http://www.oetuning.com/products/mer...enz-c300-turbo

Is this real? I mean just by ECU tunning you can gain that much? I find it scketchy

 

Forced induction is a hell of a drug, my friend

 

The output of a tune is always a trade-off with increased performance also yielding increased wear and tear on the engine.

I'm sure OE's numbers are legit. But there is no way you are getting a 27% increase in HP without decreasing the service life of your motor. We know that the correlation is not going to be linear. Running the motor slightly beyond it's engineered performance specs will probably have minimal impact on its reliability. Running well beyond the design parameters may eventually cause problems depending on: how often that extra power is tapped, how well the engine is maintained and serviced, the behaviors of the driver, and the environment it's regularly operated under.

Think of it from another angle. There are a small number of tuners out there that provide some form warranty coverage. Note that the power increases they offer tend to be much more conservative. There are 2 main methods to marketing this product, reliability and service or HP/TQ values.

Most motors are over-engineered to some extent. The manufacturers need to ensure that even the most bat-sh!+ crazy drivers will not be able to destroy the drivetrain within it's warranty period as long as they are performing regular recommended service.

Tuners are playing with that "cushion" that the manufacturers build into each engine. The best tuners are trying to use as much of the cushion as possible without affecting long term reliability of the motor. Other tuners are just shooting for the craziest numbers in order to market their product. Some serious discretion needs to be applied by the buyer because if you have a catastrophic engine failure and no warranty from the tuner, you are on your own.

 

If (and that's a very big, if) you were to have an engine failure, you would just flash back to stock and take your car to the dealer as you will maintain your full warranty. The tuners today are very conscious about this scenario. Without that possibility, no one would dare buy their products as you would be stupid to risk your warranty for a few extra horsepower. ESPECIALLY on a car as expensive as a Mercedes.

Also, I've pretty much never heard of anyone having an engine failure with just a tune. Not just MB, but ANY car make. A tune will simply not come close to the "cushion" you speak of. Most motors can withstand 300% more power than they come with from the factory.

If anything is going to fail, it's going to be the turbo or possibly drivetrain components.

 

What are you smoking? Bad ECU flashes blow motors all the time.
You are long on opinions and short on facts.

Here's an example of an E63 from the AMG PL:
http://www.mercedes-amg.com/privatel...4-blown-engine

A new N20 motor:
http://www.n54tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28350

An EVO:
http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/o...e-who-s-f.html


ECU flashes are detectable. From Mike at N54 Tuning:

"He's talking about an ECU flash not the JB

As far as flash tuning goes, the DME will store the maximum torque, load, and boost, along with the maximum RPM and road speed. Not to mention you currently need to physically alter the ECU to load the flash tune. When they check it will be obvious. It's also true a good piggyback won't leave those traces behind. That said, no vendor will endorse warranty fraud. If you break something directly as a result of tuning your vehicle beyond factory specifications you should be the one to pay for it. Not BMW.

Mike"

But what does he know anyway, he just does this for a living


And yes even Audi can detect an ECU flash that has been reverted to stock:
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...d-due-to-flash.

And if Audi can detect it at the dealer level, so can VW:
http://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10356

I could go on and on...
Ford can check it, so can Sub and Toyota. I'm sure GM can too. Some manufacturers routinely check at the dealer level. Some have an escalation procedure and only check after specific scenarios play out. Regardless, in 2017 they can all discover an ECU flash regardless if you reverted it prior to service.

Thing is, you gotta pay to play. There is always a small chance that a tune will cause a problem. The beefier the tune the greater the chance of problems. If you have an unexplained catastrophic engine failure the manufacturer is going to insist that the ECU is checked before they pony up for a new engine.

So this really comes down to risk versus reward. A sane tune from a reliable tuner with a good rep has an extremely low chance of causing damage and a pretty high chance of being a lot of fun.

 

Ease up bud.

OK, yes, BAD tunes can cause problems.

I hope no one is putting anything less than a trusted and proven companies tune on their $50+k car

 

At the very least they can read a separate ECU flash count even if you write it back to stock