Hans Delbruck

Lots of talk but does anyone actually have this ECU on a C63 in the US..... and run it on 91 octane (Cali) gas....?

Any real-world feedback on this ECU appreciated.

Glock Guru

+1

MB_Forever

There are two people here that got the RennTech ECU on here, but only one of them posted the dyno. The guy that posted his dyno sheets showed a 34 whp increase, but he mentioned that it wasn't the final tune.

Korn55

I got the RT ecu about 2.5 weeks ago. I run 91 since i'm in Cali. The throttle response is much quicker as well as 50% and 75% throttle. When I floor, that is when I notice the biggest difference. I also removed my secondary cats and installed some K&N filters. The shifting seems faster as well. I have not put the car on a dyno yet, but I'm sure once I'm finished I will. If you decide to get the RT ecu, you will not be dissapointed.

Hans Delbruck

Awesome, thanks a ton for the info. Those sound like good improvements.

Did you get the stage 1 or 2 upgrade? What was the promised crank HP?

bigbodybeeenz

Where did you have the ECU flashed? Somewhere in LA? I'm also looking to do this, I'm in San Diego.

Also, I went to the HRE open house today and talked to a guy with a CLK63 black series. He had the Renntech ECU upgrade and headers + exhaust. He said the he loves the upgrade, no problems and I have to say the exhaust sounded even better than stock.

Only problem is that he paid about $10k for the upgrades. I checked on the Renntech website and for the C63 it's about $9.5k if you do the full upgrade. Not sure if it's worth that much, but it will get HP to 525 and TQ to 495. I'd really like to see some dyno sheets on this before I pay that kind of cash.

MercPlease

$9.5k to get to 525hp? Did you look at the VR530 package? $750 and supposedly gets you to 530hp.

bigbodybeeenz

I have looked at that. Problem is I only want to get the best aftermarket tuning parts for my car. The owner of Renntech worked for AMG for 20 years and is still in constant contact with them to come up with the best tuning packages.

I simply don't trust the other tuners that are out there. I mean I pay $72k for my car, and then I'm going to some chop shop to get my tune? Just seems wrong.

I could be convinced otherwise OBV since the price difference is so huge. I'm not going with VRP until I see some solid reviews.

MercPlease

I see your point but VRP is definitely not a "chop shop" - I've been there in person and they tune some pretty nice cars.

celsius

Looks like VRP is VERY reasonable! Would you trust them more, if they were charging $3500?

MercPlease

Unfortunately, most people would.

bigbodybeeenz

Reasonable or not is not the question here. I could care less about the money. All I'm saying is that I have only heard GREAT things about Renntech. I've heard nothing about VRP.

MercPlease

Renntech is also a huge company. It's like comparing a Vons shopping store to your local farmers market. You haven't heard of "Josh's Farms" or whatever it may be, but the fruit sure tastes good! With the Renntech name comes with the Renntech price of $9.5k. Doesn't mean you're getting anything better, you're paying more for the name too.

kzsport

http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/sh...n&pageNumber=1

Does any one know about this white/black C63????
I find this C63 in miami....But the salesperson don't understand anything about RENNtech.........
only this guy can EXPORT C63 out from US......until persent I got!!!!
But the prices like sky high................78000 USD...08 2250 miles used......
Please give me advice ASAP................TKS alot
-Brian

Satan

So how does VRP do this 530 tune for $750 and Renn for $9k? What's the difference in the two, also what's the TQ on the VRP as that is what you want, and not some over inflated hp number.

Not talking ****, i've read about vrp, seems like they do some sick stuff for the cars, that 1k hp SL seems like it's going to be a monster.

nrgy

THE VRP530 number is based off the 500+hp engine, not the C63's 450hp platform. It has yet to be determined what the 530 package would do for the C63 as far as I know, however I would expect a 30hp gain, not the 75hp gain of the Renntech ecu.

But last I heard VRP was working on a program for the C63, so it's still wait and see at this point.

peet

And it looks as though it's not a tune - rather old-school muscle. (pulleys, spacers, intake stuff).

