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Installed: C300 DinanTronics Sport + MidCity Eco Stop
These two mods combined allow you to set up your car exactly as you like it and lock those settings in place.
The Dinantronics Sport is a low cost ($300) tune module that connects to the car's turbo intake pressure sensor and allows you to make incremental increases to the boost pressure, increasing horsepower and torque. The affect is noticeable but not earth shattering. It's also not likely to blow up your engine. It connects to the sensor without tools, and is controlled via a smartphone app.
The app functions in two modes. In one, you can select your boost pressure setting from three progressive modes (Sport, Sport+, Race) and one regressive mode (Valet). Valet decreases performance by reducing boost by -6 psi. It would be handy if you had a teen driver in the house. Sport adds +2 psi. Sport + adds 3 psi and Race adds 4. (These settings have no relationship to the car's Agility settings. The names are a coincidence.)
Once the mode is selected, you can toggle the app over to a mode that displays an animated boost gauge that displays the boost performance in real time. It's buggy and frequently freezes up. It's best to just use the app to set or change boost levels.
The MidCity EcoStop is a $149 plug and play module that allows you to lock the Eco Stop and Agility settings to your preference without having to reset them every time your start the car.
The Dinan piece installs by disconnecting the car's boost pressure sensor connector, connecting the Dinan directly to the sensor, then connecting the car's boost sensor cable to the Dinan. Basically the Dinan steps in between the car's connector and the boost sensor. A couple of cable ties are included to secure the device and its cables to the car.
Dinan provides a photo showing where the sensor is and that's about it. The sensor is easily accessible without removing any engine covers. You disconnect the boost sensor cable by pulling rearward on the white locking clip until you hear a click, then pushing downward on the white clip to release the connector. It should pull away easily. Plug the Dinan into the sensor, and the disconnected cable from the car into the Dinan, completing the circuit. Do your tie downs and you're done.
Download and launch the app, and it will scan and pair with the device. Select your preferred boost and you're done, unless you want to change the setting. I ended up at the default "Sport +" with 3lbs of boost. The car is noticeably more peppy and responsive.
The MidCity module is a little more involved, but not much. You start by removing the door sill trim panel/kick panel from the passenger side. It just pops on and off. Then pull the carpeting up and push it inward to gain access to the CAN bus. There's a perforated black plastic shield that's hinged. Just release it and it hinges up out of the way. (Your car won't have the large gauge orange cable. That's part of my aftermarket audio system)
The CAN bus is a white plastic block with little yellow wires and brown plugs going to it. Find any open slot and plug the MidCity device into it. Here's the CAN block:
Next, using a 10mm socket, remove the nearby grounding bolt. Place the black lead from the MidCity unit on the grounding bolt and tighten it back down. Last, tap a fuse on the nearby passenger side fuse block by stripping the red lead about 1/2", removing a fuse from the block, wrapping the lead around either of the fuse blades and reinserting the fuse. The fuse shown is unswitched (always powered).
There's also a bypass switch that you could mount somewhere in the cabin, but I just set it to the "On" position and tucked it away with the other wiring.
Test the device before buttoning everything back up.
If installed correctly a red LED on the module will blink when the ignition is off, indicating you've got constant power to it.
To program the device, while pushing the Agility toggle forward and simultaneously holding down the A (Auto Stop) button, start the car. Release the Agility and A buttons. Select your desired default Agility mode and Eco setting.
If it's installed and programmed correctly, when you first start the car, the default Comfort mode and Eco Stop on mode come on, and a second later the Eco light goes off and the Agility selector scrolls to your desired mode.
The two are a nice mod for under $500 you can install yourself in under an hour with very little expertise.
Could this dinan ecu tune magically fix the problem of jerky transmission??
In sport+, first two gear shifts are very rough. Dealer has updated the transmission software and the problem persists
Could this dinan ecu tune magically fix the problem of jerky transmission??
In sport+, first two gear shifts are very rough. Dealer has updated the transmission software and the problem persists
no I wouldn't expect the Dinan unit to affect or help with that issue at all
Yeah, it's basically just tricking the intake pressure sensor into under-reporting the boost back to the ECU. The ECU compensates by increasing the boost pressure to the level the Dinan is under reporting by.
If anything it might make the shifts even shorter and harder.
Last edited by Mike5215; Apr 20, 2017 at 10:11 AM.
Curious to know if anyone has measured a 0-60 with the Dinantronics Sport module on the C300. I've looked everywhere and no one has seemed to report a time on it.
Good question. Anecdotally a couple of times in traffic today I goosed it to pass and it ran away on me a little. You can definitely tell it's there. In normal cruising there's no appreciable difference, but if you get into the throttle just a little bit it opens up.
The Dinan is set to Sport +. The car is set up to default to:
Engine: Sport
Steering: Comfort
Suspension: Sport
Eco: Off
That seems to be a good balance of performance, handling and ride.
This is very interesting. I've got a W205 C (RWD) that is loaded up, but always felt that outside the midrange punch in 2nd that it was really lacking. Great for tight onramps.
Yeah, it's worth $300, and the install couldn't be easier. The C300 already has good performance as long as the engine is in the sweet spot when you want some punch. This seems to broaden the scope of the sweet spot, and there's less lag.
