chronopassion

Hi,

My M3 from BMW had a series of Dinan upgrades. Those upgrades, however, were approved by BMW as not voiding the warranty.

Are there any specific upgrades that can be made to a C230K that do not void out the warraty?

Best regards,

CP

BigB333

Here is what I have learned from both members on this board and from the dealership. Anything you do from Brabus is OK. That will not void your warenty because Mercedes endorses Brabus. Now I forgot to ask them about Lorinser or Carlsson or anybody like that, so as far as I know, its just Brabus. But anything else you buy will void the warenty on that part of the car. For instance, if you buy new springs, it will void your suspension warenty. If you buy new speakers, it will void your audio warenty etc...

raymond

THis is a very important point.

If MB was at least as reliable as an average Japanese car, I would take my chances with non-approved mods. Our experience with our C230K has led me to believe that MB will jump on any excuse to shift the blame should anything go wrong, and believe me, it will. It is almost as if they're still testing and debugging the car. DO as others say - stick to MB appoved upgrades, and get any pre-approvals from them in writing.

Bos

Try this Google Search and find out everything you ever wanted to know about the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

It basically states that a manufacturer must prove that the after market part caused the failure. Here's a link to some good information from SEMA.

Lynn

The Magnuson-Moss Act is all well and good, but who do you suppose is going to have better legal representation? MBUSA or the car owner?

awiner

Drew our resident moderator/lawyer has discussed the Magnuson-Moss Act many times with us in the forum. Here is the link to the original conversation:

Click Me To Read

Basically the Manuson-Moss Act attempts to send all disputes to mediation. In the end, the Big boys will most likly prevail.

In other words, modify you vehicle at your own risk. Don't assume Mercedes will cover anything. If it comes to the point of invoking the magnuson-Moss act, you are already screwed.

chronopassion

Much thanks for all the comments.

CP

Buellwinkle

The reality is that you are not going to hire a $300/hr attorney to do battle with an large corporation because they won't honor the warranttee because of a mod you made. Realistically you know you messed up and it's your responsibility. All you can do is return everything to stock as much as you can, steam clean the engine to remove your fingerprints. be very carefull when installing or re-installing these parts so that you don't leave screwdriver marks or anything that looks obvious. Put masking tape around the screw so if you slip you don't scratch the surrounding area. Then the dealer will fix the problem usually with no questions asked. Remember the dealer gets paid to repair the car but they do have a fiduciary responsibility back to MB but in most cases it's lax. If one dealer denies your claim don't make a scene, find another dealer. If the first dealer calls the region manager because of your whining an he turns your claim down you are not going to have an easy time.

Just use your common sense with these mods and don't do anything that can' be easily reversed and make look stock again. Don't cut wires, don't drill into the car and do other hard to reverse mods. Also, when you sell your car the new owner may not want the mods you made and ask for the original parts. I know I do.

Bos

I wasn't trying to suggest the M-M Act was the "end all - be all" for car owners who wished to use after market parts. I was simply trying to provide additional information so the "end user" can make an informed decision. As always... YMMV.

BigB333

what do you guys think about the upsolute chip?

Buellwinkle

In the context of this post it will probably void your warranttee if they find out.

Here's a dyno of a C230 that's been Upsoluted. The car was an automatic and the owner is happy with the results. Although it appears at for a short period of time at 120mph you do get a 30hp increase, at normal driving speeds the results are not that impressive. They might have improved this as they have release new revs of the software but I haven't seen new dyno results. Do a pulley if you want real power.

BigB333

is it likely the dealership will find out you put the chip in it?

Buellwinkle

Probably not likely and depends on how neat a job they do. I have worked around electronics all my life. I can easily tell when something has been not only soldered and re-soldered but when a chip has been inserted a few times. It's hard to replicate the look of a factory soldering job perfectly. When I return electronic parts, the return counter person does look for signs of being used. A typical gearhead at an MB dealer probably can't tell and doesn't know what to look for but if there are marks, fingerprints, smudges on the outside of the ECU they'll see it. So my advice is to look at the person's work before you sign up. Look closely and see if you can tell if anything's been done. Also get a commitment that they'll be there for you to return things back to stock if things happen. Maybe even ask that they put the backup image of the chip on a floppy or CD for you in case you can't find them again.

BigB333

but if your car breaks and the guy at the dealership drives it, will he notice the extra performance?