MKB ECU upgrade comming up!! :D
03-25-2009, 12:22 AM
#26
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I think that the car adapts to a more aggressive throttle by itself depending on the driver. If this is true that this could be the case since I've pushing the throttle a lot lately to try out the tune.
03-25-2009, 11:46 AM
#27
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Ok, I just installed the ECU. I haven’t really had the time to test the car, but I did take it for a ride. Here is my FIRST impression (I will have a more concrete opinion, including MPG, once I drive it around for a week or so)
Was it worth it? Absolutely!!
Was I impressed beyond my expectations? No.
I think I got exactly what I paid for, and exactly the results I was expecting.
Overall I am very happy with my purchase, and believe me, I didn’t have $2k laying around, I have been saving for more than a year to mod my car. It was between the C63 wheels, quad tips/diffusor, or ECU. And so far I’m happy with my decision.
Now to the performance part. I tried to look for familiar driving situations to see if I could tell a real difference, other than the “it feels much faster” one.
Well, the car does feel MUCH faster. I can’t talk about 0 to 60 or HP gains, but here is something so that you have an idea:
I launched from a red light by just flooring the car (not holding the brake) ESP off, and my wheels screamed for about 2 seconds before getting full traction. Before, my car very rarely lost traction without holding the brake, and when it did it was for less than half a second.
Second test. I floored it inside the parking garage on my bulding. Before, the car would lose traction, but it will move forward relatively fast. Today, the car was almost not moving, just the wheels spinning, obviously I didn’t hold it long.
Finally, there is a U turn I have to make to get home every day. Before, the car wheels would lose traction, but I would only get an oversteer when the street was wet. Well, today was really sunny and the street was dry and hot. When I floored it, the car quickly oversteered.
I only had a chance to push the car though the second gear, and I must say that the higher rev limit makes a big difference. I couldn’t tell exactly when it shifted, but it was definitely in the red zone, and the shift felt more aggressive too.
Now there were a couple of thing I noticed that I didn’t really like (or maybe I just need to get used to).
First, there is a hauling wind sound coming from the engine at around 2k rpm. I just hope I didn’t mess something when removing/installing the air box (which is needed to get to the ECU).
Second, it FEELS as if they tweaked the throttle curve. The car is more aggressive with just a slight tap, something like the people with a SprintBooster describe. Some people might even like this, but I don’t.
And finally, the ECU has clear marks that it was opened (I will post pictures later).
Other than that, I am very satisfied.
I will be happy to answer any question, and I will let you guys know how it goes after a couple of days.
Was it worth it? Absolutely!!
Was I impressed beyond my expectations? No.
I think I got exactly what I paid for, and exactly the results I was expecting.
Overall I am very happy with my purchase, and believe me, I didn’t have $2k laying around, I have been saving for more than a year to mod my car. It was between the C63 wheels, quad tips/diffusor, or ECU. And so far I’m happy with my decision.
Now to the performance part. I tried to look for familiar driving situations to see if I could tell a real difference, other than the “it feels much faster” one.
Well, the car does feel MUCH faster. I can’t talk about 0 to 60 or HP gains, but here is something so that you have an idea:
I launched from a red light by just flooring the car (not holding the brake) ESP off, and my wheels screamed for about 2 seconds before getting full traction. Before, my car very rarely lost traction without holding the brake, and when it did it was for less than half a second.
Second test. I floored it inside the parking garage on my bulding. Before, the car would lose traction, but it will move forward relatively fast. Today, the car was almost not moving, just the wheels spinning, obviously I didn’t hold it long.
Finally, there is a U turn I have to make to get home every day. Before, the car wheels would lose traction, but I would only get an oversteer when the street was wet. Well, today was really sunny and the street was dry and hot. When I floored it, the car quickly oversteered.
I only had a chance to push the car though the second gear, and I must say that the higher rev limit makes a big difference. I couldn’t tell exactly when it shifted, but it was definitely in the red zone, and the shift felt more aggressive too.
Now there were a couple of thing I noticed that I didn’t really like (or maybe I just need to get used to).
