much tauter car that handled better than a load-lugger has any real right to.

A manual box was an added bonus, as too many Benzes, even tuned ones, retain the automatic setup, and this example made best use of its 262 bhp, with a few more ponies liberated from the freer exhaust. If you want, Inden can install a 5.7-liter V8 in a high state of tune-but very few customers take it that far.

This car sat on 19-in. BBS wheels, made exclusively for Inden, which cut an impressive swathe but add substantially to the cost of the conversion. The suspension and exhaust, which make the major performance differences, are reasonably priced and could provide a sporty edge and a naughty smile to any Mercedes owner's driving style.

It felt composed and more eager to change direction at speed, which is part of the German driving ethos. The fast lane is a busy and ever-changing environment over there, and the M-B needs to be able to dance on occasion at speeds of more than 120 mph.

Of course, with that kind of weight this car will always be brisk rather than fast-unless you go for the big engine. But how quickly do you really need to move all your stuff anyway?

C-Class
This C-Class was one of Inden's earlier display cars, and it showed that he has reined in his enthusiasm with his recent show cars as this 2001 car had been dropped 50mm, very close to the oversized wheels.

There is no way this machine could have maintained its handling after that savage a drop, and mine was a limited test that did not push the limits of the performance envelope. The ride quality was not devastatingly crashy at comfortable speeds, but it certainly wasn't like any Mercedes I'd driven previously.

In the engine compartment Inden can produce everything, including a 3.5-liter increased displacement unit that will boost the power well up the range. This is a relatively severe conversion and my car was limited to the standard inlet massage, ECU tweaks and air filter change, combined with a new exhaust, that freed up a solid 40 extra horses.