adamls2

Hello all, I've had my CL for about around a year now and I finally decided to add some power with some tuning love! Eurocharged seems to be one of the most popular choices on this site, but i'm still unsure in a few things. The biggest being the TCU flash, which I was informed by Eurocharged isn't available. Iv'e seen and heard various TCU facts such as it can't be tuned on this car, or you need to bring the car in to have the TCU flashed. Iv'e read of people going into "limp home mode" when having just the ECU tune and not the TCU due to the TCU sensing all tat extra torque, so I would like to avoid that + after reading about the benefiets of the TCU tune I would love to have it!

I've been reading through many threads of those with the m275 engines and have been finding an abundant amount of info, but nothing to legit, especially for the w216 v12's.

I also made the decision that I want upgrade the intercooler pump,(seeing how often they fail on these cars, especially when the car is tuned). I've seen that the Johnson CM30 is the most used and affordable too, so that is my number one pick right now.

Here is a short explanation on what the ECU & TCU upgrades do,( courtesy of modernhorsepower.com)...

"ECU Tuning for 600 Mercedes Benz includes:
Modified Ignition Timing Maps, Optimized Air/Fuel tables, WOT and part throttle tuning, ECU Torque Limiter Elimination, Raised Rev Limiter (NC Option), Eliminated DbW TB Delay, Modified Boost Schedule, 93/100 Octane Race
Maps,Etc.

TCU Tuning for 600 Mercedes Benz includes:
TCU Torque Limiter Elimination, Raised Shift Points (NC Option), Modified Line Pressure, Clutch Pack Application Rate, Shift Schedule, Part and WOT Tuning, Etc. Customers experience quicker and crisper WOT shifts, buttery smooth yet quicker part throttle shifting, quicker up and downshifts, reduced manual mode paddle shift delay, and significantly sharpened throttle response.

TCU tuning is a must as even after ECU/PCM remapping only half the driveline is tuned. In order to increase not only performance but also driveline longevity and durability the transmission must be tuned to match the changes in engine software and/or hardware as well. "

I've also noticed that the advertised HP/TQ gains vary with different tuners.
Just to name a few:

Renntech says 635hp 780tq
Eurocharged says 609hp 710tq
OE says 590hp 696tq
Kleeman says 660hp 815tq
Etc..

It would be nice to see actual dyno graphs of said tunes showing the RWHP in addition to at the crank numbers compared to the stock baseline.


So these are my questions:
1. For those that have tunes/mods to their v12's what do you have and what is your personal experience with tunes/mods to the m275?

2.For the tuner representatives on this site, and other knowledgable tuning guys out there, why are there significant HP/TQ differences between dieffenbachia tuners, and if applicable, what are the benefits of your tune over the competitors?

3. How is the TCU exactly flashed? Does the car need to be present, or is it removable like the ECU, or is it actually tied into the ECU itself? Clarification of this would be much appreciated.

4. Other than the intercooler pump, is there any other weak point in the m275 that one would consider to upgrade, add, or replace?

5. I there any other info that would be benificient to this subject?

Any input, personal experiences, and facts are welcomed. I also wanted to do this not just to gather information for myself, but to help out others that are maybe in my position, or for people that want to do this in the future and are searching around for information. Even though the MBworld community isn't that large, hopefully there can be some insightful replies.

Thanks!

JMKSAIL

Ditto for me, looking for the same answers.....

radride

OP, if you're on your stock coil packs, depending on how many miles you have on them, you need to budget coil pack replacement at $2000 if you're doing the swap yourself or $3000 if your local shop is doing the work.

As far as different companies and their tunes, you have to be careful and make sure you're comparing apples to apples. Are all of those results posted using 91 octane; 93 octane; 94 octane; 100 octane or race gas? What was the outside temp when the pulls were made? Was there any other mods like K&N filters, etc.? Was the dyno properly calibrated? Was there tire slippage on the dyno? Too many variables. You will be good to go with any of the tunes you posted.

R.K.

adamls2

Thanks for the reply. I will do some research on the coil packs for sure, since I'm too knowledgable about them. I have been asking tuners about RWHP & RWTQ. Dyno graphs on 93 octane with listed mods. (Should be close enough) iv'e found that these v12's when tuned have tremendous lowend and midrange gains, but necessarily at the top end.

As for the tcu tuning, I was told this bit of information via e-mail, courtesy of Cory@Kleeman..."The EGS (electronic gear selector) control unit is separate from the engine ECU- if you'd like a gearbox program, you'll need to send me the EGS controller. The EGS tune will make the car shift like a 65 AMG, it will raise load limitations, the car will hold gears longer with neutral throttle and it will down shift a bit more aggressively." So it's good to confirm that the tcu (or EGS) can be removed and tuned itself.

So far i'm finding good info...

loungn14

what year is the car?

adamls2

2008

Marky

Do you have an update? ECU/TCU? What company? Any other mods? IC-pump?

floridamuscle

so is tcu tune absolutely necessary with ecu tune? i have a 2004 cl600

radride

No.

R.K.

pubeng

Hi

Nice one adamls2 , i am also looking at a few mods for a 600 , so far Kleemann is on top since they have an authorised indie close to where i stay. Any thoughts on Kleemann before I send it for its makeover ?

Cheers

adamls2

I ended up giving my w216 to my dad, but I will most likely be getting a w215 cl65 or cl600 as a new DD. I never decided on doing any tune or modification, just due to lack of information honestly. The risk of new coil packs is what mostly scared me away. I'm really interested in the speeddriven "800hp" package now. though.

Top mount intercoolers
Ecu & tcu tune
Skropian intakes

that is advertised for $4995.

with $1100 more you can add a heat exchanger & a high flow intercooler pump, which again, is one of the weakest point of these engines when tuned.

I havn't researched much about their upgrade, but I'm very interested to see a dyno with all of the mods above.

Here is their v12 packages thread in the AMG section... https://mbworld.org/forums/cl55-amg-...-v12-kits.html

As for ecu + tcu by them self, it really comes down on what you're willing to pay and which company is more appealing to you, and you feel confident with.

Hopefully I'll be back in a CL very soon. The cost of w215 parts have gone considerably down, so experimenting with performance modifications shouldn't be that dis-tasteful anymore.

Speedriven1

Let us know when your ready If you have more questions email as info@speedriven.com

pubeng

The speeddriven kits looks menacing in a nice way , unfortunately I reside in south africa and it seems kleemann is the only game in town.

Speedriven1

We ship worldwide