First, there is a hauling wind sound coming from the engine at around 2k rpm. I just hope I didn’t mess something when removing/installing the air box (which is needed to get to the ECU).
Second, it FEELS as if they tweaked the throttle curve. The car is more aggressive with just a slight tap, something like the people with a SprintBooster describe. Some people might even like this, but I don’t.
And finally, the ECU has clear marks that it was opened (I will post pictures later).
Other than that, I am very satisfied.
I will be happy to answer any question, and I will let you guys know how it goes after a couple of days.
Additionally, I saw the picture of the ECU which was clearly opened. Aren't you worried a tech might see that? Warranty issues? I know Daniel @ MKB NA says they can't "see" the tune, but if they see that the ECU has been opened your warranty is toast. What are your thoughts on all this? I'm running on here because I've always had an issue with tuners and ECU tunes and their claims and so forth. I almost went ahead with a before and after dyno of an ECU tune by trusted power chip on E350 to see if it really did what it said it would hp wise. I haven't quite gotten around to it yet but I plan to at some point in the near future. I just feel everyone , for their own piece of mind and to the benifit of other potential ECU tune customers (our board members) that we put these software flashes to the test and call out the tuners that don't measure up to their claims. I seems that there are so many people who get caught up in the idea of getting a chip tune ECU flash ect who just get too excited or want it done now that they forget to dyno before hand and end up doing what you did and trusting the butt dyno. Im not saying your car isn't making more power, im sure it is, I just want to know how much and how it compares to what they told you it would be. I feel like if I were MKB and you sent me $2300 bucks for an ECU tune and you hadn't dyno'd before or after the install and I had just installed a sprint booster under your pedal and didn't tell you you would probably be writing a similar review. I'm really not bashing you and don't get me wrong, its just tuners I have a problem believing and their prices even more so.
Please don't take it the wrong way I just needed to vent that. Especially since there are two of you here doing ECU tunes whose information can benifit the rest of the W204 community and really take alot of the guess work out these types of purchases if we do some better documentation and make sure tuners live up to their claims and prices for them.
03-25-2009, 11:53 AM
#28
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No one at this time is able to flash the new me9.7 ECU's without opening them at this time. Glad to hear that your are enjoying your ECU upgrade.
03-25-2009, 12:29 PM
#29
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Hey AMG, you are right, I wish I had done a dyno before the mod, but I didn't, and there is nothing I can do about it now, so there is no point on discussing it any further and I am definitly not going to punish myself about it.
Consider this. I have NEVER modded a car's engine in any way before, so I'm not really familiar with the dynos and other similar performance practices. I'm doing my MBA in Boston and I have only been living in the US for 1.5 yrs now; I don't know any dynos nor how much do they cost.
I have always wanted a 300 hp car, but when deciding to buy my car a little over a year ago I fell in love with the w204. I love my car, but i'm hunted by the thought that I'm in the Camry and Accord performance category, and that every single car in its catergory outperfomrs me. So I came across MKB, who promised to deliver exactly what I wanted it for $1900, the same price to upgrade my wheels, and I went for it.
Again, you are right about this being about 100% trust. All I can say is that I feel very excited about my car; its like that first week feeling when I bought it 1.5 yrs ago. I want to take her to the carwash again, and I just did yesterday. That's why I paid the $1900.
As for the warranty issue, indeed the dealer will know that the ECU was opened by just lifting the airbox (you saw the picture); and I think MKB screwed up big time here. Even if they needed to open the ECU they could have tried to leave less evidence behind!! HOWEVER, I couldn't care less because I'm shipping my car back to Dominican Republic in May, after I'm done with my MBA, and the warranty is not transferable, so I will lose it no matter what.
All that being said, I would love to take my car to a dyno, so if anyone knows one in the Boston area please let me know. Also, how much do dynos usually run for? Can we compare my number's to someone else's C350 base numbers done on another dyno?
Consider this. I have NEVER modded a car's engine in any way before, so I'm not really familiar with the dynos and other similar performance practices. I'm doing my MBA in Boston and I have only been living in the US for 1.5 yrs now; I don't know any dynos nor how much do they cost.