Merc-Skycap

VRP? well it looks fantastic money wise but 750 dollers seems a bit strange considering others are charging in the thousands rather than hundreds. Also isn't Renntech mercedes approved? If your gonna pay 750 dollers to VRP and in trun your going to lose the warranty then I don't think thats a good idea.

just my thoughts.....

Deeroff

What about the Kleeman ECU tune - $1,500 and it is supposed to essentially flash to the S/CL/E63 programming+. Kleeman is a reputable group and their pricing and philosophy seem rational.

Thoughts?

MHP

Wait 7 days for our ECU/TCU results. For less than half the price of the Renntech tune we'll gain you more power, elimiinate the slop between shifts, give you consistant shifting (even 1-2), bump your shift points by 200rpm (or whatever you desire), significantly reduce or eliminate tq management on launch/shifts, reduce the adaptives, etc etc.

Video, timeslips, and dyno results are otw.

Thanks
Andy

Deeroff

This all sounds great Andy - I know you appreciate that not many of us are pros and do Not know what we want beyond

"more power, better throttle response, same gas mileage, MB drivability and reliability and integrity"

Kleeman suggests they "unlock" the code so that the power, etc. is the same (plus a little) as the CL/S/E 63 - that is what I want; better throttle response is always a plus, but I also don't want a high strung engine or one that gets much worse mpg than stock (I have other cars in the 9-10mpg range that fit that bill.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks.

MHP

Deeroff,
Part throttle drivability, and heightened throttle response are also part of our package; eliminating the delay from pedal WOT to throttle body WOT does wonders in and of itself. We can dig deeper into the ECU than Kleeman (based on our preliminary results with my car) and we actually know what A/F ratio we run at both part and wide open throttle, and we've actually found power due to even more tq management limitations in the TCU (not ECU). Together our ECU/TCU tuning merries an optimal scenario of tuning so much so that IMO at least, 90% of the people that mod their 63s won't need anything else to be happy.
A motor that makes more power is a more efficient motor. What that means is that if you're not going WOT all the time fuel economy will actually increase (not decrease) with precision ECU tuning. My last prelim ECU tune netted me 1.5mpg more than I was seeing with the stock tune, and I drive my car HARD.
In no way shape or form would we EVER sacrifice drivability or refinement for a couple extra horses. Honestly with a stock longblock that's pretty much impossible anyway.

Thanks!
Andy

juicee63

No tuner in the USA has gotten the 63 ECU to achieve WOT. The best I have seen is 80% and that is not good enough. Hopefully you can datalog and beat this figure cause it really stagnates this car on and off the track

MHP

I actually don't buy into the 80% figure. How are people actually arriving at this number? I would think it's via hooking up a scanner which has yielded the same incorrect WOT TB opening in a number of vehicles including SRT8s, GT500s, Ford GTs, etc.
Has anyone actually taken the time to remove the airboxes/inlets and watch the TB blade open at WOT? We did with the vehicles listed above and everyone was at 100% open when the scanner read 80%.

Hans Delbruck

I started this thread about Renntech before there were offerings from Kleeman, VRP and MHP.

First, I have read a handful of articles in the major US car magazines that stated that MB's 7speed tranny cannot handle the same torque as the 5speed tranny in the E55. These articles came out at the same time the 6.2l and 7speed tranny replaced the 5.5 supercharged V8 and 5speed tranny. Even Clarkson (never one to go lightly) commented in a segment while driving the CLS55 (with the old 5spd auto) that 'MB has a new 7 speed gearbox but this engine would eat it alive'

My concern, and I think that of many others who might be reluctant to tweak the ECU on a N/A car, is reliability -- not just of the engine but also the tranny/drivetrain.

The tune I am looking for is one that replicates what these engines make in the E63 or CL63. Because we already know the engine and tranny are proven reliable with 517 crank HP and 465 lb-ft. I am not looking for the MOST HP and MOST TQ. That is not where the value is, IMO. The value (for a potential customer like me) is in bringing the C63 up to E/CL63 levels, because that is where I know this engine/tranny/drivetrain are proven, from the factory. A tuner war about who is getting the most HP/TQ only makes me more cautious....



Sorry if I am harshing the buzz but I hope I am not alone in my opinions....