Bruno725

HI,

I am looking at the new S3 or a C300/400. Benz is ultimately the nicer car that is clear. I talked to the AUDI dealer about APR and they do NOT VOID the warranty. BMW I know deals with DINAN in some dealers. I am not looking for huge power gains or turbo kits. Stage 1, Stage 2, exhaust…you get the idea. Does mercedes offer anything along those lines? I am aware of places like Renntech and eurocharged. Cannot find any information wether they are authorized by any mercedes dealers.

If they do not, is there a way around the warranty for tuning? ex. removing the tune EASILY before warranty work?

I am aware that they cannot deny warranty work unless the cause is due the aftermarket modifications.
I am not a tuner or lawyer so if I get a tune and have an engine issue its there word against mine…


Any help or info would be nice, Thank you

voip1

Any aftermarket tuning that does not come from the factory has the potential to void the warranty in some situations. Basically if the dealer can demonstrate that the aftermarket tuning would have caused the problem the warranty would not cover the failure. Most typical cases where dealers would do this are things like blown turbo (over stock boost) or messed up transmission (modified shift logic).

Despite what your Audi dealer told you they do not "cover" warranty if you chip tune your car with APR tuning. All it means is that the particular dealer you spoke with agrees that they will look the other way if something goes wrong. Having had an APR tuned Audi for years I would highly recommend you get that in writing from them.

All of the Germans have custom tuning programs where you can get the upgrades from the factory (or aftermarket) and the manufacturer provides full warranty on the car even with the aftermarket work.

For BMW this is Dinan.
For Mercedes this is AMG (cars are enhanced by Mercedes)
For Audi this is MTM but technically not an in house arrangement like Dinan or AMG.

Any other tune voids your warranty. Period. This does not mean that people don't tune the cars and then if something goes wrong they have it flashed/changed back to stock to get the warranty to cover what they did to it. This happens all the time even if it is morally dubious.

Do a google search on "tuning warranty denied" and look at the hundreds of forum posts and blog entries that come up.

So... Yeah.

Bruno725

Thanks for the help.

I understand about the Audi dealer. This actual dealer a few years ago dealt with Stasis packages and a friend of mine has a package on his S4. Now they have switched the APR. I have talked to a couple other dealers. Some will look the other way depending on who's work it is.

That being said, I am just curious if Mercedes dealers are known to work with certain companies or not outside of AMG.

Does mercedes have AMG tunes available, if so where can I find info on them?
AMG product store if you want to call it that.
I have check the MBUSA site and AMG site. They list 4 performance centers in my state.
After I have not been able to find anything as far as products available.

Not getting a tune isn't a deal breaker...

123Britt

S3 is compared to CLA45 not C-Class
.
If sport 4dr is 1st priority then M-Sport 328i 4dr with ZF Trans is best over AMG C300. However, if you score all attributes the C-Class is the winner. It is just hard to beat the BMW in the sporty category. In the end I chose the C-Class with RWD. 4Matic may have leaned toward the 2016 A4.
.
S3 compares toward CLA45 -- where the 7G Trans tilts the win toward the S3 as my favorite.
.
M235i >S3>CLA45
.
C300 AMG > M-SPORT 328i > 2015 A4 -- when all things are scored equally.
.
.
Each car has a unique personality -- C-Class is the LUX Winner not Sport

Bruno725

There lies my dilemma. Even though many compare the S3 to the CLA45 is it a direct competitor? Closes on the market I believe so. Should Audi bring the RS3 to the USA would that not be a better comparison to the CLA45?

Regardless I get where you coming from.

Friend of mine as a 2011 335xi Sedan, GREAT car. For some reason I cannot get over how boring it looks, that my opinion. So BMW I think is off the list for me unless possibly the M235xi I like the looks.

I would prefer the C400 over what BMW, 335i and Audi, S4 have to offer. C400 is not performance oriented but in my opinion looks 10 times better, while it is slightly more expensive as well.

In comes the S3, similar and in some case slightly better performance to the larger brother S4, I love way it looks, and price starts out roughly 7k less than the C400.

Ultimately, I think which ever car I buy S3 over C300/400 it will come down to which is the better deal, not necessarily the cheapest.

rieger

Going to have to correct some false information here.

First of all AMG is not a aftermarket tuner. They are part of MB just like if you bought a RS car from Audi and M car from BMW.

Second APR and Dinan would void your manufacturers warranty and you are now dealing with either Dinan or APR( APR has no warranty period) Stassis use to but they are no longer in business. Don't let the dealers tell you any different. Dinan has a warranty and basically if BMW denies you warranty for a tune Dinan will cover it but you are going through Dinan and not BMW. It is more like an insurancae policy from Dinan than a warranty from BMW.

Lastly CLA45 is not in direct competition to the S3. That would be the RS3 from Quattro GMBH of Audi which is like AMG to MB. The S cars from Audi is still done by Audi just like the C450 is done by MB. The C63 on the other hand is completely tuned by AMG just like the RS3 is completely tuned by Audi Quattro GMBH.

Hope this clears it up.

Oh by the way the S3 cannot compete with the S4. The S4 outperforms the S3 in every possible conceivable way. Better AWD better balance etc. If you ever drive both hard you will understand what I am talking about. The S4 sport diff and better AWD makes the car that much more nimble even if it is heavier. The S3's tendency to understeer and turn in is very unwanted.
The C-class is also one class above the S3's class in terms of size and luxury.
That said I wouldn't buy an S4 right now as the new A4 is just around the corner and the new S4 would be about a year after the new A4 arrives.