I have always wanted a 300 hp car, but when deciding to buy my car a little over a year ago I fell in love with the w204. I love my car, but i'm hunted by the thought that I'm in the Camry and Accord performance category, and that every single car in its catergory outperfomrs me. So I came across MKB, who promised to deliver exactly what I wanted it for $1900, the same price to upgrade my wheels, and I went for it.
Again, you are right about this being about 100% trust. All I can say is that I feel very excited about my car; its like that first week feeling when I bought it 1.5 yrs ago. I want to take her to the carwash again, and I just did yesterday. That's why I paid the $1900.
As for the warranty issue, indeed the dealer will know that the ECU was opened by just lifting the airbox (you saw the picture); and I think MKB screwed up big time here. Even if they needed to open the ECU they could have tried to leave less evidence behind!! HOWEVER, I couldn't care less because I'm shipping my car back to Dominican Republic in May, after I'm done with my MBA, and the warranty is not transferable, so I will lose it no matter what.
All that being said, I would love to take my car to a dyno, so if anyone knows one in the Boston area please let me know. Also, how much do dynos usually run for? Can we compare my number's to someone else's C350 base numbers done on another dyno?
03-25-2009, 01:39 PM
#30
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I'm planning on getting my car on the dyno for before and after comparisons. The cost around here (Twin Cities, MN) seems to be around $75-100 for a few runs on a dyno. I need to find a place to work with here and haven't really started that process yet. The last time I did this was on my motorcycle but that place only does bikes. I think the key is to find a place that has an environmentally controlled room to do the testing in, so the temp & humidity are the same each time you show up and want to test a new mod.
Bokx_350, you might be able to find a decent shop just doing a google search and calling around.
I was going to post a question one of these days and ask for advice on getting a MB dyno'd. I know there is a certain mode you can put the car in for dyno pulls and I think with our transmission we are supposed to do it in 5th gear (1:1), but I was to confirm all this stuff so I do it right the first time.
Bokx_350, you might be able to find a decent shop just doing a google search and calling around.
I was going to post a question one of these days and ask for advice on getting a MB dyno'd. I know there is a certain mode you can put the car in for dyno pulls and I think with our transmission we are supposed to do it in 5th gear (1:1), but I was to confirm all this stuff so I do it right the first time.
03-25-2009, 05:29 PM
#31
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Box, I'm from the Boston area and will be tuning my ecu shortly (summer's coming, tic toc, tic toc). i do know of a couple dyno's in about a 40 mile radius which i'm more than happy to tell you about...i just want to check first and make sure they are still operational as i haven't been by either of the shops in a couple of yrs. I'm pretty sure Tuner Motor Sports still has a JET too but like i said, after getting rid of the bmw there was no reason for me to go by there...its in Amesbury MA btw, about 40 mins from the city.
I have a friend with the SI tune (speed innovations) and his 204 is an automatic as well so if you ever wanted to get together i'd love to see the difference between the 2. i think he paid right around 700$. from that comparison we can enlighten our fellow forum members and i'll be sure i'm getting the better of the two tunes LOL. however, i have the 6sp, no shift points, so it'll be like having 3 different cars..FUN. also, did they remove the speed limiter? i'm not positive but i'm pretty sure they did with the SI tune. anyway, congratulations...PM me if your ever going to a local meet or what not. my buddy, you and i can meet up for 30 mins or so and really get a feel for the pros vs cons regarding the 2 tunes/flashes.
I have a friend with the SI tune (speed innovations) and his 204 is an automatic as well so if you ever wanted to get together i'd love to see the difference between the 2. i think he paid right around 700$. from that comparison we can enlighten our fellow forum members and i'll be sure i'm getting the better of the two tunes LOL. however, i have the 6sp, no shift points, so it'll be like having 3 different cars..FUN. also, did they remove the speed limiter? i'm not positive but i'm pretty sure they did with the SI tune. anyway, congratulations...PM me if your ever going to a local meet or what not. my buddy, you and i can meet up for 30 mins or so and really get a feel for the pros vs cons regarding the 2 tunes/flashes.