The C300 could definitely use the performance boost, and for $300 (I got in early and only paid $270), it's a bargain. Not sure what the performance gains are in the 300, but in the 400, it's good for 10 MPH at the end of a drag race...
The C300 could definitely use the performance boost, and for $300 (I got in early and only paid $270), it's a bargain. Not sure what the performance gains are in the 300, but in the 400, it's good for 10 MPH at the end of a drag race...
User RemmyZero from this thread saw about 28 wheel ft-lbs and 16 HP at the wheels gain (or 31 crank ft-lbs gain and a ~19 crank HP gain) on a C300. I wonder if the version he had offered the "PSI stepping" or not and if that's a new feature that was added.
User RemmyZero from this thread saw about 28 wheel ft-lbs and 16 HP at the wheels gain (or 31 crank ft-lbs gain and a ~19 crank HP gain) on a C300. I wonder if the version he had offered the "PSI stepping" or not and if that's a new feature that was added.
Mine has the psi stepping options but when we dyno'd in sport+ and then race there was little to no difference on the graph. Maybe ~2-3hp. I thought it was a little odd but the graph doesn't lie. I was wondering afterwards if the module didn't change state because I wasn't allowed in the dyno bay while they were running it so I was changing the settings on my phone behind a window. I still plan on going back with my summer tires and running it again very soon. I'll post whatever I get if it's different.
To be fair, I did see a difference in the way the car shifts in comfort mode with the dinan unit on sport+. I personally felt it shifted better because when I took the car for the 10k service I took the dinan out and immediately was thinking "wow, back to jerky-shifts again". I can't guarantee anyone else will have the same experience.
I currently have a 2017 cabriolet loaner and it feels sluggish compared to my car. I brought my car in yesterday because my front driver side rim is cracked and one of the handlers in the welcome bay asked me on the way out "I see you have a dinan, can you tell the difference?" so I don't know if they popped the hood or scanned the car when it got down to the shop area but they knew it right away. No one has said anything negative to me about it but just be aware you can't hide it.
The C300 could definitely use the performance boost, and for $300 (I got in early and only paid $270), it's a bargain. Not sure what the performance gains are in the 300, but in the 400, it's good for 10 MPH at the end of a drag race...
Hey Mike5215, can you post a link to your midcity product? The one they have on their page doesn't talk about being able to set the agility settings on it so i'm wondering where you found it. Thanks!
To be fair, I did see a difference in the way the car shifts in comfort mode with the dinan unit on sport+. I personally felt it shifted better because when I took the car for the 10k service I took the dinan out and immediately was thinking "wow, back to jerky-shifts again". I can't guarantee anyone else will have the same experience.
That's funny...I noticed the same on my C450 as well after installing my Dinan unit. The rough upshift from 2nd to 3rd while crawling in traffic is smoother now. It's as if since the throttle is more response now, the tranny is more inclined to stay in 2nd a little longer before shifting to 3rd.
I brought my car in yesterday because my front driver side rim is cracked and one of the handlers in the welcome bay asked me on the way out "I see you have a dinan, can you tell the difference?" so I don't know if they popped the hood or scanned the car when it got down to the shop area but they knew it right away. No one has said anything negative to me about it but just be aware you can't hide it.
I always disconnect my Dinan from the intake manifold pressure sensor before going to the dealership (just in case ), but I leave the actual unit fastened in it's usual location. I just dropped my car off for the 2nd time in a month (this time for a NAV update & protective film on my new AMG side sills), and no one at the dealership has said anything yet about my Dinan which is out in plain sight just left of the passenger side air intake looking down into the engine bay.
Last edited by MASSC450; May 10, 2017 at 12:06 PM.
Hey Mike5215, can you post a link to your midcity product? The one they have on their page doesn't talk about being able to set the agility settings on it so i'm wondering where you found it. Thanks!
It's the Eco Stop module. No mention of the Agility lock on the website but if you go to their support page and download the install manual it has instructions for programming the Agility settings.
Hey Mike5215, can you post a link to your midcity product? The one they have on their page doesn't talk about being able to set the agility settings on it so i'm wondering where you found it. Thanks!
Just program the car how you want in Individual mode... Then set the module to go into Individual, versus eco off. There's only two options....
You can do either. Eco Stop can be flat out disabled across the board irrespective of the Agility setting, or the module can be set to automatically select your preferred Agility mode at start...it actually scrolls up or down like you were pushing the button and stops on the desired setting. Or you can set up Individual mode as you like it and have the module select it automatically at start.
You can do either. Eco Stop can be flat out disabled across the board irrespective of the Agility setting, or the module can be set to automatically select your preferred Agility mode at start...it actually scrolls up or down like you were pushing the button and stops on the desired setting. Or you can set up Individual mode as you like it and have the module select it automatically at start.
Mike,
When did you get this?
mine only has two modes: eco off, or I mode... Can't select anything else.
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), but I leave the actual unit fastened in it's usual location. I just dropped my car off for the 2nd time in a month (this time for a NAV update & protective film on my new AMG side sills), and no one at the dealership has said anything yet about my Dinan which is out in plain sight just left of the passenger side air intake looking down into the engine bay.