03-25-2009, 06:02 PM
#32
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Box, I'm from the Boston area and will be tuning my ecu shortly (summer's coming, tic toc, tic toc). i do know of a couple dyno's in about a 40 mile radius which i'm more than happy to tell you about...i just want to check first and make sure they are still operational as i haven't been by either of the shops in a couple of yrs. I'm pretty sure Tuner Motor Sports still has a JET too but like i said, after getting rid of the bmw there was no reason for me to go by there...its in Amesbury MA btw, about 40 mins from the city.
I have a friend with the SI tune (speed innovations) and his 204 is an automatic as well so if you ever wanted to get together i'd love to see the difference between the 2. i think he paid right around 700$. from that comparison we can enlighten our fellow forum members and i'll be sure i'm getting the better of the two tunes LOL. however, i have the 6sp, no shift points, so it'll be like having 3 different cars..FUN. also, did they remove the speed limiter? i'm not positive but i'm pretty sure they did with the SI tune. anyway, congratulations...PM me if your ever going to a local meet or what not. my buddy, you and i can meet up for 30 mins or so and really get a feel for the pros vs cons regarding the 2 tunes/flashes.
I have a friend with the SI tune (speed innovations) and his 204 is an automatic as well so if you ever wanted to get together i'd love to see the difference between the 2. i think he paid right around 700$. from that comparison we can enlighten our fellow forum members and i'll be sure i'm getting the better of the two tunes LOL. however, i have the 6sp, no shift points, so it'll be like having 3 different cars..FUN. also, did they remove the speed limiter? i'm not positive but i'm pretty sure they did with the SI tune. anyway, congratulations...PM me if your ever going to a local meet or what not. my buddy, you and i can meet up for 30 mins or so and really get a feel for the pros vs cons regarding the 2 tunes/flashes.
03-26-2009, 09:10 AM
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He's got a 350 but he's actually in AZ on business this week...& i'm away next week for work. however, i'll call around on the dyno's and PM you when i'm back...maybe in a couple of weeks we can get together and dyno all three. he actually DID dyno his car about a month after he got it with no mod's what so ever except intake filters so that should give us a good baseline. for now ENJOY!
03-26-2009, 11:39 AM
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He's got a 350 but he's actually in AZ on business this week...& i'm away next week for work. however, i'll call around on the dyno's and PM you when i'm back...maybe in a couple of weeks we can get together and dyno all three. he actually DID dyno his car about a month after he got it with no mod's what so ever except intake filters so that should give us a good baseline. for now ENJOY!
03-26-2009, 12:23 PM
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03-26-2009, 12:53 PM
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like i said, he's away this week. I don't know what his problem is but he refuses to post on forums. he e-faxed me his dyno sheet (about a yr ago) after he got it done but i've since lost it. i'll ask him to resend so i can post it. his car WAS stock aside from the k&n's. now he has the SI tune, H&R coilovers, he's had a beefed up rear sway fabricated too! the thing ALMOST handles as good as my old e46 m3 which mine as well have been on rails. for what its worth i remember him saying that the car wasn't making quite as much power as MB claimed initially but i think he was on a dyno jet and they aren't the most accurate dyno's around by any means. I'll get in touch with him asap to see if i can get him to resend me his numbers...then i'll promptly post.
04-04-2009, 01:47 PM
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So Bokx_350, how you feeling about the tune now that you've had it a couple weeks? Still worth it or are you left wanting more still?
04-06-2011, 10:14 PM
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04-18-2011, 02:37 AM
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Carlson Tunning Mercedes Germany "W204 C300" Not much they can do for this motor.
It has been maxed out to full performance. They will change your MKU for 1300 Euro's
for Max speed only 265km navigation but you need a lot of road. Downside is, take off speed is reduced but top end is hell. Only place you can run this car is in Germany...lol prepare for lots of stone chip to hood and winsheild
It has been maxed out to full performance. They will change your MKU for 1300 Euro's
for Max speed only 265km navigation but you need a lot of road. Downside is, take off speed is reduced but top end is hell. Only place you can run this car is in Germany...lol prepare for lots of stone chip to hood and winsheild
